07.31: Romance on the Run

Summary

Episode Summary: "Romance on the Run" – Fated Mates Podcast (Episode 07.31)

Release Date: April 16, 2025
Host/Author: Sarah McLean and Jennifer Prokop
Podcast Description: Fated Mates is the most listened-to romance novel podcast, co-hosted by bestselling author Sarah McLean and romance critic Jennifer Prokop. Each week, they engage in lively discussions, read-alongs, and explore the powerful role of romance novels in challenging societal norms—all while embracing diverse perspectives without judgment.

Overview

In episode 07.31: Romance on the Run, Sarah McLean and Jennifer Prokop delve deep into the "On the Run" trope within romance novels. They explore the elements that make this trope captivating, discuss classic and contemporary examples, and review newly released books that embody this exhilarating theme.

Understanding the "On the Run" Trope

Sarah and Jennifer begin by defining the "On the Run" trope, highlighting its foundation in romantic suspense where protagonists are either escaping danger or pursuing someone under high-stakes circumstances.

Sarah McLean [13:12]:
"When you're talking about 'On the Run', there's this sense of, like, these people are trying to either escape something or outrun something. So we sort of naturally know we're in a ticking clock situation."

Jennifer Prokop [13:38]:
"You're not gonna be bored. Not gonna be bored. It's like reading an action movie."

Key Elements That Make "On the Run" Effective

The hosts outline several essential elements that make "On the Run" romances compelling:

1. Ticking Clock: Protagonists face a deadline, adding tension and urgency.
2. Character Competence and Growth: Typically, one character is highly skilled (e.g., CIA agent) while the other discovers hidden strengths.
3. Secrets and Suspense: Often, one character harbors a secret that threatens to unravel the relationship and escalate the danger.

Sarah McLean [15:06]:
"The heroine has a big secret that she's keeping from the hero throughout the book... it is a huge clubbing moment when he realizes she's not aware of how serious the secret is."

Classic Examples Discussed

Sarah and Jennifer revisit classic "On the Run" romance novels, analyzing their structures and memorable moments.

1. Kressley Cole's "The Master":
   Sarah references this deep dive from a previous episode, emphasizing the climactic reveal of the heroine’s secret.

   Sarah McLean [16:48]:
   "When she picks up the phone and she calls him because she doesn't have anybody else to call... it is the climactic moment of the book that is perfect."

2. "Run Posey Run" by Kressley Cole:
   Jennifer discusses Posey's complex relationship with Daario and her struggle within a mobster-influenced life.

   Jennifer Prokop [24:22]:
   "It's a dark romance. Define as you like, but it's a pretty perfect romance."

3. "Burn Down the Night" by Molly O'Keefe:
   Sarah highlights the heroine's kidnapping by the hero and their ensuing partnership in overcoming past traumas.

   Sarah McLean [30:10]:
   "This is a perfect example of... the heroine has a secret that disrupts everything."

New Releases and Reviews

The episode features in-depth reviews of new and upcoming "On the Run" romance novels, offering listeners fresh recommendations.

1. "If I Told You, I'd Have to Kiss You" by S.E. McPherson:
   Jennifer reviews this polyamorous fantasy romance involving royal dynamics and ancient magic.

   Jennifer Prokop [21:00]:
   "If you love a polyamorous fantasy romance with enemies to lovers and royal bodyguard vibes, this one is gonna be perfect for you."

2. "Stranded" by Jennifer D. Bokel:
   Part of the "Texas Law Fine" series, Jennifer discusses the survival romance between Ava and Brett following a helicopter crash.

   Jennifer Prokop [51:48]:
   "It is a terrific read. It was really fun and super suspenseful."

3. "The Harpy and the Dragon" by Marie Lipscomb:
   Sarah reviews this continuation of the "Hearts of Black Mirror" series, focusing on Henry’s redemption and his partnership with heroine Honora.

   Sarah McLean [58:31]:
   "Another great moment, he confesses... 'I stabbed...'. She goes 'all noble people need to be stabbed at some point'..."

4. "Bourbon and Lies" by Victoria Wilder:
   Jennifer covers this historical romance featuring the Fox brothers and heroine Laney, an event planner in witness protection.

   Jennifer Prokop [71:51]:
   "You need to trust me and pre-order this book. It is five bucks."

5. "Hunted in Italy" by Delaney Diamond:
   Jennifer previews this upcoming book featuring Zaire Nichols and ex-Navy Seal agent Buck Swanson as they escape terror plots in Rome.

   Jennifer Prokop [82:04]:
   "She manages to record part of it and is like, I gotta get out of here."

Competency and Mutual Support

A recurring theme is the balance of competence between protagonists. One is typically highly skilled, while the other discovers unexpected strengths, fostering mutual support and growth.

Jennifer Prokop [19:20]:
"One of them is a Navy SEAL or the CIA agent... the other discovers hidden reserves of strength."

Community and Discoverability

The hosts emphasize the importance of community in discovering new books. They discuss their partnership with Pagebound, encouraging listeners to join their quest for deep dive books and engage with fellow romance enthusiasts.

Sarah McLean [06:32]:
"Now listen, immediately when we launched this, a bunch of people on the discord were like, we deserve bigger medals. There should be better medals."

Notable Quotes

• Sarah McLean [13:12]:
  "When you're talking about 'On the Run', there's this sense of, like, these people are trying to either escape something or outrun something."

• Jennifer Prokop [13:38]:
  "You're not gonna be bored. Not gonna be bored. It's like reading an action movie."

• Jennifer Prokop [21:00]:
  "If you love a polyamorous fantasy romance with enemies to lovers and royal bodyguard vibes, this one is gonna be perfect for you."

• Sarah McLean [15:06]:
  "The heroine has a big secret that she's keeping from the hero throughout the book... it is a huge clubbing moment."

Conclusion

Sarah and Jennifer wrap up the episode by reaffirming the allure of "On the Run" romances. They highlight how these stories blend suspense, character development, and high-stakes scenarios to create memorable and engaging narratives. Listeners are encouraged to explore both classic and new titles within the trope to fully appreciate its depth and excitement.

Sarah McLean [92:10]:
"If you're a true crime reader, like these romantic suspense books probably would feel really like what you mean, like... existential danger."

Recommendations

Listeners are encouraged to:

• Visit the Fated Mates Website: Explore the full list of recommended books and participate in community surveys.
• Join the Pagebound Quest: Engage with other romance enthusiasts and discover new reads.
• Pre-Order Upcoming Releases: Ensure you don't miss out on anticipated titles by securing your copies early.

Sarah McLean [93:34]:
"You can find us every Wednesday wherever you get your podcasts."

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This comprehensive summary captures the essence of the "Romance on the Run" episode, highlighting key discussions, book reviews, and notable insights while adhering to the user's request to exclude advertisements, intros, outros, and non-content sections.

Transcript

[Jennifer Prokop]

Have I ever talked about my daffodil thing? Have I ever talked about this? I feel like I probably have.

[Sarah McLean]

Maybe. I'm sure. I don't know.

[Jennifer Prokop]

I'm going to talk about it again. So everybody tell me. I live in Hyde park, which is the Chicago neighborhood on the south side, and I work up Lakeshore Drive. So I drive on Lakeshore Drive every day, which is very nice because it's very beautiful. But in the spring, they have huge, huge beds of, like, daffodils. And it's my favorite thing. And I also keep track on my phone of, like, what day the daffodil come up, because I'm curious about it, like, from year to year. And I've been doing this for, like, 10 years now, and I'm like, it's a little early this year. I suppose some years it's like, later in April. Sometimes it's earlier. It's kind of right in the middle, but it is really pretty. And so you just drive up and, I mean, I'm talking. I don't know how big these beds are, but some of them are just like. I don't even know. It must be a thousand daffodils, right? And some of them are, like, up on, like, a embankment in a big, like, arch shape. It's very beautiful. I've never seen photographs of it, nor have I taken them, because, of course, I'm going by at 60 miles an hour. But.

[Sarah McLean]

But it's nice.

[Jennifer Prokop]

It is nice.

[Sarah McLean]

I mean, since we're talking about spring and flowers, as you know, I have a little. We live in Brooklyn, but we do have a little, like, garden at the front of our house. And I filled it in the fall. I was very organized, and I filled it with flowers. 40 tulip bulbs. And now they are all coming up in Aldi. And I, like, specifically bought, like, a million colors.

[Jennifer Prokop]

I love that.

[Sarah McLean]

So they're all popping up.

[Jennifer Prokop]

I love tulips, too.

[Sarah McLean]

And it's actually really nice because on my block, there aren't that many gardens. Like, there are a lot of people. I live in an area of Brooklyn where, like, a lot of people decided at some point that, like, concrete was nice. They just paved over everything real, like, you know, paved paradise. Put up a parking lot kind of vibe. Some reason the people who own my house did not do that. And so now I have, like, 40 tulips growing.

[Jennifer Prokop]

That's nice. Yeah. Tulip season is here is also really awesome. So it is a nice time of year. I'm excited.

[Sarah McLean]

I'm at a house it's, like, a little chaotic. We have a little free library where we, like, do not. We are. We are the odd people out on the block. Like, we have a little free library. We have all these tulips. But what's really nice is, like, when little kids walk by, we're the house where, like, the mom says, o look at these pretty flowers, and the kids like to look at it. And then in the fall, it gets very chaotic because everything goes to seed and, like, my wild garden becomes just, like, overrun with everything because I have not weeded because I don't like to, not because I shouldn't, just because I don't like to.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Sure, there are lots of things I don't like to do. No shame here.

[Sarah McLean]

So my daughter. My daughter's like, every fall, my daughter's like, you know that, like, everybody on the block probably just thinks you're a witch because you have. And I was like, listen, everybody on the block thinks I'm a witch. That works out well for me. It's my chaotic garden in my little free library, putting ideas into the world.

[Jennifer Prokop]

The best thing about this is, like, all the people who live in the south right now are like, what are you guys talking about? It was spring here six weeks ago. Yep.

[Sarah McLean]

Well, you're enjoying it for, like, one more week, and then you're going to be complaining about allergies.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Did you send it to me? Somebody sent it to me, and it was like, a picture of, like, a car. I think it was in, like, South Carolina or North Carolina, just covered in pollen. Someone had, like, written in it with their finger sench. That's very real.

[Sarah McLean]

Well, because I think we have talked about this, but, like, that it is real problem in cities because they. We have definitely talked about this because in urban planning, they plant male trees. And so we're all. By the pollen, by the patriarchy, one way or another, everybody. So today, do you want to introduce.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Us on the podcast, Sarah?

[Sarah McLean]

Oh, right. Welcome to Fated Mates, everyone. I'm Sarah McGlain. I read romance novels and I write them.

[Jennifer Prokop]

And I'm Jennifer Prokop, a romance reader and editor.

[Sarah McLean]

And a couple things we want to talk about. First of all, housekeeping wise, if you haven't filled out the survey, you should fill out the survey.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Correct.

[Sarah McLean]

This is your chance to tell us how we can, you know, how you listen, how you'd like to listen, what you'd like us to do next as we're thinking about season eight of this podcast, Crazy. Can't believe you all still listen to.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Us, we're gonna keep going forever though, because it brings me a lot of joy and especially now. I need it.

[Sarah McLean]

It does. So you can find [e-mail] survey easy peasy. And it shouldn't take you longer than 10 minutes to fill it out. It's very fast. And what else? Oh, let's talk about pagebound, which is so fun.

[Jennifer Prokop]

It' fun? Yeah. I love it.

[Sarah McLean]

Are you? I started using it like last night.

[Jennifer Prokop]

It's so cute.

[Sarah McLean]

It's so cute. Eric and I went out last night and I was like, okay. Page Bound is a website that's fully for readers. Like, it's reader community building and it's kind of great because you're not like you. It is reviews and it is community. It's like sort of a nice, like mix of two things. But everybody on there is like feels really tight knit and lovely. So we partnered with pagebound to build what they call a quest. So you can go to pagebound co or you can just Google pagebound and then you set up a little profile, you pick a little avatar. Like, it's all very cute.

[Jennifer Prokop]

It's really cute.

[Sarah McLean]

And you can just select books that you're reading. You can basically build shelves just like all the other, you know, reading apps. So unlike Goodreads and storygraph, which are great tools to like keep your own shelf, etc. Page bound is more like building a community. Correct.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Like the conversation and the talking back and forth, et cetera.

[Sarah McLean]

Yeah, right. It feels more like a social, like a social app. So one of the cool things that we've done is we've partnered with pagebound and now you can go there and there's something called a quest. If you follow Faded Mace, you can follow our quest, which is basically all of the Deep Dive books that we've done. So if you read, you know, I don't know what the number is. I think it's like 15 of the deep Dive books. Then you get a gold medal in the quest.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Adorable.

[Sarah McLean]

Now listen, immediately when we launched this, a bunch of people on the discord were like, we deserve bigger medals. There should be better medals. If we've read all of them. We hear the Magnificent Firebird Achievers.

[Jennifer Prokop]

The Magnificent Firebird medal. It's in your heart, everyone.

[Sarah McLean]

And so that's really fun. Like you can do that and then you can post the book that you're reading and write a little couple sentence review or a couple sentences. There's always an option to add three emojis that you felt while you were reading. The book, it's just really a cute little back and forth. And then like, when you click a book, you can see reviews from other members. And because the community is so small, it really helps you, like, find other people.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Sure. Right. And that's also the kind of the cool thing. There's like a lot of us now, so it feels kind of. Yeah, it's fun.

[Sarah McLean]

Yeah, it's neat. And I mean, I said to Eric last night, I was like, I'm a little worried that, like, now Faded Mates is like dominating page bound. Like, we've come and now here we all are. But you know what? As he. He pointed out, look, there are worst. There are worst groups of people to be dominating a website. Like, we're all pretty decent and like, we just want to talk about our books, everyone.

[Jennifer Prokop]

And, like, it is in as many places as possible. So, yeah, it's just like a. It's a cool, different vibe than just like a straight tracking app and, you know, whatever works for you. I think a lot of us have, like, multiple, you know, I have multiple places. I talk about my books. So very fun. Yeah. So everybody. The other really cool thing Eric has, and I love this, Eric has created a place for people to submit essentially collections of their own microtropes or like, you know, kind of like collections of books that they think that go together. And the part about this is, as we all can kind of tell now that slop is taking over the Internet, it's really hard to find things. And we have really the discoverability buddy we've taken to heart. And so the cool title is it's like, you know, Fated Mates Collections department. And it's basically like, you know, book, like book recommendations by real people. And it's not just us, right. It's authors, it's listeners. Right? So we have collections from Andy J. Christopher and from Bea and her books, which is, you know, she's like a super romance reader and a librarian. Alexandra Harvey, who's an author. Rachel Griffiths and Alice Murphy and Ma Wardell are also authors. Your friend Shane, who's just a.

[Sarah McLean]

She's a PhD, she's a professor of.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Food studies and she made one about, like, historicals where people are into food or whatever. Right.

[Sarah McLean]

So it's just called Hungry Hungry Historicals, by the way, which classic. That's why I'm friends with Shane now.

[Jennifer Prokop]

You know, And I was like, eric, are you making up these really fun titles? And so then what happens is you.

[Sarah McLean]

Go, he's not you.

[Jennifer Prokop]

All the personal are making that amazing. And so you go and you can just sort of look and. And you know, like, be made one all about heroes with mustaches. And so these are. And like Ma Wardell, who wrote one about. And this one's really sweet. Like, he wrote one about. They're all gay romances where, like, one of the men takes care of children or is a father. And it's like, so it's like about daddies, but like real daddies. And it's so. These are so cute. And I honestly am obsessed because it is really hard sometimes to find books on a topic you want or like, you're like, I didn't even. I love this book. What are other ones? So it's really also fun if you're just like, what do I want to read? It's like a really fun way to sort of like get some great new ideas.

[Sarah McLean]

So you can see that if you go to fatemates.net it's right there on the main page. You can just click collections. And that's slowly populating. Like we have people adding all the time. Look, we got a lot of fun stuff going on over here. We had a meeting. We had a meeting and now look what happens. Page bound. Collections department. Who knows what else. Survey.

[Jennifer Prokop]

The only collections department you really want to hear from.

[Sarah McLean]

I do just want to shout out, Kim only. Only reads romance. Who is on Instagram and threads and maybe other places. But Kim is the person who called us Discover bill buddies. And we are very proud to know her.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yeah.

[Sarah McLean]

And actually I asked Kim if she'd like to do a collection and she is going to deliver one to us.

[Jennifer Prokop]

I love it. Okay, so, Sarah, I'm really excited about today's topic.

[Sarah McLean]

Me too. Man on the run.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Well, it's over now. Sarah has sung. You know, it's funny because both of us, I think, really like, enjoy romantic suspense, but it has. I don't know that we've ever done a whole episode on it. And this isn't really a romantic suspense episode, but really the idea is Sarah's like, it's just like on the run. And I was like, wait, you mean like people running marathons? And she was like, no, dummy.

[Sarah McLean]

I mean, no, no. I mean, if you. If that's sexy to you, but in.

[Jennifer Prokop]

This case, we just mean readily, like romantic suspense people. People on the move, someone's after them, there's bad guys, things crashed.

[Sarah McLean]

No nipple chafing.

[Jennifer Prokop]

I don't even know what to say about that.

[Sarah McLean]

No proposals at mile 18. No, not one.

[Jennifer Prokop]

No dead bodies, Serial killers, All that. All that. Kind of stuff, actually.

[Sarah McLean]

What's interesting is I had, like. When I made the list, I, of course, like, sat down and I made, like, a list of, like, the 10 books that we talk about all the time that have this in it.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Run, Posey, Run.

[Sarah McLean]

Thank you. That's on mine, too. And then I was like, okay, now I gotta get into it. And I. And then I had a really fun time.

[Jennifer Prokop]

I did, too.

[Sarah McLean]

Collecting a variety of options of what we mean when we say on the run.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yeah, yeah, no, me too. So it was really fun. And I also read a bunch of new books, including a couple. Listen, I am my own discoverability buddy, because two of the books that I'm gonna talk about today were our Spring Reads episode a couple weeks ago, you know, like, our preview. And I was like, you know what? I picked this book because it looks good. Maybe I should read it.

[Sarah McLean]

Interesting. I went back. So I have, like, some from years ago that I never really. So. All right, well, what should we start with? The classics.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Let's start with some classics.

[Sarah McLean]

The ones that, like, longtime Faded Mates listeners have heard us talk about before, but I think we should talk about before we do this. I think we should talk about why on the Run works so well. I mean. Yeah, so we did an episode about ticking clocks, correct? Right.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yeah.

[Sarah McLean]

And I think that's obviously, like, when you're talking about a. A classic structure with on the Run, there's the sense of, like, these people are trying to either escape something or out. Outrun something. Like, not get caught. So we sort of naturally know we're in a ticking clock situation. Like.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Right.

[Sarah McLean]

They can't run forever.

[Jennifer Prokop]

No, exactly. I also think the thing for me that was really interesting as I was reading these is you're not gonna be bored, right?

[Sarah McLean]

I mean, like, definitely not gonna be bored.

[Jennifer Prokop]

And, you know, someone who, like, loves an action movie, when these are effective, it's like reading an action movie, right? So one of the other things I really like about it is you get the sense of. I mean, you know, like the. You know, remember in the movie Speed, where she's like, people who meet under intense circumstances. It never works out in these books. You're like, okay, but it is going to work out for these guys. Right? And I think. But I think that that is also part of it, is you really see what people are made of. Like, Right. You're testing their metal. But I think the other thing that I found really interesting is in a lot of these. It's kind of like this question of, like, one of Them is a more suited for on the run, right? One of them is an a CIA agent or you know what I mean? Something like that. And so I didn't really have a lot of them where like two nobodies are on the run, right? Like, one of them is like, don't worry, I know how to handle myself. And the other one's like, okay, but not me. And so then you get like, there's, I think, a caretaking element that sort of comes into play with some of these. And I think that that is also pretty appealing, right, because it's kind of that idea that, like, here's a person at a really high stress time and the other one's like, don't worry, I got you. Yep. Right. And that.

[Sarah McLean]

Absolutely. I think there's also the other. The sort of other bucket of on the run is secrets, right? Like one character has a secret and the other characters do not know what that secret is. And so, like, at some point the shit is going to hit the fan because the secret is going to out and then everyone is going to be thrown into chaos. So obviously that exists strongly in these books, especially in the end. There is a through line in a lot of romantic suspense with that structure. But our first season we did Kressley Cole's books and obviously there are definitely IAD books that do this. But I think Kressley's book that I immediately think of for on the Run is the Master, right? So the Master is a great example of like, she has a big secret that she is keeping from the hero throughout the book. And at the end, like, it all comes home as like a little bit of romance. There's like a threat of romantic suspense. There's a threat. And also, like, it is a huge. It clubs the hero over the side of the head when he realizes that what he sort of had an inkling that she had a secret, but she is not aware. He is not aware of like, how serious that secret is. And I mean, I won't get too deep into the Master because we did a deep dive on it and we've talked about it before. But like that moment at the end when she picks up the phone and she calls him because she doesn't have anybody else to call and she is literally against the wall, right? Like, it is the moment of like the climactic moment of this book is perfect.

[Jennifer Prokop]

It is. Yeah. This is my favorite of that series. And I think that's a big part of it, right? Because I think the other part that's really interesting about on the run is in order for it to work, at some point they have to be not on the run. Right. Like, there's. You have to stop. And so it's interesting because this book sort of inverts that, like, she has been on the run essentially on her own. Right.

[Sarah McLean]

And then keeps her.

[Jennifer Prokop]

And then he sort of.

[Sarah McLean]

Yeah.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Kidnaps her. And then she's like living in the penthouse. And it's just like.

[Sarah McLean]

It's like. It's light kidnapping.

[Jennifer Prokop]

It's a little like kidnapping, kidnapping, kidnapping. So when Kat essentially is like, now I get. And she actually says to herself, like, you know what? This. He can't get me here. This man who's after me.

[Sarah McLean]

Right.

[Jennifer Prokop]

She's somewhere. Right.

[Sarah McLean]

Because he's. I mean, it's really nice when you're kidnapped by a billionaire who's got bodyguards everywhere. If I had to choose.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Sure. And so it's a really. It's a really fascinating, you know, sort of. Sort of look at all of that. But I think, yeah, I love that book. It's terrific. But so, yeah, it's like a lot of the book is her at rest, but knowing that she's gonna have to be on the run again. And then, like, the question is like, can I trust this man? She eventually decides no, but then she changes her mind. Yes. When she has no other choice. And it is. It's an awesome ending. But yeah, I think the other part I wanted to talk about was like, competence, which is kind of like. And I think, again, for it to work, like I said already, one of them already starts out as being real competent. One of them can already do a bunch of things often. Right. Or has the money to make things happen. But I think the other part about this that typically works for me in these books is that the one who's not that, the one who's not the Navy SEAL or the CIA agent or whatever, discovers hidden reserves of strength in themselves. And almost always at some point, whatever they are good at is gonna, like, save the day. Right. So I think, like a really fun part of this. Does that make sense? Like, you see them kind of being like, I can't do that thing, but I can do this thing. And therefore, like, something about that ends up being really key to their survival. And I think that's just like a really fun part of it. And I think that's probably happens more in romance than it does in just like straight up thrillers, Right?

[Sarah McLean]

Yeah.

[Jennifer Prokop]

So, you know, this scaredy cat who, you know, is just an interpreter or whatever is Gonna like, you know, at some point do something real smart. And I like that too.

[Sarah McLean]

One of the things I was sort of dancing around is like, is it possible to split all on the Run books into two buckets which are moving and not moving? Meaning like, like the book is.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yeah.

[Sarah McLean]

The book is them literally running.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yeah.

[Sarah McLean]

And moving around and escaping whatever is chasing them. Or the book is this is the first time they have stopped.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yeah, I, I, I would, I think that's the case too. And it's funny because I didn't come up with a lot of those just because I, I read a lot of books that were just like, we're literally on the move. But I was really kept thinking like another version of this. And I think you hit the nail here with the master is the, like, she's on the run, she's changed her identity. Right. She has a new name and is living in a new town or whatever. And danger comes to town. Right. Essentially to, to find her. And it almost, I will say, is always the case that like, this is her. And then, you know, whoever it is, it's going to sort of like swoop in to like be the person that she can now count on as opposed to putting in her in danger someone who's going to help her be safe. But yeah, it's, I do think that there's a, a lot of those too.

[Sarah McLean]

This week's episode of Faded Mates is sponsored by S.E. mcPherson, author of a King's Trust.

[Jennifer Prokop]

So if you are a romantasy girly and you are really interested in polyamorous romance, this is the book for you. So what happens is Beau's brother is the prince and he dies. And he was set to inherit the throne. And nobody is happy about the fact that now Beau is next in line to take over the throne. The king and Queen are horrified and they really want Beau to marry. And the woman they have picked out for him is essentially his late brother's fiance, Lady Penimore. And she believes that Beau is the one who murdered his brother. And so all of a sudden we have lots of angsty drama and Beau is the least happy person of all because he would rather risk his life as a common sailor before wearing a crown. But you know, he's trapped. This is what it means to be born into a royal family.

[Sarah McLean]

Poor baby.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Only Elias, his royal guard and his loyal guard, and also someone Beau is desperately in love with.

[Sarah McLean]

Oh boy.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Is the one who he feels like he can trust. But as Beau reshapes the nobility and carves out a Life for him in the palace. He'll need to draw upon an ancient magic, unlikely allies and Elias maybe as a third to this situation in the royal bedroom. So failure means dooming his kingdom and succumbing to the same force that took his brother's life. So he has no choice but to make it work.

[Sarah McLean]

Oh boy. If you love a polyamorous fantasy romance with enemies to lovers and royal bodyguard vibes, this one is gonna be per perfect for you. It's the first of a trilogy available in print and ebook and if your podcasting app supports it, you can click on the chapter title right now to be taken to buy the book. Thanks to S.E. mcPherson for sponsoring this week's episode. You know what, Jen? I couldn't.

[Jennifer Prokop]

I.

[Sarah McLean]

We never read Run Posey Run as a deep dive.

[Jennifer Prokop]

We did not. That's true.

[Sarah McLean]

And that feels like, like crazy to me because we talk about it so much. Yeah, but that was on my list. It was on your list too. And that's interesting because she's on the run from him, the hero. And that's the only one on my list where she's on the run from the hero. No, it's not. I have a second one.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yes. And right. So in Run Posey Run, Posey is our heroine. And basically at the beginning she's been kind of the live in girlfriend of this like mobster and she knows that she's also like a mafia girl. Like her father had run into trouble. She's kind of on the outside of that world in some way. But then like once she got together with Daario, she like was kind of fine. And then what happens at the beginning is Daario essentially gets set up by his boss to believe that Posey has cheated on him and he throws her out and has his like body man like, like take her and get rid of her. Like not kill her, get rid of her. Just like drop her off at downtown and she's done. And it's the driver who's like, you're in danger because the boss is not Daario. Right? The Daario's boss is going to kill you.

[Sarah McLean]

Right.

[Jennifer Prokop]

And so she's on the run essentially from both of them. Like the real danger isn't Daario, it's this, this the overboss. Right? And but then Daario really quickly figures out like, I want her back, but she's already gone. And then his like desperation to find her is really terrific and she knows it. And she figures out a way she sets up essentially something like an only fans and like Sends it directly to him and is essentially, like, extorting money from him, like. And he's like, come home. And she's like, no, give me a thousand dollars. It's fucking great. And eventually he finds her, right, and brings her back home. And then, like, sort of the rest of the book is them figuring out how to vanquish the boss who, like, has put her in danger and figure out kind of, like, why that was happening. It's terrific because, like, her running from Daario is an emotional thing. Like, he didn't trust her, he didn't believe her. And the actual threat to her life, though, is from this other guy. So it's really smart, I think, too, in the way that it is set up. But, yeah, it's a dark romance. Like, you know, Daria finds her and throws her in a trunk. You definitely have to, like, know that going in. But it is great. And it is. It's a. It's, I think, a pretty perfect romance.

[Sarah McLean]

That's. I mean, like, it's also just, like, a really terrific setup. Like, she's running from him is an. It's tricky, right? That. That tee up is really difficult because I think I recently. It feels like within the last, like, 20 episodes, I've talked about Anna Campbell's claiming the Courtesan, which I think is, like, one of the greatest. Like, it's a. It's a primordial, dark romance. Like, it. Like, anybody who loves dark romance would love this. This historical. And the premise there is. She is, like, one of the most famous courtesans in London, and she's been claimed by this duke who is, like, kind of ruthless in, like. In, like, he. He takes. Like. He's a man who takes. And she has been saving money, we know, for, like, reasons. And at the beginning of this book, she. She's done, like, she has collected enough money, and, like, she is peacing out, and he is enraged when she leaves him, and she runs, and then he catches her and, like, kidnaps her to his, like, North Scotland castle. When it came out, it was real. It was real scandalous. It was really. It was a book that people felt very strongly about. But it goes back to what you were saying where. So I think the hallmark of those books is the heroine. And obviously, for me, like, this is true of all books that I love. But, like, in those books especially, the heroine has got to have of, like, Spine of Steel.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Correct? Yeah.

[Sarah McLean]

For it to work.

[Jennifer Prokop]

And I think for. In Run Posey Run, for sure. Like, I think part of the thing that's so amazing about it is this cozy. Is very honest with herself about, like, who she is, where she comes from, and what that means for the kind of life she can have.

[Sarah McLean]

Yeah.

[Jennifer Prokop]

And I think that that's why it works, right? Like, she knows. She is far more aware of the, like, minutiae of, like, what it means to be essentially a mobster's woman. Right. In that life for her and what that means. And I think, you know, when she. When she leaves, I don't think she ever comes back, but thinks she's gonna come back. But when she comes back, she's like, I'm gonna make this different. I think it's. I think it's pretty remarkable in that sense, too. Like, Right. Like, it's. Right. Like my. Like, this changed my life, but now I get to change my life. Yeah, right. Yeah, it's great. It's great.

[Sarah McLean]

Do you have other classics?

[Jennifer Prokop]

I don't know if I would call it a classic, but I guess so. I would.

[Sarah McLean]

I have one more, which Faded Maids classic.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Well, then I would not call it a Fade of Maze classic, because I'm not sure I've talked about it before, but we have talked about the first two books in Molly O'Keefe's Everything I Left Unsaid series. Right.

[Sarah McLean]

I hadn't even thought of this. Yeah, yeah. So on the run, sure.

[Jennifer Prokop]

But in. I think the whole series is really on the run. But in the third book, which is Burn down the Night, which is really great. At the end of book two, right. At the end of the Truth About Him, Joan and Max is Dylan's brother, and he has been injured or shot. I can't remember exactly the nature of the injury. And Joan, who has been sort of like this really kind of remarkable presence in Annie's life, right. This woman who's real strong, essentially, like, puts him in the back of her car, and it's like, don't worry. I'll take care of him. And what happens is, we realize is Joan has actually been searching for her sister, who essentially has been. Not kidnapped necessarily, but, like, kind of taken by a cult. And Joan is like, I am going to do everything I can to get my sister back. And she thinks that Max knows something about it. And Max is on the run from his, like, brothers in his motorcycle club. And so basically Joan's like, I'm gonna help him. But really, kind of what she does is kidnap him and she takes him to her aunt's house, who lives in some retirement community, like, in Florida. But her. Her aunt's a nurse, and she chains Max to her bed.

[Sarah McLean]

Perfect.

[Jennifer Prokop]

And is basically like, until I figure out what you know, about how I can find my sister, you're not going anywhere. And the sex between them is so hot. Like, at one point, Joan goes out and picks up a woman who's just been recently widowed and brings her back and, like, has sex with her in front of Max, who is chained to the bed. It's hot, you guys. It's real hot. And so I think the thing that's also really interesting about this book, you know, it was probably written in the late, late 20 teens, is this is not like, a dark romance, Right. Like, Max, even though he is a criminal, right. Has. Has done bad things, is, you know, is on a full redemption arc. He's gonna walk away from that. He is gonna change his life. He just wants to be with Joan no matter what that takes. He's never. You know, he sort of also views it as, like, it also changes his life. Right. And I think the thing I also really like about talking about Burn down the Night here is Joan is just like a really singular romance heroine. She's unbelievably great. But I also liked that a lot of these books are kind of like, not damsel in distress, exactly, but I think they often kind of traffic in. He's the CIA agent, Navy seal, whatever. And she's just like, the regular person in danger.

[Sarah McLean]

She's like a lady.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yeah. And I really liked that Joan was the one firmly in the driver's seat and in the handcuffing seat and in the. Let me bring a lady back and show you what I can do to her seat.

[Sarah McLean]

Perfect.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Burn down the night. It's awesome.

[Sarah McLean]

I just want to name check Dragonbound, another one where the heroine is on the run from the hero. And that is. We did. We did a deep dive on it. And I mean, it's a perfect. Like, this is a perfect example of, like, an Alpha hero who is just. Just fully wrong from the beginning, but.

[Jennifer Prokop]

In that great way. Yes.

[Sarah McLean]

I love it. And the tee up for this again, you can go, listen, we loved it so much, we did a deep dive of it. But the tee up to this is that for romance reasons, the heroine is tasked with stealing from the dragon's hoard. And she goes in, and she's not a thief, so she is like, I will steal one penny. And so perfect. She takes one penny from his hoard and leaves. It's like, take a penny, leave a penny. She leaves one of her own pennies. With a little note that says, like, I'm sorry.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Sorry I had to do this, but.

[Sarah McLean]

I had no choice. And then she leaves, and he is so enraged. It's so perfect that this woman. That somebody has broken into his hoard, that he has no choice but to chase her down. No choice to fairyland.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Correct.

[Sarah McLean]

It's so fun. He's great.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yeah, it is great.

[Sarah McLean]

And then. Wait, I have one more. And that. And that is. And I talk about it all the time. But Joanna Shoop's tycoon, which is heroine, who is a perfume girl in the Gilded Age, witnesses a bad thing and has no choice but to run from bad guys to Grand Central Station, where she leaps onto a train. This has my great. No, this might be one of. This might be my favorite microtrope.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Leaping on a train.

[Sarah McLean]

No, the way that this book goes is she runs right from the department store where she's a perfume counter girl, and she runs to Grand Central Station. And she is like. She knows that they are chasing her. They are literally chasing her. Her down the train platform. And there is a very handsome man standing outside of the train. And she runs into his arms and says, kiss me. And he does, because he knows the job.

[Jennifer Prokop]

If I must.

[Sarah McLean]

And then he kisses her, and they get on the train, and it turns out she's in the private rail car of the president of the bank of.

[Jennifer Prokop]

New York, who knows how to kiss.

[Sarah McLean]

No notes. And they're on their way to St. Louis. What will they do for that time?

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yeah, I think the key thing here is definitely, like, the danger. Right? Like, this isn't just a road trip. Everybody.

[Sarah McLean]

There's got to be moving.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yeah.

[Sarah McLean]

Yeah.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Right.

[Sarah McLean]

There has to be a threat.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Okay. Do you have any more, like, classic ones?

[Sarah McLean]

Those are all the ones that we have, like, talked about a lot.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Okay, wait, I have one more. Something Wilder by. By Christina Lauren.

[Sarah McLean]

Right.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Because I get. That's really.

[Sarah McLean]

That's an interesting one, because they're on the run kind of too fine.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yeah, I mean, I. I do think it. But I do think the danger part of it there is, like, the. I think the danger part of it is, like, it's not really a road trip. Right. Like someone has died. Right. Like, they are after something that feels like the timing of it is really urgent.

[Sarah McLean]

You know what I mean?

[Jennifer Prokop]

I definitely feel like there's, like, some chasing and stuff. I. I don't know. Like, it definitely doesn't have the. Like, I'm. I'm personally in danger. Like, someone's here to kill me. But it definitely does feel like. Like really high stakes. I think that's why. Yeah, I was thinking of it. Okay. All right, so now we want to talk about some new ones. So I'm going to talk about the new May Marvel book, which is if I told you, I'd have to kiss you, which is great.

[Sarah McLean]

Adorable.

[Jennifer Prokop]

It is about. It's a. It's a. This is. God, this is a great setup, everybody. Okay, so in this, it's essentially two spies who work for the CIA. One of them's name is Yeardley Whitmer, and she's like the super spy. Like, she's the one who's like on the ground and, you know, pulling guns out and like, you know, questioning people and running down alleys and stuff. And. And her code name is Unicorn. And the other heroine is Casey Nolan, who is like the tech support person. And her name is Tabasco. And I'm. Okay, everybody. Secretly, it is my belief, I have no proof or evidence for this. That what they're really trying. Like, it's a symbol to you. Tabasco. This book is spicy and unicorn horny. You heard it here first. This book's spicy and horny.

[Sarah McLean]

Okay.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Anyway, spicy and horny are. So they, like, work together in this way. Now here's the other part of this. Here's what they don't know. This is part that's really fun. These two have been living together for years and each keeping a secret from the other that they worked from the CIA. So they don't know.

[Sarah McLean]

That's terrific. It's like Mr. And Mrs. Smith.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Correct? Exactly. And so what happens at the beginning is they actually. They figure it out really fast. They've broken up.

[Sarah McLean]

Up.

[Jennifer Prokop]

And then they figure, you know, they can tell that there's. The thrill is gone and something's missing and they're not really able to tell each other the truth. And then they. Really quickly, at the beginning, it's sort of revealed, and then they have to go on a big assignment together. And so it's like globe hopping on the run. Right? So. And what happens is, is there is a, like a weapon that could essentially like, wipe out, like it's like a, you know, like, like wipe out all the electricity in a place, right? Like essentially turn it all down somewhere. And this is real dangerous. And it turns out that Casey has actually had a hand in making it. And her handler is missing. And so now she's been passed off to someone else. And they are on the run to try and figure out what's going on. So they are in like Stockholm and they're in all these places and people are chasing them and, and you know, they have to get back to, you know, the, the States to the next place. The part that I like about it in terms of on the run is I think there's a couple really smart things. One is there's this tension kind of between like who's in charge of the mission. Right. Yeardley is like the super spy, but Kayce knows more about like what's happening in terms of like the weapon. So there's like this sort of like handling back and forth. But I also think what's really smart is because they already know each other. There's this whole business in the book about like now we're getting to know each other a different way. Are we going to be able, through the like crucible of this mission, like reshape all of the bad patterns that we were in. There's also one of my other favorite parts about this book. So Yeardley is like a second generation spy and she tells this really great story about how her grandfather was a spy and her grandmother didn't know. And so for years, for decades he was going out on missions and the whole entire time. But this is like, you know, the grandparents, his, the grandmother Nana thought that he was cheating on her. And when he retired and finally told her like, no, I've been a spy, she kicks him out of the fucking house.

[Sarah McLean]

Nice.

[Jennifer Prokop]

And she's like, that's garbage. And then divorces him. And then the minute it's done, essentially shows up and is like, why don't you court me? But this time as who you really are. And so Yardley, this is one of my favorite scenes in this book and I don't want to spoil it because it's really sweet. Is like talking to her grandmother and basically is like, Casey has been a spy the whole time. And her grandmother's like, you didn't clock that she was chatting with our gardener in Portuguese and she is like super strong and like all this stuff. It was really, really cute. Like Yardley, the spy who can read anybody couldn't read her own girlfriend. Friend, right? So this is a really fun on the Run where they are both like sort of like taking turns being in charge of on the run and it's, you know, they have to find out who's responsible and all this. It's great. So that is, if I told you, I'd have to kiss you by May Marvel. And I'm also going to tell you I don't think it's out yet. So sorry everybody. It comes out in June.

[Sarah McLean]

Well, now we all have to wait for it.

[Jennifer Prokop]

This week's episode of Fated Mates is brought to you by Michelle McCra of conspiracies and chemistry.

[Sarah McLean]

So Tessa, our heroine, is 43 years old and a former tech founder who is now a philanthropist. And she is in hiding in plain sight. She doesn't have a great relationship with her family. She does have friends, but she really keeps it tight and like closed up everything. She has an apartment that she doesn't really allow to be public. She has a lot of secrets that she's never allowed anybody to have access to. And she's hired at some point early in this book to rescue a troubled biomedical research company that whose founder and chief scientist, Oliver, who happens to be like a sexy nerd who's slightly younger than her, he is pursuing a piece of cancer research that could actually really like make enormous change in the world. So Tess and Oliver are working together. They need each other in order to do do this really important work. And they know that whatever they are feeling, if they let it impact them and it gets into their work, it could damage both their relationship and this kind of larger thing that they're working on, which is much more important, arguably than both of them. Unfortunately, the chemistry keeps building and Oliver proposes a very simple solution, which is what if we just do this once to bang it out of our system the best. We all know that that is a absolute crackerjack romance plot and it never ever works. And then these two have to figure out how they are going to deal with the fact that this chemistry that they're feeling is not just in the lab.

[Jennifer Prokop]

All right, so if you would like to check out this age gap romance where she's older, there's a secret past, and he falls first. And also nerdy characters who are playing some tabletop games together and other kinds of games. Then check out Conspiracies and Chemistry. If you're podcast app supports it, you can click on the chapter title right now to be taken to buy the book. Thanks to Michelle McCraw for sponsoring this week's episode.

[Sarah McLean]

Okay, I want to talk about Emmy Chandler's Prison Planet series, which I've talked about before, but I want to talk about one specifically because obviously when you're on a prison planet, it is very difficult to run anywhere because you are on a prison planet. But I want to talk about Hunter, which is the second book in the series. And it's basically so the premise here is it's like sexy Hunger Games. Okay, so there are two ways.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Wait, no, I have to really think about that for a minute. Get this. Just give everybody a chance.

[Sarah McLean]

Sit with it. Imagine what I imagine.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Sexy Hunger Games.

[Sarah McLean]

It's fine. Are you ready?

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yeah, I'm ready now.

[Sarah McLean]

All right, so we have Callum. So here's the deal. When you get sent to this prison plan planet, there's no coming off of this prison. There is coming, but there's no coming off of this prison planet.

[Jennifer Prokop]

All in Sarah. And I like that about you.

[Sarah McLean]

This is why people this. They're just getting what they paid for here.

[Jennifer Prokop]

So this podcast is free, everyone.

[Sarah McLean]

So, okay, so if you are. There's. It's a little gendered, everybody. I. It's a prison planet. What do you want from me? So if you are. Are a man, you are set to be basically, like, this is a death sentence. And you are. There is a. There's like a part of the planet that's like, basically Hunger Games. Like, you can. Or it's like. It's. What's that. What's that movie or the book from when we were younger. It's like the greatest.

[Jennifer Prokop]

I need more information from you.

[Sarah McLean]

It's like, where they hunt people. It doesn't matter.

[Jennifer Prokop]

I'm all the Most Dangerous Game, but.

[Sarah McLean]

The Most Dangerous Game. That's it. That's the one I was actually like.

[Jennifer Prokop]

She can't possibly mean the Most Dangerous Game. It's a great short story. I'm going to put it in show notes. If you've never read it, read this story.

[Sarah McLean]

Terrific. Anyway, I was going to say, eric take all that out, but every now, Eric doesn't take things out anymore every day. That's not true, actually.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Tilt to get windmills.

[Sarah McLean]

He's just ungovernable, is what I've discovered. Like, he ultimately is the decider, is how this has worked out.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Sure.

[Sarah McLean]

Because ultimately he is the decider. And so people are always. Recently, people are like, does Eric take anything out? Yes, he takes a lot of shit out, you guys.

[Jennifer Prokop]

But when we're silly, he just leaves it in.

[Sarah McLean]

Rarely. The things we ask him to take.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Out, he's like, that all was boring. I took all that out. The part where you made a big dumb mistake and said, take it out. I left that in.

[Sarah McLean]

It's okay.

[Jennifer Prokop]

It's fine.

[Sarah McLean]

Anyway, so here's the deal. So if you are a man on this prison planet, ultimately you get sent to, like, Sector two or whatever. And in Sector two, like, somebody wealthy gets to come and hunt you. And that's just how it is. And so it's like you. The. The question is, like, how long will it take before you get offed? And then. But if you're a woman, it's arguably much worse, which is you basically become like a. Like. Like a sex. Like just a body for, like, cleaning and sex. And so our main character, the heroine, Macy, is in. She is selectively like, she. She's selectively silent. She, like, refuses to speak. Week she is. She arrives on the prison planet and, like, won't interact with anybody. She gets, like, delivered to a patron and murders him, like, because he deserves it. And what ends up happening is, like, nobody really knows what to do with her. And it becomes clear that this man, this very wealthy man who is coming to hunt a man in Sector 2, discovers that his. His. His brother was murdered by Macy. And so he basically pays extra to have Macy thrown into the enclosure so he can hunt her also. So she gets into this enclosure and there's Callum, who's been like, this is basically his time. Like, his number's up. He's the. He's the prey. And the two of them together have to survive the being hunted. And all the, like, booby traps that are set around this enclosure. And it is really stressful because you're sort of like, well, how will this ever sort itself out? Because they are stuck in. On this planet, in this place. Like, they're being filmed. There are these, like, robot dogs that are, like, vicious and. And, like, constantly after them to, like, push them toward. Soon as it starts to become clear that, like, they're winning the hunt, like, there's like, a whole layer of traps that get set that, like, push them toward being caught or being killed. And at the same. So they are, like, super sexy. They can't. If. If your kink is like that. Ruby Dixon, like, they don't understand each other.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Sure.

[Sarah McLean]

They speak different languages. Macy basically doesn't speak for much of the beginning of this book. But here's to your point about, like, she has a skill that, like, he. So he is. Jen. Like, he is huge. The idea, like, this man is unbeatable because he's like a fucking dinosaur. He's like a T. Rex person. I mean, long arms, but you know what I mean?

[Jennifer Prokop]

He's reacher, but on prison planet.

[Sarah McLean]

Exactly. And. But she. And she, of course, like, she is not. She is like. Like, she seems, like, very weak and frail. Yeah, She's a tech genius, though. So, like, these robot dogs which are programmed to, like, attack and kill. She, like, gets hold of one and like tweaks it so that it's not dangerous to them at all.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Perfect.

[Sarah McLean]

And like, it listens to her instead and he's like. And like all of a sudden she unlocks like a whole layer of the, of like power for them that he could not have done.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Sure. Right. Because he's just like, muscle. I'm all, yeah.

[Sarah McLean]

Because he's just like pure adrenaline. He's pure testosterone. And like, I want to.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Fine.

[Sarah McLean]

That does sound nice, you guys. It's like, this is a, it's a tough one. Like, she, Emmy Chandler does not pull punches. Like, this is not going to be an easy ride for you. You. But it will be a very fun one for you. If this is, if this sounds at all like something you'd be into, I can promise you you're gonna have a great time. So that's Emmy Chandler's Hunter. And you don't have to read these books in order, although if you read the first one first, you'll get a little of Macy's backstory.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Okay, so I also read a handful of like Harlequin Intrigues and Harlequin Romantic Society. And I want to say two of them I talked about on the spring one. But then another one was recommended to me by Susie from the Discord because I was like, she. It's actually really funny. You know, we did that whole category episode and she's like, I'm gonna just read a bunch of these. And they're great. And you know what? They fucking are great if you're just like, I want a pure shot of like adrenaline. So I read three of these. So the first one I'm gonna talk about is a Harlequin romantic suspense called Stranded by Jennifer D. Bokel. And this is apparently book four out of five of a series called Texas Law Fine. And what happens here is. And I was really into this is. So it starts off with Ava and Brett on a date, like a blind date. Someone has set them up and is. They work at the same hospital. And Ava, they, they go back to his place, they have sex. It's fucking great. They have an awesome one night stand. She's really into him, but she also has a huge amount of like family issues, kind of like really that are stressing her out. And the big one is that her grandmother, she has a sister and her sister has like three kids and is like her house is, you know, totally full, but their grandmother is going to need care and she's not going to want to go into like, you know, assisted living. Or whatever. And so Ava realizes, like, chances are really good I'm going to have to maybe bring. Bring her home with me and take care of her. So she. So Brett, like, the next morning is kind of like, can we see each other again? And she's like, I don't think we can, like. And I think they do it via text, right? She's already left. And he's like, I'd like to see you again. And she's like, I think it just has to be a one time thing. All right, fine. Later that afternoon, there is an air. He's an air ambulance pilot, Sarah, and they are transporting a. A serial killer from the hospital.

[Sarah McLean]

It's Con Air.

[Jennifer Prokop]

It is Con Air only. They're transporting this serial killer to, like, essentially a different hospital that is going to be near a prison or something, whatever. And she is one of the few nurses who is qualified to be on the flight because she also was like in the Air Force or something. So she is it. She. So she's like, you know, you've been reassigned to fly in the air ambulance today. And she gets there and they're spread and she's like, oh, awkward. A little bit because we just banged it out last night. And there's a couple other people on the flight and what happens, Sarah? But they are like, it's like a 45 minute helicopter ride. A huge storm comes up out of nowhere. They crash.

[Sarah McLean]

Oh, my goodness.

[Jennifer Prokop]

It's really dramatic. Everyone else on the flight dies except Brett and Ava are sort of thrown free. And then the serial killer and essentially the like, Texas Ranger. And the serial killer, like, gets free, kills the ranger, takes his clothes, right? And is going to, like, sort of, you know, make his own way. But Ava and Brett manage to take like the first aid kit and some food. And then like a flash flood. Like, I mean, it is, like, really dramatic, right? Shit happens. I was l. They're like, holy shit. And then like, you're like, okay, they crashed. And you're like, oh, now there's a flash flood. And, oh, now these things. And so they are on the run. And what they're trying to do is get essentially walk the lake however long it is to this town they were trying to go to. Which the reason Ava agreed to on this flight, I should say, is this is like the hospital where her grandmother is. So she's like, look, if I take this flight, I'll be able to see my grandma. So the two of them are sort of, you know, trying to get back there. But the serial killer needs Something in the medical bag. And so he sees them and he is essentially starting to follow them. So it's basically like he's stalking them as they're trying to survive the helicopter in Crash in the Wild of Texas. And it is a terrific read. It was really fun and like I said, super suspenseful. Really delivered there on the romantic suspense of the suspense part. That's Stranded by Jennifer D. Boeckle.

[Sarah McLean]

All right, I'm gonna go to historical. Okay. I'm gonna go to the Heartbeat and the Dragon by Marie Lipscomb, which I just read last night, and I had a great time with this one. So. Okay, so we know Marie. You may know Marie Lipscomb. A few years ago she wrote a series called the Hearts of Black Mirror. And all it was Histor. All the characters, the hero and heroine were both plus sized. And it was like, you know, like a champion. And like.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Sure, those were great.

[Sarah McLean]

The. The first one, I think was called the Champion's Heart. And the reason why I'm talking about this because this is the fourth book in a, in the four book series. The first three books all track the same couple. This one is a separate couple. But in those first three books, there's like a bad who ultimately in the third book, I think in the series, like, stabs the heroine, who is like a noble woman in this, like, sort of medieval world. And he stabs her and he's caught and he's sent to prison. And you need to know that in order for the setup of this book to work for you. So, but in the Harpy and the Dragon, what happens is that the hero, whose name is Henry, is the. Is the. Is the antihero from those, those earlier books. Like, he is the one who did the stabbing. And now he has been in prison for 10 years.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Oh, boy.

[Sarah McLean]

He has been alone in a cell untouched.

[Jennifer Prokop]

That's bad.

[Sarah McLean]

For 10 years.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Not good, everybody.

[Sarah McLean]

Is it bad? Is it bad, Jen?

[Jennifer Prokop]

It is bad, Sarah.

[Sarah McLean]

I mean, in theory.

[Jennifer Prokop]

If you are a real person, that would be very bad. Everybody.

[Sarah McLean]

Yes, but he's not. He's a romance hero. And so this is real suffering.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Sure.

[Sarah McLean]

So, okay, so what happens is Honora, our heroine, has just witnessed a sort of abusive nobleman, a nobleman, like, abuse one of his servants. Servants. And in response, she has cracked him over the head. And this nobleman has been like. Was basically like, fuck this. She goes to prison. So she gets thrown down into this, like, dungeony thing, into a cell across from our hero, who we meet Jen facing away from her massive man covered in filth. Facing away from her because he can't look at her, right? So then he turns around and then they have this like very sexy sort of bantery thing where ultimately there's this great moment where he's like, I think you wouldn't be so bold with me if we weren't both in cells. And she's like well, but we are. And then a perfect example, the like prison guard or whatever comes down to like. And you know, they're treated very poorly in this prison, but like it's only like a chapter. And the prison guard comes down and is standing there and like taunting the hero. And Honora just like clubs him over the head with a chamber pot, knocks him out cold. And Henry steals the keys to the cell and boom, they're out. And you think to yourself, it took 10 years for this idiot. This city. It has been sitting in a frickin cell. You knew it wasn't the right time.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Sarah.

[Sarah McLean]

One intelligent, one woman with a brain in her head.

[Jennifer Prokop]

See, told you.

[Sarah McLean]

Gets them all out.

[Jennifer Prokop]

He was just really sitting with his feelings. Yeah.

[Sarah McLean]

And then they are. So then it's the two of them, then they have to escape together. So like there's this great moment where Jen. Okay, so there's so like it's cold, it's winter. Like the way that you discover that it's 10 years after the last book is, you know, she's like, how do you survive down here? It's so cold. Like how long have you been down here? And he's like, is it mid winter yet? Yet? And she says yeah, it was last week. And he's like, well then I've been here 10 years and it's just like freezing cold in this dungeon. And all he has Jen is one fur and she's cold. And so what does he do? Gives her this fur.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Amazing.

[Sarah McLean]

And it's like, why are we so easy? Why am I so easy?

[Jennifer Prokop]

That's like a real Julie literally stabbed.

[Sarah McLean]

The hair heroine in the last book. And I'm like, meh.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Doesn't matter.

[Sarah McLean]

Another great moment, he confesses this to her. He's like, I stabbed. I stabbed, you know, this lady. And she goes good, all noble people need to be stabbed at some point in their life.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Listen, I did. I just click and download this book. I did.

[Sarah McLean]

Anyways, so what ensues is this like extremely fun on the run kind of thing where they're. These two are just like cats, chaos monsters. They are constantly causing trouble. They're like knocking people out left and right. You know, I love this the hero is very into the sex, very happy to be finally back at it. And I really had a delightful time reading this book and I was reminded that I really, really love, loved all of these Marie Lipscomb books.

[Jennifer Prokop]

And that's the best feeling when you're like, oh wait, I forgot about this author I love.

[Sarah McLean]

Really so fun. And she hasn't published in a while and and I hope she comes back to it because I had a great time.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Amazing. Perfect.

[Sarah McLean]

So that is the Harpy and the Dragon. This week's episode of Fated Mates is sponsored by Lumi Gummies. Consistent, mellow, and super delicious, Lumi Gummies are specifically designed to make you feel good, not stoned.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Whether you're looking for an endofday de stressor, a midday mood boost, or help getting the best sleep ever, Lumi Gummies has a strain that is right for you. So like everyone, lately I've been feeling a little stressed out. And so one of the things that I find stressful in my daily life, not like extraordinarily stressful, is just like cooking dinner. And so one of the things that I find can be really helpful is I like these orange cream cookies, the sativa flavor. And this gives me just like an uplifting and energizing feeling that lets me like approach this task, which I honestly hate, and instead feel like totally chill about it.

[Sarah McLean]

This is adorable. I love this.

[Jennifer Prokop]

This is great. I know. So it just is like a really nice way to like, maybe tackle like a task that isn't your favorite and instead just make it like a little of groovy and enjoyable.

[Sarah McLean]

Amazing. Well, you could cook your own dinner with Lumi Gummies. If you go to lumigummies.com that's L U M I gummies.com and use the code faded mates for 30 off your order. Lumi Gummies are available nationwide and you can again go to Lumi Gummies. L U M I gummies.com code faded mates for 30% off. If your podcasting app supports it, you can click on the chapter title right now to be taken to buy Lumi Gummy Gummies. Don't forget to use the Code Faded Mates. Thanks to Lumi Gummies for sponsoring this week's episode.

[Jennifer Prokop]

My next one is a Harlequin intrigue this time and I talked about this on my on the preview episode and it's called because it's by Juno Rushton and Juno Rushed in the first, I think the first year we made like a best of list. I put one of her romantic suspense books on and this One is called Wyoming Double Jeopardy.

[Sarah McLean]

Wait, didn't, didn't you just talk. Oh, this comes from that. I got it. Yes, with you.

[Jennifer Prokop]

I just talked about it. It literally just came.

[Sarah McLean]

Wyoming.

[Jennifer Prokop]

I remember. Yeah. Because that's not typically my vibe, but Juno Rushton is my vibe. So in this one, and this is, you know, it's really interesting. This one, like the previous one I talked about, like the stranded one. The kind of. From what I can tell, this is like book five of six, and that was like four or five, is like there's a killer who's introduced in the first book. And then every single one of the books, like the thing that killer is sort of like still either at large or is broken, whatever. And so it's like a groups of people who are essentially impacted by this killer. And then I would assume by the very end of the series the killer will be taken down. So this has like a similar. Which is, I think, kind of smart because you're like, what is tying this all together? So in this one we have, this is book five of the Cowboy State Lawman series. And what happens is it starts off with Melanie Merritt. She is an assistant DA in Laramie, Wyoming. And she is from Denver, but she moved and actually most recently had been in Denver, but has a real interesting background. She went to Exeter and then Harvard and Yale Law School and just really moved out west and is like, kind of has parents who love her, but also she's kind of feels a little bit abandoned by them. Like they were like wealthy, kind of like globe hopping. Her mom's Indian, her stepfather is like British, and they go from India to England, you know what I mean? And they kind of left her boarding school so they could live that life. And they love her, but it's hard. And so Melanie has left Denver like three years ago, moved to Tularamie. And we get the backstory a little later. Later picked up Waylon at a bar and was kind of like, I'm interested in you. Can we go do this thing? And he's like, well, I'm eating a burger right now, but seems like a good idea. And it turned into like a couple of years of this, like sort of casually seeing each other. But it wasn't casual for Waylon. So the book opens with her getting flowers from Waylon. That's basically like, I still want you back. And you're kind of like, who's this guy? Right, well then. And so she's like going to throw the flowers away, but then she can't. She like Picks them back up. And he's a good guy and, you know, whatever. So then she is. Then she's like, heading to her car. She hears things. She, like, trusts her instincts and tries to, like, turn and run, but she's, like, attacked in the parking lot. And then she, like, you know, I mean, as again, like, starts off like, really high, intense scene. She gets away from the guy. She, like, you know, like, it's a fight and she's, like, fighting for her life and she manages to get away from him. And the. The sheriff shows up. And then Waylon, who works for the Laramie Police Department, shows up. And it turns out that she had put away a guy back in Denver who's a serial killer who, without anybody telling her, had been released from, like, the supermax prison on, like, a technicality. And nobody from Denver thought to call her. And so she goes back to Denver and is like, what's going on? How I know it was him for, like, reasons, right? He left his, like, sort of calling card and the two of them then. So it's like the kind of on the run part is like, you know, they are. They leave Laramie, they go to Denver. They are trying to investigate. They're driving back to Laramie. Like, someone runs them off the road, right? Like, so it's really intense. And the thing that's, like, really interesting about this book is like, she knows or thinks she knows who it is, right? She's like, it is for sure the serial killer guy. And Waylon believes her. And he's basically like, my job is to keep you alive because I'm in love with you.

[Sarah McLean]

Nice.

[Jennifer Prokop]

And so in the course of, like, trying to get away from this guy and figure out, like, exactly what's going on, they suspect now, like, hey, maybe he's working with someone. Is there a copycat, right? Like, that kind of thing. They have a finally a talk about, like, sort of the future of their relationship and they have some great sex and they figure it out. But, like, at the end, you know, the. The killer, like, ends up kidnapping her and, like, Waylon has to save her. And it's all great. So I ended up really loving it. It was kind of like Juno Rushton, you know, the job. So that's Wyoming. Double jeopardy.

[Sarah McLean]

Nice.

[Jennifer Prokop]

It's great.

[Sarah McLean]

Well, you are talking about Wyoming, so I am going to talk about Kentucky.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Sure.

[Sarah McLean]

They're the same go together.

[Jennifer Prokop]

They're both states.

[Sarah McLean]

They are, in fact, both states. I. But also, like, there's a little bit of a cowboy vibe to this one. That I'm talking about. So I want to talk about Bourbon and Lies by Victoria Wilder. And I just want to shout out Montgomery and Taggart booksellers. Because when I was in there, I was talking to Elizabeth, who owns Montgomery Taggart, and I said, recommend me a book that, like, recommend me something. And she. She pushed Bourbon and Lies into my hands.

[Jennifer Prokop]

It's a great cover.

[Sarah McLean]

And she. It's got a great cover. And. And she was like, this is written by a local author, and I really liked it.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Before you talk about the local author, can I tell you, Little Romance is graduating from college, everybody, next month. And our dinner reservations, like, the night before are in Chester, Connecticut. And he's like, it's my favorite town around here. And I was like, yeah, me too. And he's like, what are you talking about?

[Sarah McLean]

And me, too.

[Jennifer Prokop]

I was like, sarah. And I love it there. And he was like, you guys are fucking weirdos. But anyway, it was just really funny. So.

[Sarah McLean]

Well, you had to report back on that dinner because, like, the. It's the weirdest little small town. I love it. I mean, it's the sweetest little small town, but I can't figure out why it exists. Okay, well, how it continues to survive.

[Jennifer Prokop]

For us to go to dinner and for you to get cool kids from.

[Sarah McLean]

College head over there in their free time. So that's how it survives. Okay, listen, but I have to tell you something on the back cover. I'm going to tell you all about this book, but I think it's important that I read the first line of the back cover to you. In Fiasco, Kentucky.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yes.

[Sarah McLean]

There's only one rule. Never fall for a Fox brother.

[Jennifer Prokop]

I love it already.

[Sarah McLean]

So listen, name is destiny here. And Grant Fox is hot and. And broken, tortured. He's a former cop whose, like, love. The love of his life, died in his arms in a terrible, terrible tragedy. And then he was like, I can't do this anymore. So he's not a cop anymore, and.

[Jennifer Prokop]

I could be a cop. Yeah, sure.

[Sarah McLean]

So he now lives in Fiasco, Kentucky, with his brothers who are all, like. Who all have, like.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Do they have names? Like. Like, man, it's like, my name is.

[Sarah McLean]

One of them's name is Grizz. One of them seems as ace. And I'm like, I don't hate it. Listen, I don't hate any of this. Not one. Every one of them can get. Anyone, like, literally would look you dead in the eye and boom, your clothes fall off. Like, this is exactly how they're the Fox brothers, Sarah. I mean, of course your clothes fall off. I don't know what the problem on this. Okay? But here's the truth, you guys, all right? Here's another one of my favorite microtropes. Might be my favorite microtrope.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Okay?

[Sarah McLean]

I love it when a hero is celibate.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Oh, okay.

[Sarah McLean]

I don't. I don't love it when he's a virgin, but I do love it when he hasn't done it for a long time. So this guy Grant, I mean, listen, he's been through it. His love died in his arms, and he hasn't had sex ever since.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Sure. Terrible.

[Sarah McLean]

Terrible for him, but good for us. Good for me at least. So anyway. But more importantly, there is a plot to this book, and I'll tell you about it. Okay? So. But my point is. So they live in Kentucky where they. Now they all make bourbon, because that's what you do. So here's the deal. He. The heroine of this book, whose name is Laney, has been through it. She got herself wrapped up in. She's an event planner who, like, accidentally got herself wrapped up in a killing situation where she rescues a woman and witnesses a crime that she should not have witnessed. And she immediately sort of falls in with this detective who kind of immediately. A woman detective who I assume at some point becomes a heroine in this series who kind of notices instantly that, like, something is fishy about, like, all of the situation that Lainey was in and sends her into, like, witness protection, but, like, secret. Secret, like, not. She's off the grid witness protection. Like, not everybody knows that she exists in witness protection protection. So this woman is looking. The, like, woman who helps her sends her to the Fox brothers because she knows, like, these other hot. One of these other hot brothers. And she's basically like, I'm sending this woman to live on your land or to live near you, and I just need you to keep an eye out for her. Well, of course. Immediately, Grant is like, there's something up with this woman. Like, she has secrets.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yeah.

[Sarah McLean]

And, like, she has. Basically, like, the book begins. And I. The very beginning of the book, she's Is this great moment where, like, she's being told. Lainey's being told, like, how to witness protection. And she. And, like, the first line of the book in her POV is only lie like, if you have to. Right? Because. And so she ends up kind of realizing that she has to keep herself secret, and she, like, creates a kind of, like, elaborate, deliberate identity that, like, she shouldn't. It's not like it is not like a joke in the book, but she's just, like, kind of a mess about, like, what her identity is, where she comes from. She comes from New York City, but she, like, claims she's come from Chicago. And Grant instantly is like, there's no way. Not Chicago. She comes from Colorado. And Grant's like, there's no way this woman is a Colorado. And, like, she is.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yeah.

[Sarah McLean]

Like, there's not. Like, there's nothing about this that is true. And so. But what ends up happening is she kind of lives on this land, on this, like, bourbon distilleries land and fiasco. And, like, it is a really interesting kind of, like, quiet example of on the run. Because she's there. They are still. Like, she is here in this town, in this small town, like, really, like, falling for it. Falling for, you know, the, you know, the kids in the town. Like, everybody sort of.

[Jennifer Prokop]

She.

[Sarah McLean]

She really becomes, like, kind of liked in this town. And then on top of it, there is this, like, back and forth between her and Grant where he is, like, instantly drawn to her because she's so beautiful. Like, there's everything. And, like, there's this great moment where, like, he sees.

[Jennifer Prokop]

He.

[Sarah McLean]

His dog decides that the dog really likes her.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yeah.

[Sarah McLean]

And so he goes to, like, get the dog one night because the dog won't leave the por. Real, like, old school Julie style. Right.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Well, that's good stuff, right?

[Sarah McLean]

And he goes to get the dog and, like, the dog won't move. And then she comes out, the heroine comes out and. And Lainey and onto the porch, and she's wearing, like, a tank top, no bra, tight shorts. And he's like, sorry to bother you. I just came to get my dog, you know, and she's. And he's been, like, doing something. And he's, like, bleeding. And she's like, you're bleeding. And he's like, I don't want to.

[Jennifer Prokop]

You know, I don't.

[Sarah McLean]

You don't have to worry about it. Like, it's just. It's man blood. And then he, like, goes back to his, like, house, his cabin, like, on the land, right? And, like, immediately, like, takes off his clothes and starts to, like, jerk off because he's obsessed with this woman and she's so beautiful. And then, like, when he's done and he's like, he's noisy. Like, he, like. Yeah, he's noisy about it. And when he's done, he walks out onto, like, the Porsche, like, I don't know, get fresh air. And there's a box of band aids, like, sitting on the porch and he's like, oh, my God. She, like, came and left these band aids while I was drooling, working off in my house. And then of course, it cuts to her and she's like, holy shit, he was drinking.

[Jennifer Prokop]

I am not mad about any of this. It's amazing.

[Sarah McLean]

I deeply enjoyed this because it was like sort of a. Like very kind of slow, like, sleepy. Like, like some. There's something very, like, heady about this book and like a real sense of like, we're just waiting. We're all in stasis while we're waiting for this, like, big shoe to drop.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yeah, right. I love that feeling. Yeah.

[Sarah McLean]

And so it was. And so it was like, really this lovely. Like, they got to know each other, they fell for each other, they really wanted each other. But, like, you knew.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yeah.

[Sarah McLean]

The clock was ticking and at some point, like, somebody was gonna come and like, fuck shit up. And it does happen.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yeah.

[Sarah McLean]

And it's, you know, and it. I really enjoyed it. I like this book a lot.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Great.

[Sarah McLean]

It's called Bourbon and Lies by Victoria Wilder. And thanks to Elizabeth at Montgomery Taggart for recommending it to me.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Okay, so I. How many more do you have?

[Sarah McLean]

I could have two.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Oh, okay.

[Sarah McLean]

Well, I could have one.

[Jennifer Prokop]

I have one more.

[Sarah McLean]

Okay, then I will have one.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Okay, so I am going to talk about. Okay, this is another one you're have to pre order because it doesn't come out till the end of May, but is awesome. And I talked about it also on the preview episode. I am my own discoverability buddy, Sarah. So this one is called Hunted in Italy by Delaney Diamond. This is a Harlequin romantic suspense. And you listen everybody. I need you to trust me and pre order this book. It is five bucks. Okay? And here's what happens. So it starts off with Zaire Nichols in Italy. She's an American. She. She is a polyglot. She speaks like five languages and she is there as an interpreter, just like at a business. And she is kind of like, really excited about living in Rome, but also like, not like a wild and crazy party girl, unlike her roommate, Josie. So the sort of. It starts off with Josie essentially calling. She's been out the night before with like a hot Italian and Will's I. They're both interpreters for the same company. Will Zaire like, essentially take the job she was supposed to take today. So Zaire trots off to, like, the job and go like, kind of like goes to get our lunch in the cafeteria or whatever and overhears some people, some voices talking about a plan to plant a bomb at an American embassy. And so she like manages to record part of it and is like kind of freaked out and is like, I gotta get out of here. Right, right. But she ends up then like on the street, like someone almost tries to run her over, right? Like, so she's like really in danger. And so she flees to the American embassy. And there what happens is they essentially, at first. Or she's like, basically like, I have a recording. They're like, great, give us to us. And she's like, no, I'm not going to do that because I need you to get me back to the United States. And the way that you're going to do that is by me holding this over your head. Like, this is a black woman who does not trust essentially the people to take care of her. And she's like, this is the best. Like, this is my insurance. This is going to get me back. Right? I'm an American citizen, but I don't really believe that you'll take care of me If I give this to you. You'll just send me back out and tell me it's fine. So in the meantime, Buck Swanson, ex Navy Seal and CIA black ops agent, has been essentially, I don't know, activated to come and get her, right? So he's in D.C. they, his boss wakes him up and is like, go get her. And he's like, okay, I'll do that. But when he gets to the embassy, they essentially have her handcuffed to the table. And listen, this book, remember we were talking about like old school tropes, you know, the minute he sees her picture, he feels something. He's like, what's going on? I'm feeling a feeling. I'm just looking at a picture. And he's outraged. She's been, you know, handcuffed. And Sarah, this is when I really came online. So he, they essentially, her roommate has been found dead and now they suspect that she is the murderer. And he was basically like, you idiots. What kind of idiot would go kill their roommate and then show up to the American embassy and like with a story, right? Like he's like, clearly people are after her. So he is like, uncuff this woman now, Sarah. I the scream. I scrumpt when this happened. So he sits down and he puts his hand on her wrist and he's like, I'm gonna ask you some questions. Sarah. This man is a human lie detector.

[Sarah McLean]

My favorite. I was like, my favorite, my favorite microdroke.

[Jennifer Prokop]

But I was like, what is happening? And she's like, basically, like, what's happening? He's like, well, I'm just gonna try and tell if you're telling the truth by listening to whether your heartbeat is racing. And I was like, okay, I am in love with this book already.

[Sarah McLean]

Oh, my God.

[Jennifer Prokop]

And so in it, like, I feel like a lot of the. So then, you know that he's like, we're gonna go back to your apartment and get your things. This is still. You guys. I'm not really giving a lot away. This is still, like the first 20% of the book, right? We're going to go get your things. But as you know, when they have a convoy of trucks, like, don't worry, I'm. I'm here to keep you safe. And they get in the, you know, to the apartment, and then, like, there's an explosion out on the street. Someone has attacked the convoy and blown up one of the cars. And so he's like, don't worry about it. He. Sarah makes a rope out of the bed sheets and is like, we're going to go out the window. And she's like, excuse me, we are not going to go out the window. What are you talking about? And he's like, this our only chance. We can't go out the main front door.

[Sarah McLean]

Door.

[Jennifer Prokop]

So, you know, he's like, I got you, or whatever. So they go out the window, and then they're on the street and they're running. And then this is the part that's really funny. He, like, sees the guy with a motorcycle, and he's like, we're going to need your motorcycle. And of course, this guy's Italian. He doesn't speak English. And she's like, wait, I'm an interpreter. So she says to the man, like, you know, like, sir, we're going to have to take your, you know, motorcycle in Italian. And the guy's like. And, you know, buck, like, you know, takes them off the motorcycle. And I was like, like, whatever is happening right now, it's all the things I love in a book. And it's just again, like, really fun. And I think this. The plotting is really smart. Like, her just saying I have a recording really isn't enough. Right? Like, once there's somebody who's dead and she's in danger and, you know, so they're on the run, and the whole thing is like, they have to stay ahead of the people in pursuit of them and at the same time, like, preventing this deadly attack, right? There has been these attacks happening and she doesn't know which embassy it is, you know, and at one point he's like, do you know how many embassies there are? And she's like 168. And so they have to figure out, like, which. Right. Which. Which one it is using, like, the small clue she has about who she might have been heard talking and then the people after her. So again, this doesn't come out till the end of May. Please pre order. It is a really fun ride. And that is Hunted Through Italy by Delaney Diamond.

[Sarah McLean]

I'm going to talk about another historical. I'm going to talk about Dalliances and Devotion by Felicia Grossman. And this one is one of the Pinkerton, is one of her Pinkerton books. Which means. So the. The heroine of this book. This is such a. Listen, Felicia's so good at like. Yeah, her heroines are so unique and like, un. Often like, unseen in historicals. And. And so Amalia, the heroine, has been divorced twice and she is a beauty columnist and. But she sort of masquerades. It's a little like the Scarlet Pimpernel because she like, masquerades as this kind of like, vapid, like, beauty columnist who like, only cares about, like, dresses and hair and like, being beautiful. And the reality is, is that she is. She has. Has divorced twice. And she is keenly aware of divorce as a tool for women's freedom.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yeah.

[Sarah McLean]

And so she is raising money and like, basically she's using her fortune to help women who cannot get divorces, who don't have the money to get divorces and don't have the power to get divorces to do that.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Amazing.

[Sarah McLean]

Set themselves free. In order to do this, however, she has to get back to Delaware where the Truett family fortune is being divided. And she has like, she needs access to that money and. But in order to. But when she sort of makes this plan, it becomes very clear that, like, someone is out to prevent her from getting there. So the question is. And like, it sort of has like a stalkery vibe. Like, there's definitely someone out to get her. And is it to get her before she gets to the money or is it like, to get her in general? Like, there's sort of this question mark. Either way, her family is like, fuck this. You are not traveling alone. Like, you are receiving death, death threats. There is no way that this is happening. So she and David Ziskin, who is a Pinkerton now, and the Pinkertons are like a private investigation, a private firm. This is real. This is real. American history. They are a private firm of, like, investigators, bodyguards, protectors, you know, whatever. You can hire a Pinkerton to, like, travel with you.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Sure, why not?

[Sarah McLean]

Here's the thing, though. David's not just any Pinkerton. David is a boy. A man. Excuse me? A real man. A man who. Amalia. Amalia and David have known each other for a very long time. And that is because David was very good friends with Amalia's brother, who is now dead. And so there's this kind of like, nice, like there's this lovely kind of grief that the two of them share but have never really, really, like, addressed. It comes out that David and Amalia, like, were deeply in love, like, ages ago. And like, it didn't work. And then she. Now she's twice divorced, like, and so there are these kind of big questions about childhood, about, like, long term love, about unrequited love, about, like, missed connections. This is real, like, beautiful second chance romance. But it's also because they are in like, such tight proximity to each other because they're traveling obviously, you know, across the country so that she can get to her inheritance. But also, like, he is in a constant state of vigilance to make sure that she is being protected.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yeah. Love it.

[Sarah McLean]

Right? And then on top of it, it is making him crazy because he is so close to this woman who he wants so, so badly, but she's rejected him, she broke his heart, and now, like. And he is also like sort of fallen prey to this idea that, like, she doesn't. She's like, turned into something like, vapid and fake, like, flat. Which of course she hasn't, because she has this, like, really like, rich plan for her life, her money, the future, like how she can change the world. This is especially interesting. All of fleece books cover, you know, tackle issues of Jew, of Jewishness in history. So, like, there's this really rich layer.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Of.

[Sarah McLean]

Jewish American history in the late 19th century. And it's just a great. It's really a fun book. Yeah, it's like part road trip, part on the run, part romance.

[Jennifer Prokop]

You got a Pinkerton, though. You got a Pinkerton with you? Something's gonna happen.

[Sarah McLean]

I know. They're so dreamy, those Pinkerton men. Anyway. And I mean, David is just. He's a delight. He just is. So he's like, who hurt you? I gotta save you.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Amazing. It's great.

[Sarah McLean]

It's terrific. And then there's like, it's just. It's chaotic, the trip back, and it's. It's very fun. So you're gonna love this one. If you love a historical, this one's for you. Dalliances and Devotion by Felicia Grossman.

[Jennifer Prokop]

So fun.

[Sarah McLean]

And then I just want to name check. I. I forgot to say this, but there's also. We didn't really talk about on the run, like, from yourself, like a kind of softer on the run. And so I just want to say we talked about this book. We've talked about this book before, so I'm just going to name it. But Kiss the Girl by Zoraida Cordova is a great example of, like, how you can do on the run from family identity, life without. With the threat of discovery and the sort of a thread of mystery, but without it being, like.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Right. Like life or death. Yeah, exactly.

[Sarah McLean]

And somebody's threatening to kill you. And that is a rock star who is running from, like, her father who wants to, you know, send her off to have like a, you know, next album, fresh career as a solo artist. And she's like, I don't think I want this. And so she, like, sort of sneaks off with a.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Right, Right. Like, I'm. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's true. I didn't really think about those. I really did think. You know, one of the things I ended up thinking a lot about for me was like, I'm not. Not. I don't really like true crime because it's. Those are real. It's just not for me, really. But like, these books, I think if you are a true crime reader, like, a lot of these romantic suspense books probably would, like, you know what I mean? Like, I was really like, oh, yeah, they're on the run from a serial killer. And it just feels really like it. The whole idea of, like, the existential danger that like. Of like a. Like, really, like, you're in a lot of these. It's like you're in the wrong place at the wrong time. Right. Or you're doing your job. You know, One of the things I really liked a lot of. I didn't mention it, but in the Wyoming Double Jeopardy book is when Waylon is finally like, why did we break up? I was in. I'm in love with you. And she was kind of like, well, I am a. I'm gonna be the DA and you're a cop, and it's gonna really compromise all my cases. And he was kind of like, like, so kind of like, a little bit. So what? But then when she explained it to him, he really had to think, like, she's right, and it's gonna impact Impact her more than me because she's a woman. And it's gonna right, like, essentially lead everyone to think that she, like, slept her way to the top or that I'm, like, feeding her easy cases. And I don't wanna, like, spoil exactly what happens. But he is not. He's not just, like, it's no big deal. He takes it really seriously. And I thought it was really great to sort of have her. Her pride. The reason be, like, parts she doesn't wanna, like, rely on. So I really think, like, that's a big part of it too, is, like, it can't just be like, I'm putting all my problems in your lap. I think that's why the competency thing is so important.

[Sarah McLean]

Yeah. We also didn't talk about, like, the level of gentleness that is often a piece of this. These romances, especially if in the situation where, like, again, heteronormatively, like, when a woman is sure the run and. And the hero sort of is assisting her. I didn't have this on my list, but as you were just talking, I was thinking about Adriana Anders is under her skin, which is. You guys, check your content warnings on this. Like, this is a brutal read in a lot of ways. The. Here, the heroine is on the run from an absolutely sadistic ex husband. And. And the. And. But what's interesting about this is, like, she is not just on the run. She is flat out in hiding.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yeah.

[Sarah McLean]

Hoping that her ex husband will never find her.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yeah.

[Sarah McLean]

And of course, like, when this is the tee up, we know again, it's that sort of, like, dread that's coming. And she. She has this secret she doesn't want to tell. The, like, this. This new man who she's like, landed in this town. And the man who lives next door, Ivan, is a. I mean, he's so. He's like a gentle giant. Like, and he's so careful with her because he knows, like, before he's even had a chance to touch her, he knows, like, there is something really, really, like, wreck about this woman.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yeah.

[Sarah McLean]

And he understands that, like, what she needs is not just protection, but also, like, care and like, gentle, kind love. And it's. I mean, Audrey Ann Anders, she doesn't miss for me.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Well. And it's kind of like we could have talked about white out. I mean, I feel like, you know, this is a woman who really understands, like, on the run at a very deep level. And then there's like, the books where it's like, primal place play and they play and, like, Right. It's like on the run is kink. Right. So I think there's a lot of ways in which like she does. I mean I was like I was gonna really talk about whiteout because we've talked about a million times. But I think you're right that she's someone who is like interested at a very deep level about what that means. Yeah, yeah.

[Sarah McLean]

That is a solid TBR we delivered.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yeah.

[Sarah McLean]

Anyway, maybe you don't know this but at the end of every episode when you. You can also head over to Bookbub where all of the books that we talk about are listed. So you can follow them on Bookbub and then get an email.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Right, if one of these books is released or on sale.

[Sarah McLean]

Yeah, exactly. So follow Faded Mason, Bookbub and links in the show notes obviously and then you get an email when any of these are down priced. You can also now follow us us on pagebound co and all these books will be there as well in a little block I think and follow us there anyway and like take the quest. Take the fade of mates quest. I love that. Anyway, I'm Sarah McLean. I'm here with my friend Jen Prokop. We are Fated Mates. You can find us every Wednesday wherever you get your podcasts.

[Jennifer Prokop]

You.

[Sarah McLean]

You can find us online where there is a full list of the books that we [e-mail] just click on show notes. You'll see everything there along with other things like links to the Most Dangerous Game and other correct, you know, things that we talked about this week. Also you can find us on threads on Blue sky and on Instagram still. But that's subject to change whenever our whims.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Sure.

[Sarah McLean]

Whenever the wind blows through. And what else? Don't forget to take the survey thetamates.net survey we want to hear your thoughts.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Check out the collections department and have a great week.

[Sarah McLean]

Yeah, if you are on the run, we hope that it's with somebody who.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Is real hot who knows how to make a rope out of bed sheets. I don't know what else to tell you.