07.35: Celebrity + Normie Romance

Summary

Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People

Episode: 07.35: Celebrity + Normie Romance
Release Date: May 28, 2025

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Introduction

In Episode 07.35 of Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People, co-hosts Sarah MacLean and Jennifer Procup delve into the captivating subgenre of Celebrity + Normie Romance. This episode explores the dynamics between famous personalities and everyday individuals, examining how these relationships navigate the complexities of fame, privacy, and personal growth.

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Defining Celebrity + Normie Romance

Sarah MacLean begins by categorizing celebrity romance as a broad umbrella within the romance genre, further distinguishing it from related subgenres like sports and rock star romances. She expresses a particular affinity for Celebrity Normie romances, where the narrative centers on a celebrity entangled in a relationship with a non-famous individual, often bringing a historical romance feel to contemporary settings.

"Celebrity romance is a big umbrella romance... for me, the appeal of the TV film actor is a similar appeal to the wallflower rake appeal."
— Sarah MacLean [26:14]

Jennifer Procup adds to the definition by highlighting the unique challenges and allure that come with blending celebrity status with ordinary life. She references classic examples, such as the film "Notting Hill," to illustrate the quintessential Celebrity + Normie dynamic.

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Evolution and Trends in the Subgenre

The hosts discuss how Celebrity + Normie Romance has evolved over time. Jennifer points out that earlier iterations often featured untouchable celebrities paired with deeply normal individuals, mirroring historical romance tropes like the governess and duke.

"As I understand it... these books are doing very different things... I think Sports Romance is about something completely different than Celebrity Romance."
— Jennifer Procup [35:58]

Sarah observes a shift towards more nuanced portrayals, where celebrities are depicted as flawed individuals grappling with their public personas and personal lives. This evolution reflects a broader trend in romance novels to create more relatable and multifaceted characters.

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Notable Examples and Hosts' Favorites

Sarah presents a curated list of Celebrity Normie romances, highlighting several key titles:

1. "The Hollywood Jinx" by Sariah Wilson
   A small-town librarian and a glamorous movie star navigate a staged relationship amidst personal turmoil.

2. "Fan Service" by Rosie Dannon
   An actor grapples with real-life werewolf transformations while reconnecting with a dedicated fan.

3. "Celebrity Normie" by Olivia Dade
   A TV actor seeks normalcy with the help of a therapist who becomes his confidante and love interest.

Jennifer shares her top picks, including:

• "The Mechanic" by Reina Torres
  A celebrity actress goes on the run and finds solace with a small-town mechanic.

• "Ghosted" by JM Darhauer
  A former teen star attempts to rebuild his life and reconnect with his past love.

Additionally, Sarah recommends QB Tyler's series, emphasizing the depth and chemistry in titles like "Keep Her Safe" and "The Mixtape."

"If you are a Fated Mates listener and you haven't, what have you been doing. I'm gonna be. So anyway, shutting it down and downloading immediately."
— Jennifer Procup [112:50]

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Insights and Discussion

The conversation delves into how modern Celebrity + Normie Romance reflects societal shifts, particularly the parasocial relationships fostered by social media. Sarah notes that the accessibility of celebrities through platforms like Instagram and TikTok has blurred the lines between fame and normalcy, making these romances more relatable yet complex.

"Parasocial relationship that we have with like celebrity online... We're seeing it like we're seeing into celebrities' homes."
— Sarah MacLean [41:16]

Jennifer concurs, explaining that today's celebrities are more "touchable" and integrated into fans' daily lives, contrasting with the untouchable stars of the past. This accessibility adds layers to the romantic dynamics, as norms and boundaries become more fluid.

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Book Recommendations

The hosts enthusiastically recommend a variety of Celebrity + Normie Romance novels, each offering unique takes on the trope:

• "The Stand" by Lily Vale
  A heroine who looks strikingly like a famous star trades places with her double, leading to unexpected romantic entanglements.

• "Not a Bad Boy" by Louisa Edwards
  A movie star regenerates his image by reconnecting with a woman from his past in a small-town setting.

• "Set Piece" by Lana Schwartz
  A producer and a casting director navigate their tumultuous past and present while working on a high-profile project.

• "Nora Goes Off Script" by Annabelle Monaghan
  A screenwriter's life intertwines with a movie star's after her husband leaves her, blending professional and personal challenges.

"If you are looking for something like really soapy, right, like these people are going through it, then you would really like the mixtape by Brittany Cherry."
— Sarah MacLean [110:12]

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Conclusion

Sarah and Jennifer conclude the episode by encouraging listeners to explore the Celebrity + Normie Romance subgenre, emphasizing its blend of glamour and everyday relatability. They highlight the emotional depth and character development that make these stories resonate with readers.

"Please send us your recommendations for Celebrity Normie books. They are my favorite and I'm always looking for new stuff to read."
— Jennifer Procup [115:09]

Listeners are invited to visit fatedmates.net for more content, book lists, and upcoming events, ensuring they stay connected with the vibrant Fated Mates community.

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Notable Quotes:

• "Climate change is for real. It doesn't matter how much you shut down. It's happening."
  — Jennifer Procup [02:03]

• "Celebrity is a very particular kind of appeal... it's like the most compelling thing to him and like he would give it all up for her."
  — Sarah MacLean [40:47]

• "It's a really smart element. And even though I'm now kind of in Montana, in this small town, how do I... People will know me wherever I go."
  — Jennifer Procup [40:57]

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Stay Connected:
Join Sarah and Jennifer every Wednesday on Fated Mates for more insightful discussions and romance book recommendations. Visit fatedmates.net for additional resources and event information.

Transcript

[Jennifer Procup]

So last night, Mr. Reid's romance and I are out in our neighborhood in Chicago. In Chicago. Okay. There's a great neighborhood named Pilsen that is traditionally Mexican American.

[Sarah MacLaine]

I want to go there.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yes. The food is amazing.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Can we go there when I'm there?

[Jennifer Procup]

Yes. And. And also the other thing that is okay, the food's great. Pilsen. But the thing that's really amazing at Pilsen is the unbelievable murals that are painted throughout the neighborhood. It is truly a great place. But one of my favorite Mexican restaurants there with my friend Jessica took me to now has an outpost in my neighborhood, Hyde Park. So we went there last night. It was great. And it's just like, one of those places where you get, like, great tacos. Oh, my God. These. These plantains that were amazing. And anyway, we're leaving the restaurant, and the. You know, there's this, like, the beep of the, like, Amber alert. Alert something. It's being pushed out to your phone, right?

[Sarah MacLaine]

I think it's not an Amber Alert, but you go, I'm predicting it is.

[Jennifer Procup]

Listen, Sarah, I kid you not. It said it was a weather alert about a dust storm.

[Sarah MacLaine]

No.

[Jennifer Procup]

And I was like, I am not ready, actually. What in the.

[Sarah MacLaine]

John Steinbeck.

[Jennifer Procup]

Correct. And we are kind of like, what the fuck? Like, really? Like, come on. So anyway, we drive home, which, you know, we're, like, in our neighborhood, right? So it was like, we're two miles away from home, right? So we get home and we look off, and, you know, I live in a pretty dense urban neighborhood. I couldn't really see the horizon, but I could see something like, like a brown cloud looming, right? Like. Like a plague. And so then we get in the house, and the air conditioning had been on because it'd been really hot. Thank God. Because then within five minutes, I literally, like, couldn't see out the window. And then it just, like, blew past us. And this morning, I was looking at people's videos of, like, downtown Chicago, like, enveloped in a dust cloud, and it just flew right through. Apparently it was from southern Illinois, like, topsoil.

[Sarah MacLaine]

These plains states. What?

[Jennifer Procup]

Listen, Sarah, I've lived here for a long time.

[Sarah MacLaine]

I've never lived away from water. This is why.

[Jennifer Procup]

I'm sorry, everyone, but, like, climate change is for real. It doesn't matter how much you shut down. It's happening. So it was wild.

[Sarah MacLaine]

That's crazy.

[Jennifer Procup]

And the videos are crazy. I'll put a bunch of them in show notes in case you missed this, like, strange weather phenomenon.

[Sarah MacLaine]

But I don't like the idea of dust in general. This is why there's a lot of discussion about westerns right now. I don't want any of that. That feels dirty.

[Jennifer Procup]

Dirty? No.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Feels like I'm gonna have to shower twice a day in a Western.

[Jennifer Procup]

Maybe three times. Come in for a midday shower.

[Sarah MacLaine]

You know in those old books when it would be like, he smelled of musk and horse and man, I was like, no. When I was. True story. When I was 12 and read that, I was like, yeah, that must be great. Now that I'm some other age, still very young, everyone. I'm like, oh, no, I know what that smell is. And that smells like a dust bowl.

[Jennifer Procup]

I don't want it. I don't want it. Well, so. Okay. Maybe we should welcome everyone to the podcast.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Welcome painted mates, everyone. I don't think I've ever. For the record, I'm Sarah MacLaine. I read romance novels and I write them. And I'm not sure I've ever said any hero smelled of musk and horse and man. Maybe horse, maybe.

[Jennifer Procup]

Well, only romance horse, though. It's different.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Romance horse. Romance horse is like. Smells like new car. Exactly.

[Jennifer Procup]

I don't know. Okay, so I'm Jennifer Procup, a romance reader and editor. And listen, here's the other really fun thing. Summer book tour season is upon us.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Oh, it is.

[Jennifer Procup]

We're gonna talk about faded mates live. Second.

[Sarah MacLaine]

I'm gonna get tacos in Chicago.

[Jennifer Procup]

You're gonna get tacos in Chicago. And I am also going to be. So I. I'm gonna. Cause it comes first on the calendar, which is June 30th.

[Sarah MacLaine]

I like romance heroines.

[Jennifer Procup]

You know, the episode's just over. I don't know what else. Can we top that? I don't think so.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Welcome, everyone. If you're new here, if you're reading romance novel and she doesn't come first, get the fuck out.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah, right.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Get the fuck out of that book. DNF not worth it. I'm not kidding when I say I have DNF for that. Like, no. Pardon me. Absolutely not.

[Jennifer Procup]

Actually, that'll be a good lead into something. I'm talking about a book I'm gonna talk about later. Okay.

[Sarah MacLaine]

We should do an episode that's like, things we've DNF'd for. And they should be those kind of things. It's not racism, which we DNF for, but like that.

[Jennifer Procup]

But like, you know, he comes first.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Get outta here.

[Jennifer Procup]

Game over. Only if it is a male. Male romance. Right. That's the only circumstances under Which a man can come first, because that's the only people coming. I am doing an event with Mia Sosa for her book that is coming out called I Love her. Me too. Mia is so fun. Called When Javi Met Mari. And it comes out at the end of June. And so on June 30, I will be in Chicago at a bookstore called the Last Chapter, talking about the book with Mia. And you can find all the details about that on her Instagram or her website, which is miasosa.com point of order, we stay.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Not knowing names of books. It's called When Javi Dumped Mari. But that's okay. You're like, whatever, whatever.

[Jennifer Procup]

What did I say?

[Sarah MacLaine]

Even When Javi Met Mary. Well, listen, I don't know the titles of anything. I don't even know the titles of my own books. It's fine. We see one message all the time. Season one.

[Jennifer Procup]

Correct. So wait. All right, anyway, it's a great book. It's a second chance romance. Like, kind of. Not like Friends to Lovers. It's got, like. Anyway, the thing that's really hilarious, though, is, like, everyone knows. I'm like, I don't know, dumb about Instagram. And Mia was so great because she sent me an Instagram, like, the. Like, the promos, right? So I was like, oh, I'll share this to my. To my Instagram.

[Sarah MacLaine]

How'd that go for you, dummy?

[Jennifer Procup]

Pretty bad, actually. I was like, okay, I don't really know how to do this, so I'm just gonna take a screenshot of this picture of me and put it on so you can, like, see the arrows. But those are just, like, fake arrows. You're not gonna be able to press on them on my story. And then I tagged Mia, and she, like, literally, so great. She's like, I guess I should have just sent this to you. And I was like, it's fine. You know, if needs must, I'm just going to take a screenshot and put it on there.

[Sarah MacLaine]

All right, well, would you please send it to me and we'll put it on the fade of Mates Instagram, like a. Like, normal. Like, normal human.

[Jennifer Procup]

I know. I was like, you know what I think? So, everybody, Little Romance is coming home this summer, and I'm going to be like, I'm going to pay you money to run my Instagram. I don't know what else to tell you. I have zero skills in this, and clearly I don't want to learn. I'm a smart person. I could learn if I fudgeing wanted to. So that is the end of June, but then in July, oh boy, these.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Summer storms, it's happening. And I, in a classic Sarah move, have like, fully not prepared in any way and to the point where I don't even know when I'm going to get my hair done before this tour. So if you come out and see me, which I hope you will, because. Okay, here's the deal, everybody. It's really my first book tour. I've done events, but I've never done like.

[Jennifer Procup]

Right, we're on the world tour. Yeah.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Fun fact, everyone. Before I was a writer a million trillion years ago, my very first job, my second job actually right out of college was I worked for a boutique literary publicity firm. And we specialized in authors who were like, gigantic. And the house, the publishing houses needed like extra support to like, handle their tours because this was back in the day when, like, you would send an author out for like 30 straight days. Like, you just couldn't. Like, publishers have other authors on their list. You can't send people with. And they would go with somebody from the house. Like, it was a. It was real fancy back then. And one of my very first jobs was I did a 22 city book tour with James Patterson.

[Jennifer Procup]

Whoa. Yeah.

[Sarah MacLaine]

So I have been on book tours.

[Jennifer Procup]

Right, but you've never been.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Never been on support staff in this. Listen, I'm not doing 22 cities and I'm no Jim Patterson, but. But I am going on a tour and I really am very nervous that no one will come and see me. So please come and see me. This is me begging you to please come and see me. I'm fun in person. Jen can attest you are.

[Jennifer Procup]

That is true.

[Sarah MacLaine]

And. And all that. So I'm in eight cities, including in Newport, Rhode Island. If you're anywhere near Rhode island, the book is set in Rhode island and I'm from Rhode Island. So one, if you want to, like, get a look at my mom, this is your chance.

[Jennifer Procup]

Sure.

[Sarah MacLaine]

But if you are anywhere near Newport, I'm doing this. The bookstore in Newport is hosting like cocktails and hors d' oeuvres, like by the Sea to celebrate this book, which is so fun. It's gonna be at a fancy hotel in Newport. You get the book, you get champagne, you get past hors d' oeuvres. And I'm in conversation with Kylie McCullough there, who is. She was on Million Dollar Listing and now she is the founder of the Newport Ladies Book Club.

[Jennifer Procup]

So fun.

[Sarah MacLaine]

So it is sure to be a scene. And I am simultaneously very Delighted. And cannot wait for the stories that hopefully come from this night. So come and join me for those.

[Jennifer Procup]

I love it.

[Sarah MacLaine]

And then I'll be in a bunch of other cities. Links are in show notes. Please come and see me. And then Jen and I and Kate Claiborne.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yes.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Are gonna be in St. Louis.

[Jennifer Procup]

I'm so excited.

[Sarah MacLaine]

On July 8th at Novel Neighbor with you guys for Fated Maze Live.

[Jennifer Procup]

So exciting. Like, so exciting about that.

[Sarah MacLaine]

So exciting. And so come out, hang out with us. We're gonna do some stuff that's not for Kate. I'll probably talk about a book that's not for Jen. And then we'll talk about Storms. You'll get a copy of Storms with it, but you'll also get all the fun stuff that comes with Data Mates Live. We'll have stickers, we'll have pins. We'll have, you know, all of you guys, there's already. If you are a member of the Patreon, head over to the Discord. There are already meetups starting. Novel Neighbor has offered to host a little meetup for people ahead of time, during the day. That day. So you all can shop at this, like, super supportive romance. It's not a romance bookstore. It's a bookstore that supports romance, which is how all bookstores should be. Um, so that's gonna be.

[Jennifer Procup]

I'm so excited to see the Novel Neighbor.

[Sarah MacLaine]

I know, Me too.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah.

[Sarah MacLaine]

And, like, I'm.

[Jennifer Procup]

I'm just super excited. Okay. This so, you know, it's driving distance from Chicago. So, like, two of my work colleagues are coming.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Oh, yay.

[Jennifer Procup]

I know my friend Elizabeth who way back at the end of season one.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Gave us some notes on Roman history.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yes, correct. That's her. And way back in season one, she and I talked, like, we had like a little five minute thing where she's like, what do you say to people who are, like, kind of shitty about romance? And I was like, so we talked about that, but I'm really excited about that. So, yeah. Two Latin teachers in the house. Maybe we can make some Latin jokes and then.

[Sarah MacLaine]

You mean jokes in Latin. I'll brush it up.

[Jennifer Procup]

Sure. Well, no one speaks Latin anymore, so.

[Sarah MacLaine]

It'S a sign language.

[Jennifer Procup]

I actually had to be like, what does that mean? Exactly. Okay. So anyway, so that's really fun. And then the next night we'll be in Chicago.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Tell everybody what we're doing. Or should we wait?

[Jennifer Procup]

Wait. Yeah.

[Sarah MacLaine]

And talk about it after. Yeah, Never mind.

[Jennifer Procup]

Right? You don't.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Chicago, we. Forget it. Nothing's happening. And then the next night In Chicago.

[Jennifer Procup]

You will be with Veronica Ross.

[Sarah MacLaine]

I'll be talking to Veronica Roth.

[Jennifer Procup]

I will be in the audience with my husband because I'm a superstar. How great this is, you know, buying these. Okay. At the. Which is. The bookstore in Chicago is called Women and Children first, which is a real like, obviously in the, like the name of the store tells you everything you need to know. They're great. And I. They have a really cool thing where you can buy two. Take like two people, one book, which I think is nice. So Mr. Reid's romance and I are coming.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Women and Children also has a $10 ticket. If you can't. Like if you bought the book in another place and you just want to come. And it all. It does, it's like $10. Cause the site, they have to rent the site off site. And so it like helps them get to the. To off site. But it's basically like for people who, you know, can't. Can't do a $30 book, but want to come and hang. Yeah, come hang in Chicago.

[Jennifer Procup]

Sure. So that is. I am hoping. I think I will also. Some of my work friends will be there. I'll just be in the audience for that one. My middle school librarian, I was telling them, I was like, oh, my God, you know, Sarah's coming. And they were like, oh, are you the. You know, I was like, I'm not the conversation partner. Because I will be, you know, Faded Ma Live. I was like, it's Veronica Roth. And my librarian looked at me like, oh, the Veronica Roth.

[Sarah MacLaine]

The two E's. The Veronica Roth.

[Jennifer Procup]

The Veronica Roth. Correct. And it's just like they wandered away. Like, I don't even know how to make sense of that. Right. Yeah, I do too.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Listen, it's very funny because obviously Veronica writes adult fantasy and adult novels, but she also is widely known in young people's literature as being the author of the Divergent series. And my best friend from College has a 11 year old daughter who is obsessed with Veronica. And so I told my friend, I was like, listen, I'm gonna get Veronica to sign the whole series for her. But don't tell her I'm doing an event with her so I can like send pictures and like surprise her with this.

[Jennifer Procup]

That's so fun.

[Sarah MacLaine]

But my hope is that I can maybe convince Veronica to do a little voice message for Claire.

[Jennifer Procup]

Oh, my God. Or like a little video while guys can just do a little video on your phone.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Like, hey, Claire.

[Jennifer Procup]

So cute. I love it. This week's episode of Faded Mates is brought to you By Alice Murphy, author of A Showgirl's Rules for Falling in.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Love I'm really delighted by this book. I've been talking about it in the lead up to it finally being out and I'm so happy that you all get to finally read it. This one is for both historical and contemporary people. It has this, it has dual romances, kind of dueling romances. The original romance, the interior romance, is a historical romance between a really proudly, stunningly beautiful, plus size vaudeville performer in gilded Age New York and the wealthy theater owner who becomes obsessed with her when he sees her perform. He's looking for an act to open his new theater and she, Evelyn is her name and she becomes this kind of huge vaudeville star. The book is wrapped though in this contemporary wrapper where a woman who is an expert in vaudeville performances at the New York Historical Society and the history of vaudeville is approached by a young, handsome wealthy man who happens to be the great grandson of this legendary theater owner. And he has a kind of Victorian photograph that he found in his great grandfather's papers, in the family papers. And he brings it to Evie, our present day heroine, and he says, do you know who this is? And she is, it happens, she happens to be an expert in Evelyn Cross. What we know though is that this woman is not his great grandmother. And so there's kind of this wonderful mystery about like how is the interior romance going to be romancified and how is the extra exterior romance gonna come to pass when there's all this kind of class stuff going on? There's a lot of power stuff going on. The two romances really act as they they are in conversation with each other and it's a really very fun, delightful, excellent book and I am so excited you all get to read it.

[Jennifer Procup]

Now I cannot wait to read it myself. So if you are like me, would like to check out a Showgirl's Rules for Falling in Love. It is available now in print, ebook or or in audio 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 Alice Murphy for sponsoring this week's episode. Listen. For those of you who have never like gone to a book event or are not sure if they are for you. I love watching authors talk about their work and so I'm just Let's talk about Kennedy. Yes, I was. See look at me reading my my brain mind melt. So last week Kennedy's new book.

[Sarah MacLaine]

I'm gonna get the title Kennedy Ryan, everyone.

[Jennifer Procup]

She's just Kenny did it. Us every.

[Sarah MacLaine]

I mean, she's basically like Cher.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah, right, Exactly.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Okay.

[Jennifer Procup]

I think it's called Can't Get Enough.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Is that correct? Can't get enough.

[Jennifer Procup]

Right. Is on book tour because her book came out.

[Sarah MacLaine]

And listen, this one is for the plus size reader girlies. Like, this heroine is just Hendrick. Wonderful, amazing, takes up space and is incredible and it's so sexy.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah. So. Yeah. So we.

[Sarah MacLaine]

So if she comes first.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah, of course. Listen, Kennedy Ryan would never. Never.

[Sarah MacLaine]

She would never.

[Jennifer Procup]

That would be like a cry for help.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Kennedy Ryan and Derek Craven would never.

[Jennifer Procup]

Kennedy. I'm actually just like appalled at the very thought of it. Anyway, so Kennedy was in on her book tour. You saw her in New York?

[Sarah MacLaine]

Yeah, I went to the midnight. I was sitting on my. Listen, she did a midnight release. This is how incredible Kennedy is. I mean, who I like. This is reserved for. I mean, come on now.

[Jennifer Procup]

You're like.

[Sarah MacLaine]

You're like a like Twilight level.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yes.

[Sarah MacLaine]

So I'm on my couch at like 11:15pm and I was like. And I had. I had. I had basically said to Kennedy, like, I would love to see you. I had a mom thing, so I couldn't get to the Union Square launch, but. And I was like, I. I'm going to do my best, but if I fall asleep, all bets are off. But 11:15, I was like, I'm still up. So I grabbed my keys and I left. Drove to the bookstore, to the Ripped Bodice in Brooklyn. Walked in and it was packed to the gill.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yes. Like, with like people. Like, like, like a car. Like a clown car. But it was like romance readers.

[Sarah MacLaine]

She was like gorgeous, ebullient. Kennedy, just great word. A per. Thank you very much.

[Jennifer Procup]

You're a writer. Like, good job.

[Sarah MacLaine]

I mean, that is.

[Jennifer Procup]

That is the perfect word.

[Sarah MacLaine]

It really is Kennedy. And she is just a fucking superstar.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah. No, it was.

[Sarah MacLaine]

And it is the joy you get from being in a room full of people who are just, love romance, love the author, love the books.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah.

[Sarah MacLaine]

People in that room who were like, I've never read her book, but I can't wait. Because the infectious joy of being around parenting. No, book events are great.

[Jennifer Procup]

Book events are great. And so the next night I saw her in Chicago with Lovey Ajay, who is a author. Like, sort of like an author, but like a kind of. I don't know, like, just like a famous Chicagoan, but just like also like kind of person who's like, very down to earth about, like. I've seen her at other events, like, Kind of like almost like self help, how to be the best person you are. Like, like, she's like, got. Got a really interesting presence. Anyway, so they were in conversation at a theater kind of up on the north side. And Meg from the Discord and I went and then met Jessica, my other friend. And I've got, like, a huge shout out to Estelle because Meg was on the waiting list. And I was kind of like, estelle, I hate to, like, do this. I actually asked you. I was like, how do I make sure Meg can get in? And it was seeing Kennedy talk about her work and, like, really just. There is no one who is more interesting or thoughtful about what romance is and what it can do and the beauty and joy of it as a genre and her process, like, hearing her talk about research and then the writing and how these characters live in her brain. And, I mean, it was spectacular. Her love for her readers, for black women. At one point, Lovey said, essentially, it's not just like the black women in your books are loved. They are adored. Right? They are adored. And the room just, like, erupted because it was just right and it was awesome. It was like, honestly, if you have ever had the chance to see Kennedy Ryan, just don't hesitate. It's just so fun to see people talking about their work. Any author truly is, but seeing romance authors in particular is the best, so.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Agreed.

[Jennifer Procup]

I hope there's something near you, everybody, this summer.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Yeah. A lot of questions about the west coast. And. And I'm not. I have no plans to be on the west coast for this tour. I'm. I would love to be, but that's not. I. I have to tell you, like, we don't. Authors don't really get a choice. So when they gave me the list, the furthest west I am is Chicago, but I'll be in. Oh, is that. Oh, is it? Is that right? I don't know. I'm from New England. I don't know. St. Louis. Chicago, Indiana.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah.

[Sarah MacLaine]

And then I'll be in Atlanta with Mary Kay Andrews.

[Jennifer Procup]

So fun.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Who I am in love with, I'm gonna. I'm gonna play it real cool, but Mary Kay Andrews is so fucking badass.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yes.

[Sarah MacLaine]

And if you want to come and hang out with two ladies who give no shits about just saying what they think about this administration, then come hang out with me and Mary Kay.

[Jennifer Procup]

It's gonna be so fun. And just like to talk about. Like to talk about storms. Right? To talk about what it's like to write a book with a romance Subplot, but not a romance. A plot. And right, like, you know, the family stuff, the dynamics, setting a book in Rhode Island. I mean, it's gonna be so fun.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Can I also just say one other thing about my book about storms just. And then we'll get. I'm sorry, everybody, but you know what? I do need, like, pre orders. You know, I need to talk about my book, apparently. But the. But I don't want it. But here's the thing. Julia Whelan is my narrator, and I'm dying because last night she sent me a video of her narrating a scene with all of the characters in it, and it was incredible. I'm going to post it to my Instagram at some point. We will reshare it on the fade of maids Instagram if you're not there. But I will send it to you, Jen. But you can share it around.

[Jennifer Procup]

And I was like, what?

[Sarah MacLaine]

Because there are about six. There are six characters in this scene. And she just. It's amazing. So I am. So anyway, the audio. The audio is coming too. Anyway, so that is all of everything that is exciting and happening. Oh, but if you don't. If you can't make defeat of mates live. But you still want stickers or pins or whatever, I will have them with me. So come see me wherever I am, and I'll have them with me. And Jen will have them, too.

[Jennifer Procup]

It's all gonna work out. Have we ordered these stickers yet? No, but it's still stickers.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Don't you.

[Jennifer Procup]

I have.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Now we're doing some business, everybody.

[Jennifer Procup]

Let's move on.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Okay, so I will mail you some, though, if you don't have any for the. The Mia Sosa event.

[Jennifer Procup]

Oh, yeah. See? Look at you. Okay, so everyone, what we're going to be doing this week is now it's celebrity.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Celebrity romance, My favorite, very particular flavor of celebrity romance.

[Jennifer Procup]

And it's hard to find that flavor these days. So do we want to talk about, like, the joy of the celebrity romance and then, like, what we counted and what didn't and then talk about some books?

[Sarah MacLaine]

I do. Okay, so celebrity romance is a big umbrella romance.

[Jennifer Procup]

Oh, yeah.

[Sarah MacLaine]

And it seems to be much, much more popular now. Like, it went through. Okay, so what I under. As I understand it. And we've done. Okay, I don't even. I have so much to say. Okay. We've done a lot of different versions of this. We've done celebrities, which I. We've done celebrities. We've done rock stars, we've done sports romance. I do understand that many of you out there keep all of these under the one umbrella of celebrity. I do not, in my head, do that. For me, These three things. These are three very different books that are doing very different things. And, like, I think Sports Romance is about something completely different than celebrity romance. And I think rock stars live in their own little world, because I think, like, there is the appeal of the rock star is a very particular kind of appeal. So for me, I have set aside sports and rock stars in this discussion, and I'm sticking with TV and film actors because I. For me, the appeal of the TV film actor is a similar appeal to the wallflower rake appeal. Well, wait. And I really love, like, my personal favorite flavor of celebrity romance is celebrity Normie.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yes.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Like, right. This is like, a person who has never experienced celebrity at all to be thrust into the relationship with a person who is in constant. Under constant celebrity surveillance. I like it when they're a paparazzi.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah.

[Sarah MacLaine]

I like it when there is a certain level of, like, I can't fit into this world. And I think that's because, for me, that particular flavor of romance is the closest thing contemporary comes to historical, because it's like Governess Duke.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah, right. You're a million years apart. Right.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Normal girl, like, picked up out of the Scottish countryside, marries the laird of the clan. Like, it's. For me, it feels and it is, and it is a very particular itch that is scratched specifically by these books.

[Jennifer Procup]

Okay, I have a question for you, which is, is this.

[Sarah MacLaine]

I will now take questions.

[Jennifer Procup]

Okay. For, like. For me, it's funny because, I mean, I love that, too. But I will admit that when I think of that celebrity Normie, the first thing I think of is Notting Hill, the movie with Julia Roberts, which is.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Gendered in an interesting way.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yes, Right. Because she is the celebrity. She is the superstar. And what's his name? Hugh.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Hugh Grant.

[Jennifer Procup]

Hugh Jackman. That's not it.

[Sarah MacLaine]

I was gonna say Hugh.

[Jennifer Procup]

Okay.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Hugh Grant, the Prime Minister of England from Nodding From Love.

[Jennifer Procup]

Actually, he is the, like, a bookstore owner who's just, like, a dumb, bumbling Englishman. And the other thing that's really interesting is he is the main character of the movie. She, like, just, like, appears like a.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Tsunami, and then, like, Julia Roberts, I imagine, appears in people's lives.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yes, exactly.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Like, if you were just walking down the street and then there was Julia Roberts, it would feel like.

[Jennifer Procup]

Right. So it's funny because when I think of that trope. Right. It's that movie that I think of first. So, I mean, I. I would say, like, chasing that high in a book. Now, I did. I will say this. I don't think I was quite as. As I didn't have.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Precise.

[Jennifer Procup]

Precise. I do have a lot, actually, of. I. So I. What I have is mostly actors and actresses, because I knew that that's what we meant. But then I do have one celebrity, Normie, where he's a rock star. But I was trying to get to, like, that Normie thing.

[Sarah MacLaine]

But, like, rockstar normie is much more common, it seems.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah, I think so.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Well, I think it's much more difficult to find these days than it was. Okay, so your. Your thing is Notting Hill, right? Like, that's your primordial celebrity Normie. My primordial celebrity Normie. And everybody's already saying it. Everybody who's listening to this podcast, obviously. Judith McNaughter.

[Jennifer Procup]

That's perfect.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Everybody. Okay. Somebody, like, listen, if you are out there and you have not read this book and this is the itch that you need scratched, like, go right now and do it. Listen. It was written in the 80s. It's wacky. It's like, she. He has been thrown into prison because on a set, he's like a mega, mega, mega superstar on a set. He picked up a prop gun. This is different. After the Alec Baldwin thing, he picked up a prop gun. He fired the prop gun at his ex, his, like, wife, who he was divorcing. They were in the midst of a divorce. In a scene, there were real bullets in the gun, and she died, and he was sent to prison. Oh, you know what? But he escapes prison, of course, and abducts a elementary school teacher from a Texas rest stop because he needs her car. But it's all fine, everyone, because he drives her into, like, the Colorado Rockies, right?

[Jennifer Procup]

To the, like, Colorado, right?

[Sarah MacLaine]

I don't know. To the Rockies.

[Jennifer Procup]

I.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Again, I'm from New England. I don't know about that geography. That's none of my business. He drives her into the mountains, and then they end up in this, like, lavish, extravagant cabin that's owned by his, like, billionaire friend who is the hero of the prior book. And then they, like, fall in love in a sort of, you know, idyllic. Only one cabin in a snowstorm experience, and it is fucking great. And when she was growing up, he was her, like, older brother's idol. There were posters of him on the wall. Like, it's a real. Like, he is such a superstar, and, like, she just gets, like, swept up into his, like, dramatic life. And there's. It hits. Perfect. I read it when I was like, 14, and this was it. Like, I was sure this was my future. Brad Pitt, get ready.

[Jennifer Procup]

I can't stop it. It's too much. It's too much.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Listen, I was just sure of it. Actually, it wasn't Brad Pitt. It was Val Kilmer. RIP.

[Jennifer Procup]

This week's episode of Fated Mates is brought to you by Bailey Seaborn, author of All Twerk, no Play.

[Sarah MacLaine]

So Victoria has been an uptight, kind of very rigid person for.

[Jennifer Procup]

Stop judging me, Sarah.

[Sarah MacLaine]

She has a very specific plan. She's going to marry a very specific kind of man. She is going to get a very specific kind of partnership, and she's going to land herself on the COVID of Forbes magazine because that is what she and also her family expect of her. Problem is that man she was going to marry takes off and marries someone else just days before she is passed over for that partnership that she was expecting to get. And now she is fully at sea. She doesn't have the job or the man, and all she really has is a hope that she might find herself at her personal trainer. So she heads off. She meets her personal trainer, Eric, who is just pure vibes, the opposite of Victoria in every way. This is a man who says yes and figures it out. And this is very perplexing to Victoria, who has never in her life operated this way. Um, but when Eric says, well, what if you prioritize your pleasure? What if you prioritize, like, the things you love in the gym? What if you prioritize the music career that you have always sort of secretly wanted for yourself? What if you prioritize yourself in the bedroom? And what if I helped? Suddenly Victoria's got an Eric to help her figure it all out. And the big question is, what if she takes the risk that she was never, ever willing to take before?

[Jennifer Procup]

If you would like to check out a witty, heartfelt romance about breaking free from perfectionism, which probably we should all read, Rediscovering creativity and finding the courage to chart your own path. Alt Work no Play might be for you. And for a very special faded Mates listener, it might also help you to know that the pen name Bailey Seaborn is named after Hugh West Wing characters.

[Sarah MacLaine]

That's true.

[Jennifer Procup]

Exactly. That's all you need to know. So, Alt Work no Play is available in print or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited. And if you click on the chapter title right now, you can be taken to buy the book. Thanks to Bailey Seaborn, the cast of the West Wing the cat on this cover and all the perfectionists out there for sponsoring this week's episode. I feel like there has been a shift that has happened in sports romance and celebrity romance. Okay, stick with me here.

[Sarah MacLaine]

I'm with you.

[Jennifer Procup]

In the early days of sports romance, many of them. Most of them were about athletes who were at the. Like, essentially at the top of their game as grown men who were. Who knew that a. Essentially, like, the. Their career was coming to an end. You know, their knees hurt or whatever. Right.

[Sarah MacLaine]

And so Susan Elizabeth Phillips style.

[Jennifer Procup]

Right, exactly. So these were men who are really facing a future where they were gonna not be at the top of the heap anymore. And so that's what you got. You got a lot of these, like, they're the king of the hill, right. Kind of stories. Now, sports romances are almost always about very young men who are not actually even pros yet. Right. They're all like, new adult. They're all like high school, college, kind of like last year of college. I'm. I'm. I'm essentially right about to become a huge deal. And I feel like. The thing is. It's really interesting to me is that now I feel like celebrity romances tend to be. I am no longer right. Like, a couple of mine are like, I'm not. I'm not a superstar anymore. I was famous. I was a famous actor back then, but now I'm not. How do I live that? How do I get it back? Maybe.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Yep.

[Jennifer Procup]

So I feel like there's just been this, like, shift in, like, kind of like, who gets to be at the end of a career and, like, making a new, like, Right.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Moving forward into a new life. Shifting.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah, right.

[Sarah MacLaine]

I would agree. And I would say that that's also written into these books with, like. You're absolutely right. It's like, more washed up or like, sort not washed up, but like actors who finally are realizing that they want more, which is like, part of what the story was in all these books. But like, in the 90s when. Oh, I didn't even. I didn't even finish my thought back then, which is like, there was a time, like, I once asked an editor, you know, who had been around back then, like, I don't understand, like, this book was. So if you talk to anybody about Judith McNaught, like, perfect comes up as, like, you know, one of those books that she just. It hits so. Right. It hits every beat. And I was like, what happened? Like. Like, there were no, like, no actors ever. Movie stars are nowhere, and they've movie stars have been around for a long time. It makes sense that movie stars would be a character that romance would be attracted to. And she was like, they never sold. Like, in the early days in the 80s and 90s, like, anytime anybody tried a movie star, they never sold. And I wonder, Jen, if it's because, like, they were such rarefied air.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah. Like, the way that you can have.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Dukes but not kings. I was just gonna say, like, you can't have royalty. Royalty. Everybody. In historicals, royalty doesn't sell, but dukes will sell. So, like, rock stars sell, but movie stars don't.

[Jennifer Procup]

Okay. I think that's because, like, there's billions of bands. Right. Like, everybody knows some dude who's had banding in high school or whatever. Here's my other thought, though, is I wonder if then the normie part of it is what is instead of it, like, she's being pulled into. Because often. Listen, in these books, okay, he's the celebrity. Like, let's just get that off the table. Right.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Though I have a couple now new ones where that's switching.

[Jennifer Procup]

Good. In the earlier books, it was like, he was the celebrity, she was the normie, and she was just, like, starstruck to be in his world.

[Sarah MacLaine]

And.

[Jennifer Procup]

And now I think the difference is if he's, like, kind of washed up or at the end of a career. Her norminess is about him envisioning what a life could be like as a normal person. The normie part has changed. See what I mean?

[Sarah MacLaine]

Yes, yes, yes. And what's interesting about this is that there are a couple of books that have become sort of. I would say, like, when you say to people, like, hey, recommend me a celebrity normie romance. Like, I think a lot of people immediately recommend Olivia Dade.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yes.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Right. So Olivia Dade's all the Feels is probably the one that's, like, most this genre and the. I think we've talked about on the podcast before, but. But basically, like, he. The hero is, like, a huge TV actor, and he is, like, falling apart. Like, a lot of the celebrities in these books that are more. More current, and he is. There is a. She is a therapist who is hired basically, to, like, watch over him.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah.

[Sarah MacLaine]

And like, like, be his, like, companion, and they fall in love. But, like, to that end, Jen, like, her work in this book is to, like, like, babysit him. Like, to, like, help him navigate becoming normal. Like, being normal again.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah, right. Yeah.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Which is interesting because it's, like, it takes away. This is one of those questions that I have about, like, the way John the way the genre is evolving. Right.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Like in these earlier like celebrity normie in like the, the gosh, like the pit. The pinnacle of celebrity normie for me is like he is untouchable and she is deeply normal.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah. And like, like she gets through somehow.

[Sarah MacLaine]

She wins him.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Right. Like there's. He sees her for who she is. She is in her normalness.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Like the most compelling thing to him and like he would give it all up for her. That's what I want. Right.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah.

[Sarah MacLaine]

But I think this, you're right. The story of these books is more like here's a flawed man.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Who is like, she's just normal. He's normal.

[Jennifer Procup]

Right, Right.

[Sarah MacLaine]

He's just pretty and normal. Right. And that's really an interesting.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah, I think it's true.

[Sarah MacLaine]

You know, I think all of contemporary romance is over the last five years or maybe a little longer has like settled into this. Like we are all normal.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Which I think says something about like the parasocial relationship that we have with like celebrity online. Like the constant online. The requirements that we have for celebrities to be online. Like we're seeing it like we're seeing into celebrities homes. We're seeing them like talking directly to their. They're using their literal telephone to talk to us every day.

[Jennifer Procup]

Right.

[Sarah MacLaine]

And I think that level. So I think, you know, we talk a lot when you are around and I know that you have a. Your sister in law. It works in Hollywood. Like you. You've probably had this conversation too where like the, like we don't have like movie stars anymore.

[Jennifer Procup]

Well, that's right. That's the other thing. Right.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Or even they're all touchable.

[Jennifer Procup]

Right. I saw Sinners. Michael B. Jordan is a movie star.

[Sarah MacLaine]

He's a movie star.

[Jennifer Procup]

Right. Starring in movies that are actually like interesting and like notable as opposed to like Seven, the 700,000th Marvel movie. Right. Because it almost seems like what. What they. What they're. I'm sure they're dying to make happen is to have the ip, to have the property be the star rather than the people in it.

[Sarah MacLaine]

It.

[Jennifer Procup]

Right. And I think that. Right. So then the idea of like. Okay, right. Who is a movie star becomes a little different when it's just like, oh, you're. You're not Robert Downey Jr. You're just iron Man. Right. Yeah.

[Sarah MacLaine]

It's interesting. I mean like you mentioned Notting Hill. Right. And like Julia Roberts is a movie star.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Like when we, you know, and it's just hard to. It's hard to Sort of articulate that to a generation of people who, like. I mean, my daughter is a perfect example. Right. She's 11. And, like, she'll see. You know, last night we were watching the Italian Job because she's really into heist movies now.

[Jennifer Procup]

Fun. Yeah.

[Sarah MacLaine]

And so we've watched all the oceans. Oh, the oceans movies. That's a perfect example. So Brad Pitt is in the oceans movie, right. And she, like, was looking at him and she sort of was like, like, who's that guy? Like, do I know that guy?

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah.

[Sarah MacLaine]

And then she thought he was. I can't now. Now of course, that I'm telling the story. I can't remember who she thought he was. Oh, I know who she thought he was. She thought he was Rob Low because she's watched Parks and Rec.

[Jennifer Procup]

Sure.

[Sarah MacLaine]

So, like, she was like, is that Chris Trager who she doesn't know as Rob Lowe? She knows him as Chris trager because she's 11. And then. And I was like, no, that's Brad. Like, in my head, I was like, how.

[Jennifer Procup]

How could you make that mistake?

[Sarah MacLaine]

How could any human on the planet not know this man? Because he was everywhere when we were.

[Jennifer Procup]

Right. Yeah.

[Sarah MacLaine]

When he became a thing, no one didn't know who he was. But now it is. You're right. Like, if you're not in. I mean, you said Michael B. Jordan, and I agree. But Michael B. Jordan was in Black Panther. Like, there was. Like, that was the movie that made us all know who he was.

[Jennifer Procup]

So that's not the movie who made me know who he was. But, like, I do see what you're saying.

[Sarah MacLaine]

No, I mean, like, made the world. I'm talking about the universe. Yeah, yeah.

[Jennifer Procup]

White people.

[Sarah MacLaine]

But, like, every. Every person, like, he can't walk down the street anywhere anymore.

[Jennifer Procup]

Oh, yeah, right. I mean, because he was in Rocky and I mean, like, Right. So I think the thing that's. Yeah, I think it. So I do. I think it's changing. And I also think the same thing is true of sort of like, rock stars. Right. Like, because it is. I mean, now when I think of rock stars, I actually think of women. I think of Taylor Swift and Beyonce. Yeah. I do not think that there are. I do not think there is a single man that has the kind of, like, presence in terms of, like, I am. I am the person, Right. That you think of when you think of the most powerful, popular.

[Sarah MacLaine]

If you walk down the street. Like, I feel like. I feel like I would be hard pressed. Like, I am not a movie watcher. Really.

[Jennifer Procup]

Right.

[Sarah MacLaine]

I would be hard pressed to necessarily recognize anybody who wasn't, like, yeah, a massive star from a Marvel movie.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah. Right.

[Sarah MacLaine]

And that is only because those movies are just jammed. That's not because I've watched them.

[Jennifer Procup]

Sure.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Because they're jammed into my eyeballs.

[Jennifer Procup]

Right, Right. So anyway, I do. I think it's really. I do think it's really interesting that, like, the profile of what these. Yeah. Everybody's normal is a very different thing than celebrities versus Normie or celebrity. Right.

[Sarah MacLaine]

I think it's reversed, too. I think the rise of celebrity. Celebrity, like, back in the day, you would never find a romance where it was like, two, Right. Famous people being famous together. Like, why is that interesting? But there are a number of books right now that are like, famous football player and famous pop star. Famous pop star and other famous pop star. Two movie. Two famous actors. Like, and that's an interesting thing to me, too, because is. Is it that we are putting two famous actors together because they are both normal in some way? Like, are you saying, like, celebrity has social media, like, basically leveled the playing field?

[Jennifer Procup]

Right. They're just normal people because you can be. Or like you said, you know, now what their houses look like.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Million followers on YouTube. YouTube or a million followers on Instagram or TikTok and not be a movie star.

[Jennifer Procup]

Right.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Do you know, like.

[Jennifer Procup]

Right. And the movie stars, like you said, like, we see in their houses, we can write. Like, there's more of a sense of.

[Sarah MacLaine]

That just like, oh, like, Cardi B. Loves to shoot TikToks from her bathroom. And it's like, I. We would never have seen, like, Bruce Springsteen's bathroom.

[Jennifer Procup]

And you know what? And I don't want to. Fine. Okay. So I'm sure it's very nice. Nice. All right.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Sonny has a lovely bathroom.

[Jennifer Procup]

I'm sure he has 700 lovely bathrooms at his homes all over the world. Meanwhile, bless Bruce Springsteen, who just, like, was, you know, got up and was like, hey, everything sucks. And. And I appreciate it.

[Sarah MacLaine]

I know.

[Jennifer Procup]

Okay, so do you want to recommend some books, Sarah, now that we're 45 minutes and us chatting?

[Sarah MacLaine]

16 books on my list.

[Jennifer Procup]

Okay.

[Sarah MacLaine]

So I think my vibe is going to be less, like.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah, I think we're gonna run through these.

[Sarah MacLaine]

I think we're gonna go a. Then I'm not going to talk about every one of them in depth the way that I would ordinarily.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah. Because I actually have quite a few, too.

[Sarah MacLaine]

But all I will tell you all, all of the books that I have on my list are in some Version Celebrity Normie.

[Jennifer Procup]

Okay, I'm not sure I will, but you know what? I think.

[Sarah MacLaine]

No, it's fine. You don't have to have followed the rules. It's fine.

[Jennifer Procup]

There's Celebrity Normie. You just did not say actor, actress Normie.

[Sarah MacLaine]

I did not say that. This week's episode of Faded Mates is sponsored by Heartstrings and Hotlines, a single dad hotline book by Avery Maxwell. I love this premise.

[Jennifer Procup]

Okay, so the single. This is the third book in the Single Dad Hotline series. And the way it works is if you are a single dad who, you know, just needs to know how to figure out and do basic parenting stuff, you could call the hotline and get advice. And in this book we have Lottie and she is the one who programmed and came up with the idea of the Single dad hotline. So she is like the creator of this. And in this case, her love interest is billionaire Thane. He is has just gained custody of his 13 year old sister and, you know, he's really struggled with sensory issues, social issues, and so he's just like, I don't know if I have what it takes to be a parent. So what better thing to do than call up the single dad hotline? But because Lottie is dealing with corporate actors, espionage, she knows better than to like, essentially get involved with a client. Right? But she has a slip up and it's with Thane, I don't know. He's just not one to like, follow rules and have boundaries. And she is all about rules and boundaries, especially right now, until she can figure out who is trying to ruin her business. So there is a strong attraction between them and she, Lottie, is just determined to essentially like, pretend it does not exist. But Thane's not about to let that happen. He, of course, moves in next door and so proximity plays a factor. And now we have two people who should not be involved, getting involved and secrets, espionage and sisters all on the line.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Well, if you love the idea of this hotline and all the shenanigans that come with it, then this book, Heartstrings and Hotlines, is the book for you. You can get it right now in print or ebook or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited, if your podcasting app supports it. You can click on the chapter title right now to be taken to buy the book. Thanks to Avery Maxwell for sponsoring this week's episode. Let's talk first of all about my favorite, which is they are one is a literal celebrity and one is a very normal person who does not have an interesting. Well, like, who does not have, like, a job that is. There are also a lot of, like, romance novelist, you know, fake dates a celebrity. This is a different thing for me. Like, I think we have to set that aside. I'm talking about, like, the Hollywood Jinx by Sariah Wilson, which is a small town librarian.

[Jennifer Procup]

Sure. Ooh.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Is trying to, like, save her tiny small town. And she writes a letter to this, like, movie star and is basically like, please come to our small town harvest festival.

[Jennifer Procup]

Shut up.

[Sarah MacLaine]

And he comes because. And he comes because he's like, you know, he's got a film crew with him and he has this kind of. He's like, got this again, a sort of, like, bad reputation as being, like a Hollywood race. And he has decided that he is going to take himself on this tour of normal world and he's gonna bring a film crew with him and it's gonna help him find. Put good into the world and renovate his reputation. And he gets there, and Jane, the small town librarian is his tour guide through this small town in. How many times have I said small town? This is a small town romance, everyone.

[Jennifer Procup]

Small town romance, everybody. Wait, Keep going.

[Sarah MacLaine]

And then I want to ask questions. I was just there for two weeks. And so this is. This is one of those situations where, like, it's all sort of very tightly. It's tightly constrained. The, like, the big question and the big conflict of this book is like, how will Jane. How will this work between the two of them? When did I call him Rick? I should have called him Nick. His name is Nick. How will this work when Jane and Nick have to part and he goes back to being basically everybody's beloved heartthrob who chases everything and is a perfect rake?

[Jennifer Procup]

Yes. Okay, wait, before we go further, can we discuss what the buckets are? So I know how to make the buckets.

[Sarah MacLaine]

I was gonna bucket as we go, but yeah, let's do it. So, okay, so this is my first one.

[Jennifer Procup]

Like sort of celebrity.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Deeply normie.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah. Okay.

[Sarah MacLaine]

And celebrity, Right. Like, he's. He is like a movie or she. Or he is a movie star. I also have. And then I have the other. The next, which is he's fallen and she's normie.

[Jennifer Procup]

Okay.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Okay.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yes.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Then I have second chance. We knew each other.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yes. That's when I was gonna say we. We knew each other.

[Sarah MacLaine]

We knew each other before you were.

[Jennifer Procup]

A celebrity and then celebrity.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Celebrity.

[Jennifer Procup]

Do you have any of those?

[Sarah MacLaine]

I don't have any of those. Then I have. I have. We are working together, but, like, I'm not a celebrity. Like, okay, when I said, like, Olivia Dades, all the feels would be. That example would be that one.

[Jennifer Procup]

Okay.

[Sarah MacLaine]

She's. She's a, you know, a companion. She's hired as his companion to, like, keep him on the straight and narrow or. I have multiple bodyguards in this. On this.

[Jennifer Procup]

All right, I'm not mad. Okay, so can we put working together with celebrity Normie just like.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Yeah, let's do it.

[Jennifer Procup]

Okay.

[Sarah MacLaine]

I have no feelings about this. It's just me in my head. Nobody.

[Jennifer Procup]

I do have one celebrity. Celebrity that I want to talk about, but maybe we can put it in, like, just like, he's fallen, because that's what it is. Okay.

[Sarah MacLaine]

All right.

[Jennifer Procup]

So celebrity Normie, I have, and I've talked about this before, but I would like to mention again, because I talked about it on the Ticking Clock episode Fan Service by Rosie Dannon. So I talked about it on the Tick and Clack episode as essentially being like, he's about to turn into a werewolf again. But this one could actually go in every single one of these buckets, which I love. He. Devin was the star of a TV show like the X Files called Arcane, and he is a. Listen, nobody loves a himbo like Rosie Dannon and I. And I like that for a us, he's a like, right. He. He loved being on that show because he loved the character on the show. He was like, I feel like I'm a better man because I played this guy, which is not really how these things work. Alex was a, like, you know, she's a te. She was a teenager when the show was on when it started, and was, like, a huge fan, in fact, was like, kind of head of the fan club and ended up, like, having, you know, hosting a huge, like, web forum on the show. And they had an interaction when she was a teenager when she went to, like, a con to get, like, an autograph, and she overheard him sort of making fun of her costume, and she was like, fuck that guy. But she was so enmeshed with the friends in the fandom that she stayed in the fandom and never told any of them about it because she didn't want to break their hearts about what a jerk he was. Now it's, you know, now the show is over, and it's years past, the show has ended, and Devin is essentially this washed up actor who magically turns into a actual werewolf one night, which is what he was on the show.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Perfect.

[Jennifer Procup]

And he is so dumb that he's Like, I need help. So he falls into like the Google rabbit hole of trying to figure out like what is going on and ends up thinking that she is actually a wolf expert because of like, right? And like emails her and she is like this fucking idiot. Like, this has to be a setup. So she's like, yeah, I mean, she's like a vet tech in Florida and her dad actually is a literal wolf expert. And anyway, Devin shows up in town and she's like, wait, this is real. What the fuck is going on? But like quickly realizes that he really does think something is going on. And she, with her vet knowledge and her dad's wolf knowledge and her knowledge of the show, vows to help him figure it out. But she really is a normie in the sense that, that she had, I don't know, like a tortured high school years and like the show really made her feel like I am, I don't know, like, like someone. And then now like kind of the shoes on the other foot, she's the expert. And he's like this dumb Hollywood idiot who can barely do anything and he's out of his element, right? There's no assistance, there's no one to help him. There's only Devin and Alex. It's great. So that's a fan service by Rosie Daniel.

[Sarah MacLaine]

All right, I want to talk about. What I really want to talk about is Louisa Edwards's novella Not a Bad Boy, which is in the anthology Naughty Brits that I did with a number of other writers a few years ago. If you have access to this book, if you bought this book, if you are like living with this book, you should make sure you go and read this story. If you haven't. It's a novella. It's about a writer who has, has moved to London for research and to get over like a terrible breakup. And she is in the dog park with her dog and she runs into like a full on Hollywood heartthrob at the dog park. And he is like charming and funny and like they both have these dogs and like there's a dog moment between them, but then, and then he, she knows exactly who she, who he is. And he's like, let's, you know, go on a date. And she's like, oh, no, no, that's not a real thing that we could do. And then he tempts her because he happens to know she needs to get into like the British archives for some like, piece of research. And he's like, well, I know everybody at the archives, let me get you there. And he gets her into like a pride. He gets her like private access to like this very like private thing at the British archives. And then they have some naughty British archives moments. Anyway, Louisa, as I understand it, is releasing this novella very soon and I will, we will shout about it when it is released because you should all go read it. But if you do have an old copy of Naughty Brits, you should read that because it's great and it's basically Tom Hardy fanfic. I want to talk about Lucy Lennox and Molly Maddox's lol, which is stands for Laugh Out Loud. And this one is interesting because the beginning is absolutely Celebrity Normie. Like exactly what I want. Which is. So one of the characters is a carriage driver. Like he, he drives a, like a horse and buggy, a horse and carriage in Central park in New York. And he has this like horse buggy hanging outside a, you know, fancy hotel. And a police officer comes running out of the hotel, jumps into the carriage and tells him like, go, go. And so he's like, okay, well I'm certainly not going to say no to a police officer at this point. So like he just, they just take off down the road. Turns out this is not a police officer, this is a movie star who is in care, in costume and he has been chased by the paparazzi. And so he like leaps into this horse and buggy and they like, like head off down through.

[Jennifer Procup]

It feels like horse draw carriage would be slower, but then the paparazzi. But what do I know?

[Sarah MacLaine]

Anyway, so Jen, this is romance horse again. So then what happens though is like, because this wasn't a police officer and like it's just shenanigan now. The character who is a, who is a horse drawn carriage driver loses his job and now his horse. He was doing this job for his horse to have like free room and board and like the stables of the carriage company. So he turns up on the doorstep of the movie star with his horse and is basically like, hey, fuck you. Amazing, you ruined my life. And then they move, they like, so what's a, what's a movie star to do?

[Jennifer Procup]

I don't know.

[Sarah MacLaine]

So he just collects this handsome man and his handsome horse and they go to Vermont, to this mansiony cabin in Vermont where a full, it has a stable and oats, I assume. And then whatever horses eat has got it. And then it turns into a full on rom com. And what I would say by that, what I mean by that is like chaos ensues. There's a massive cast of characters. It's like, kind of slapsticky and, like, laugh out loud funny. So if this is the kind of book that you like, I know a lot of people don't love, like, slapstick or, like, yeah. That particular brand of humor in their. In their romance. But if you do, I would say, like, if you loved the food fight in dating Dr. Dill, this is the book for you.

[Jennifer Procup]

Okay, I have another one, Celebrity Normie, which is the Mechanic by Reina Torres. And in this one, it starts off with our celebrity. Her name's Blake, and she has been. She's, like, a famous actress, but, like, I essentially view her as, like, Molly. No, Melissa McCarthy. Right. So she's always cast as, like, the sort of funny sidekick, best friend rather than being, like, the, you know, the leading lady in these movies. But she is really well known. She's had a couple of, like, really famous roles, and so. But she's just not like, everybody, you know, she's. I. I think it's pretty clear. They sort of established that she's, like, kind of plus size, maybe, or just, like, not beautiful, but she's, like, a working actress that, like, kind of everybody would know. Anyway, the book starts with her actually waking up in a car. She's sleeping on the side of the road, and a cop has, like. She's not on the side of the road. She's at a rest stop, but it's the middle of the night, and a cop, like, essentially is knocking on the window, like, are you OK in there? And the cop recognizes her, and she, like, gets out and kind of, like, kind of feels like, you know, he's been really kind to her to, like, check in on her. And she realizes, though, that, like, this maybe will, like, come back to bite her, because the person chasing her will then, like, know where she was if this guy, like, posted on social media. And so you're like, hey, what? What's going on? Then we go to a little town in Montana, and we meet Adam, who is a mechanic who essentially, like, apparently this is part of a, like, a Brotherhood Protector series. And I haven't read any of the other books, but the lead Brotherhood protector is like, do you want to work for me? And he's like, no, I just want to be a mechanic. He's moved back to this town because his sister lives there, and she was a single mother, and he wanted to support her and his niece, like, right. His sister was pregnant when he came back home from the military. So he's like, I've got my hands full. Well, then the next Time we see Blake, she has essentially spent all of the cash. She has to, like, trade in her car and buy this, like, beat up VW Rabbit or, like, Beetle maybe. And it, like, she crosses into this town, which is where she was going. She has, like, one friend who she used to work with who was also a movie star who's like, come, you know, come come visit me. And she's so she kind of is like, I can go to Sadie's house and just like, figure it out. Well, her car dies in Adam's parking lot, and he's like, let me help you. He can tell that she is exhausted, really overwhelmed, does not recognize her, but is like, well, I know everybody in town. If you're going to Sadie's, I can take you there. And so she agrees. She has, like, town's too small for Uber, I guess. I also think this is an older book. Takes her to Sadie's, and then Sadie's kind of like, oh, my God, I'm so happy to see you. But, like, why are you here? And then it's like her. Sadie's husband is like, come in, you know? And then on cnn, we see Blake is, like, missing, right? So it's like now a big news story. And she was with Zoe, another actress, and they had been working on a movie, and both of them have disappeared. And this is when we get sort of Blake's story. Like, she walked in on the producer essentially kind of pressuring Zoe to have sex, right? And she gets Zoe out of there and, like, kind of is always like, just take me back home, it's fine. And she really. And it's clear that Blake has in her past potentially been a victim of sexual assault herself and is really like, I don't know if I should leave you alone, but does. And then realizes that Zoe is missing and goes on the run herself. So essentially the story is like, they're both missing, but in fact, Blake is on the run and she is really worried that the guy she interrupted, right. Potentially has made Zoe disappear. So it's a bit of a mystery and kind of like a Hollywood romance. And I also. What I liked about this is, you know, Adam, of course, is just like, of course his protective instincts kicked in and all that stuff. He's, like, really into her from the beginning. But the whole idea of, like, my celebrity ness can not protect me, right. I thought was, like, a really good element. And even though I'm now kind of in Montana, in this small town, how do I. People will know me wherever I go, which means it will be very easy to find me. Right. So it feels like it has that romantic suspense element. But the celebrity normie part is a really big part of the story as well because it plays into why it's so hard essentially for her to stay. Stay missing in some ways. So that's the mechanic by Reina Torres.

[Sarah MacLaine]

This week's episode of Fated Mates is sponsored by Blue Box Press, publishers of Lexi Blake's Built to Last.

[Jennifer Procup]

So this is book three of the Park Avenue Promise series, about three young women who make a pact in high school to always be friends but also make it big in Manhattan. And in this third book, we have Harper Ross.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Ross.

[Jennifer Procup]

She's always dreamed of working on one of the magnificent brownstones of Park Avenue because her father owned a big construction company. Now one of her friends has bought the house for dreams and hired Harper to do the construction work, hoping to like, sort of showcase the renovation on a TV show for the brand, a brand new production company. So Harper has always like, right, they promised themselves we're gonna be able to live and like, like in a house like this one day. But working on it isn't the same as living in it. But she's hoping if she, if the project is a success, it will help her grow the construction business into one of the biggest in the cities. The only obstacle is Reed Dorsey. He's the designer on the project. He believes in a balance between beauty and functionality and he is like a really hot new voice in design in Manhattan. Only problem is is that he and Harper just do not see eye to eye. Yes, he thinks her work is awesome, right? It's not. He doesn't question the value or like the ability for her to do the contracting work. He just wishes she didn't think she had a say in how the design is going to work. So these two enemies, as they work on the project, kind of eventually start to see different sides of each other. Maybe their fights aren't quite so bad. But once the project is threatened, are they going to have to choose between their jobs or a beautifully designed future they can share?

[Sarah MacLaine]

Oh, well, if you love a workplace, Enemies to lovers, romance, this one is perfect for you. You can read it right now in print, ebook or audiobook. And if your podcasting app supports it, you can click on the chapter title right now and be taken to buy the book. Thanks to Lexi Blake and to Blue Box Press for sponsoring this week's episode. I have have two that are Normie, who is a celebrity look lookalike falling for a celebrity like the Stand talked a lot about the standin. So that's one that I just want to make sure we put on the. You know, by the way, everybody, if you don't know this, you can go to fatedmates.net click on show notes. And every book that we talk about will be in a beautiful photo array. So I just want to make sure Lily choose the stand in is there. Because the premise of the stand in is that that the heroine of that book looks like a very, very famous movie star who just needs a break from her life. And so the movie star kind of like convinces this woman to just trade places for a month and while she like, goes off and does some stuff and she has to like pretend to be. To be the famous movie star, including with the hero of the book who is the co star of the famous movie stars movie. Fine. Decoy Girlfriend by Lily Vale is a very similar concept, but the setup is just slightly pivoted and actually really charming. Which is the main character of this book. The heroine of this book has a. Is a. Is a dead ringer for a famous person and uses it to her advantage, like to get free amazing. At stores to get like, anytime anybody, like, she's in restaurant, she accepts everything free. Like, just. And this leads. Which is honestly amazing.

[Jennifer Procup]

It is amazing. I love it.

[Sarah MacLaine]

And this leads to a problem because it starts to get out that this celebrity.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah.

[Sarah MacLaine]

The movie star or the TV star is like kind of a mooch. And then the movie star finds her and is like, what the fuck?

[Jennifer Procup]

Okay, this is amazing. I love it.

[Sarah MacLaine]

And basically says, like, okay, I am going like, you owe me, so you owe me a month of normal. And so they trade places and she falls in love with the person who is like the. So the movie star in this case is in a fake. Is the. It's the movie star who's in a fake relationship with her co star for like, PR purposes. And so they have to make the switch.

[Jennifer Procup]

That's great.

[Sarah MacLaine]

I mean, what a cool. What a, like, nice spin on it.

[Jennifer Procup]

I love it.

[Sarah MacLaine]

We are like, like, barely scratched the surface of my list at this point.

[Jennifer Procup]

No, that's okay. Let's. We're gonna keep going. So are you ready to do like.

[Sarah MacLaine]

No, I have one more in this category I want to talk about Betty Carrillo's 32 days in May, which is just recently out. I think it came out last week. And Nadia, the heroine of this book, was recently diagnosed with lupus and is sort of like having to reckon with what this means for her life. Life and so she goes home to the. Or she goes to like the place where she spent summers. You know, her family spends summers and on the Jersey Shore. This is where Betty writes. This is her second book, also set on the Jersey Shore. And through like a confluence of romance doctoring. Jen, she is set up on a date by her rheumatologist.

[Jennifer Procup]

Sure.

[Sarah MacLaine]

With Marco, who is like a burned out movie star.

[Jennifer Procup]

I love it.

[Sarah MacLaine]

And this is a sort of quieter. This is really like Nadia's story. But Marco is like, in a lot of ways, like the prize for her as she like finds. Finds herself and you know, becomes a piece of, like, he just becomes like a really important piece of this journey that she has been kind of thrust into. What they decide is she is home for all of this. Over the course, she's home for a month and he is also home for a month. And it is the month of May, and so they decide they're gonna have like a one month, no strings fling, which I love because I feel like this is a tee up that we don't see as much recently in romance. And then at the end, the big question is like, you know, what happens at the end of the month? Like, she's in. She has her life. She's now has. Has to sort of live with chronic illness. And he is a movie star. Where do you want to go? Let's go to. We knew each other before.

[Jennifer Procup]

Oh, yeah. Okay. We knew each other for. Okay, go ahead.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Sonali Dev's the Bollywood Bride is, I think one of the. This is like one of those books that I always like point to as like a cla. A really terrific version of this trope. I'm sure I've talked about it on the podcast before, but the. The heroine of this book is like one of. I mean, talk about a movie star, right? Like all. She is one of the biggest names in Bollywood. Rhea is her name. And she comes home for her cousin's wedding in Chicago and followed by like a plethora of, you know, media because she's coming to America and re. Reconnects with a boy, Vikram, who, like, they've always known each other. They've known each other since they were children. They spent summers together. They had like a magnificent love story together. And then she left and became a star and he stayed and really resented her for leaving and, like, didn't fully understand like, that she had. She has like a lot of stuff in her past that she has to reckon with related to her family. And she was really closed about that. And now she has to like, reveal a lot of herself, which is a very difficult thing for a movie star to do.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah.

[Sarah MacLaine]

So that's Sonali's Bollywood Bride.

[Jennifer Procup]

Okay. I have one of my favorites in the, in this genre is like, I will admit, like, okay, it's in the past. We knew each other and he fucked up real bad. Right. I really love that. And so I have ghosted by JM Darhauer and in this one, and this is. It's really interesting. I think that it's dual point of view, but then there's like a third kind of way that it's trying to get some information to the reader. And what it is, is Kennedy, Garfield. It starts off is pretty young, in her twenties, but she has a daughter who is almost six. And it turns out that she, when she was seventeen, ran away with her high school boyfriend who was like essentially going to make it big in Hollywood. And his name is Jonathan Cunningham, but his stage name is Johnny Cumming. And I was like, oh, boy, oh boy. And what happens is, is he becomes addicted to not just like the fame, but also to like alcohol and drugs. And they have a really, like, they had a really rough time. And the way that you get the past is that she essentially like kept like a journal or notebooks but like wrote about them almost. I'm not sure that element works really well for me, but whatever, it doesn't matter. It's like wrote about almost like as in like third person. Like, this is what was happening. But like, you did this, you did this anyway. So that's how you find out kind of like what he was doing. And you don't really find out the truly bad stuff till the very end, which I think is smart because he essentially, it's clear from the beginning has never been allowed to know his daughter because every time he showed up he was either drunk or high. And she's like, you can't do this. And so he is finally sober and he is filming like in the city. This takes place in upstate New York. And he is injured actually trying to save somebody. He like, saved somebody's life. Like, there's a, like a huge paparazzi scrum and someone almost, almost is like in traffic, kind of gets pushed out into the road and he saves this person.

[Sarah MacLaine]

And he.

[Jennifer Procup]

The movie he's most famous for is a like a superhero character. But, you know, his journey, his addiction journey is well documented in the press and in the paparazzi. And so he has his like one year sobriety token. And so Jonathan essentially is Kind of like, I want a chance. Like, I heard what you said, and there's of a lot, lot of layers to this book. I think it's really smart. It turns out that, you know, Kennedy's mother has died in the previous year, and her father has also been, like, struggled with addiction or alcoholism. And it's 20 years sober. And so, like, it means something to her to see Johnny's like, one year token. And so trying to figure out, like, whether or not she's going to allow him to essentially, like, be a part of not just her life, but their daughter's life, given the way, like, how destructive he was when he was in the throes of this. So I think if you're looking for, like, super angsty and all that business, then you would really like Ghosted by JM Darhour.

[Sarah MacLaine]

I want to talk about Melanie Harlow's small town swoon, where this is Best friend's older brother. Melanie's one of those writers who, like, has never met a trope that lives on its own. Like, she needs, like, six or seven tropes layered into each other, which is why her books read so quickly. But this is best friend's older brother. She, when they were young, when they were, like, she was 16 and he was 19, and she had a, like, wicked crush on him and. And she confessed her crush to him and he was like, no. And then he went off and he became, like, one of the biggest movie stars in the world. And then his. His star started falling. He couldn't get a. He couldn't get a gig that, like, was really doing that would succeed. And so he went to a psychic who told him, a Hollywood psychic who told him, like, you have to return to, like, your place of peace. And so he goes home, and when he's home, he meets Arie. His name is Dash. Dash and Arie, like, meet again and it becomes like, they sort of reconnect. They're now in their, you know, mid-20s, and it's pretty sexy. Like, Melanie Harlow writes a really sexy, straightforward contemporary. There's some pretty. I love. I love sexting and romance. This has quite a bit of sexting and romance in it. And it's just basically like, again, a kind of like, celebrity. He is a gigantic movie star. He's recognizable, or he's very recognizable in the town. And it is that sort of back and forth of, like. But it also layers in that you're my best friend's older brother. It layers in that, like, like the embarrassment that she feels from the first Time she confessed her like unrealistic, unreasonable crush on him. Like, and his rejection is in there. There's a lot going on in this book and I think you'll have a fun time reading it.

[Jennifer Procup]

Okay, so I have another. Just play another like We Knew each Other, which is Just Playing House by Farrah Heron. And this one is.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Oh, I had this one on my list.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah, I love this one. And I might have talked about this before, so I'll be a little brief, but I want to specifically talk about like the paparazzi part of it. So Marley is a, essentially a stylist and she has really been waiting for the opportunity to like move up in her job so that she's like a private shopper. And in comes like a new like a movie star who's going to be making essentially like a, like a big superhero movie. And it turns out that this guy Nikhail is someone not only that she went to high school with, but she like went to prom with and she slept with him and then he ghosted her. So she's just like, I hate this dirt bag. Right? Like she already knows who this is. Now the thing that was really interesting to me is she is about to undergo a double mastectomy because she has the gene. I can't remember Brian one the brca. Yeah. And so she's like, I have to do this. And basically like for romance reasons, Nikhale ends up moving in with her to kind of help her like recover from this surgery so that she will be his stylist and he'll be able to like be closer to his movie set. And the thing that I really remember about this is that like the paparazzi is really present in his life and they catch wind of the fact that she has had this surgery and he goes into work and someone's like, basically like your girlfriend had like a boob job or something. And he was, gets so furious. He's like, it was a mastectomy. And I remember thinking like, it was a really great way of showing like how inhumane the paparazzi is that they were looking. And so I thought like the celebrity part of this I'm sure I didn't talk about before because I, I was just really interested of course in that, like their relationship. But just his absolute fury at how her pain was really co opted and turned into something really ugly by the paparazzi in a way that felt, I mean, monstrous. Like it, because it was so different than the way we usually see this play out, right? Like, oh, you're just eating at a restaurant and they're in your face or whatever. Like, it was like, no, this is really dehumanizing. And so I really loved this book. Obviously, huge content warnings because of, like, what she's undergoing. And, you know, she's had, I think women in her life die of cancer. But this was a terrific book and I think just a really beautiful, understated romance, but one where they did know each other and that the way that they know each other allows them both to feel really seen. Yeah, yeah, it was great. So that was.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Sarah's great, though. She's so thoughtful about character development and like, yeah, agree. The character work in her books is always top notch.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah. So that's just playing house.

[Sarah MacLaine]

So I want to give a quick shout out to our friend Adrianna Herrera for Just for the Holidays, which is a Harlequin category. And the premise here is that the heroine is a casting director, and she is deeply committed to getting this one particular heartthrob to be in her film. And she heads out to his house in the Hamptons in the wintertime, only for us to discover that they've known each other. They're. For a long time. They are ex. They were. They were together in college and then broke up. And now she's out there in the Hamptons, like, basically trying to prove herself for her job by casting him and convincing him to be in this. In this television show. And he. There's a snowstorm. Of course.

[Jennifer Procup]

Worse.

[Sarah MacLaine]

It's. It's a holiday book, everyone. Of course there's a snowstorm. So she's out there, and she gets stuck out there with his entire family for Noche Buena.

[Jennifer Procup]

Oh, no.

[Sarah MacLaine]

And he's basically like, okay, but if you're going to stay, you have to pretend that we're together. And so it's fake dating in a snowstorm at the holidays. He's a superstar. She's a casting director. And that leads us into our next. Because that straddles these two lines between we knew each other then and broke up. And we work together.

[Jennifer Procup]

We work together.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Which is the new version of the celebrity romance. I think, like.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah, I think so, too. A lot.

[Sarah MacLaine]

A lot of the modern books are about we work together.

[Jennifer Procup]

We work together. All right, so you start.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Okay, well, that Adriana one counts in both two buckets. I. Oh, I also just want to, like, name check. Maya. Ariel's. When I think of you, which we talked about on the debut list last year, because this is Maya's debut romance. And that is the hero is this, like, auteur director. Oh, it's actually the same thing. They knew each other in college and now she is the assistant at the film company, the production company that is buying like that he is directing a new movie with. I'm not going to get too deep into that one because we talked about it so much on the debut episode. But I just want to say this will also deliver for you.

[Jennifer Procup]

Okay, wait, I have a. I have one too, so. Okay. Yeah, Okay.

[Sarah MacLaine]

I have. I have others. Keep going.

[Jennifer Procup]

So this is like two actors who used to work together. And it's what I did for Love by Susan Elizabeth for Phillips now a deep cut. A deep cut. And part of me is like, I didn't even remember, but I was kind of like, I was asking Kate, like, you know, what do you. Do you have these? And she's like, oh, I love that book. And you know what's funny is when you have that experience of like reading a book that you read a long time ago and just like falling right into it all of a sudden. I was 75 pages deep. So Georgie and Bram were essentially co, like actors, right? On a really famous and wildly popular sitcom for eight years. And they both started when they were like in. In their teenage years. I think she was younger, he was 18, she was 15. And so it was on for eight years and now it's been off for eight years. So she's like 31. And it's really interesting because Georgie is like sort of one of those child stars with a really overbearing father, right? Like, she was. Everyone loved her character and she still kind of gets a lot of like, accolades for it, but her father still kind of has her thumb on her, like her career and has been making some bad choices. And she doesn't like the movie she's been in, but he has invested her money really wisely. So she's like, really rich now. Bram was this like, wild child bad boy, right? Partied and did all this crazy stuff. And finally the reason the movie or the TV show came to an end was because he got caught doing, like a sex tape. And it was just. Was like this Do Gooders, you know, kind of characters could not survive the real life shenanigans of Bram. And then there's this great, like, God, you know what? Nobody leans in like Susan Elizabeth Phillips to they had terrible sex the first.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Time because, oh, no, she's the greatest.

[Jennifer Procup]

Georgie essentially goes to, like, kind of crashes one of his parties when she's like 18 and he is 21 or something. Or whatever. They were young. She was young. And they have sex, and it is awful. Like, it's on a boat. And he just takes her downstairs, and they kick somebody out of a room, and they have sex, and he just, like, walks out. And she's. It's awful. So she is now humiliated by, like, her husband left her. She wanted a baby, and now he and his new wife are pregnant again. Right. That's just terrible. Terrible stuff happening to her. And then they go to Vegas, and Bram, she goes to Vegas to meet a friend. Bram is there. Somehow, they get really drunk, someone else roofies them, and they wake up the next morning, married.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Nice.

[Jennifer Procup]

And basically, she's like, I cannot. Neither of our reputations can take the scandal, so we're going to have to stay married for a year to just, like, weather the storm. Like, that is the setup. That's probably the first 75 pages of the book. But it is a. I was just like, oh. I felt right back into it. So, yeah, the whole idea, too, of, like, he's. He's the one who is just ruined. His reputation, his career, can't get a job. Right. Is like a drunk or an alcoholic. And there's all this like. Like, kind of innuendo and gossip about all the bad things he's done. And I remember a big part of it is like, her discovering, you know, what.

[Sarah MacLaine]

What Nice.

[Jennifer Procup]

What was the truth about them. And of course they're gonna fall in love.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Perfect. I love it.

[Jennifer Procup]

I know.

[Sarah MacLaine]

I love it when they fall in love.

[Jennifer Procup]

Me, too. Me too. Sarah.

[Sarah MacLaine]

This week's episode of Faded Mates is sponsored by Videtta Centro, a leather goods company out of California.

[Jennifer Procup]

So the cool thing about this company is right now they sell two kinds of wallet, and one is a pocket wallet, which Sarah's gonna talk about a minute. Cause she loves them.

[Sarah MacLaine]

I'm obsessed with pocket wallets.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah, it's just like, you put a couple of cards and room for a license, and you don't have to carry around a big bag.

[Sarah MacLaine]

You can put it literally in your back pocket, which is where I carry mine. I'm obsessed. I don't carry a bag bag. I love a pocket wallet. So this is very exciting for me.

[Jennifer Procup]

And there's also an international bifold wallet, which has so wide that you can carry currency from around the world. And it's just not like an American wallet. So the really cool thing about this company, though, is that the outside of the wallet looks, like, really plain. Right? Like just sort of, you know, like kind of standard wallet, colors Right. Black or tan or navy. But when you open it, it is a beautiful, vibrant leather. And there's all this information on the website about how, like, how carefully it's tested I've handled these wallets. It is just a beautiful item. So this would be a real.

[Sarah MacLaine]

I particularly like this because the name of the company is Vedantro, and what we're saying here is Vedere in Dendro, which means look inside.

[Jennifer Procup]

Exactly.

[Sarah MacLaine]

So cute.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah. So if this is a really great gift for you potentially. But also, Father's Day is coming up soon, and so if you're like, you know what? Every man needs a great wallet.

[Sarah MacLaine]

It.

[Jennifer Procup]

Maybe you want to check out one of these really beautiful, like, beautiful leather. It is designed in la, but, like, made in a. Like a small workshop in Florence.

[Sarah MacLaine]

It's.

[Jennifer Procup]

They're spectacular.

[Sarah MacLaine]

So right now you can head to verentro.com that's V E--E-N-T-R-O.com, and listeners can get 25 off with the discount code FATHER at checkout. And if you sign up on the website, you can receive an additional 45 off in an email for total savings of $70. Again, that's videntro.com. or if your podcasting app supports it, you can click on the chapter title right now to be taken to the website. Thanks to videntro.com for sponsoring this week's episode. Okay, so work together. I also have. Oh, I have a deep cut. How about Julie James's Just the Sexiest Man Alive? Have you read this one?

[Jennifer Procup]

I think we might have talked. Yes, for sure. And I think we might have mentioned this on our first celebrity episode.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Oh, did we? Okay, well, then I. Listen, that was a long time ago, and I didn't go back and look, but, you know, maybe we could put a link to that in show notes, too. But. Okay, here's the deal with this one. So Julie James writes about lawyers. This first series. This series of hers is like, lawyers, like FBI agents, like public defenders, like, all sorts of people related to law. And in this particular one, the here, the heroine, Taylor, is a lawyer who has been asked to consult on a film and train an actor for his new role as, like, a Cracker Jack trial attorney. And so. So she ends up with Jason, who is quite literally the biggest movie star on the planet. And they basically can't stand each other at the beginning of this book. And it is terrific. Like, it's like they resent each other. Like, they're both in this situation because for, you know, Particular reasons related to, like, their. In each of their jobs, each of their reputations. And it ends up that obviously they fall in love while all of this is sort of going on. And there's also, like a little. Julie always has, like, a little bit of like, suspensy naughty, like a light touch, suspensy background. And this is. It's just Julie James. We've done a deep dive on this one, or not on this one, but we've done a deep dive on Julie before. She's terrific.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah, she's great.

[Sarah MacLaine]

And you are going to have a great time. And this is actually. This is her debut. So if you start here, you have the entire series before you and you're gonna have a great time.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah, she writes a great book. Okay. So I have one more. We work together, kind of, which is an interesting one. Again, I've mentioned this book before. I really loved it. It's into the woods by Jenny Holiday. And in this one, Teddy is essentially has just been kicked out of or left, like, the world's biggest rock band. And he was always, like. He was never the star of the band. Right. Like, he was just like the guy in the. Around who, you know, played guitar or something, or drums. I don't remember, because I don't. It didn't feel important for me to remember that information about Teddy. But anyway, he gets essentially, like, talked into. He doesn't really quite realize what he has signed up for. Being a, like, working as a, like, sort of mentor, he thinks in like, sort of a, you know, like a. I'm going to be mentoring musicians kind of summer gig. But it turns out instead it's a summer camp and these are high school kids and.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Amazing.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah. And the other. And it's like, dedicated to the arts. And so along with him is Gretchen Miller, who is the dance instructor. She's only there for, like, the first part of camp. And she also essentially has been kind of tucked into it. Like a friend of hers, you know, broke a leg or something and she needed someone to fill in. And so these two kind of work together. But, like, Gretchen is like a normal working artist and Teddy is a superstar working art. And so what I liked about it is that they are on equal footing in a way, even though he is clearly just like way bigger in profile and stature. And so it's really interesting to see him reconnect with what he loved most about music through this experience of working with kids who loved music and with other artists who just love what they do. And so it's Like a really interesting thing where what I think is great about this, even though he's not an actor, so I know I'm a little off the. Off the boundaries, but it's really great to see him reconnecting with himself as an artist as compared to himself as a celebrity. Right.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Yeah. Okay, so.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah, I love this one. Yeah. So that's.

[Sarah MacLaine]

I like that, Tia, because it always feels a little bit like. Like, I mean, I like it when love and romance, like, re. Refocuses you.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yes. Right. Resets you.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Recenters you. Yeah.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah. So anyway, it's a. I love this book a whole lot that's into the woods by Jenny Holiday.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Okay, wait, we said we're. We're doing work. People work together. Okay. So I want to talk about Nora Goes Off Script by Annabelle Monaghan, which is. Is, like, very recent and kind of is a book that it feels like a lot of people have been talking about recently. So, again, I don't want to get too. I know we're. I'm conscious of time, but the. Okay, so. But the premise here is that Nora is a screenwriter, and her marriage has, like, she's like, a fine, kind of middling screenwriter. Like, she can. She does the job, like, you know, it's. She has never had a, like, huge thing. And if you know anything about, you know, Hollywood, it feels like for her, it feels very much like she has got to figure this out before her whole career goes down the tubes. So. But she writes for, like, Hallmark Channel, and she, like I said, does fine. So her husband leaves her, and he leaves her and her two kids, and he, like, it turned in this kind of, like, terrible way. Like, it's just clear that, like, he just is the worst and she just is stuck holding the bag. But she decides that she's going to write the story of her. Her marriage collapse, and she writes, you know, arguably, like, the best work of her life. It's picked up for film, so it's, like, off. She's leaving the Hallmark Channel behind, and then, like, because of romance reasons, they decide to fill it out, film it at her house.

[Jennifer Procup]

Sure. Which is totally.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Feels fine. I don't care. That sounds right. And so. And then they cast. Cast like this again. Sexiest man alive. Listen, if you're writing histor. If you're writing a celebrity romance, and. And he's not the sexiest man alive, what are. What are we even doing here?

[Jennifer Procup]

I couldn't tell you. Right.

[Sarah MacLaine]

She. Cat. They cast the sexiest man alive to play the husband. And so you Know, everything is like, everything is fine. The movie happens and then. And like they kind of have. Have a fine, like a kind of will they, won't they like, you know, bantry experience. And then the crew leaves the show, the movie is done, and he is basically there and he's like, I love your house. Like, I love this place. I want to stay. And I would like to pay you. I will pay you $1,000 a day for rent.

[Jennifer Procup]

You can stay wherever you want if.

[Sarah MacLaine]

I can just stay the week. And Nora's like, shit, $7,000 is a lot of money. And yeah, okay. And so the book is the week that Leo stays with Nora and she is has to like learn. It's this perfect setup for a second for. It's not second chance between them. It's like Nora's second chance chance. And it's basically like this week of her like learning to trust herself and her own emotions and her own feelings and like take the risk on a new person who also just happens to be like the handsomest movie star of all time.

[Jennifer Procup]

Seems like a nice deal. And seven grand. You go, girl. Yeah, right. Okay.

[Sarah MacLaine]

I have content warning children.

[Jennifer Procup]

Okay. I guess I could jump right up there.

[Sarah MacLaine]

So listen, everybody knows I hate kids in a romance.

[Jennifer Procup]

Doing there.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Okay, this is great.

[Jennifer Procup]

So I have one a book called Set Piece by Lana Schwartz. And just full disclosure, I did work on this book for 831 stories. These are. These 831 books are. Are novellas, like nolla length. They're essentially category length, like you know, 200 pages, which is so great. And in the set piece, Jack and CJ meet when she is a bartender and he is like a newly minted star. Like essentially he just whatever he was just totally blew up. And he is like, I have no idea how to even really deal with this. And they have, they like, they have great chemistry. She kind of saves him from some like really overzealous fans. And they end up having a one night stand. And then like that's that. And then years later, I think four or five years later, he is now sort of a like has been a star. But like, it's kind of like I'm tired of my star stardom and shows up on set for an adaptation of the Great Gatsby only to find out that CJ is not a bartender anymore. She is now the production designer for the film. And so it's really interesting because they are now working together, but they have this past of this one night stand. And so they're trying to Figure out what is it that could be between us. She is a single mom. He is not the father everybody, but he, you know, she's a single mom now. She has gone through some things in her life. And so he. She's really different and she's kind of like, I cannot afford to like ruin my reputation by having like a, you know, a quick affair with this movie star. And he of course is like, oh my God, this woman I've been thinking about for years, here she is in front of me. So it's really great. It's really like snappy and fun. And then at is set piece by Lana Schwartz.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Nice. I want to talk about. Funny you should ask. By Alyssa Sussman, which it feels like it was the face that launched a thousand celebrity romance ships a while back. And so Alyssa Sussman basically took, you know, a while back there was a kind of famous story about Chris Evans and a journalist, like kind of getting like trapped in a weekend together. Like where it was supposed to be a couple of hours and an ended up that they spent the weekend together and like this great piece came out of it and Alyssa sort of took this idea and ran with it. And the tee up was that, you know, the. And the heroine of this book is a journalist. And she gets this kind of like once in a lifetime opportunity to interview a juggernaut. You know, movie star goes, does the. Does this interview and same as in, in life ends up spending a weekend with him that is like exactly what you imagine ends up at the end of this weekend. So this book is told in two timelines and it has a little bit of. It has like alternative texts, like articles and other things in it too. So basically then cut to. I think it's like 10 years later and. And she is basically like a very skilled journalist. Like this, this weekend, this article that she wrote like put her on the map. The issue is that anytime anybody interacts with her, all they want to do is know about this weekend. Like, they want to ask about this movie star. They want to know about everything that happened. And so she kind of can't escape it.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Until a magazine or there an opportunity rises where she can like interview him again. And at first she's like, fuck no, I want nothing to do with that. And the reality is that. And then like she. But then she realizes like, oh, but if I do it then I can like kind of like then it's done and it's erased and I can like move forward with my career.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah.

[Sarah MacLaine]

And like be a person Outside of the shadow of this weekend and this may. Except what happens when they reconnect and, like, it's clear that, like, he too, has been waiting for all this time. And, like, they have this incredible spark. And what if she decides she doesn't want to get out from under his shadow?

[Jennifer Procup]

You know, she wants to get under him in a different way? Sarah, I understand.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Exactly. Exactly. So that's the list assessment. It's funny you should ask. It is a great. It's a very fun read. It's a. It's like a long, slow burn, but it's really fun. Okay.

[Jennifer Procup]

I only have one left. It is a long, slow burn, but I think I'm leaving behind. They work together for. He's a total wreck.

[Sarah MacLaine]

I have a. He's a total wreck, too. Okay.

[Jennifer Procup]

And then you can do all your bodyguards.

[Sarah MacLaine]

I have two more.

[Jennifer Procup]

Okay.

[Sarah MacLaine]

And I have two bodyguards.

[Jennifer Procup]

Okay. So it's the mixtape by Brittany Cherry again. This is another. He's a musician, and he is a total mess, actually, for a really legitimate reason. His name's Oliver, which is. He was part of a kind of musician, a music group with his twin brother, Alex and Alex. He and Alex were coming home from an event, and Oliver was gonna, like, I think, leave on his own. And Alex was like, I'll come with you. I don't think Oliver was driving. I think it was like an Uber or something. And they were in a car crash, and Alex died. So his twin. Twin brother, who is also his musician partner, died, and poor Oliver is not handling it well. So he runs into. He's somewhere, and he. Oh, I think it's again at a bar. And he meets Emery, who's a bartender, and he is very drunk.

[Sarah MacLaine]

He.

[Jennifer Procup]

She doesn't know how to get him home. She has no idea. Right? Like, he just is completely unable to even help her get him safe to a safe place. And so she ends up taking him home to her house, where, I mean, this man is such a mess that he, like, pees in her house, plants and pukes on her car. Like, things like that. Just, like, really terrible. And. And. And then because of, like, the blowback from all the publicity in the paparazzi, she ends up getting fired. And he finds out about this. And he is a good guy, and he's Feels so terrible that he basically offers to, like, kind of, like, pay her rent and make sure that she is financially taken care of. And they end up. End up in this situation where it is just like a really slow burn where, you know, we see her Terrible family. I mean this, these are traumatized people who really have to work through a lot of things on their own. And like you said, this is a very slow burn but like really drama filled when you see what they are dealing with. So if you're in the mood for something like really soapy, right, like these people are going through it, then you would really like the mixtape by Brittany Cherry. They figure it out at the end of day the course and are in love. Of course.

[Sarah MacLaine]

I have two bodyguards. All right, that's it.

[Jennifer Procup]

Do it.

[Sarah MacLaine]

So I love a bodyguard.

[Jennifer Procup]

Sarah, I don't think we've ever done a bodyguard episode. We have.

[Sarah MacLaine]

We didn't. We do. If not, I'm alone.

[Jennifer Procup]

I don't know.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Okay, we're checking. Jen's checking everybody. We're going to go to the tape. We don't know at this point. It's seven years in. What have we talked about?

[Jennifer Procup]

I have no idea.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Who can even tell? Okay, I want to talk about two bodyguards romances. The first one is Katherine Centers the Bodyguard, which is one that everybody should run and read because it's really fun and especially because Hannah, our heroine is the like badass bodyguard in this book and she can just take a man out if she needs to. And in many ways we discover. But the hero, Jack is a superstar and he has a style walker and there. And Hannah has been hired basically to like protect Jack all the time. She is, she is his, his girl. His go to his body girl. And but so because of all this like so they're you know, working together and then he has his mom gets ill and he has to go home. And he certainly doesn't want to add. Doesn't want to tell his family that he has this stalker and he has a bodyguard. And you know, there's a reason why. Why you know, you know, because he doesn't want to worry everybody. This makes sense. Like he's a decent guy and so he's like, hannah, we have to go home. But I think you're gonna have to fake being my girlfriend.

[Jennifer Procup]

Obviously. Okay.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Another really good. This is. We've talked about this on the fake relationship episode. Episode. Everybody knows, like I have a real problem with a lot of fake relationship books because the like stakes aren't there. But my mom is sick and I don't want to add the worry to my family that like I also have a stalker.

[Jennifer Procup]

Sounds good.

[Sarah MacLaine]

So my bodyguard has to be. My fake relationship feels like the right level of angst and stakes. And so that's Catherine Centers, the bodyguard Everything works out great. No one is killed by a stalker in this book. And then I'm gonna. I saved my best for last QB Tyler. Oh, you know, I love qb. My girl qb. This literally was the first one that.

[Jennifer Procup]

I put out a list. I love this for you.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Okay, so this one is called Keep her safe. And Shay, our heroine is. Is young and she's like a rising star. She's like the. Everybody's like, this is the it girl of it Girls. She's like Zendaya. And instead of having Tom Holland, just like pulling her through throngs of paparazzi, which, as Adriana would say, the Short King Society.

[Jennifer Procup]

Correct. Fine.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Welcomes him. Listen, that was really hot. And I don't love a short king.

[Jennifer Procup]

But we love that. Sure.

[Sarah MacLaine]

I mean, I really enjoyed that. Anyway, that's a side note. So Shay, she has this bodyguard, Damien. And Damien is all the things. He is big and brutish and quiet. And he has been. He's like obsessed. He, like, of course, is fully obsessed with her. He is like, I am too old, cold. I'm too rough. I am too broken. She is too perfect.

[Jennifer Procup]

That's how they all should feel. Sarah, it's fine.

[Sarah MacLaine]

See, I mean, this is. Frankly, all heroes should feel this way. Yes. She has a stalker. Obviously, it's very unprofessional for them to get, you know. Yeah, whatever. And she. But like, they've been. They've been. He's been her bodyguard for three years. Years. And she goes to him. Like, you know, there's like a situation where she's in a lot of danger. And then like, in the. In the like, endorphin rush of, like, post that event, she goes to him and she's like, here's the truth. I've been obsessed with you for three years. Like, all I want is you. And he's like, I can't. I'm too old and I'm too big and I'm too rough. But then they do.

[Jennifer Procup]

Sure.

[Sarah MacLaine]

And if you've read any QB Tyler book books, frankly, if you are a fade of Maids listener and you haven't, what have you been doing? I've been screaming about them.

[Jennifer Procup]

You know, the first. It took me a long time that I read one and I was like, oh, I don't think I read this one though. So, you know, I'm gonna be. So anyway, shutting it down and downloading immediately.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Run, don't walk to this one because here's the truth. Like, they're just so sexy. Like, I just can't for every slow burn there is on this list.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yes. Then there's a.

[Sarah MacLaine]

There's a QB, Tyler, for you.

[Jennifer Procup]

Sure. Exactly. Exactly.

[Sarah MacLaine]

And she doesn't mess around to getting them to mess around.

[Jennifer Procup]

All right, well, there you go, everybody. Celebrity normie messing around. That's all you wanted in life.

[Sarah MacLaine]

That's it. That's the. That's the whole ball game.

[Jennifer Procup]

I think it's a nice corollary because my understanding is Catherine center is closed door. So that you just went boom. Boom.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Correct. Listen. I take all kinds. I don't judge. I listen and I don't. I read and I don't. Actually, I do judge a lot, you guys. I just don't judge on the podcast. Did we spend 30 minutes this morning with me judging? We did, but not. Not on the radio, as they say, not for air. I'm Sarah McLean. I'm here with my friend Jen Prokop, and we are fated mates. You can find us every Wednesday, wherever you get your podcasts. You can also find us [e-mail]. if you head over there to fademates.net, there's a ton of fun stuff there. You can click on show Notes and find all of the books that we talked about today and all of the books we talked about every week, plus links to anything that we said. We'd put links in show notes too. Also there you can click on collections and head over to find a bunch of, like, really fun little collections of books that our friends are authors, are sometimes listeners. Some people in the discord, other people in romance have put together real, honest to God people, not an algorithm putting together lists of, you know, I don't know, five to ten romances that are all connected around one particular theme. For example, Jennifer has one there that's called Tiger Beats.

[Jennifer Procup]

You're a tiger shifter and it is. You have a pet tiger and books about tigers. I think these are nice books. We deserve nice things. No one is a tiger mom. And there are no paper tigers. Real tigers.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Only fur furred tigers. Only cat supremacy.

[Jennifer Procup]

Yeah, Tired all your. I'm tired of this dog bullshit everywhere, everybody.

[Sarah MacLaine]

I do think I did joke like that. We do need to add a wolf category as well, because wolves. But the problem is there's just so many wolves in romance. You're right. Cats, tigers are rarer.

[Jennifer Procup]

It was a lot easier.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Anyway, so you can find those at collections. If you want to join us in St. Louis for Fademates Live, which we would love to have you do, you can find that [e-mail] live also, that will take you to the fullest of all of my tour dates for the summer. So come and see me. If you can't come and see us though, Jen will be at at least Chicago and possibly in.

[Jennifer Procup]

Sure, why not? What else am I gonna do? Summer.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Summer.

[Jennifer Procup]

Just drive around the Midwest.

[Sarah MacLaine]

Listen. Perfect. That's what I want you to do. Just follow. Just come with me everywhere. Anyway, so that is the story. We are always excited to hear your books. Please send us your recommendations for Celebrity Normie books. They are my favorite and I'm always looking for new stuff to read. And that's that. Bye, everyone.