RERUN: S04.43: [Sex on the] Beach Reads

Summary

Podcast Summary: Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People Episode: RERUN: S04.43: [Sex on the] Beach Reads
Release Date: May 21, 2025
Hosts: Sarah MacLean (Bestselling Author) & Jen Prokop (Romance Critic)

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Introduction

In this engaging rerun of episode S04.43 titled "[Sex on the] Beach Reads," co-hosts Sarah MacLean and Jen Prokop delve into the niche yet intriguing topic of romance novels that feature genuine beachside romance scenes. The episode, released on May 21, 2025, explores the challenges authors and readers face when seeking out "sex on the beach" narratives within the romance genre.

Promoting the Online Writing Class

[00:00 - 02:08]
Sarah MacLean kicks off the episode by announcing her online class, "Mastering the Art of Great Conflict." This two-hour workshop, supplemented by a panel of esteemed authors and a week-long message board Q&A, aims to help writers perfect their conflict-driven storytelling. Sarah emphasizes the importance of conflict in manuscript development, stating, "If you struggle with conflict or are just starting out and really want to make sure that you're nailing conflict in your manuscript, I hope this class and workshop and week-long experience will be worth your while."

Summer Announcements and Events

[02:08 - 05:01]
The hosts banter about their living situations in Chicago, discussing the absence of central air conditioning in Sarah's office—a revelation after living without it for decades. They share exciting news about upcoming events, including a sold-out Fated Mates Live panel at PolyCon, highlighting their commitment to engaging with their audience. Jen Prokop mentions, "We are going to have a little, like, gift bag for everybody who comes in," adding a personal touch to their interactions.

Main Topic: [Sex on the] Beach Reads

[05:01 - 20:24]
The core of the episode revolves around identifying and discussing romance novels that authentically incorporate "sex on the beach" scenarios. Both hosts express the difficulty in finding such books, noting cultural nuances and genre expectations. Sarah shares her methodology: "I sat with myself and I said, Sarah, where are the books? What are the books you remember being set..." She lists historical settings like Tessa Dare's Spindle Cove series and Priscilla Laveris's Florida-based romances.

Jen Prokop adds a critical perspective, "I have a theory... maybe mainstream romance just doesn't do beaches," suggesting that the challenges stem from genre boundaries and the logistical discomforts of beach settings in storytelling.

Notable Quotes:

• Sarah MacLean [06:42]: "Welcome, everyone to Fated Mates. I'm Sarah MacLean. I read romance novels and I write them."
• Jen Prokop [10:56]: "I'm down to fuck."
• Sarah MacLean [14:45]: "I want to talk about C. Travis Rice, who is going to be a Fated Mates Live in Alexandria."

Book Recommendations

The hosts recommend a variety of romance novels that fit the beach-themed criteria, spanning historical, contemporary, and erotic romance subgenres.

1. The Survivors Club by Mary Ballig

• [15:02 - 20:24]
  Sarah praises Mary Ballig's "The Survivors Club," highlighting its deep emotional layers and realistic portrayal of war heroes grappling with PTSD. The protagonist, Hugo, meets the heroine, Gwen, on a beach, leading to a slow-burning romance that intertwines physical passion with emotional healing.

2. Lucky Harbor Series by Jill Chalvis

• [27:43 - 29:48]
  Jill Chalvis's "Lucky Harbor" series is lauded for its engaging characters and seaside setting. The second book, "The Sweetest Thing," explores Tara's return to Lucky Harbor after a divorce and her rekindled romance with Ford, a successful boat racer who runs the local bar.

3. American Royalty by Tracy Livesey

• [37:56 - 39:26]
  Sponsored by Avon Books, "American Royalty" features a dynamic romance between Duchess, a driven rapper, and Prince Jameson, a reclusive heir. Their high-stakes love story unfolds against the backdrop of a royal concert, blending family drama with intense romantic encounters.

4. Loving a Woman Warrior by Melanie Hansen

• [39:26 - 41:44]
  "Loving a Woman Warrior" offers a unique take on beach romance, focusing on two men meeting on the beach before Navy SEAL training. The narrative delves into their personal struggles and the complexities of their relationship within a military context.

YA Beach Romances

Sarah and Jen also touch upon young adult novels that, while not featuring explicit beach sex, offer compelling beachside romance and emotional growth.

1. 20 Boy Summer by Sarah Auchler

• [49:11 - 50:35]
  This YA novel centers on two best friends who make a bet to meet a boy each day during their 20-day summer vacation, leading to heartfelt discoveries and unresolved emotions from past relationships.

2. Stay Sweet by Siobhan Vivian

• [50:32 - 52:18]
  Set in the quaint summer town of Sand Lake, "Stay Sweet" follows Amelia and her best friend Kate as they navigate their final summer before adulthood, blending romance with personal growth.

Additional Recommendations

Sarah and Jen also recommend Lacey Alexander’s "What She Needs," an erotic romance set in the fictional Hotel Irotique, where protagonists Jenna and Brent navigate their professional and personal boundaries leading to a passionate connection.

Discussion on Erotic Romance and Genre Evolution

Throughout the episode, the hosts reflect on the evolution of erotic romance, acknowledging how earlier works might feel dated but still hold value for their passionate storytelling. They discuss the importance of diverse romance narratives and the continual push for representation within the genre.

Conclusion and Listener Engagement

The episode wraps up with the hosts encouraging listeners to share their favorite "sex on the beach" romance reads, fostering a community-driven dialogue around niche romantic storytelling.

Final Quotes:

• Sarah MacLean [64:32]: "Tell us if you've had a book that has sex on the beach that you think we should read because we're always up for that."
• Jen Prokop [64:48]: "Thank you to this week's sponsors, Avon Books, publishers of Tracy Livesey's American Royalty and skymed, a brand new show that you can check out on Paramount."

Sponsors

While the hosts briefly mention sponsors like Avon Books and Julie Pukrin's "Skymed," these sections are minimal to ensure the focus remains on the content.

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Key Takeaways:

• Difficulty in Finding Genuine Beachside Romance: The hosts emphasize the rarity of romance novels that authentically feature sex on the beach, attributing this scarcity to genre constraints and setting challenges.
• Diverse Recommendations: A wide range of books spanning historical, contemporary, and erotic romance subgenres are recommended, catering to varied reader preferences.
• Community Engagement: Listeners are encouraged to contribute their own recommendations, enhancing the podcast's interactive and community-oriented nature.

For more details on the books mentioned and to participate in upcoming events, listeners can visit the show notes or contact Sarah via @SarahMacLean.net.

Transcript

[Sarah MacLean]

Hi everyone, it's Sarah. And this one is for all the writers out there. For the last decade I've been teaching a class called Mastering the Art of Great Conflict. And I've always done it in person at conferences and universities. And thanks to a global pandemic, I haven't given it for two years, but we figured out a way to make it available online and I figured out a way to make it really robust. It's a two hour class followed by a panel with multiple authors who we at Vitamates and I in my head think do conflict really great. And a week long message board Q and A situation, sharing resources, talking about conflict prompts, talking about books that do it well, authors do it great. And if you struggle with conflict or are just starting out and really want to make sure that you're nailing conflict in your manuscript, I hope this class and workshop and week long experience will be worth your while. It's online the week of August 7th, but everything will be recorded and made available for people who sign up. And you can find information about that in show notes as always, or@Sarah McLean.net and click on writing class. Hope to see you there.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Hello, Sarah.

[Sarah MacLean]

Hey. It's summertime.

[Jennifer Prokop]

It is summertime. You know how I know that if you were trying to dry laundry outside in Chicago today, it would not dry.

[Sarah MacLean]

It would not work. No, listen, you know what I realized? I am in my 40s and I have never lived in a home that has central air conditioning.

[Jennifer Prokop]

That's sad for you because it's nice.

[Sarah MacLean]

Listen, I know, I know a lot of you out there just gasp. But when you grow up in New England and then you live in New York City in like old buildings. So I realized today was the first time that I had a moment where I was like, oh, I need an air conditioner in this room. We have plenty of air conditioners or window air conditioners, but my office now has a door on it, which is a plus, but it does not have an air conditioner, which is a minus.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yeah, when we moved into this, our current home, it was the first time, but we've been here for like 12 years that we had like central air and our own washer and dryer.

[Sarah MacLean]

It's amazing. I mean, it really does feel. It feels like when you talk to people from. Well, my husband is from California and thinks that this is for the birds living this way.

[Jennifer Prokop]

So, yeah, it's summer, summertime. Well, and we have some fun things planned. So we are going to a polycon, which is very exciting. I'M actually really getting really excited about seeing people. Yeah.

[Sarah MacLean]

Have we talked about how tickets sold out for a polycon for the fated mates live at a PolyCon in like 10 hours? That was amazing.

[Jennifer Prokop]

I think it was less.

[Sarah MacLean]

I think I was so excited about seeing all of your faces there. Please remember it. Is masks required? Yeah, required. Thank you. That's the word I was looking for. I was like, not optional masks. Not optional.

[Jennifer Prokop]

We're going to have a little, like, gift bag for everybody who comes in.

[Sarah MacLean]

Though, including there might be an adorable mask in there.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yeah. So that's really exciting. And I actually reached out to my friend who works at another bookstore in the Chicago area and was like, hey, after this happens, maybe we can do Faded Maze live at your bookstore.

[Sarah MacLean]

Well, I want to put a pin in that because I might have other news about Chicago. So I know Jen doesn't even know what the news is, but I have a book coming out at the end of the summer and that might be related to Chicago in some way.

[Jennifer Prokop]

I know. I'm really excited. So Heartbreaker's coming. A big summer, everybody.

[Sarah MacLean]

Big summer. Heartbreaker comes August 23rd. And you can pre order it right now from wherever you get your books, including our favorite bookstores, Love Sweet Arrow in the Chicago area, Word Bookstores in the Brooklyn area and Old Town Books in Alexandria, Virginia.

[Jennifer Prokop]

And I will be there. You know, I will be in New York. I will be in the New York, Connecticut. I don't know what to call it. The Tri State area. Is that what you call it? The Tri State area? I will be in the Tri State area around right after your book comes out to take Little Romance back to.

[Sarah MacLean]

College so we could just hang out and celebrate Adelaide and Claiborne.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Exactly. I also think we should. You know, there's a. Sorry, there's a bookstore in Middletown, Connecticut, where Little Romance goes to college. And I am kind of like, why don't I just call them and be like, hi, Sarah and I would like to come. Well, listen, and have an event.

[Sarah MacLean]

Jennifer, you're jumping the gun on that, too. I'm probably gonna have some information on Middletown, Connecticut as well.

[Jennifer Prokop]

My God, I'm sorry.

[Sarah MacLean]

Wait, isn't it. There are two of them. There's one in there.

[Jennifer Prokop]

There's two of them.

[Sarah MacLean]

Yeah, I think it's the Madison one, but whatever. Anyway, stay tuned, everyone, for information about where you can see me and Jen and books together at last. I mean, it's so rare to have us talking about books around you.

[Jennifer Prokop]

I mean, exactly. They're like, wait, What? So that's really exciting stuff, too.

[Sarah MacLean]

That's exciting. There are new stickers that we're gonna launch that we're super excited about. There might be some new merch coming. Look, faded mates. We've got you.

[Jennifer Prokop]

We've got you.

[Sarah MacLean]

Season 5 is going to be Magnificent Firebirds.

[Jennifer Prokop]

We're. We are. We're just taking off.

[Sarah MacLean]

We are. But first things first. It's July 6th when we are recording this. This episode is going to be about beach reads. And when we talked about this, we were pretty clear with each other that we didn't just want it to be about, like, books that you can read at the beach.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yes. Books where there's sand in them.

[Sarah MacLean]

Books where there's sand. And also, I indicated it really should be sex on the beach.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Right. Well, okay, so listen, I want to talk about. So I was like, yeah, sure, no problem. And then it was a little harder than I thought. And I want to talk about our strategies for finding these.

[Sarah MacLean]

It was not. It is not super easy because, look, anybody who's ever been near sex and a beach at the same time, I mean, I'm not saying I have, but I'm just saying I might have. There's a lot of grit.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Oh, yeah.

[Sarah MacLean]

It's not the most comfortable experience. And so I think, like, you know, there does come a level of, like, well, maybe this is one of those. One of those lines romance doesn't like to cross.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Okay, So I also think. All right, so a couple of things happened to me.

[Sarah MacLean]

Headphones in, you guys.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Oh, for sure.

[Sarah MacLean]

Headphones in on this one.

[Jennifer Prokop]

I. I found it difficult also to, like, use my regular strategies for finding books. Because if you say, like, romance novel, beach, beaches, it's giving you instead a list of like. Like, beach reads. Like, that's. That means something in our culture.

[Sarah MacLean]

Emily Henry's beach read is not a sex on the beach book.

[Jennifer Prokop]

So, like, it was just hard to kind of, like, how do I. Like, how do I narrow down what's in my brain and find the books I've read with this? Right.

[Sarah MacLean]

Okay, so what was your strategy?

[Jennifer Prokop]

Okay, so I started Googling things other than beach read, right? So I was like, seaside town romance novels or, like, vacation romance novels or, like, Florida or California romance novels. So I really was like, okay, I have to, like, outsmart the. Outsmart the Google search here. So that's how I ended up actually kind of coming up with more of them was, like, using this strategy.

[Sarah MacLean]

Interesting.

[Jennifer Prokop]

And then as I started thinking about it, I then had some. I had some books like, kind of pop up into my brain. And so that was the other thing. Okay, listen, everybody. Sarah's Kindle does something mine will not. And I don't know why I don't.

[Sarah MacLean]

Like this for you.

[Jennifer Prokop]

I hate it. Because I have tried what you're about to describe to find my. You know. Okay, everybody knows. There's a book I've been searching for forever where they zipped. The guy zips two sleeping bags back together because it's going to be their last night together. And she thinks somebody else does it, but it's him because he's like, it's our last night together. I cannot find this book anywhere. And I've tried. Someone's like, oh, you can search your whole Kindle at once.

[Sarah MacLean]

Mine doesn't do that.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Okay, well, then.

[Sarah MacLean]

Okay, so my strategy. Let me just talk about what my strategy was. My strategy was I sat with myself.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Oh, wait, Sarah, we have not said welcome to fated mates.

[Sarah MacLean]

Welcome, everyone to fated mates. I'm Sarah MacLaine. I read romance novels and I write them.

[Jennifer Prokop]

I'm Jennifer Prokop, a romance reader and editor. And I don't know how my Kindle works.

[Sarah MacLean]

It's fine. And listen, longtime listeners will be happy to know we still forget to introduce ourselves, mostly.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Who's, like, ready to launch into this whole theory?

[Sarah MacLean]

I know, but now there's, like, theme music playing. And, like, we're supposed to banter over the theme music, but then, like, now we're in it, and I want to. I want everybody to get the full force of my strategy.

[Jennifer Prokop]

All right, so we're ready. We're ready for your strategy.

[Sarah MacLean]

The theme music might be a little shorter this week than it usually is. And that's because my strategy was that I sat with myself and I said, sarah, where are the books? What are the books you remember being set. Set in places that have beaches. So I made a list of, like, all the. All the, like, historicals that I could think of that were set, like, in beach towns like Spindle Cove, Tessa Dare, Spindle Cove series. And I made a list of all the. All the books I could think of that were set, like, in. In the Florida Keys or, like, in Miami. Like, Priscilla Laveris was there.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yep.

[Sarah MacLean]

And then. But Priscilla doesn't. Priscilla writes closed door romances, so I knew she wasn't gonna be. She wasn't gonna suit this. Although her books are delicious. And then I opened those books on my Kindle and searched the word sand.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Okay, that would work fine.

[Sarah MacLean]

But the problem is that sometimes there's Just this reference to sand. Like, oh, I looked out on the sandy beach. Well, that's not gonna do it. So then it was some deep diving on those scenes and I did come up with five of them.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Oh, okay. I don't think that I. At some point I had to let go of Sex on the beach because it was harder to find them. I thought you were like, I, I did it. I have one for sure.

[Sarah MacLean]

Just not committed to it. I don't know what to say.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Well, okay, here's.

[Sarah MacLean]

Now I'm phoning in this episode. Jen.

[Jennifer Prokop]

No, no, I. Now we are going to get to my. I have a theory. Okay. Which is I. Because I was like, Jennifer, this is me talking to myself. There are 800 million fucking books with like a beach chair on the COVID And then I. Those are almost always entirely women's fiction.

[Sarah MacLean]

Adirondack chairs are a false.

[Jennifer Prokop]

A false start. And so then I had this moment where I was like, maybe like mainstream romance just doesn't do beaches because.

[Sarah MacLean]

Is it because of my reason?

[Jennifer Prokop]

No, I think it's because the sand gets everywhere. Okay. Obviously, yes. But I really think that they are that like romance writers have seeded beach towns to these like, wan women's fiction books. Yeah.

[Sarah MacLean]

Jen's talking about like books that you find in May, in, you know, hardcover, in Walmart.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yeah.

[Sarah MacLean]

And they have like a set of Adirondack chairs. Wait, we have to talk about this because this is relevant to our interests. Maybe. Okay, but did you know that a pair of Adirondack chairs, like, in the world means something different? Then this book is going to be like a quiet women's fiction story.

[Jennifer Prokop]

It really is this like a pineapple thing.

[Sarah MacLean]

Yes.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Really?

[Sarah MacLean]

Okay, so apparently if you have. And I mean, listen, we will keep everybody's names private, but please confirm or deny this. The joy that I have. P.S. thank you to everybody who contacted us about ukulele recommendations last week. It was awesome. The joy that I have when we say somebody check in from Nebraska and then someone checks in from Nebraska, like, it's magical. The power that I, I feel we have. But anyway, please let us know if this is true. But my understanding is that if you have two Adirondack chairs on your front lawn, it actually means that you're open to swinging.

[Jennifer Prokop]

We're down to fuck.

[Sarah MacLean]

Yeah.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Meanwhile, on the front of our. Of a book, it means we are not down to fuck. Okay, so this is like sort of then became my working theory is I was like, okay, so perhaps mainstream romance has seeded the like, beach. Getaway setup. Because it is. One of the things about these stories is they're like. It's about finding yourself. Like, I've gone somewhere different. And now that I am not in my home or at my job or with my family, I can essentially, like, really think about who I am. Right. So it's like, kind of built into that system in a way that, like, a romance, like, okay, so you go away and you have a hot beach fling with somebody, but then how are you gonna get with them when you're from different places? May. Maybe it's just not gonna work that way. Right. But I do think a lot of really dirty books take place on the beach.

[Sarah MacLean]

Because it's kind of gross.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yeah, right. Like, it's real.

[Sarah MacLean]

I mean, like, with love, it's like, kind of. It's a little stubby and like, you're a little bit. You have a film on you.

[Jennifer Prokop]

So I kind of had this moment where I was like. I think what's going on here is the reason it was kind of hard is because mainstream romance, like, whatever we're calling that, right. Like, sort of contemporary, a contempor, like, romance, commercial fiction. Commercial fiction has sort of taken over the beach to mean one thing. And then you got, like, real, dirty erotic romance doing something else. And, like, maybe mainstream romance is like, you know, we're just gonna, like, leave that.

[Sarah MacLean]

We're gonna let those ladies have that.

[Jennifer Prokop]

We're gonna let them have that. I will take this scumbag in the workplace. That's where I live. Right?

[Sarah MacLean]

Yeah, I like it. I'm. I think that's probably fair.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yeah. So that's. That's my theory. So I. Although I have a list. I think maybe only one of them is actually, like, sex on the beach versus sex and hotel room overlooking the beach. Or we started making out on the beach and then went back to the hotel room where there's no sand.

[Sarah MacLean]

I got you.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Okay.

[Sarah MacLean]

I will say everyone. I'll. I'll take the. I'll do the heavy lifting on this one.

[Jennifer Prokop]

All right, so, Sarah, you should start then.

[Sarah MacLean]

Well, what do you want to start with? Do you want to start with the. The sort of, like.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Start with sex on the beach.

[Sarah MacLean]

You want. All right, we'll just jump right in.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Jump right in.

[Sarah MacLean]

Well, so we're gonna start with a historical. Because I initially, Because I feel like sex on the beach, like, true sex on the beach, like water and sand, has to have come to me in an old school historical before it. Like, I feel like I have a lot of, like, hazy Memories of like, people on beaches. Like, interesting.

[Jennifer Prokop]

I feel like they're always like rivers, like where, you know.

[Sarah MacLean]

But also I read a lot of pirate books when I was growing up. So, like, I think like pirates, there's gotta be beaches in all those books, right?

[Jennifer Prokop]

Pirates, sure.

[Sarah MacLean]

Like, if the book is on a boat, it feels like there's gotta be sand at some point. But anyway, I don't know. I can't confirm that. That is just me. That's my hypothesis. But I want to talk actually about an author who many, many, many we have talked about. We did a deep dive once. But like many, many people sort of complain that we don't talk about her more. And that is Mary Ballig. And I want to talk about the Survivors Club, which is the one like that is one of the series that she has that is, you know, lauded and, you know, nobody does a war hero, a sort of conflicted war hero like Mary Ballig. And part of her. Part of what she does so well with these books is she has. So the Survivor's Club is a group of, I think it's like six or seven men who were all in the Napoleonic wars together and they are now home. And some of them now have like, have like disabilities and some of them are, you know, suffer from severe. Most of them suffer from like severe ptsd. And the first one, this is the first book, the Proposal, which is the first book in the series. The hero, Hugo is. He has like, his deep rooted conflict is that he is lauded by the whole world as a war hero and like women everywhere just like fall over themselves whenever he walks into a room. But the truth is that he's keenly aware of the fact that of all the people that he saved, he also caused a lot of death. Like, this is one of those. We've never done a military romance episode. And this is part of the reason why, right? Military experiences are complicated. And it is not always the case that I hear that a romance novelist tackles the complications that come from military experience. And so. But Mary Ballak does and this book, the Proposal. So Gwen, the heroine, is a widow and she's sort of like quiet and unassuming. And she also has. She suffered a fall from a horse and so she has a limp and she sort of is very much in her whole life is very interior and she's in this seaside town. And Hugo, we meet Hugo along with all the rest of the survivors in chapter one. This is a real old school, a real historical setup. You're about to meet the seven men who will be the seven heroes of this series? Right? They're all like sitting around talking and it's great. And so you sort of get a peek at all of them and one of the. And he says, like, I gotta get married. Like, I gotta find a wife. And he's like, middle class, but he knows he needs to get a. He needs to get married. And like, that's one of the things that he has set to do. And they're basically like, well, you're so good looking and women seem to love you that you could just go to the beach. Like, go down to the beach and like, women will just like come out of the surf and like fall at your feet.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Sure, that's how it works.

[Sarah MacLean]

Fine. So he does go to the beach and he meets Gwen at this beach. I mean, he doesn't go looking for a wife, but, like, they're at the beach and so. And he meets Gwen and they have this like, really beautiful, like, very lovely. I mean, part of what I love about Mary Belloc's books is like, they're so. The romances are so romantic because she really gives them a long slow burn of like, pining. Like, they. They really fall. These are characters who fall in love on the page. But also, like, Gwen is a woman who, like, she's a widow. She's had experience and like, she's. She's not a virgin. Like, she's sort of like, okay, I'm like, he's. This man is attractive and like, I think he's a decent person. And I. We are here on this beach at night and I kind of want to bang.

[Jennifer Prokop]

I love it.

[Sarah MacLean]

Do. And it's like super hot in a way because, like, there. She's like, keenly aware. Like, she's keenly aware of like, all the physicality around her. Like, she thinks about how hard the sand is beneath her back and like, she thinks about, like, the feeling of him inside her, like with the beach around them, like in the salt on his skin. And like, it's a very visceral love. Like, it's a really visceral, like, sex scene. And also the rest of the book is very emotional and like, he's going through his trauma and she's going through her trauma.

[Jennifer Prokop]

And like, nobody does that.

[Sarah MacLean]

Listen, these are not. No, no, there are. No, there is nothing like, super fun about this book, right? But it is a very. If you are looking for a book that is really romantic and takes itself very seriously and does romance in a really serious way, this one's for you.

[Jennifer Prokop]

This week's episode of Fated Mates is sponsored by Julie Pukrin, creator of skymed, now streaming on Paramount plus, this is the best.

[Sarah MacLean]

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[Jennifer Prokop]

Of all, in the trailer there is so much kissing. I was immediately like, this is a show I will watch.

[Sarah MacLean]

Listen, when Julie describes this to us, she said this is one part medical show, two parts character drama, and all parts addictive kissing show. And she promises that there are eight main characters and they all, all of them have their own romance stories.

[Jennifer Prokop]

This is what I want. Stern, brunch, Daddy, Sunshine and Grump. All kinds of different pairings. Pining, remote small towns, found family kissing.

[Sarah MacLean]

It's going to be great. You can download Paramount plus right now and subscribe to watch skymed and if. Yeah, well, I don't know what else to say.

[Jennifer Prokop]

We don't know what else to say except that we're into it. Thank you to Julie for sponsoring this week's episode of Faded Meats. They don't have sex on the beach. But I was going to talk about Devil in Spring by Lisa Claypis, because when I read this a couple years ago, right, Pandora, it's St. Vincent's son is the new St. Vincent, right? Cause St. Vincent is now the Duke of Kingston. And Gabriel essentially gets kind of caught in a compromising position with her. I know we've probably talked about this book before, it's terrific. But he and Pandora just does not want to get married. And everyone's like, wait, what? So she and her. She essentially gets invited to their beach house, right? And when I read this book, I really remember thinking, like, I don't remember seeing this in a historical set in England, right? Like, it's balls. It's London, right? Sometimes it's like, you know, some pastoral, bucolic, you know, country estate. But the idea of them actually, like going to the beach and because is so. It just felt really kind of fun to me. I mean, like, you know, they kind of make out in like this, like they have her, the chaperone is his older sister and her kids and they like kind of get stuck behind and they like make out in some tunnel and, you know, but there's like this whole thing about like a bathing machine where she's supposed to change and like, you know, like bathing costumes and, you know, and I just, I really did, when I read it was like, this feels genuinely I don't know, like, kind of fresh in a way that I really. I mean, I guess you're right. I mean, I must have read a bunch of. I read a bunch of pyromances, you know, when I was first reading romance. Surely those scenes existed. But for whatever reason, this scene at the beach, like, them going to the seaside as a getaway, really did feel. I don't know, just like. I was like, oh, this feels really different to me.

[Sarah MacLean]

Yeah.

[Jennifer Prokop]

So.

[Sarah MacLean]

But the Hathaways, that's you.

[Jennifer Prokop]

I've never read the Hathaways.

[Sarah MacLean]

Yeah, there's. The Hathaways is very focused on, like, they all, like, there. It's beachside. Oh, okay. So there's clearly, like. In fact, there must be a Hathaway book that. I mean, it's not all beachside, but, like, there. There is some beachside stuff there. So there must be. There might. There probably is. I mean, Claypus is a dirty bird. There's definitely, like, somebody sucking on the beach somewhere. Somebody's doing something on the beach.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yeah.

[Sarah MacLean]

So, yeah, I mean, I think. Like I said, I think historicals. Well, again, it goes back to what we talk about a lot with historicals, which is, like, you can sort of wave away the right, like, complicated bits about it.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Well, and I mean, like, Joanna Shoup's latest series is set in Newport, Rhode Island. Right. I mean, so I kind of felt like, in historicals, it feels like, okay, maybe there's some. Some cool stuff out there right now. In the first book, there's kind of like a scavenger hunt, and it's. I don't think it's on the beach. It's, you know, on the grounds of this big estate or whatever. Right. There's no beach sex. But certainly that idea of, like, the historical, like, beach setting is kind of an interesting one. So anyway, that was, like, the one historical I was like is, like, Devlin's.

[Sarah MacLean]

Well, and I do want to say, like, spin, if you like seaside romance.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Right.

[Sarah MacLean]

So there's the Hathaways. There's. I mean, again, not entirely the Hathaways, but some of the Hathaways books. There is Spindle Coves.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Spindle Coves.

[Sarah MacLean]

You really can't talk about seaside historicals without talking about Tessa Darius Spindle Cove series, which has a very charming setup, in case you don't know. And you are out there. The setup is there are a group of women who, like, basically every good family, sends their spinster daughter to this to age and while away in this seaside town in Devon or wherever it is Might be Cornwall. I can't remember. And so they call this. So it's. The town is called Spindle Cove, but London calls it Spinster Cove. And, like, it's the perfect small town setup, but Regency, right? So they each own, you know, each woman has, like, a piece of the pie in this town. And then, of course, like, just a shocking number of men tumble into the town.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Well, did I ever tell you. I don't know if I've ever told you this. My friend, a friend of mine who's a lesbian, enjoys romance and was like, I tried reading those books and. But I literally just didn't understand why these women weren't getting together. And I was like, that seems like a reasonable. A reasonable question for us.

[Sarah MacLean]

A fair risk. Also, they're deeply charming. Like, oh, absolutely. I really believe Spindle Cove is Tess's, like, crowning series.

[Jennifer Prokop]

It's really fun.

[Sarah MacLean]

If you haven't read those and you are out there right now going, I'm going to the beach during this hellscape of a time, and I wish I had something fun to read. Spindle Cove is your answer. I'm going to throw out another seaside town series, and then the rest of mine are Sex on the beach books. Okay, I want to talk about Jill Chalvis. I want to talk about her Lucky harbor series. Oh, yeah, again, like, as you said from the jump, Jen, like, these are often towns, like small towns or, you know, whatever. So Lucky harbor is, God knows how long, 200 books long by now because Jill writes so fast. But the first three books in the series are about three sisters who inherit an inn in a seaside town in Washington. Now, the Pacific is very cold, so there probably isn't a ton of watering going on.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Not without a wetsuit.

[Sarah MacLean]

Not without a wetsuit. But the second one, which is called the Sweetest Thing, is my favorite, and it is the heroine, Tara, is the oldest of the three siblings, and she has gone through a pretty. She's gone through a divorce with a man who she does not. Who they just do not suit. She and her ex husband, but he is like sex on a stick and she needs to get away from him. And I think this is like a very charming setup because honestly, like, that's a real thing for a lot of divorced women or women who have been through breakups. They just can't quit that man who they know is not good for them, right? So she returns. So she goes. They've inherited this inn, a place that she. Back to Lucky harbor, where she has not been since she was 17 years old, and she had a summer fling with, like, a hot townie named Ford who ended up making a bunch of money as a boat racer, which I love it. I don't know if that's real, but I'm for it. So he's, like, made all this money as a boat racer, and now he's back in Lucky harbor and he owns the bar. And she walks in and, like, look, Jill Chalvis knows the job.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yes.

[Sarah MacLean]

And she walks into town, and he takes one look at her and is like, that is the girl from when we were 17 that summer. And I cannot quit her. I have never been able to stop thinking about her, mine. And so they have this, like, fling that is, like, you know, hot and great. And then the ex husband turns up and he's like, I maybe want you back. And she's like, oh, but he still might, like. And then it's like she has this, like, guy she couldn't quit, and this guy who, like, is the best and a boat racer. And, you know, he likes sex on boats.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Sure. Who doesn't?

[Sarah MacLean]

I mean, we should.

[Jennifer Prokop]

That's a whole separate episode, but that is a whole separate episode. Yeah. A book that Blooded Me by Elizabeth Lowell was sex on a boat. It doesn't. It's not good, though.

[Sarah MacLean]

But listen, here's what I'll say about all of that. Lucky harbor is another one. If you are going to the beach for a week and you just want, like, download the first one on your Kindle. It's set in. The first one is like a Christmas book set in the winter, down the first one and just, like, eat them like candy all week long.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yeah, they're great. Jill Chalvis delivers every time. Yeah, right. Delivers every time.

[Sarah MacLean]

Like Nora Roberts, like, just.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Well, I was gonna say, you know, one of my favorite. Yeah. One of my favorite Nora Roberts series is the Chesapeake Peak Bay series, where they're all. It's in Baltimore and they're all like, on the. You know, on the Chesapeake Bay.

[Sarah MacLean]

Sure.

[Jennifer Prokop]

And they're building boats and stuff. I, like, have really vivid memories of liking that series, too.

[Sarah MacLean]

So.

[Jennifer Prokop]

But yeah, I mean, to me, like.

[Sarah MacLean]

So I'm gonna say it. Fun fact. Jill has been very vocal about the Dobbs decision this week, so, Yeah, a real champ. As has Tessa. So both of those are good.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yeah, exactly. So along with the Nora Roberts series, you mentioned the Priscilla Oliveira.

[Sarah MacLean]

I'm sorry. Also, before we jump into more, I also just want to name check Amanda Quick's Ravished, where it's not on the beach, but it is in a watery cave. So, like, there's probably sand adjacent.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Sand adjacent. You quickly mentioned Priscilla Oliveris's. All of her books are set in Florida, but the Keys to Love series in particular is just, like, really rooted in, like, the beach town of Key West. Again, she. It's their closed door. But I feel like if you really want, like, I literally want this book to be set on the beach.

[Sarah MacLean]

Priscilla's books are so wonderful. They're so good.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yeah.

[Sarah MacLean]

And, like, so such, like, rich. Like a rich fabric of characters. Like, it's just. They're just big, meaty books that are fun.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yeah, I agree.

[Sarah MacLean]

And romantic.

[Jennifer Prokop]

I have a novella called the Beach. Thank you. Truth in Advertising by RS Gray. And this is a novella, like, a true novella. It's maybe 50 pages. That is two characters who get together and then like, a bigger book, like, their kind of side romance happens in this book, but it is, like, hinted at in another book. Does that make sense? So it's like. So in this book, Lindsay and Noah are. We're supposed. This is. Noah is her best friend's brother, and she's always had a crush on him, but, like, she's been with someone. He's been with someone. They both live in Boston. But there's gonna be a big family trip to Mexico. And so it's gonna be her, you know, Lindsay and her boyfriend Noah, her best friend, her family, kids. Right. So they're. And they're basically gonna all be in some, you know, like, big, like, almost like extended suite with, like, lots of different rooms, whatever. But the week of the vacation, she has just broken up with her boyfriend. Really last minute. The. The sister and her family can't come because one of their kids are sick. So all of a sudden, it is her and Noah together in this posh Mexican kind of resort. And there's a lot of pining. Right? Like, it's just really like we are pining for each other, but, like, should we do this? Should we not do this? Like, we, you know, we've been in our. Each other's orbit for so long. Do we really want to, like, take that step? And it's really. There's a lot of, like, kind of push. There's not a whole lot of conflict in this book. Right? Like, it's really like these two are kind of meant to be. It's just them a little dancing around whether or not they really want to take this step. And then they finally do. It's hot. You know, they. They bang it out. After a couple's Massage. And the part that's then really funny spoiler alert. Is they decide, like, well, we really should tell my sister. Right? Like, this isn't going to end. This isn't just a vacation fling. So they get on like a zoom call with her, you know, his sister, her best friend. And it turns out that no one was sick. They just decided to finally put these two together in the same place so they could get together, like, amazing. You know, the sister's like, yeah, I've been waiting for this to happen. So it was just like. It's like low conflict. Just like kind of longing banging and then like, boom. And it was very delightful.

[Sarah MacLean]

Amazing.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Perfect.

[Sarah MacLean]

I love it.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Me too. They do not actually bang on the beach. They're making out on the beach and one of the resort people interrupts them and is like, maybe you should go to the room.

[Sarah MacLean]

Oh, my God. I have, like, a very similar book.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Perfect.

[Sarah MacLean]

So here we go. Making out on the beach. A small. An interstitial inside an interstitial.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Right? Okay.

[Sarah MacLean]

I want to talk about C. Travis Rice, who is going to be a fated mates live in Alexandria. So C. Travis Rice is the pen name of Christopher Rice, who also writes thrillers and sometimes vampires. So in Sapphire Sunset, there are two books. I've only read this one, the first one, but it's a series. There's like a series. Southern California luxury resort.

[Jennifer Prokop]

That sounds nice.

[Sarah MacLean]

Yeah, one of the. Yeah, you're just back from la, so, you know. So one of the heroes, Logan, is a former Marine who is now working in security at this resort. And he's, like, doing it for, like, noble reasons. Like, his dad is sick and he needs to pay the bills. Of course, as part of this story. That's never enough. The essentially, like, the son of the owner, like, the man who is going to inherit, like, all the resort money. Connor is like his boss, essentially, right? And these two are just very into each other, like, super hot, both of them. They kind of know that neither of them can. It can't work on a number of levels. It can't work because of class. It can't work because, like, technically, Logan works for Connor. Like, it can't work for lots and lots of reasons, but they're just super into each other. And also as part of it, like, Connor there has a little bit of a celebrity edge because he's like, just. He's pretty famous. Connor, like, for being like, you know, succession famous. Like, he's just like a billionaire kid. And so, like, the paparazzi are like, the media is very interested in them. And there are, it's like a very, it has sort of a kind of thread of like danger banging through this book. Like there's, there's a very emotional rescue on the beach that ends with like a hot and heavy makeout that is for sure going to be taken. Like people are taking pictures of it and video with it and he, like, they have to, you know, take it private. Anyway, it's great. Very sexy. This is like a, if you're looking for just like a sexy fun series that is or this book, I'm not sure the second book is actually out yet. But if you're looking for like a sexy fun series that has like just a touch of action in it or like a touch of thriller in this, this one might be for you. Sapphire Sunset by C. Travis Rice.

[Jennifer Prokop]

This week's episode of Fated Mates is sponsored by Avon Books, publishers of American Royalty by Tracy Livesey.

[Sarah MacLean]

So we are avowed Tracy Livesey, fans of Fademates. And this book is no different. The heroine of this book is a sexy driven rapper named Danny Nelson, who the world calls Duchess. And I think this is so charming because she ends up being invited to perform through a confluence of events at a major concert hosted by the royal family of the United Kingdom, run by this like, reclusive grandson named Prince Jameson, who actually just prefers being a professor by day and a sort of recluse by night. But his grandmother has roped him into setting up this, this concert. And what ends up happening is this. Prince and Duchess the rapper fall wildly in love. They have a lot of boys, really hot sex, and they have to deal with the fallout of the royal family having to deal with a American rapper falling for one of their own.

[Jennifer Prokop]

It is a terrific book. If you love royalty, if you love family drama, if you love really high stakes romance, if you're looking for a.

[Sarah MacLean]

Romance that's like Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, this one's for you.

[Jennifer Prokop]

You can find out more about Tracy at her website, TracyLivesey.com or on Twitter, Instagram or on Facebook. American Royalty is available in print, ebook and audio. Thank you to Avon Books for sponsoring this week's episode of Fated Mates. I actually have a related, perhaps I'm gonna like jump off from that, a book called Loving a Woman Warrior by Melanie Hansen. And I have maybe briefly talked about this book, but not a lot. And the reason it actually stuck out to me is because, like, I was like, I really was like, okay, brain beach scenes, right? And this book is about two men who Essentially meet on the beach the day before. They both start Navy SEAL training. And basically the main character wins. One of the main characters is this guy named Matt. Yeah. And he's out, like, running on the beach and, like, doing what Navy SEALs about to go into trading do, like, you know, all this crazy, like, running and jumping and all this stuff. And he ends up literally, literally tripping over this really hot guy who, the next day, he, as they start, he realizes is also in Bud's training. And I think the thing that's, like, really interesting about this book, I was looking back at, like, my review of it, as I said. Said, in a lot of ways, this almost reads like. Like what I would call, like, men's fiction. Right. Like, these two are like. Like, think about what we mean when we say women's fiction. Like, I'm struggling internally with myself and my job and who I am. How am I going to fit love into my life? Right. Like, what are the things I promised myself in the past? Do I still want to achieve them? Right. Essentially, you get all those same kinds of, like, problems that they each are really, like, bringing to the table as they, like, fall in love against the backdrop of the military, which, you know, isn't exactly the most welcoming place, especially when you're talking about the most hardcore part of it. Right. Like the seals. But I really did like the book a lot. I don't think they actually have sex on the beach, but, you know, they almost drowned on the beach because they're trying to be Navy SEALs. So I thought maybe that's.

[Sarah MacLean]

That counts. Death.

[Jennifer Prokop]

A little death and sex on the beach.

[Sarah MacLean]

A little death on the beach.

[Jennifer Prokop]

I just want you to.

[Sarah MacLean]

What the French call a little death on the beach. Okay. It's time to go bananas. I've got some big bananas books here to talk about. So here's what I'm gonna offer you. Do you want bananas setting or a bananas plot?

[Jennifer Prokop]

Do a bananas setting first.

[Sarah MacLean]

Okay. I want to talk about Lacey Alexander. Who? I don't think.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Oh, I was gonna talk about Lacy Alexander. The Bikini Diaries.

[Sarah MacLean]

Oh, I'm gonna talk about what she needs.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Look at us. I was like, we have. I really. We're, like, peeling. Open the vault on this one.

[Sarah MacLean]

I mean, we never talked about Lacy Alexander before, and my God, I have been reading her forever.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Every single one of her books is on my Kindle. Sarah.

[Sarah MacLean]

Yeah, same. Oh, my God. We've never talked about her.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Well. Cause it's. It's, like, erotic with a little plus side of romance. Yeah, I mean, I Guess it's erotic romance. It's erotic romance.

[Sarah MacLean]

Mine is. I mean, Bikini Diaries is a little, like, less on the romance, but mine is on the romance. Okay.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Okay. I actually. Sarah, I love you.

[Sarah MacLean]

Sated mates. Sated mates.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Okay, you go first.

[Sarah MacLean]

Okay. I'm gonna talk about what she needs, which is set in a place called Hotel Irotique.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Sure.

[Sarah MacLean]

Okay. Our heroine, Jenna, is, like. Has a very ordinary, boring life, like, in the world. And through romance plot, she is given access to this, like, elaborate. It's possibly on an island. I can't really remember. It doesn't matter. This, like, resort. This resort called Hotel Erotic. And when you go there, you are given, like, an erotic guide. His name is Brent. And this guy's job is to, like, make Jenna's fantasies come true. So, like, you fill out a form, you tell them all the things that you're interested in. You basically say, like, I'm into Princess King. Or, like, my fantasy is, like, you know, whatever. I don't know. Horseback riding and fucking. I don't. That's not a horse.

[Jennifer Prokop]

That's not a horse. Sure.

[Sarah MacLean]

Like, it's. Whatever it is. And then, like, essentially, this erotic guide makes all of this happen for you. And over the course of this. So it's nonsense, you guys. It's. It's, like, pure. It's just like the sex. It's just a sex book. Except, listen, it's great, though, except Brent. And so, like, Brent and Jenna starts. They, like, feel a connection, and, like, the, like, conflict is, oh, but he's her erotic guide and she's a client. And what. Who cares? No one cares. So. But then there's this great moment where she's, like, revealed that she has, like, a pirate kink, which, you know, so say we all. And he. And so, like, it's set up that, like, she's going. So that. What. What they do is in the morning, you get in. You get a letter in your bungalow, and it basically says you've been invited to, like, this fantasy. And it is on a. You know, you are. You are going to be the only survivor of a shipwreck on an island. There's plenty of food, but, like, who knows what will happen on the island? And so, like, they bring her out and, like, leave her on, like, a beach. And Brent comes in dressed like a pirate, acting the part of a pirate, and they, like, bang it out in the sand. And it is great.

[Jennifer Prokop]

It's great. So you know that Lexi Alexander is a pen name for author Tony Blake.

[Sarah MacLean]

I did know that. And Tony Blake writes like lovely contemporary small town romance.

[Jennifer Prokop]

I know sometimes I want to write her a little like, hey, bring back.

[Sarah MacLean]

Bring back. So can I tell you, Toni writes for a long time. She wrote for Avon. And so we met a few times. We met a number of times at RWA when RWA was happening. And I at one point was like talking to her about what she was writing about. And she was like, oh, well. And I also like write under this pen name, Lacey Alexander. And I flipped the way that we just flipped at each other.

[Jennifer Prokop]

I was like, I love your books.

[Sarah MacLean]

Oh, my God.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Well, and the thing is, that's really interesting is these books were published by Berkeley.

[Sarah MacLean]

Yeah.

[Jennifer Prokop]

2009.

[Sarah MacLean]

Long time ago.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yeah, I look, I looked. Because one of the things that's really interesting about. Okay, so let me talk about my book and then I'll tell you kind of my. The thing that's interesting when you read them now. So my. The Bikini Diaries is set in. It was written in 2009. And there's a really specific way that it feels very dated. And in this book, Wendy is our main character. And she is like going to some Florida resort for a job. And she sees this woman, this like, beautiful woman walking in the sand wearing a white bikini. And she just really feels like whatever that woman's vibe is, is that's who I wish I could be, right? Like, I'm too locked down. I'm too scared to try new things. And I'm just gonna really, like, embrace my inner white bikini lady while I'm here. And she meets this guy, Brandon Brent. Brandon, who is like the owner of the resort. And these two bang it out all over the resort with his best friend with another woman. There's like lots of. I mean, like, it's, you know, there's some voyeurism. I mean, it's like really like kind of she's trying everything. And this is like a big part of like, her journey is like, I want to try everything. The one way in which these books seem very dated to me is. Is like Wendy. And I think this is true across these books. And maybe it was just that time, right? Is that Wendy is very preoccupied with like the male gaze, right? Like, so there's a part where they are with another woman. So they have a threesome with another woman. And like, Wendy's pretty into it, but she sort of like the self talk is like, I'm into it because he's into it, right.

[Sarah MacLean]

I like him watching me.

[Jennifer Prokop]

I like him watching me being with this other woman. Versus I want to be with this other woman. And that kind of part of it feels like. Like, I would say that's the part to me that feels very dated when I, like, reread them, because it just feels like now you would be able to have characters who are like, yeah, I'm into it. Because I'm into it. Right. Like, this is fun, and I'm having a good time. I don't have to sort of justify.

[Sarah MacLean]

There needs to be permission to be bisexual in the.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yes. Right. So I just want to point that out if, you know, if you're. I just. I am not the most sensitive person, these things, and it is glaring. So I would imagine it's probably like, the biphobia or whatever that we'd call that. So I still think that these books are, like, worth reading, but I just feel like I kind of can. I am able to be like, this is a time and place thing. It just feels dated, and I kind of just, like, blow past it. But as I was rereading, I was like, oh, yeah, there's that weird thing. But the book is really hot. And it's really very much like erotic romance in the sense that, like, they are going on a journey together, discovering what they're into, and then, like, essentially deciding to be a couple at the end. But, yeah, there's. They're great. Those books are great.

[Sarah MacLean]

They really are. I mean, and I have to say, I think, like, this is right around the time when I discovered erotic romance in ebook.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yes.

[Sarah MacLean]

And, like, I remember. I can remember exactly where I was. I was in Savannah, Georgia, and I was like, oh, I'm just gonna lay here in this hotel room and, like, read all of these books one right after another.

[Jennifer Prokop]

I think the thing that's also, I will say is, to me, it feels almost shocking how expensive these books are now.

[Sarah MacLean]

Oh, yeah, I just looked it up. It's $12.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yes. Like, these books. And I, by the way, did not pay that much for them back then. Right. No way. These. And these are books now. So I guess I would say, you know, I was like, wow, this book is 12 bucks. And it feels like almost. Because, you know, just things are really. I guess, really, it feels like books like this now would be on KU maybe. But it's Berkeley, and they're, you know, mainstream. It's not lazy. Yeah, right. No, no. I guess I would just say if you're like, oh, that sounds great. I'm gonna go check them out. Just look over which ones you might want to get with, but. Cause they Are. They're expensive but worth it.

[Sarah MacLean]

But long.

[Jennifer Prokop]

But long.

[Sarah MacLean]

Yeah.

[Jennifer Prokop]

They're not short. Oh, yeah. They're. These are books that are.

[Sarah MacLean]

These are full length books.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Full length books that are like 70% sex, maybe more.

[Sarah MacLean]

So if that's what you're looking for, we have you. We've got you. No problem. Pirate boning. I'm for it.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Perfect.

[Sarah MacLean]

All right, then I have one more.

[Jennifer Prokop]

I have one more too, but it'll, I think, be good. So.

[Sarah MacLean]

Okay, I want to talk about the Rush duet by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward.

[Jennifer Prokop]

All right, this.

[Sarah MacLean]

Okay, so if you are concerned about spoilers, you're just gonna have to skip ahead because I'm going to spoil this book for Jen because I know she won't read it because there's a cliffhanger in the middle of it.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Probably not.

[Sarah MacLean]

But also I feel that it is important for us to acknowledge the Vi Keelin and Penelope Ward just like, they take. They just. There's no. They just ride for the fences. Okay, so the setting is the Hamptons in the summer. The heroine has received. She's like, got a. She sold like a small book deal. Like, she has like four. Two contemporary romances set at the beach. And so.

[Jennifer Prokop]

But she has.

[Sarah MacLean]

She wrote the first three. She sold them on spec, which is, you know, whatever she sold the months back, she like. So she sold the first three chapters to her publisher. The publisher bought two books. Now she has to write the books she has. She now has a slight case of writer's block. So her editor or agent or whoever is like, you should go to the Hamptons for the summer, rent a room in a house in one of these big Hamptons houses, and you can, you know, hang out at the Hamptons and like, write a seaside town romance there. Fine. She goes out, she gets a job. So she's. She like rents a room in like one of these big. So for those of you who don't know, like, it's a very common thing in New York City for like, people in their early 20s to like, pool all their resources and like, timeshare a of bunch a big house in the Hamptons for the summer. So she like, rents a room in this, like, timeshare space. Her. Her room. One of the roommates there works at a local bar, like, kind of is a mess and so, you know, needs to go somewhere, like, needs her to like, jump in and run the bar at this, like, Hampton's, like, big party joint for the night. It's like a Friday night. This woman has never made A drink in her. Never mixed a cocktail in her life, right?

[Jennifer Prokop]

Oh, boy.

[Sarah MacLean]

She's like. She gets behind the bar, she's supposed to mix cocktails. She's doing a terrible job. There's, like, this asshole at the end of the bar who's like, you're the worst at this. How did you even get this job? Turns out he's the owner of the bar. And, like, she talks back to him and, like, stands up to him, and then they, like. So then they, like, start to date. She has, like. He's of course, like, a bajillionaire, but like an estranged grandson from some, like, media mogul in the city. But he kept all of the shares to piss his dad off. He's like the bastard son of his father. And she has had this, like, kind of Hampton's experience where, like, she had one one night stand with, like, a terrible dude from the city. And now, like, she's falling for this, like, kind of terrible dude who owns the bar. But, like, he starts to become cooler, like, better and better. Fine. They start to fall in love. But there's this weird thing that happens in that she doesn't get her period.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Okay.

[Sarah MacLean]

And so you're like. So she's like, oh, it's been like seven weeks now. It's August and I haven't had my period, and oops, she has. So she, like, is now pregnant with the child of the one night stand from the beginning of the summer.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yikes.

[Sarah MacLean]

Yikes. So. And they, for reasons I can't remember, like, for legitimate reasons, but, like, romance reasons, they have not had sex, the two of them. So she's like, oh, my God, I'm pregnant. And it's clearly not yours. It's from this, like, one night stand with this guy who, like, gave me the wrong number. He ghosted me. Fine. So he's like, this is rough. I never wanted to be a dad. Like, this is too much for me. I don't know. But then I'm in love with you, and it's like a very intense thing, right? And so, like, the whole book is going on, and it's a lot. And then there are a lot of big feelings. And then at the end, he's like, no, I love you. And she's like, I love you. And he's like, I want to have this baby with you. Like, I want to be this baby's dad, whatever. And so, you know, whatever. Fine. And then it turns out this is the cliffhanger of the first book. So they go to, like, I don't know, stick it to his dad and brother, the, like, real heirs to this, like, bajillionaire fortune. They walk in the room and it turns out that the one night stand was with his half brother.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Oh, no.

[Sarah MacLean]

So the end of the first book is, oops, I'm pregnant from a one night stand with your half brother.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Who.

[Sarah MacLean]

Gave me the wrong number and ghosted me.

[Jennifer Prokop]

If you could see my face right now, everybody.

[Sarah MacLean]

I mean, like. And then end of book one, she doesn't tell him. She doesn't tell him that it's him, that it's the brother, that she recognizes the brother. She's just like. It all comes crashing down on her. And then as a reader, you're like, what? And I immediately downloaded the. I mean, like, of course, do not stop.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Go.

[Sarah MacLean]

Definitely spent the next, you know, bought the next book.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Right.

[Sarah MacLean]

And then the second half, the second book is, you know, figuring it all out. Bananas. Like it's now all of it is just tangled up and now we have to untangle it. It's a lot. Very bonkers. But there are some sex. There are a lot of, like, sexy moments. And it is set in the Hamptons, which is like a classic summer beach town.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Classic beach town.

[Sarah MacLean]

If you're like, full of billionaires and, you know, they're half brothers just wandering.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Around, knocking people up.

[Sarah MacLean]

Yeah. And like, Roman, let me tell you something. Romance novelists on deadline, they don't have time for this.

[Jennifer Prokop]

They don't have time for this. No, not at all. So hilarious. It's amazing. Okay, I have one more that I. It. I again, I think it's more like sex adjacent to the beach, probably. But it's a really beloved book. A lot of people liked which is the Worst Guy by Kate Canterbury. And what I liked about this book, I was really thinking about, like, the beach. Is it kind of what it has in common? So it's actually. They're in Boston. They're essentially like enemies trying to remember when. Yeah, well, no, what happens is she's going to a conference and he is in the same place. And they essentially like, meet up right at this, like kind of. There's like an interlude in the middle where they are away essentially on vacation and.

[Sarah MacLean]

Right.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Remember this. And they're remember.

[Sarah MacLean]

I just don't remember it being at the water.

[Jennifer Prokop]

But. Yeah. Well. And I think, think the thing that is interesting about it is. Yeah. So I mean, you know, I remember because I think they, like, go for a walk or whatever. They definitely, I do not think have sex on the beach. But the thing I thought was interesting about it was it was a way to leverage the getting away. Right. Only instead of one person getting away, they essentially accidentally get away together. And when they're in a new place, they can sort of start to interact with each other in a different way. In a different way. They can reset. Right. Like the pressure, like being under the microscope of everybody watching them at the hospital. And so I really found myself thinking that it was a really interesting way to like, okay, you're writing a book and you have your enemies to lovers, and you have them like sort of constantly, constantly at each other's throats, like, how are you going to reset it? And I don't think people. I don't think authors use setting enough as a way of, like, you know, you put people in a new place, they are going to start to act differently.

[Sarah MacLean]

Right.

[Jennifer Prokop]

And I think it's a real object lesson for authors. And if you feel stuck, if you feel stuck or your characters are stuck, what happens when you put them somewhere.

[Sarah MacLean]

Different, together to another place?

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yeah. And so it's not really beachy in that sense. I mean, it is at the beach. But I think for me it was more like a really smart way to get these people in a different place and then they have to act differently. You know, her dad is there and he's a real jerk, and so she's really vulnerable. I mean, there's just like a lot going on. And I just really remember as I was reading the book thinking, this is smart, right? Like, this is a really smart way to. To move the needle. And I think, because a lot of that is, you know, people don't. Americans, right. We're working too much. You know, when you move someone, I mean, It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey has this, like. I think there's a lot of ways in which, like, we're going to move them makes. Makes that happen.

[Sarah MacLean]

So obviously there is a Tessa Bail there. Probably more than one Tessa Bailey with Sex on the Beach. But I want to just name check, make me. Which is her broken beautiful series. There's a pretty hot sex on the beach scene in that book. We talk about Tessa a lot. So I didn't put it on my official list.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Right.

[Sarah MacLean]

But okay, I want to talk about two YA novels because, you know, some of us are out with our tweens and teens for summer. And I want to talk about two YA novels that I really, really love that obviously do not have sex on the beach, but do have beach kissing or sand kissing. Okay. I want to talk about 20 Boy Summer by Sarah Auchler. Which is adorable. It's like two best friends. They're in a summer, on a summer vacation and they decide with each other. They make a bet with each other they are going to meet. The vacation that they're on is 20 days long and they are going to meet one boy every day. And so the odds are if they meet one new boy every day, one of them will be their boyfriend for the rest of the time. But it's also a best friend's brother. Sort of like a. She's. There's like a. It's sad this part of it, but she had a like, fling with her best friend's brother right before he died. And so like she's still like, everybody's still sore. So it's like a real YA novel. There's a lot of like emotional stuff in there, but it's like a great summer book. And I just want to shout out that. And then I want to talk. I just want to give a nod to Siobhan Vivian, who wrote a book called Stay Sweet, which is about a summer town called Sand Lake. And the heroine, Molly Mead, has. Oh, no, not. I'm sorry, let me say that again. It's called Sand Lake. And the heroine, Amelia and her best friend Kate have worked at this ice cream stand for like, you know, several summers. For several summers. And now they're like 17. And it's just like an emotional like summer coming of age, lovely story. So if you are just looking for like a book to give to your tween or teen while you are on vacation at the beach.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Well, I have one more then because Dahlia Adler's Cool for the summer would work. Which is. It starts off, I think on the first day of. I think it's senior year. Right. Lara is the main character and she has a crush on this boy and he's like sort of this perfect, like football, you know, like sort of classic crush. But she can't help thinking about her previous summer where she had like a perfect night on the beach in the Outer Banks in North Carolina with a, with a girl. And then of course, what do you think this happens? But this Jasmine ends up transferring somehow to her school. And so now the two objects of her affection and like all the resulting confusion. Right, of course. Are there.

[Sarah MacLean]

So, yeah, I mean, Sarah Dessen basically got me through high school, so.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Exactly. So exactly.

[Sarah MacLean]

I mean, these emotional books.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Yes.

[Sarah MacLean]

That are like. There's just something about that YA summer romance that.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Oh, absolutely.

[Sarah MacLean]

Just gives you everything you Need.

[Jennifer Prokop]

I have vivid memories of a romance I read when I was a kid called the Princess Routine. Have I ever talked about this where she is like, you know, she's like this, just a pretty girl, pretty rich girl who doesn't like to get dirty and she ends up going on like a rafting trip, like a whitewater rafting trip with and like falls in love with like the super hot outdoorsy guy. And I actually bought a copy of it at some point off of, you know, like Amazon or ebay. Because I was like, I have such vivid memories of the, like the summer romance books. Yes, in ya, you're right, they're delightful.

[Sarah MacLean]

They're so good. In fact, I said high school. But Sarah Destin started writing when I was well out of college and I still read all those books. So perfect. My favorite Sarah Dustin one is the one with Owen in it. And I can't remember which book it is, but we'll put it, we'll figure it out.

[Jennifer Prokop]

We'll put it in show notes.

[Sarah MacLean]

Anyway, we hope that you are reading very cool stuff this summer. Tell us if you have a book that has sex on the beach.

[Jennifer Prokop]

I thought you were gonna say tell.

[Sarah MacLean]

Us if you've had sex on the beach. No, you don't have to tell us not to tell us about that, but you should tell us if you have a book that has sex on the beach that you think we should read because we're always up for that. Thank you to our sponsors.

[Jennifer Prokop]

Thank you to this week's sponsors, Avon Books, publishers of Tracy Livesey's American Royalty and skymed, a brand new show that you can check out on Paramount.

[Sarah MacLean]

Plus, I'm gonna do that right now. Same as always. If you help our sponsors, you'll help us. So thanks so much and we hope you're reading something great this week. And bye.