← Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People
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- [00:00]
A
It's in it. We're in it now. It's December. It's not.
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B
It's Thanksgiving week.
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A
It is not.
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B
Oh, it is December. God. That's right. We're recording December.
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A
It's December because Thanksgiving was so late.
- [00:13]
B
That's right. One of my students was like, what's going on? How does this work? And I was like, well, it's the.
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A
Fourth Thursday, because it doesn't make any sense. Like, just pick a day. Like, Veterans Day is how to do it. It's just the day.
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B
Veterans Day also floats, Sarah.
- [00:32]
A
No, it's the 11th.
- [00:35]
B
Oh, that's not. Is it?
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A
I thought it was like that first Monday that. That Monday you often get off.
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B
I don't really get. Okay, it doesn't matter.
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A
It doesn't matter.
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B
It doesn't matter.
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A
Doesn't matter. Veterans Day does not float, though. I don't think I'm checking it just for. For the veterans among us.
- [00:52]
B
You know, that's not one of the holidays I get off, so I'm not as aware.
- [00:55]
A
It is always the 11th. And they also do this. They do this in the uk, too. It's like Armistice Day, Remembrance Day, I think. And that is also November 11th. And that tells me there's something happening on that day. Something. Something important happened.
- [01:12]
B
Something important happened on that day.
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A
It's observed on the. Oh, here we go. It's observed on the 11th of November to recall the end of the First World War hostilities, which ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, according to the armistice of whatever and the Treaty of Versailles.
- [01:36]
B
Treat. Well, there you go.
- [01:38]
A
According to Wikipedia. Everybody, check your sources. I don't know.
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B
I mean, have you heard that there's all this AI slop inside Wikipedia and then there's like a determined team of Wikipedia, like, people trying to.
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A
Like people are really doing the job.
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B
I know.
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A
Heroes among us. This has been history with two ladies. Two ladies Talk about history.
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B
Barely.
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A
Listen, I have a. I have a history thing that I want to talk about. Okay, Allie. Our friend Allie, who I think is called Ali, is reading everywhere. Is that her name on online.
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B
Are we talking about the one who does the podcast, the rom com brackets? Allie? Yes, Allie Parker.
- [02:20]
A
Allie is writing. Is her fate. Is her handle everywhere. Ali, this morning said made a prediction about historical romance that the next really set you back of historical romance. Yeah, which I had. I had to, like, lay down. Thanks, Allie. I had to lay down and, like, stare at the ceiling for a second. She said the next wave of historical Romance is going to be the 80s and 90s. The 1980s and 90s. Everyone. Not Joanna Shoop. Like the actual 1980s and 90s.
- [02:54]
B
Not the Gilded Age. Everybody.
- [02:56]
A
It was not the Gilded Age.
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B
More like the Pearl Jam age.
- [02:59]
A
Exactly. Exactly. Well. Which is sort of relevant to where we are today, what we're going to talk about today. But she said that. And I was like, on the one hand. Yeah, I think that's probably. It's interesting, right, because there's sort of this, like, whispering going on in the world of fiction. Not romance, but outside of romance fiction about historical novels. It used to be, like, a decade ago, I remember saying to my agent, who was. Who is no longer my agent. Well, I don't know. Like, what. What is the thing? Like, what's the thing you write that, like, gets you, like, bumps you up? Like, what's. If I wanted to be Sandra Brown? Like, where do I go from romance? Like, what's the next thing? Not that I'm leaving romance, everybody, but. And he said to me, I don't know. Sarah, do you have a book about two sisters during World War II? Because those always sell. And, like, they do. Like, you, woman in, like, a tailored dress walking away from camera with, like, Paris in the background will always sell. That was, like, always a sure thing. And apparently.
- [04:06]
B
What did anybody learn from it? I don't know, because here we are, Nazis among us. But, you know.
- [04:12]
A
Exactly. But, you know, maybe that's the problem, because when. When historical started, like, kind of quieting down, historical fiction apparently just, like, ran off a cliff. Like, you cannot sell interesting. A World War II book to save your life. Which, like, hi. Now. Now, of course. I literally. If that sentence just came out of my mouth, then I was like, we should have. It was prescient, right? Like, yes, right. People don't want to learn about World War II because fascism among us.
- [04:42]
B
Yeah, but they don't want to have to be like, oh, wait, is this what I'm doing?
- [04:46]
A
Are we the baddies?
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B
I'm sorry. I'm laughing, you know.
- [04:51]
A
No, I mean, but where. What else are you gonna do? This is. The greatest comedians of our time came out of this bullshit. So here we are. I mean, not that we're the greatest comedians of all time, Jen, but are we the baddies?
- [05:03]
B
Listen, you're gonna laugh a couple fucking times, okay? What else do you want more than from a random romper?
- [05:10]
A
So, anyway, point is, historical fiction has really run off a cliff. Historical romance, we all know, is like, we are being lied to. We are Being told everybody out there who's like, I love historical romance. Apparently you don't. I'm so sorry, but check your pulses because I'm told you don't exist. Listen, I don't. I think there is a lot of room in this pool. I don't think we have to, like, all run and immediately write about the 1980s and 90s. But I do think that if you think that you are a kind of person who could tell a story set in the 80s or 90s.
- [05:49]
B
Now, listen, now's your time to shine.
- [05:51]
A
Time. Like, I think there is. I think. I think Ali is right. I think the obsession with like, the 80s and 90s.
- [06:00]
B
Oh, yeah.
- [06:01]
A
In the world. Is real. And like, unauthentic historical piece of historical fiction. And like, look, let's be honest. Historical fiction about World War II started during World War II.
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B
Yeah, right.
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A
So I think. I mean, I guess it wasn't historical fiction then, but, like, we have been fascinated by World War II since 1945.
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B
And we're done now that we're going to start another one. I'm sorry, I'm like, I can't stop.
- [06:29]
A
Jennifer.
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B
Fine.
- [06:31]
A
I'm fine.
- [06:32]
B
Listen, here's the good news about 80s and 90s, though. Listen, no cell phones. Think about all the fucking plots you could write where, like, no one can get in touch with you.
- [06:40]
A
I had to set a fucking book on an island with no cell service. Cause I was like, I cannot have cellular service.
- [06:47]
B
I'm sorry. Something's gotta give and it's gonna be these fucking phones.
- [06:51]
A
Anyway. It feels so. That felt interesting. I don't know why I brought that up. But, you know, here we are.
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B
Who knows? Here we are.
- [06:58]
A
Welcome, everyone, to Fated mates. I'm Sarah MacLaine. I read romance novels and I write them.
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B
I'm Jennifer, romance reader and editor.
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A
And it is December.
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B
December, yes.
- [07:12]
A
So we have a lot of. We have like a very full month planned for everybody. And it feels like a short month.
- [07:18]
B
I know, but I'm excited about it. And I've got to tell you, one of the things that we have done is we have really come up with a bunch of episodes. I mean, really starting back with I read Dead People, kind of through to the holidays, where we really picked a bunch of topics. Where I have been, I've had to do a lot of reading.
- [07:39]
A
Yeah, me too.
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B
Not just like sort of mining, like, oh, what have I already read? But, like, literally, like, okay, I have to read first.
- [07:47]
A
And it's been great that it's also because you Want an A from Eric and so do I. Oh, yeah, he.
- [07:51]
B
Did yell at us.
- [07:52]
A
I mean, he didn't yell. He doesn't yell. That's not his MO.
- [07:56]
B
He texted.
- [07:57]
A
Very disappointed. I mean, the text may have said something like, you guys have recommended Adriana Herrera for, like, six straight episodes. And I was like, whatever, we fucking like her.
- [08:09]
B
She writes a banger.
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A
What's wrong with that?
- [08:12]
B
Yeah. So this episode is about seasoned romance.
- [08:18]
A
I don't care for that as a top. As a top.
- [08:21]
B
I don't either.
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A
Listen, it means heroines over 40. Yeah.
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B
Main characters in their 40s. So.
- [08:28]
A
Or.
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B
Or older.
- [08:29]
A
Well, what we were talking about. So here's the thing, because I do think it requires both. Either. Both. Let's just get into it.
- [08:39]
B
Okay, I'm ready.
- [08:40]
A
Okay. Because there is also the silver fox daddy romance, and that is not this, if that is what you are into. We have also done those episodes and continue to do them because we enjoy those books. And that is essentially, like, age gap. He's a silver fox and a daddy. And, like, listen, we love that here at Fated Mates. You will never hear us speak ill of it. However, that is not the same as what we are talking about here. What we are talking about here is either both main characters over 40 or the heroine over 40. Because then. But. And like, there is also this kind of. For lack of a better term, everybody, reverse age gap. I know we don't. We don't use it, but it is clarified where she's like a cougar or whatever. She's 40 and he's 20.
- [09:33]
B
And we're not doing those either.
- [09:35]
A
We're not doing those either, though, if you like that. Like, we have talked about a number of those in the past. Nikki Sloan has one. Maybe I'll, like, throw a couple of books into the end. Yeah, into the list at the end. Like, on show notes. There's one by Nikki Sloan. London Hale has one. But we are steering clear, I think, of age gap, at least of that age. Like, of, she's 40, he's 20.
- [10:00]
B
Yeah. Or the reverse. And I think the reason I would say that is because those often read as really more like kink slash erotica than true romance to me. Right. Like, I'm not in that for the hea. I'm in it for something different.
- [10:11]
A
Well, that's not what this. And that's not what this sub genre is really doing. And so. And I think one of the reasons why we came to this as a topic one is because we haven't done it before and seven seasons in, a.
- [10:24]
B
Lot of folks have asked for it too. Right?
- [10:26]
A
And also people are asking for it. And also there are more of them now.
- [10:31]
B
Correct.
- [10:32]
A
Than ever before. Like, when we first started this, this podcast, like, there were a handful. Kristen Ashley had one. You know, Kathy Yardley was maybe writing. Like, there were a couple of people. Karen Booth had one. And so. And one would pop up and you'd go like, oh, that's interesting. But it never felt like there were enough to do a whole episode, but now it feels like there is enough to do a whole episode. Thank you. Into indie romance.
- [10:59]
B
And I think it's worth shouting out right here. Sandra Antonelli, who is, to me, the writer who. She was really committed to these stories. She had. I don't know if it still exists, like a Facebook group that was like, I think she's the one who, like, kind of coined or used the word seasoned romance. And so. And. And has written a bunch of them. And so, like, to me, she. She was the real, like, you know how like, Susan Elizabeth Phillips was like, I discover, like, I created the sports romance. To me, when I think about this subgenre or this trope, I really want to shout out that I think Sandra Antonelli was the person who really, to me was like the advocate for it. The person who. Right. I don't like. Does that make sense? The person who said, like, this is important. These stories exist. Like, we deserve them, and then created a reader group. I mean, so to me, she was really the person who kind of blaze that trail in some ways, right?
- [11:59]
A
Yes, a thousand percent. And I think this is where indie romance shines. Like, I think. And this goes back ironic. Like, this sort of does tie into what I was just saying about historicals. Like, we are really at this in. In a really interesting place in romance right now, where indie romance is really. And we've said this for years, and I just want to say, like, we're so smart. We've said this for years, but, like, for years we have said, like, indie erotica was like, leading the charge long before anything else. You know, Romantasy was in indy indie before it became a traditional. Like, before all the houses snatched them up. Dark romance obviously was indie first. Like, so many of these, like, big contemporary sports, the hockey thing, all of it, it's all bubbling out of indie first. Traditional romance is not leading to the charge at all. Right now. They are largely following. And so I think. And I think that is a thing that, like, hopefully all the houses are realizing this and thinking, like, okay, well, how do we meet the ball down the field, you know, and like really think about what we do, how we lead in our particular way. Right. And I think like we knew it was coming, we knew it was coming over the last decade because it just felt like at some point like the tipping point in indie was going to arrive and we were all going to be reading indie romance. But we couldn't have predicted how Bloom at Sourcebooks would like decide they were going to basically become a distributor for all of these authors and put them in the hands. And we couldn't predict TikTok and put these books directly in the hands of readers through. And so it's like this really interesting ecosystem of like TikTok bubbles it up. You know, a traditional publisher purchases the print rights or the whole thing makes a beautiful addition. Barnes and Noble, which no longer like has co op like they're like publishers can't purchase like space on all those front tables at Barnes and Noble. So Barnes and Noble buys what's popular on TikTok and puts it in the front window. And like this kind of ecosystem of indie authors really re knitting the fabric of what romance readers are reading is happening. And the cool thing about this is that and addendum, all these authors are also now, through Ingram, through Amazon, through other places, able to produce their own print books.
- [14:37]
B
Yeah. And I think the big thing too is print on demand books. Ten years ago, maybe, I don't know, before the pandemic. They'll kind of look like crap, to be honest. And they were weird expensive. They were right? Well, they still are expensive.
- [14:50]
A
But so is trade.
- [14:51]
B
Yeah, exactly. They're kind of equal.
- [14:53]
A
The price now is even.
- [14:55]
B
Yeah, but like the books themselves kind of don't feel any more like print on demand books. They feel just like regular books.
- [15:02]
A
No. And in some cases they're really beautiful.
- [15:07]
B
One tip I have, everybody is if you are considering buying now, I know a lot of you don't even really pay attention to or know if it's like indie or not. Right. And I think the way you would look is you just look and see who the publisher is. And if it's like Berkeley or Avon or HarperCollins, you know, and if it's, you know, CNC Music Factory Inc. And you know that it's, listen, we're doing over 40 so it's fine for me.
- [15:29]
A
Oh my God.
- [15:30]
B
Perfect. Then you know, and here's my one tip is if you are planning to buy a paperback, it is go to the author's website and do it and they make way more. Like, if you buy it through Amazon, they make like a dollar. But if you go to their website and buy that same book, you will. They will pocket, like, half of it. So, you know, half the cost. So if you are, I will say, like, just looking forward, we have to look out for our indie folks. And that is one way that you can like, really specifically support them, which is buying. If you're buying paper books, buy them directly from them on their website.
- [16:11]
A
And often they're signed. They come with special stuff. Like, it's really cool. And I don't. I mean, I'm just astounded by the level of. Of business savvy these people have, but they have to, like, running a full distribution arm out of their garage. Terrific. So anyway, and then all of that is to say, just to get back to what we're doing today, um, the benefit to the sort of giant ecosystem of indie publishing is now there are enough readers in that mix. Enough readers have gone, hang on a second. I really like reading whatever dark romance I loved. I loved Butcher and Blackbird. How do I get more. They've now, like, found Ku. Or they found, you know, the indie. The indie universe. And now they're in there already. And so when they're like, well, wait a second, I'd like to read something with a heroine who is my age. Right. Who's in her 40s. Where do I go? Discoverability is still tricky. But the books are there.
- [17:19]
B
Yes, Correct. Right.
- [17:20]
A
So we're going to help you find those books. But are we calling it Seasoned?
- [17:27]
B
I don't know.
- [17:28]
A
I'm not a huge fan of it. It's not that sexy.
- [17:31]
B
Yeah, right. Exactly. Well, I think especially now that spicy has become a synonym for like. Oh, sexy.
- [17:40]
A
So you think seasoned is, like, seasoned?
- [17:43]
B
People, I think, are confused because I actually did a search today. Like, I was kind. You know, I'm. Yeah, one of the things we always do is kind of like, search and, like, what did I miss? Is there anything? And then I was like, oh, I see. Like that. So that name might actually just go away because it's confusing with spicy.
- [17:58]
A
I actually think it's an. It's a real, like, inside baseball name too.
- [18:01]
B
Yeah.
- [18:02]
A
Nobody ever asks me, like, hey, can you recommend a seasoned romance?
- [18:05]
B
No, they say, like, write older or.
- [18:07]
A
Something with the older heroine. I do have a question for you before we begin, which is, did you put Chieftain or any of those books on your list?
- [18:16]
B
As I thought.
- [18:17]
A
Well, will you just tell everybody about that series again? Because if they missed it the first.
- [18:22]
B
Time when we get there. Yes, when we get there. That they. They're awesome. This week's episode of Fated Mates is brought to you by Kayla Gross, author, Axes and O's so Jen, you know.
- [18:38]
A
I love a holiday novella in December because they're the best. Everything is too chaos. Like you don't have time for long form books, but these novellas can really just hit the spot. And I love Kayla Gross and I'm so excited that she has a holiday novella this this year. So Nathan Clark, our hero, did not plan on crashing his car in the middle of nowhere. And he certainly did not plan on having to like, trek to a cabin in the middle of nowhere to knock on a door and prey on this kindness of strangers. But he has an Inside that cabin are Fox and Morgan Malone, a married couple. And this is just days before Christmas. And they are more than happy to offer handsome Nathan the warmth of their hearth. Uh, what they don't realize and what, what Nathan doesn't realize is that very quickly, Fox with his tattooed rug allure and Morgan with her sweet, sultry, curvy body are going to make him question everything he thought he knew about himself and what he wants out of life. And maybe what he wants in the bedroom. What started with a a simple, very kind offer to warm himself by their fire will definitely end with them setting some sheets of flame.
- [20:01]
B
I love it. So if you are looking for a Christmas novella where everyone is snowed in, there's Plus Size Rep plus A Bisexual Awakening, then X's and O's might be for you. It is available in print, ebook, audio, and 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 Kayla Gross for sponsoring this week's episode, which I'm sure when this book arrives on your Kindle, it will be literally on fire. I am. I'm coming to the table with one book that I had already read and everything else is new. Like or. I was reading it over the past couple weeks and I was really delighted with the, with, with my reading experience because one of the things that, like right. Like that these books do really well is they present like actual conflict that is deeply rooted in a person who has lived a life and now has to think about what it would cost them to make changes and the kinds of things that these characters are experiencing with their families, at their workplaces, with their changing bodies, their own sense of themselves and who they are. These I was really like, I had a great time reading these books. I just felt like, oh gosh, these are books that are really exploring, like, these characters for real. Like, there was no, like, quick and easy shortcut. Like, I've read it 700 times before. Like, she's his assistant. Like, every single one of these books felt so different. And I really, really loved. I was. I had a great time reading these books.
- [21:54]
A
I think so too. I really felt like I've said this before, I've talked about probably right now, if you listen to the podcast, you know, a book, one book that I'm definitely going to talk about today. And I've said many times about that book that, like, it just feels grown up in a way. And I don't mean that again pejoratively about, like, other books. I just mean, like, this book seems to have like a real point of view that like we age and. And I think this is really. Is it possible Now I'm having 17 thoughts at the same time. So I apologize everybody, but welcome to Fademates. You know, I think these books really hit different post election for me.
- [22:33]
B
Yeah, me too.
- [22:35]
A
Because I think one of the things that I've been thinking about a lot, obviously over the last years, but also like a lot over the last month is the way women are erased in society. Right. Like, so what I'm thinking about is like, fat women, like, women who are old women who are. Have a disability, women who, like, anybody who does not kind of fit the like, mold of beauty or age or, you know, body type that is, for lack of a better term, useful to the patriarchy. Right. Is sort of erased and rendered invisible by society. And you hear this when you talk to women of size or you talked who have lost, like, if you talk to a woman of size who has lost a lot of weight, she'll say, like, it's wild how I was invisible before and now like, suddenly people see me and it's uncomfortable in many ways for, for us it becomes like, uncomfortable. Right, right. Or you talk to older women who are like. I was speaking to Gayle Forman, the children's in YA author the other day, and she was saying how, like, there's this big piece in the New York Times which I did not see about women because we were on a zoom together and we were both wearing our like crazy glasses and our big lensed glasses and. Or big framed glasses. And somebody like, mentioned that we were twinning and she was like, there was a big piece in the Times about the fact that when people get older. When women get older, they get these, like, you know, huge glasses. Like, they really. They're like, yeah, I'm gonna wear big glasses.
- [24:25]
B
And I have a book literally about this.
- [24:28]
A
And I said to her, I was like, it's because, like, suddenly we're like, well, it. Like, we're gonna just do the thing we want to do. Like, we're gonna express ourselves in whatever way, and nobody's looking at us anymore. So we might as well just, like, say what we think, wear what we want, and behave the way we want to behave. So I think these books are really interesting because age is a thing that renders us freeze. Yeah.
- [24:54]
B
But in. And so for Frees, you. And that's the part that was so fascinating about most of these books is like, that was an explicit journey. The woman. If there's a woman in main character that she was on. And it was really like, a lot of these books edged up into, like, kind of women's fiction more for me. Whereas, like, it was kind of like, you know, the question of, like, whether or not this man she was falling in love with becomes one. Where it's like, what's their journey? Right. And that was more thoroughly done in some books than others. But in every one of these books, the question of, like, this woman as she ages is. Right. How she's, like, dealing with that sense of invisibility and how it frees her.
- [25:49]
A
Yes.
- [25:50]
B
Is one that was, like, deeply rooted in the text in lots of different ways.
- [25:54]
A
Absolutely. And then the other. The sort of corollary to that is the burden that is placed especially on the heroines who are in their 40s. Right. Like the sort of. There's. In almost all of these books, there's, like, a responsibility layer that is like, I have a responsibility outside of myself, which has in many ways consumed me. Right. Like.
- [26:21]
B
Like the sandwich generation.
- [26:23]
A
Yeah.
- [26:23]
B
Kids. Older parents.
- [26:25]
A
I have a parent who needs help. I have teenager who's, like, going through it. I have a business that's failing. I have, you know, and suddenly there is this sort of set. And my marriage has failed or. And my husband has pass. Like, I am alone in this challenge. And in many cases, like, not alone, like, has a. Has a community, has a whatever. But, like, ultimately at night, goes to bed alone, like, with all the thoughts swirling around her. Right. And ends up in that situation, like, having to mine time to prioritize herself, her happiness, her sexual, you know, pleasure, her future for her alone. This is about me and struggle with that, which is difficult.
- [27:15]
B
I have two books in Particular that I think are like outliers to romance. One I kind of want to talk about at the end and one I want to talk about at the beginning. Okay. And the one I want to talk about first is. It was like a literary fiction book. It's called Mr. Loverman by Bernadine Evaristo. And this novel is about a. There's a 74 year old man, Barry. He grew up in Antigua. He married when he was 24. And his bride, Caramel. I'm like Carmel Caramel. Anyway, she's. She was 16. And now, now and then they move to England, right? Along with his best friend and his lover, right? The man he has been in love with secretly his entire life, his best friend, Morris. And now they are in their 70s. So he's 74. Caramel's, you know, 70. He and Morris have essentially been secret lovers for 50 years. And I. This book to me was like, it's so beautiful, but it's also so. I mean it's so moving and it's dual point of view and it really like, if you're ever like. I don't get what you mean when you're talking about characters, voices being different in first person. So Barry's one narrator and his wife is the other. And she has no idea because she was essentially like raised in such a, you know, Christian, you know, like, I mean, just like no idea that this could even happen. And she just desperately wanted him to love her and can tell that he doesn't and thinks it's because he's been cheating with other women for five decades. And the thing about this book about, about Barry is like he is a sexist. I mean like, it's like maddening to read him like kind of bitching about his wife and then like being like, I like left that there for her to clean up, you know what mean. But the impact not only of his like kind of of colonialism, right? I mean like this movement from Antigua to England, like. And then like the times are changing, right? So the book is like they're in their 70s and it's 2010 and Morris is like. Morris's wife walked in on them in the 80s or 90s and like he basically paid her off and she promised to keep it quiet and she like left town with all his money. But it's really heartbreaking that these men have had to like live their entire lives in the closet. And Barry especially cannot. Even though he sees that times are different around him, he can't figure out how to let go of all of the cultural baggage that he is carrying, right. About how a man from his society and his race should act. And I really thought that this book, again, it is he. And he. I will say this. He and Morris do, like, end up together at the end. They find a way, like, right. Like, he leaves Carmel and they, like, find a way to be together and they're gonna. They finally. They're living together and they're like, you know. But he also understands that by doing this, he has made it so his wife could never have that opportunity. Right. And it is heartbreaking. So it is a book that I thought, again, I really think the thing, though, too, I guess I want to say, like, reading it post election and knowing we are going to go into a time when queer people are terrified about what is to come. How heartbreaking it is, how much we have to support and be there and be good allies for our friends and. And people in the world who don't want to have to live like this anymore. Right. That, like, everyone deserves to live a life with dignity. And that means, like, not having to hide who you are because your culture and your society says it's not. Okay. So anyway, this book, I. But I also found, like, again, like, I think it really set the stage for me to think about a lot of how the other books work. Because to embrace love again when you're in your 40s or 50s, to, like, act like a young person when you are. When society says you're too old, I think is something really radical, in a way.
- [32:00]
A
Yes.
- [32:01]
B
And I think that's what we see over and over again in these books is, like, people who. I don't. I don't know if that makes sense. So anyway, Mr. Loverman by Bernadine Evaristo. It is a really terrific read and one that I think is, like, so adjacent to this conversation. I really wanted to bring it up, but also, like, was very heartbreaking, I think, to read in many ways, because we just have to, like, be a place. I want us to be a society where people can be who they are.
- [32:34]
A
Yes, agreed. Where am I going to go from there? Well, do you. If you have two that are sort of not romance specific, do you want to do both of them?
- [32:47]
B
Yeah. Okay. The other one. Yeah, maybe it'll be good because it's more of a. Like. It'll be like, a little not as sad. Okay. I read. I read a book called Becoming Crone by Lydia M. Hawke. The main character is Claire Emerson. It starts off on her 60th birthday and she Wakes up and there are crows all over her yard. And it's her birthday and she's like this woman.
- [33:10]
A
It's my dream, by the way. Yeah, literally my dream.
- [33:13]
B
No, it's essentially Sarah. This book is like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but for a six year old woman. Amazing. She becomes crone instead of becoming the slayer.
- [33:21]
A
Amazing.
- [33:22]
B
And what happens is it's like her birthday party and she really is like her husband cheated on her and left her and you know, she's just kind of like going through her life and her son and her, her. Her daughter in law like kind of forced this party on her. And she's just been one of those people who has said yes all the time, who's just gone along with whatever people wanted because it was easier. And her grandson has gone to this like junk shop and brought her back this like pendant necklace. And it turns out that this. It's like buzzing and she feels this thing and she like it. Like she like is looking through it and. Yes. And she sees like a secret mysterious address. And she like walks through the woods and finds a gargoyle.
- [34:07]
A
Yes, yes.
- [34:08]
B
Named Kevin the gargoyle. And also her protector, her watcher, named Kevin. Kevin is also a she, by the way. Kevin the gargoyle is a she. And then her watcher protector is a werewolf named Lucan. And basically they are really sh. They're not shocked that they found that she found them. Like that's how what a crone does. Right. And it's like Crone a singular. But apparently she should be a more powerful witch by now. So something has gone awry in her training. Like this should be like the culmination of it. And instead it's the beginning of it. She had no idea that she had like these magical powers. So anyway, it's great. And I was like, yeah, I want to read about this six year old lady who becomes crone and is gonna like go on a bunch of adventures. And it has like. I think there's four or five of them, but I just was delighted by it. And I think clearly like she and Lucan are gonna get together and like, you know, he's real hot and. But like, yeah, the whole idea essentially of like basically being called like, you know, like I said, it's Buffy, but she's 60.
- [35:23]
A
Excellent. All right, I'm gonna go to my. The book that's on my list. It's probably like closest to commercial fiction, like women's fiction. So I want to talk about Pickup by Nora Dalia, which is Brooklyn set and it is about the. I don't think she names the age of the heroine some. In some of these books it's very explicit and in some of them it's like, well, she has, like, she has kids. She's. She's clearly in her 40s. So Sasha, our heroine, is really going through it. She has divorced her husband who, you know, she basically kind of supported with her work as a journalist and a writer or, you know, she's a. She's a columnist. And he made it big. He wrote a screenplay. He made it big. And he like took off. He divorced her, her and took off and went to la. He left her in Brooklyn with her two children and her parents who live, you know, nearby. And Sasha. And Sasha basically, like he sends money home, but like, he is not a part of this, right? And she is like barely keeping her head above water. She's really an interesting character because it comes out through the book that like, she basically grew up like, like the kind of the cool girl. Like, she grew up in Manhattan. Like, she always sort of felt like every she had. She always was. She was that girl who like everybody thought she had her together. And the reality is like now she is like barely, barely like surviving, you know, it is. And. And the book kind of begins with this like very sort of chaotic moment at like elementary school drop off where like, she needs to buy her like, daughter needs a school a sweatshirt that has the logo of the school on it. It's like very. It feels very authentic. It's like. And she's like, oh, I gotta buy that thing. It's like crazy sock day. Her kid's not wearing the right socks. Like, it's like chaos in that way that like parents will understand. She goes to buy the sweatshirt and the like very handsome man steps in front of her and buys the last sweatshirt and she is like, oh, this is the fucking worst. And then over the course of the next, like, like however many pages, like, she has these like, run ins with this man who seems to be a very like perfectly lovely man who like, isn't trying to be her enemy. But like, every time she is supposed to do something for this fucking school, he like gets there first. His kid gets into the, like, after school, whatever, like gets the sweatshirt or whatever. And she is just like, this man is the worst, right? She puts all of her like, energy on like, this man being the worst and also even worse than all that. Why is he so handsome, right? So then turns out this actually becomes like an enemies to lovers workplace romance because she gets a Gig, like, she has to go to Turks and Caicos to, like, be a part of this, like, piece. They're like, a review or an event that's happening there. And a magazine is covering a kind of resort in Turks and Caicos. And she gets this opportunity to go and, like, run the shoot, run the, like, whole review she gets there. And wouldn't you know it, like, the editor in chief of the magazine or the editorial director of the magazine is Ethan. This man who is always. Is her, like, nemesis. That's her silent nemesis at school. And they have this. So what's interesting is, like, it has. It's this, like, kind of, like, forced proximity, vacationy romance kind of set down in the packaging of, like, the chaos of being a mom, a single mom in the world.
- [39:07]
B
Single mom, yeah.
- [39:08]
A
Having to deal with all of that. And then when she gets back, there is a kind of, like, added layer of. Throughout the book, there are these POV chapters from another woman, another mom at the school. And you're sort of not sure why she's on the page. And then it sort of becomes clear that she's on the page because she has a relationship that is attached to both Sasha and Ithan. And so there's like, a tiny layer of mystery, a tiny layer of maybe, like, a threat running through it. And then on top of it, just the sort of, like, all the layers of, like, aging parents and, like, kids and school and job and, you know, can you. Your boss. A question for the ages.
- [39:53]
B
These are real dilemmas. Right.
- [39:55]
A
And anyway, it's. It's really charming. And. And if you are a parent of a kid of a certain age, I think it's really gonna hit in that way.
- [40:05]
B
And it's just out this week, correct?
- [40:07]
A
It is out this week. It's out the third, which is yesterday.
- [40:12]
B
This week's episode of Faded Mates is Pride to you by Jenny Barra, author of Finding Out.
- [40:18]
A
Oh, Jen, you're gonna find out that this book is made for Jen. Our hero. Wilson is rigid in, I think, always. But for the purposes of the beginning of this ad, we'll talk about the fact that he just really excels when he is in control. Nothing has ever taken him by surprise. Absolutely. Ever. Until one woman who was put on earth to drive him insane turns up to be the art curator assigned to him on a weekend trip to pick up a new painting that he has.
- [40:56]
B
Okay. I love it.
- [40:58]
A
Okay. Ren Jacobs is absolutely off limits, Jen. She is too young. She is too beautiful. She is his daughter's best friend, and she is also the daughter of his best friend.
- [41:15]
B
Okay, amazing. Dial it up to 11,000, Jenny. I love it.
- [41:20]
A
Now we have to pause this ad while Jen buys this book. Okay, so there they are. They're on this weekend trip. He's basically like, it's fine. I can put up with her for a weekend. I can keep my hands off her for a weekend. I think there is some daddy. There is some use of the word daddy in here. He is holding it together. He is a man in control. Until they are snowed in together, and then they have to basically figure out how they are going to deal with each other for an overnight. And he decides, as all good romance heroes do, that he will just do one night and then get it out of his system. And how do you think that's gonna work?
- [41:54]
B
He can resist everything but the power of meteorology. And I'm not mad about it. Everybody, if you would like to check out this forbidden romance with a daughter's best friend and snowed in on the holiday, then finding out might be for you. It is available in print, ebook and with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited. And you can click on the chapter title right now to be taken to buy the book in special podcasting apps. Thanks to Jenny Barra for sponsoring this week's episode. Okay, so you mentioned Karen Booth, and I want to go ahead and talk about gray hair. Don't care. Because if you were around in 2021, that was like a real splashy kind of one of the, you know, over 40 books. It's the first book I actually remember seeing with the Lennie Kaufman cover or, like, paying attention to and feeling like, oh, that's like.
- [42:46]
A
That's a great cover too. He looks like Anna Reeves.
- [42:49]
B
Yeah. So in this book, Leela Bennett is 47 when it opens, and she's a New Yorker and she's a really well known and very successful, like, makeup artist. She's done a lot of really cool stuff with fashion and. But she has been divorced for two months, and so she's just like, really licking her wounds. But she is walking through a park and I don't remember which one. It's not Central Park. It's like a smaller park.
- [43:23]
A
I think it's like Washington Square Park. I think that's.
- [43:26]
B
Yeah. Or Bryant park or something. Yeah. So anyway, she sees like a wedding and it turns out this is like, used to be one of her favorite things to do is just like sort of of like sneak into people's weddings and, like, watch people get married. Like, she just always Love this.
- [43:41]
A
It is Madison Square Park.
- [43:42]
B
Okay.
- [43:43]
A
That's what's on. The Flatiron Building is on the COVID Oh, okay.
- [43:46]
B
So anyway, she is sitting there watching, and she, like, out of the corner of her eye, sees this guy, and she, like, recognizes him. And it turns out that it's Donovan James, who was her, like, ride or Die best friend for three years in college. They were both at nyu. He was a year older than her, and, like, all they ever did was, like, talk about music and bands. And, of course, this is, like, you know, like, In Excess and, you know, the Cure and all this stuff, right? And so he, like, looks over and he was like, oh, my God, Lila. And they haven't really seen each other, but, like, in the way of, like, kind of Facebook and social media, they both kind of have a sense of, like, what the other one has been up to. So he, it turns out, got married right after college and like, basically cut her off dead. And she had always, like, had these, like, regrets, because kind of right before that happened, they actually had, like, a night. They had sex, they slept together, and then it was basically like he ghosted her and was gone and then got married. And so they. But, like, it's 30 years later now, right? So they, like, kind of, like, go out and have a drink, and then they have dinner. And then she invites him over, and she basically tells him that, like, back then, that night, like, she didn't come, and he's kind of like, well, give me another chance. And they, like, like. So she's like, yeah, why not? I've always wanted to get with this guy. Why not? So they, like, have sex, and she does, and it's great. And he leaves in the middle of the night, like, leaves her a note, and it's just, like, kind of freaks out because she said, I was in love with you. And he. I don't think, like, a dummy, realized that she was. And so he just kind of, like, can't deal with it.
- [45:25]
A
And he leaves.
- [45:26]
B
And then, like, the next chapter picks up and finished three years later. And I think this is really smart because it essentially, like, lays the groundwork for, like, everything that's happened between them, but doesn't really linger in that pain. So now it's three years later, and she, after that night, decided she was gonna, like, start her own cosmetics line. She was gonna go gray. She was gonna, like, stop. Like, stop living in the past, essentially. And so now she's really successful. Her cosmetics company is, like, on the rise and is about to be acquired by like, this young, hot, like, kind of fashion cosmetics group. And it turns out that it's Donovan's daughter who owns that. So now she is essentially work. And he has moved to New York and is working also with his daughter. So now they kind of work together. And she's just like, look, I'm not gonna go down that path anymore. I just. Were gonna keep it real professional. And Donovan's daughter, Echo after echo and the Bunnyman is like, yes. You know, dad, you know, just promise me you're gonna keep everything professional. One of the things that's interesting about this book, though, is, like, Donovan is still kind of clueless. Like, he's actually been divorced three times, and he's still kind of like, I don't know. Feelings, women. What? I don't know. And I. I did find myself really wondering, like, what Leela found in that. Right. I mean, it's like, really interesting because I think, like, so many women I know my age are like, I'd never do this again. And I found.
- [47:05]
A
And three times too.
- [47:06]
B
Yeah.
- [47:07]
A
Like, that's an impressive record.
- [47:10]
B
Yeah. And so I think, like, one of the things that's really interesting about this book is that as much as I really like, like, Leela's kind of presentation, like, evolution of herself and how she felt about herself and her own sense of like. Like accomplishment and beauty and all those things, I was a little like, this loser doesn't deserve you.
- [47:40]
A
See, again, just hits different after the election.
- [47:43]
B
Exactly. Exactly. Now he's great. He's a great dad. You know, he's a really. You know, obviously he's not like a loser, but it's just like, it was really interesting to me how. How in a. A character. A younger man. I will kind of let. Let that, like, clueless. I don't know what her feelings. I don't know why my life turned out this way. Sure. But after 51. Yeah.
- [48:08]
A
It's time for you to know what the. Is happening. Yeah. But I get it. It.
- [48:13]
B
Yeah. And it's a great read. And it's very. Karen Booth writes a great book. Yeah.
- [48:18]
A
She's good. And you'll find more. If you are really looking for an author to follow for this kind of romance. Older heroine romance. Karen is. Is a person for you. I want to talk. You were talking. You. This was like kind of an old friend romance. And I want to talk about an old friend romance. I want to talk about Mary Balogh's Remember when, which is coming out. It's not out yet. It's coming out. January 7th. And it is the next book in the Ravenswood series and it is the story of one of the prior heroes, moms. So Clarissa, the heroine has just gotten her youngest out of the house. Like she has just presented her to the ton and now she has her life ahead of her. She's. She turns 50 over the course of this book and she is having a moment that is very, I think familiar for a lot of, of parents who like, and I read the other day, like people don't like the term empty nest anymore. Like there's some sort of like other new term that they want to use and I forget what it is but like basically she is a widow. She married, she did everything the way she was supposed to do it. And like if you were, if you know, if you've ever read a Mary Bollocks book, Mary does not, she does not write a historical that's like explosive and like, like big drama. She writes these like really quietly emotional books. They're very introspective. They are always really deeply thoughtful about the way we are, the way like we are human in the world. And Clarissa, so Clarissa's youngest is now, you know, out in society, gone. And she returns to the to for the summer to Ravenswood, the family seat. And she grew up there and married when she was a child. When she was young she had a. She had a very good friend, Matthew, who spent his life like he was not an aristocrat. He was just like, like a person, like a gentleman. And they were close, close enough that like they might have been in love if they'd let themselves. But when she was 18, she did what she was supposed to do. She married the Earl of Stratton and she went off and she had a life as a countess. And he left town, like left this little village that they grew up in. And now he is back and he has returned as a village, the carpenter in the village. And like she sees him and she acknowledges that like there's so much, there's like a lifetime of memories that they have both had together and had without each other. And she is really drawn to him. And so she does what any self respecting 50 year old in this situation would do. And she goes to him and she commissions a crib for her grandchild. And so he starts to build her this like crib and as they sort of. And then they like pick up almost where they left off. Like they have these like lovely walks and these long talks. Like this is a book that is really about like who we are and who we can remold ourselves into being. Like, how we change. You know, you're always talking about, like, characters who were in love when they were children. Like, should not still, like, be the same. Think about that thing that happened as, like, the most driving thing in their lives. And they don't. These two do not feel like separating from each other, like, ruined their lives. Like, these are just two people who loved each other when they were young and are learning to love each other again. And it is quiet and beautiful. And there is this beautiful. There are these, like, really wonderful moments where Clarissa kind of like, thinks of herself and she has this moment and I think it's just so relatable. She has this moment where she, like, looks at herself in a mirror and she thinks, like, off. I very rarely see myself this age, like, because I am. I am still young in my mind.
- [53:11]
B
Yeah. Almost every single one of these books, someone's like, I'm not. How. How I'm still 20.
- [53:18]
A
In my head, I'm 20 years old and I have my first child, you know, And I think. But Mary, of course, because she's so skilled, like, she sort of taps that very particular font and, like, can really. And she. It's just a love. Like, this is a beautiful grownup book. Like, so if this is. If you're a historical reader and you really want something that's like, meditative in.
- [53:44]
B
A lot of ways.
- [53:45]
A
I mean, first of all, read every Mary book, but in this. But this is really, I think, like the most emotionally, like, introspective of the books that I read. And it's not sexy. Like, this is a really, like, beautiful, romantic book, but it is not sexy.
- [54:06]
B
I have a historical the Queen's man by Jess Michaels. In this one, Gia is obviously the queen. She is. The prologue opens with Dash, who is her long term secretary. And he's. He's worked for her for 15 years and he has been in love with her just as long. But, you know, she's queen, he's the secretary. But he comes in to tell her that her. That the king has died. And the king has been, you know, has essentially cheated on her her whole life. And, you know, it's just like one of those. It was an arranged marriage. That's how it worked. But what's really smart about this book. And then it. And then it's like. And then they almost kiss, right? Like, there's this like. Cause she hugs him. I mean, they're so close and something happens and they're both kind of like, oh, my gosh you know, and he is horrified. That never should have happened. And she's embarrassed because she thinks that she shouldn't have done that. And then it picks up 18 months later. And what's really smart about this book is her son, who, of course, is the king now, is essentially. And even though it's like, 1820, is transitioning from, like, essentially a monarchy to an election where he's hoping to be elected prime minister. And what's really smart about this, of course, then, is, like, she's not gonna be a queen anymore.
- [55:23]
A
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Right.
- [55:25]
B
And so what happens, though, is, you know, like, you know, he acts. Asks his mother to, like, go to, like, one area of the country and sort of, like, see people. She's very popular, and kind of, like, talk about why, you know, they should vote for him, essentially. Right. And of course, Dash is gonna go with her. And, listen, this book is sexy. Like, all of a sudden, they just are like, you know, and, of course, it's, like, longing, like, you know, they share this kiss, and he's like, I shouldn't have done that. And she's like, I wanted you to. And then they have great sex everywhere. But, you know, and this is, like, this is a novella. I think it's part of a bigger series. I think, you know, her children have had their own books. And I just really. I really loved this book. I think it's, you know, it's a very. I mean, listen, they both been in love with each other forever, and they finally get together and have great sex everywhere. Like, bam. You know, it's not that there's, like, lots of conflict, but it is, again, like, sort of really deeply emotional. And I think, in some ways, for Dash, what was notable about this book is it's Dash's journey to essentially allowing himself to think of. Worthy of her. Right. That is kind of almost like more of a. As an older character or something he has to undo in the way he's thinking. So that's the Queen's man by Jess Michaels.
- [56:59]
A
Okay, how about. All right. I want to go with, like, a sort of sense that you're doing something wrong.
- [57:10]
B
Okay.
- [57:11]
A
Okay. And so I wanna. I won't talk a ton about it because I've talked about it before, but I have to name Jess K. Hardy's Come as you are, which I put on the back. Best of the year. No, I put the second one on the Best of the year list this year. Oh, we should talk about the Best of the year list and how you get the box.
- [57:29]
B
Oh, yeah, smart.
- [57:30]
A
Two episodes ago we, we, we announced our 10 favorite books of the year. And you can as always purchase the book box of a box of those 10 books from pocketbooks, a queer woman owned inclusive bookstore in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. You will get a note from Jenny Me. You will get a faded maid sticker. You will get seven of the 10 books and then you can add on the hardcover and the indie books that are available as like an addition for an additional fee. We, I just want to say we, we never make any money off these boxes. All your money is going to the, to the bookstore and the authors themselves. We just like making sure people have great books in their, in their hands, right? So buy it for yourself as a present. Tell somebody to buy it for you as a present. Buy it for someone else as a present. Buy it and throw it in little free libraries around your neighborhood. But support independent bookstores, support authors. Anyway, I put the second book in this series in the box. Lips Like Sugar. But this book, Come as yous Are is how I came to Jess K. Hardy. The premise here is really lovely. The hero. Imagine if like Eddie Vedder were like a total addict and like had really ruined his life, right? And he goes off and he becomes, he goes to rehab and he gets himself clean and you know, he gets himself off drugs and then he comes out of rehab and it has a complete like recommitment to life and to helping other men do this work, like recover from drug addiction. That is the, the hero of this book. He has created a sort of house in a group home in Montana where men who are recovering from drug addiction can go and like, like basically use it as rehab or sort of a space between rehab and home or a space between prison and home. And they offer the, the, their services to the locals family owned ski resort which is going under and needs a crew of workers to learn how to like run the snow machine and like, you know, run the snow ski lift and help, you know, help mend. Mend around the ski resort. That resort is owned by the heroine of this book who is, has, you know, has a child, has a family, has a husband, an ex husband who is awful and who really like is at her, is desperately trying to save her father's resort which was like his whole dream. These two, she was a fan of his band. Like he shows up. He is so sexy. These two are so sexy together. Like they are fireworks on Paige. And it has. What I love about this book and about the second book too is it's like all the magic and Fantasy of a rock star romance, but for like a woman in her 40s who deserves nice things.
- [61:04]
B
Absolutely.
- [61:05]
A
Like, and so there are just like, you know, of course. And also if you love. If you love a book where like the dog attaches themselves to the love interest before the actual main character does, this is that book. There's just like a ton about this. They had this like kind of really romantic night in like a cabin up on the mountain when they're like kind of snowed in. It's so sexy. And like the sex itself is like very aware of like when you're in your 40s, what sex is like for a woman in her 40s. And so I just. God, it's so hot. And I've. I've read this book multiple times and I just love it. And when you're done with this, you can read lips like sugar. And that also is a terrific read. This week's episode of Faded Mates is sponsored by Book of the Month.
- [61:59]
B
So everybody, the best thing for me about Book of the Month is the curation. Listen, I'm obviously a huge reader and I know everything there is to know about romance, but I don't always know what else I'm looking for. And so one of the things that Book of the Month does is it delivers you five perfect units, the perfectly curated books for the month and you get to choose what's right for you. And I am almost always drawn towards the mysteries and thrillers genres I really like to read, but I kind of have a hard time finding that exact right thing I'm looking for. This month I selected Alice Feeney's Beautiful Ugly. It has a really distinctive cover with this, like, seascape and like a kind of a violent looking sea. And like, some of the letters are going forwards and others are going backwards. So when I clicked on it to check out the description, we've got a man named Grady Green who's having a terrible day. He's talking on the phone with his wife when he hears her slam on the brakes, get out of the car, and then nothing. When he finds her, their car is by the cliff edge. The headlights are on, the driver's door's open, the phone is there, but his wife has disappeared. A year later, he still has no idea what's happened to her. So he tries to go to some tiny Scott British island to like, kind of get his life back on track. When he sees the impossible. A woman who looks exactly like his missing wife. I was like, click, click, click. And when it arrived, I couldn't Wait to get started reading it.
- [63:28]
A
This sounds great. I didn't pick that this month and now I'm like, oh, did I make a mistake? No, I didn't. I picked. I picked a book called Most Wonderful and I'm actually really enjoying it. If you would also like to pick books from Book of the Month and share them with us here at Fated Mates, you absolutely can. You can head over to Books book of the month.com and use the Code Tinsel to subscribe and get your first month for only $5, which is a pretty good deal, especially in December when every dollar counts toward some gift for some person in your life. And speaking of gifts for people in your life, you might have a really great reader in your life and not know what to get them because they might have already read the book or they. You're not sure exactly what kind of book they like to read, but, you know, they always have a book. Book of the Month month is a great gift for subscription as a subscription box to people who you love, who you know, just want to read great books all year long. If your podcasting app supports it, you can click on the chapter title right now to be taken to Book of the Month. To subscribe again, please use the Code Tinsel to get your first month for $5 and be sure to tell them faded Mate sent you. Thanks to Book of the Month for sponsoring this week's episode.
- [64:42]
B
Okay, I have a motorcycle club romance that is called Reaper Stand by Joanna Wilde. This is part of that.
- [64:48]
A
I knew that you were gonna pick this.
- [64:49]
B
I know. It's. You know what? It's great. It's.
- [64:53]
A
Yeah.
- [64:53]
B
And it's also like, so Reese Hayes is the president of, like, the motorcycle club. Men are so silly. But whatever. And his, his beloved wife Heather died of cancer, leaving him to, like, raise their daughters who were, you know, he's like in his early 40s, you know, but like, they got married young and so the kids are now like 20. And his. One of his daughters actually had her book in a previous, like a previous book in the series. And what. And he essentially, like, after Heather dies, just decides that he is just gonna like, bang anything that moves as long as that she's young and beautiful and kind of dumb. Like, he just doesn't want to ever catch feelings again. But he can't help but being really attracted to London Armstrong, who is the woman who owns the cleaning service that is now essentially been hired by the club to clean all of, like, all of their, like, businesses, like the, you know, the stripping bar Whatever. All this stuff, the bars and everything and every. And she, like, is doing a great job, and she owns this business, and this is, like, a small town, and, like, landing this contract is really gonna, like, make. It's gonna, like, finally get her in the. In the black. Is that the one where you're making money? Yeah. Okay. And, you know, so they're attracted to each other, but, like, there's just, like, no way. Right? Like, she's like, I'm a professional. And he's like, she's a grownup, so we're not gonna do this. Well, it turns out that she has essentially been acting for most of her niece's life almost as, like, a custodial parent. And Jesse is. Had fetal alcohol syndrome, though, and so has really been a kid her entire life who didn't do school, you know, is really wild and impulsive and Right. Like. And she thought that things were okay with Jesse, but something goes wrong, and she goes to Reese to ask for help, and they, like, make a deal, and they have a lot of great sex. And then at the end, though, the part that's really interesting is, like, you know, London is, like, a good person who essentially, like, can make some choices that make Rhys think that she has betrayed him. And there's, like, honestly, like, kind of a crazy scene where he's like, I'm gonna throw you down in the torture hole, and we're gonna, like, figure out what's going on. And you're like, what is happening?
- [67:24]
A
Well, it's Joanna Wilde. That's what.
- [67:27]
B
Joanna Wild. That's what it's. You know what, though? If you like a motorcycle club romance. But, like, I just really found the whole idea of, like, especially Reese's grief about his ex wife and his sadness about. And, like, his inability to deal with that. Right. It's. It's terrific. That's Reaper. Stand by, Joanna Wild.
- [67:53]
A
All right, I want to talk about Caitlyn Brem. Or maybe it's Bream. I'm sorry. I apologize if it is Bream. So Caitlyn's books are. So she has three novellas that are. We. She actually. She advertised them on our.
- [68:14]
B
She advertised on the podcast on our website.
- [68:16]
A
On our. Not our website, our podcast. This podcast that everybody is listening to this podcast.
- [68:21]
B
Yes.
- [68:22]
A
Actually, she has two novellas, and then there's a third book that has a heroine over 40. But I want to talk about the art collector, because the hero is an incubus, and as we all know, you love it. I love an incubus. Which is my own, between me and my therapist and you guys. Anyway, so the Art Collector is a novella. The heroine, Madeline, is an art historian who lives like, in this, like, small town. With this. This book has a real, like, gothic. This novella has a real gothic feel. Like there's like a house up on a hill and it's in the. In the house. There is just like a. Something like a man lives up there, Thomas. And he's very alone and obviously like as. As they are, as they can be as men in house anytime. There's a giant mansion on a hill that no one goes into. There's obviously there's like a man alone up there. Her just waiting for love. And so. So he. So she gets asked. She gets. She, like her firm, her art. Art historian, art appraisal firm gets asked to. To come up to this gothic mansion and appraise a collection of like, artifacts and texts that are, you know, really curious in that they are old and rare and tell a really, like, interesting story. Like, there are a bunch of paintings that like, she. That she, you know, that seem like they shouldn't just exist in this town, like in the middle of nowhere. He is an incubus. So he feeds off of dreams and is a demon. And there is. And like, she. These two immediately sort of like connect with each other. What I like about this book is she is obviously older and she gets to have an adventure, right? Which is like, some of these books are very quiet. And one of the things that I really like about their. What I tried to do in my Obviously Not Reaper's Promise or whatever you.
- [70:36]
B
Were just talking about. She was. No one's in the torture hole.
- [70:38]
A
Except for there's no torture hole in the art collector either. But. But what is interesting is I think these books often get slotted into two worlds. Like there's like the Mary Ballig of it all, where, like, you know, it is thoughtful and emotional and introspective. And then there is the sort of like, art collector of it all, where, like, oops, now you're like a classic romance heroine, like, stuck in a house with an incubus, not even mad about it, who is super sexy and also, like, you just happen to be in your 40s. Like, older women can also have these like, bananas storylines too. And I think so she did this one and then Siren Song is the second one. And that heroine is also over 40. And I just think, like, in both of these, they're both novellas, so you'll read them really fast. They'll give You a really delightful, like, jolt of, you know, older. Older people deserve crazy storylines, too.
- [71:42]
B
Perfect. Well, I have two left, and both of them have elements of that, so In Losing Sight by Tati Richardson. Now, everybody, this one does not come out until February 11th, so you're gonna have to pre order it. But it's still so good. And Tati was kind enough to send us ARCs, so I'm just gonna go ahead and talk about it because it's the perfect episode for it. Tanika Ryan is a sports reporter. So immediately, like, you know, I was, like, super interested, and she is, like, in her early 40s or just turned 40, and she is being essentially, like, eased out of the business by, you know, like, her boss and, you know, a younger woman who is not only younger, but, like, lighter skinned. So this book is about ageism and colorism. You know, Tanika has. Was always, like, a little too much for the. For the. For the network. And so, you know, she was encouraged to go by Nikki, right, to like, sort of, like, make her seem more appealing probably to, like, like, that white audience. But she has been a superstar sports reporter. Like, she knows every sport.
- [73:03]
A
She.
- [73:05]
B
And her typical beat was like, the, like, Thursday Night Football. But she, like, this new younger woman is, like, taking over for her. And. And what Tanika's hoping is that she will be essentially promoted to VP of like. Of, like, programming. So she's kind of, like, not given up hope, but it also seems pretty grim. Like, she sent on all of these, like, you know, kind of, you know, not like bowling, but practically right. Like, she's really, you know, being demoted. And the thing that she cannot admit, though, is she is, like, flubbing her lines and making mistakes and getting these migraines because she needs glasses. And she just, like, has a real phobia about putting things in her eye so she can't do contacts or lasik. And finally she actually, like, gets into a, like, a car accident one night when she's driving. It's dark and rainy, and she, like, it's. No one else is hurt, and she's not hurt, but it just really scares her. And she realizes, like, I can't. I have to get past my pride. So her. One of her friends, cousin Gideon Miles, is an eye doctor. And so she goes to Gideon, and they have met before at a party, and his wife has died. You know, he's a widower. And. And now it's like 18 months later. And so, you know, there's this instant chemistry between them. And when she goes out to, like, Pick out her frames. A woman helps her. And it turns out that this is essentially like the ghost of Gideon's wife who is like, wants him to move on and gives her these, like, magical glasses that allow Tanika to see people's auras. So she's like, walking around, like, wondering what is wrong with these glasses. But it's allowing her to really kind of see the truth. Like, see for real, right? Really see. And the thing about this book is one of the things, I mean, I love it. It is so richly layered and complex. It is laugh out loud funny at times. There is, I mean, right, like, Gideon is just this great guy who really wants to get with her, but is also like, trying to get over his sadness about his wife and her, you know, and, and losing her. Because they're, you know, they're still so young, you know, but they, they have so much in common. But, like, the other thing that's happening is that there are like several other men who are like, interested in Tanika. Like, there's like a young, hot race car driver and a rodeo star and she's kind of like, what is going on? Right. Like here I thought I'd aged out. And it turns out that, like that, that back to that, like, confidence and, you know, kind of knowing who she is. One of the things I really like about this book is like, Tanika is not a woman who needs to find herself. Like, she is rock solid on who she is and always has been. What she is frustrated with is the way the world is, right? The racism, the colorism, the ageism, you know, like, especially in the world of mostly women, of mostly men sports that she covers. So anyway, she's got her besties. They have hilarious brunches. She and Gideon have get up to all sorts of shenanigans and have like, FaceTime sex. It's great. It's hot. I loved it. There you go.
- [76:32]
A
See, older people deserve FaceTime sex.
- [76:35]
B
Exactly. And so anyway, I really love this book. It's called Losing Sight. And like I said, it comes out on February 11th. But just pre order it now, you are not going to regret it when it drops onto your Kindle.
- [76:52]
A
This week's episode of Faded Mates is sponsored by Avon Books, publishers of Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone's A Jingle Bell Mingle.
- [77:00]
B
Here we have Sunny Palmer. She's a makeup artist who also does some work as an actress and director in adult films. And she has accidentally sold her first screenplay to the Hope Channel. That was six months ago and she has basically been stuck ever since. She has no idea how to get this screenplay over the finish line. So she returns to Christmas Notch, Vermont to immerse herself in the local Christmas culture. There she meets Isaac Kelly. He owns the town's historic mansion and he's a former boy band heartthrob with a really sad backstory. Um, he's had years of heartbreak after his young wife's death, and his record label has been waiting for new music for forever. After a one night stand, after some a friend's wedding, they wake up together in a freezing motel room and they basically figure out that maybe they could help each other out with their relative creative blocks. So they make a handshake deal. Isaac will help Sunny hunt down the truth she needs to complete her screenplay, and she will find Isaac a new muse. I wonder who that will be.
- [78:09]
A
You'll only be able to find out if you read this holiday rom com that edges just a little bit up into raunchy. This one's for anybody who loves a Roommates with Benefits story, a Grumpy sunshine story, a widower, or opposites attract. You can get a Jingle Bell Mingle right now in print, e prior book or audiobook. 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 Avon Books and Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone for sponsoring this week's episode. I want to talk about Kathy Yardley. So terrific.
- [78:51]
B
I love her.
- [78:53]
A
She wrote a book called Role Playing and this one. Okay, I want to preface this point with I am a video game person and this book is really for a video game person. Like, it is very in the story requires you to have a fairly working knowledge of, like, how gaming culture exists. And what I love about it is this, like, okay, her.
- [79:19]
B
Her character name is Bog Witch. I love it.
- [79:23]
A
Actual names.
- [79:24]
B
So that is her name, Sarah. Come on.
- [79:27]
A
The heroine of this book, Maggie, is in her late 40s and her college age son has, like, left town. Like, she's dropped him off at college. Like, she is also doing this kind of like, you know, empty nest thing. She's been divorced for five years and she hates people like, and like, unapologetically hates people. Like, it begins in the supermarket and somebody she knows meets her, like, sees her and calls her name and like, you're in her POV and she's just like, no, this is why I don't leave the house. Like, I don't. Please don't talk to me like, I don't want to do this. And then this, like, perky woman invites her to book club and she's like, oh my God, that sounds like the worst thing I could ever possibly do. So anyway, she has this. She ends up like, she sort of made a deal with her son that she'd like, try and be more social now that he's out of the house. But like, so she ends up like joining this. She joins the book club and she like kind of, you know, she. She does all this stuff. But on the thing that she really loves doing is she loves video gaming and she loves playing like it's essentially like a World of Warcraft style, like multiplayer online video game where like she and her son would hang out together and they would play this game together. And it was how they bonded, like when he was a teenager, but now that he's at college, she's like, kind of. And she is like, excellent at this video game. She has, for those of you paying attention, who at home who are gamers, like, she has like two 100 level characters that like she plays in this video game and she has sort of said like she is going to. She calls herself Bog Witch. That's her username on the, on the gaming platform. And she has this problem because it requires you to really succeed at this game. Have to join a guild and like play with other people. And most of the people in all these guilds are like young men of a certain age with a certain kind of personality. And they like have. There's a lot of misogyny inside this gaming world. We know this. And there's sort of a sense of like, she just doesn't like she's searching for a guild to hang out with because she sort of promised her son she would like, try to find new people. And she finds this group. She goes in playing a character who she's built who's like, poorly built. It's a level 27 character. And she joins the guild with this particular character because she's testing them out, like, are they gonna treat me shitty because I'm a woman? Because I'm new, because I'm learning, because I'm whatever, right? And so what she learns pretty quickly is like, it's run. This guild is run by this guy named Otter who's. Who's like, tag name is Otter. And he like rules with like kind of an iron fist. He stops anybody from like treating her badly because like, she doesn't have enough power or whatever. And she. And then at the end of the first game, like we see them all play together. And at the end of the first game, it's revealed that like, she's great at this game, right?
- [82:37]
B
Yeah.
- [82:37]
A
But she like, hates people. And also like is convinced that all these, all these boys on all these group, these guild members are like boys of a certain age, young, in their 20s or younger. And so she's like, I won't like, no flirting, nothing. Like, I'm old enough to be your grandmother. So she starts, she thinks that like the leader of this Guild is like 20 years old. He thinks she's like, like 80. Right.
- [83:04]
B
I love it.
- [83:04]
A
And so they like, are. They are like fall. They are. They like, they create this like relationship where like they really like each other and they like think about each other when they're outside of the game and they think about like how much they like each other, but they really believe, like, there's no way. Like this is weird. Right? And then they're like, like he's, he's. Of course he is also in his 50s. He's in his early 50s. He plays this game for fun. And they like, they have this like really lovely friendship that is built. And then when they decide they're going to like, they, when they do ultimately meet in real life, it is so incredibly shocking to both of them that they are not 20 and 80. They are like age appropriate. Also really sexy with each, like sexy for each other. It's a really great romance that I was very charmed by. Like, it is extremely slow burn, obviously because for much of. For a long time they don't meet for a long time. But they, you know, ultimately are just like. And then of course when they do meet, she has to rebuild, like reinvent. She has to rethink who she is. She's like convinced herself she hates people. She doesn't want to go outside, she doesn't want to be in the real world. She's like protected herself because of her divorce. Like, and now here's this person who actually does like, make her want, want to be all of those things.
- [84:48]
B
I love it.
- [84:49]
A
Yeah. And also like, it's okay. Like, grown ups do play video games.
- [84:53]
B
Yeah. She's.
- [84:54]
A
She.
- [84:54]
B
Well. And I. Yeah, I think no one's gonna do that as great as Cathy Yardley. Okay. My. I wanna talk about the undermining of Twyla and Frank by Megan Bannon. And in this book, Twyla is 53 and Frank is the same. Ish.
- [85:16]
A
Doesn't matter.
- [85:16]
B
Frank's not a point of view character, which I thought was really interesting in this book. I struggled with it a little bit. I'LL talk a little bit maybe about why. But what's interesting about this book is that they were, they were both, they're both marshals. So this is the world of heart and mercy. And so they're both Tanrian marshals. And at the end of, of Frank. Sorry, at the end of Hart and Mercy, like, Hart figures out a way to like get rid of all the zombie type characters, right? But they still are doing this job, but it's just kind of different. And the story between of Twilight and Frank is that they were next door neighbors. And one day, 15 years earlier, Franks, who had been a Tannerian Marshall the whole time, Frank's wife left with his daughters and Twyla essentially befriends him. Her own husband has died and they just become like best friends. And she is really at that point, like sort of tells the story of how she was like in a real place and she, you know, couldn't quite figure out how she was gonna like, pay for her kid, you know what I mean? Like, all of a sudden it's like financial struggles. And so he suggests, well, you should be a tan and Marshall with me. And she goes off and does this. And they are like literal, like best friends. And now, you know, all the kids are out of the house. And what happens is really interesting is, you know, kind of like they're out there and like something. One of their co workers gets killed in this very mysterious way. This guy's like, like essentially like been flooded in this like glittery like goofy. And they're out trying to investigate like what might have caused this when they come across essentially this like, these thieves are like running and they drop this thing that's round and like Frank picks it up and it turns out it's a dragon's egg. And this baby dragon essentially like pops out of that thing and immediately imprints on Frank. Oh my God. And twi. And meanwhile, there had always been like rumors that there were dragons in this area, but like no one had seen them in generations. And so part of like the mystery of the plot is like, where, like where, you know, kind of like what's going on with these dragons. And so they kind of tell their boss like, hey, this is, hey, guess what, there's these glitter breathing dragons out here. And they send a, like a dragon expert, but this guy's a dragon fossil expert because there are no live dragons. And this man is interested in Twyla. And so all of a sudden, like, this is like the thing that changes the friendship because, you know, they'd just been like, friends forever. Like, that's just how it was. But now that someone is interested in Twyla, she has to sort of say, I don't know, like, has to really think, like, who am I? And I thought I was just kind of done now to pasture, but maybe I'm not. But this is driving Frank crazy because of course, he's been in love with her all along. Now, one of the things I will say is this. To me, it's. It's. I guess it's a slow burn. It to me, this is. I would. I have a hard time even, like, kind of calling it a romance. She ends up with Frank at the end. Of course, like, you know that by the title, but this is real. This is Twyla's book and Twyla's journey, you know, she has to. She actually. I kind of respect the move here. Like, goes out with this, you know, the dragon expert guy a couple times and even, like, has sex with him for the first time. Says sex with someone for the first time in 15 years since her husband died. And she really is kind of like, not that into it. It wasn't that impressive. It wasn't that great. And she's kind of like, why do I feel weird and guilty about this? Right? And Frank. But meanwhile, Frank had sowed his wild oats for, like, years and she. It never bothered her. And so it really is, like, forcing her to come to terms with kind of like who she is and what she wants and what she deserves. Now, I think that this book is very, like, very slow in some ways because I think what's really happening is just like, this is a book that's moving slowly because Twyla herself is moving slowly. Right? Like, this is a book where she is really trying to figure out, like, how who was I as a wife and a mother? Who am I now that I'm not those things anymore? Who am I if I'm Frank's partner versus Frank's lover? Right? I mean, and I. And so I think that, like, I really respect in some ways like, this didn't feel like boring to me, but it definitely felt like Twyla as a character really needed a lot of time because all of a sudden, everything about her, the way she saw the world, changed and she had to figure out why. I felt the loss of Frank's point of view in this book. Right? And I even went back. I was like, heart and Mercy was dual point of view, right? But I think that it's just a book that really is concerned and interested in Twyla's journey. And I think it's because Frank knew all along he was in love with her. And so that maybe wasn't as compelling of a, like, sort of moving forward, that kind of story in terms of, like, what it would have added to that as a romance. But because of that, I guess I would just say, like, I really enjoyed this book. I savored it. But it definitely was the one that felt very like women's. Like, it bridged that, like, straddled that line of, like, women's fiction. Like, like, the question of, like, Frank's journey is not one the book is really interested in. This is Twyla is the star of this show and these baby dragons, which I was not mad about at all.
- [91:24]
A
It's funny because you don't love a dog in a book, but you do love a baby dragon. See, we're learning things. Who knew? Seven years in, we're still learning things about each other.
- [91:31]
B
It's really cute, that baby dragon. I mean, it brings. It's. It's a glitter dragon, Sarah.
- [91:36]
A
I mean, perfect. Of course it is. Meghan Bannon would never not do.
- [91:40]
B
Right, of course.
- [91:41]
A
I mean, of course it's glitter dragon. If you've read any book by her, you know.
- [91:45]
B
Yeah.
- [91:45]
A
All right. I have two more, and they're sort of similar, even though they are completely different. Fair. And the reason why is because I think both. What both of them do is they acknowledge they're both about, like, two people who are very good at their jobs and acknowledge the other being, like, very good at their jobs job. Okay, so I'm gonna do.
- [92:08]
B
All right.
- [92:09]
A
I'm gonna do Reese Ryan first. Because I. When I. When we first decided on this, I was making a list of, like, all the authors who I knew I could turn who I knew, like, very likely had a seasoned heroine. Right. So, like, at the end of this, I'm gonna name check people. But, like, Victoria doll was on that list. Like, there are people. Kate Canterbury. Right. I was like, rhys Ryan for sure. Like, surely she has a seasoned heroine. I've probably read it. I mean, I'm on the record for being a big Rhys Ryan fan. And so. And I was like. But I had to do some research. And sure enough, she does. The. The seasoned heroine in the Rhys Ryan universe is in Candidly yours, which is part of. Which is. I don't think it's a series, but it's called the Carnival. Oh, no, it is. It's. Oh, I see. Now, let me say it it's the Rhys Ryan addition to a series called the Carnival Chronicles, which I think are just a bunch of. A bunch of different authors writing category length romances related in some way to Carnaval. So this one is called Candidly yours and it is about Laila Sinjin, who is. She was an incredibly talented fashion design or like a talented. Or what I should say is she sort of started on the path of being a fashion designer and like, was really going to blow up. And then because of family stuff, she had to kind of give up her career and go home and like work and like be a part of her and essentially like help raise her sisters.
- [93:53]
B
Right.
- [93:54]
A
Her siblings. And so while she was doing this, she continued to design and she has made like a little name, a cottage name for herself in her town as like, she can, she can basically design anything for you. So she's been designing these like carnival outfits for clients and she knows that she can blow up. Like now she is in her 40s, she has sort of done the responsibility thing to her family and now she is like prepared to become a fashion designer writ large. But she doesn't have the money to do this. She doesn't have the capital. She doesn't have any of the pr. Like, it's impossible. This is an impossible task for somebody her age. Luckily, her baby brother has a best friend who is in his 30s. And Quincy has spent the last 10 years kind of traveling around and making a name for himself. You'll, you'll know why I fell for this book hard as a photographer. Jen. He is a traveling photographer. I love it, you know, and comes with all of the, like, traveling photographer, like, you know, sexiness. And also surely, you know, traveled in many ways around the globe. Right. And he comes home and he sees Layla and it comes out that like, Layla was like his first crush. Like, he's always had the hots for Layla. Perfect. Love it. And she, he understands what her thing is, what her, you know, what's going on with her. And he says, well, wait a second, I've been thinking about doing a photo project around Carnaval in the Caribbean. What if, what if we take your designs and we go to the Caribbean and we take photographs and we use the, like, it'll be free publicity for you. We'll be part in partnership. Like, it'll be great. And of course Quincy's like, this is gonna work perfect because we're gonna get to the Caribbean and I'm gonna make this woman love me. Which is a classic with Ryan Hero. This Delivers on all levels there. And he is like, he is fricking delighted that he gets a shot at this woman. She is, you know, kind of terrified of, like, committing to somebody who is so much younger than her. And this is an age gap, but it's like, it doesn't feel that way. What this feels like is two highly competent professionals, like, finding a way to, like, honor the artistry between them. And it's really great because it's written by Race Ryan. Of course. It's great.
- [96:36]
B
Of course. Of course. I do have another quick. Well, I guess we're named. We're name checking stage maybe.
- [96:43]
A
Well, I have one more that I want to reference, but if you have. Unless you have one. I do have one similar in that there's. It's business related.
- [96:51]
B
Okay, do yours and then I'll do mine and then we'll name check.
- [96:55]
A
Lillian Monroe has a series that for some reason is called the Hotel Harts Cove Hotties book. But all of the books start with Dirty Little Midlife. So it's like Dirty Little Midlife Master, Dirty Little Mid. The first one is Dirty Little Midlife Crisis. And there are 11 of them and every heroine is over 40. So I have not read all of them, but I have read Dirty Little Midlife Mistake. I'm really. I'm so basic, Jen. Like, sometimes when we do this, I'm like, I'm just so basic. Candace, a widow, a mother and a business owner. She owns a bakery and like, catering company.
- [97:36]
B
Is.
- [97:38]
A
Her husband has been dead for three years and like, they had a beautiful relationship. Like, she really loved him. And like, this is the widow book that, like, I show. Like, had I had read it when we did our widow episode, I would have brought this up. Right, Right. Because often I think what happens in romance is we do this thing where, like, widows are always young. This. She is like, in her mid-40s. She has lost. She is young for being a widow, but, like, she's not 25. So she is catering. There are. They live in a small town, Hearts Cove. They live in a tiny small town. She runs the coffee shop Slash Catering there. And there is a movie that is shooting in Harts Cove and it's like a. It's a rom com or it's.
- [98:27]
B
I love it.
- [98:28]
A
It's a romance is what we know. Right? Well, starring in this romance is like the biggest Hollywood heartthrob ever. Also in his 40s, hunky silver fox, Blake Harding. And she is running the catering for this, like, production. And the book begins and she has like, delivered. Catering to this. This, you know, place, this set. And the heroine, the. The, like, main female lead, refuses to leave her trailer because of astrology reasons. Listen. Relatable. So. And, like, they are literally shooting the, like, last, like, Kiss in the Rain, right? And they're like, we literally have, like, three minutes left to. On this fucking movie. And this lady won't leave her trailer for astrology reasons. So the director looks around, points at the. At Candace, our heroine, and says, well, she's, like, about the right size.
- [99:32]
B
Oh, yeah.
- [99:33]
A
We'll just put her in the. Send her to wardrobe and hair. And then she'll just, like, stand there and we'll shoot the hero. Like, we'll shoot all of his bits. And so, fine. So she does this. Because that is science. And then she comes. So. And then they're, like, standing together, and he, like, says his line and then kisses her. And then it's fucking magic. Like, I love it. And then, like, the director calls. Cut. Like, a dozen times. Like, they don't hear him. It's like, magic. And then he's like, this is it. Like, she. This. Like, he's gone for her. He's like, this is. And now she still wears, like, a wedding ring. She has a child. Like, suddenly he's like, oh, she's like, she's maybe married. Like, he sort of is. Like, maybe she connected. Like, there is a connection to this world. So she go. He meets. He goes to her coffee shop. And, like, what I love about this book. So it's twofold, right? Like, one, he is never like, you run a coffee shop in a small town, and I'm a movie star. Like, obviously, you're gonna come with me, right? Like, this is how this is gonna work out. The. The struggle between the two of them. Like, he gets to her coffee shop, and he's like. And she is supported, but she has this big community of people. She has a daughter. She is really, like, has a. And her. A mother. Like, and he is, like, jealous of this, like, big community of people who she has built around her.
- [101:11]
B
Yeah.
- [101:11]
A
And he's like, I could never ask her to leave this. Like, this is perfection. So in his mind, he's like, how do I find space to become, like, a part of her very rich world? Which. On top of which, she is a business owner and, like, a very skilled business owner here.
- [101:32]
B
Yeah.
- [101:32]
A
And this. It's very sexy. I mean, like, who wouldn't want to just, like, this. This woman loves to write a kiss also. Like, I love that. Like, there is so Much kissing in this book. Which is.
- [101:49]
B
That's the best.
- [101:50]
A
Like it's rare. Like you don't see that as much anymore.
- [101:55]
B
No, this. They used to just. Now it's just like nothing happens till 70% and they fall into bed and you're like, what happened to kissing?
- [102:02]
A
Yeah, there's so much kissing in this book. And like they're just so gone for each other. And then like the way it all wraps up in the end, we're like, ye, of course. Listen, I. The reason why I say I am basic is because like, I love a book where the hero is fucking wealthy and can just like fix shit.
- [102:20]
B
Like, I love it.
- [102:21]
A
I don't want it to be problems. I want him to buy a 12 acre ranch with a pool outside of town and just like build a house with a yoga studio for her.
- [102:31]
B
Thank you. That's how it should be.
- [102:33]
A
That's what I want for these heroines and myself.
- [102:37]
B
Yoga studio. I'm adding that to my list. Okay.
- [102:40]
A
Okay.
- [102:41]
B
I have a last book. Beautifully unexpected by Lily Morton. This is a gay romance with older main characters. It opens, it has a great opening scene where Magnus, which, I mean, hello, that's like some real romance hero name there for you. Essentially, like wakes up in bed, very relieved to find that his overnight guest has. Has gone. That's just how he likes it. So I think he's like 50, 51 or 52. And basically he is like a barrister. I don't know if that's what you call a lawyer over there in England Times. And he like does. Works hard all day and then he goes out to clubs at night and finds young men who think he's a silver fox. He takes them back to his house, they have a great. His flat, they have a great night. And then he wakes up the next morning. Morning. His housekeeper makes him breakfast and he goes off to work and he's like, what a life he's leading. You know, he like. Like Rhys in the Joanna Wilde book. He's just like, I just don't want to deal with this. Like, I just want to, you know, fucking have a good time. So. However, on this particular morning, there's a knock on the door and he goes. And he is horrified to find that his one night stand had like disappeared and has come back with like, ugh, Sarah. He's like wearing like a trench coat and he like drops it dramatically in the hallway and he has a blue like ribbon tied around his penis. Perfect. And Magnus is like, you were supposed to go and stay gone. What is Happening. And this young man is like, I'm back. And meanwhile there's a guy across the hallway, like going into a flat, a new neighbor who is just like cracking up at like this totally awkward, terrible moment. And that is Laurie Gentry, who is a man who is about Magnus age. But you know, he's an artist and like kind of mysterious. He is. I don't, I can't remember if he's just like short term subletting or whatever, if it's permanent. And you know, he's got these sort of. He has a limp. He's actually was. Turned out. He was in a car accident. And he's sort of really dealing with the aftermath of that. And Laurie and Magnus become friends first and they get to know each other as friends and really try and figure out like how, like, right, like so you've got these like sort of older men who've like lived their lives a certain way all of a sudden because of the proximity of being neighbors, find. Find that they maybe have a chance at love. So that's beautifully unexpected. By Lily Morton.
- [105:22]
A
Love it. All right, I have some books to just name check.
- [105:26]
B
Oh yeah. And you wanted me to talk about the Outlander.
- [105:29]
A
Oh yeah, do it.
- [105:31]
B
So everybody, just to remind you, there is a series of books. The first one is called Chieftain.
- [105:36]
A
I was like, does this count? But I think it does.
- [105:39]
B
I think it does. Chieftain warrior, master healer and wayfinder. And the premise of this series, these are by Annie Lucas, is that a group of human women who are all in their 50s and 60s get kidnapped by aliens and taken to space, at which point they are returned to like their physical peak, whenever that was. But they retain their brains as like 50 or 60 year old women. And so they are all of a sudden like beautiful and young and hot again, but have their perfect think. But like think like mature women and they fall in love with this series of very ridiculously ripped alien dudes and have a great time. That's all you need to know about that. Perfect.
- [106:28]
A
I already said Victoria doll. We of course love Talk me down.
- [106:36]
B
Yes.
- [106:37]
A
Where the heroine is. I think she might be like 39, but like grandfathered in because it was written in, you know, long ago when 40 was just. You were basically dead. So and then. But my favorite. And I have talked about this age, we talked about this on the firefighter episode because my favorite Victoria Dahl novella is called Fanning the Flames and it is a divorced librarian whose husband is a firefighter and her ex husband was a firefighter. And she is fully hot for the chief, the fire chief, his boss who basically fucking hates him because he left this like hot little librarian number and made her sad. And so they like she watches him jog and is obsessed with his hairy chest. And then like they super fall for each other and it's really like hot and sexy and it's like they're like fumbling on a couch in one scene and like her daughter comes in and it's just like her teenage daughter who was like ugh, please, would you please. And so there's just something really charming about this book where like what you were saying earlier Jen, like, like there's something like older people like really just falling hard for each other because. And there isn't a sort of authenticity to that in the sense that it feels like. And I don't know, right. Because I haven't found love as an older person. But what I want to believe is true is like we are much smarter and evolved as older people. And so when you find something that's worth it as an older person, like, like it feels at a. The intensity is like dialed up to 11.
- [108:29]
B
Right? That's what I cuz there's like also like that. I mean like no time to waste.
- [108:34]
A
Right? No time to waste. I know what I want, I know what I'm into. I know what my kinks are. Like it's all just sort of like. Like basically it feels like older people should be able to really like game online dating because they can just tell the full truth. They know exactly what they want. Exactly. Either swipe left or right. But like this is it. This is one of my non negotiables anyway. And then Kate Canterbury's the worst guy is. Oh yeah, sure, 40. And they are doctors and it is a fun one.
- [109:12]
B
Sure, that is a fun one.
- [109:15]
A
And you know who else we should talk about is Robin Peterman.
- [109:18]
B
Oh yeah, she's. Yeah.
- [109:19]
A
Her book as the Underworld Turns, which is the first book in the Good to the Last Demon series, has a heroine who is a 40 year old former child star who then finds out she's a demon. And so she was like on a. She was on a television show when she was a kid about monsters and now she has discovered that she is actually a demon. And he. The way that she finds out is by another demon coming up from the underworld to tell her the bad news or good news, such as it is and basically tell her that now he is responsible. She is responsible to him.
- [110:05]
B
Like she.
- [110:05]
A
She owes him some demon work.
- [110:08]
B
I love it. She actually has a whole Other series, too, called Good to the Last Death in the first book is called It's a Wonderful Midlife Crisis. And these, I think, are, like, really called women's fiction novels, but there are, like, a bunch of them that essentially follow the same woman. And basically what happens is she's a widow, but then I think she essentially can, like, see dead people. And, like, there's. There's a lot going on there. I think she writes a really fun book. So those are more women's fiction.
- [110:44]
A
Y.
- [110:45]
B
So I didn't mention them. But the first book is called It's a Wonderful Midlife Crisis. So I think Robin Peterman is also someone who has really, like, covered this, you know, really comfortable writing these older characters for us.
- [110:58]
A
Well, I hope we did the job there. Feel like we did the job there. If you're not sure. I feel like this is one of those sub genres that, like, if you're not you, a lot of people just aren't sure where to start.
- [111:10]
B
Yeah, exactly. And you know what? I was really delighted, too, by, like, the breadth of it. Right. Like, we have historicals. There's contemporary, there's some, like, kind of light paranormal, some that are more, like, romantasy. So I feel like that's like the other thing as. And I think going back to the beginning when we said, like, there weren't as many, now it feels like, oh, yeah, there's so many that we can, like, you know, kind of separate them out into, like, every one of our favorite. It was not hard to find a book in every sub genre I really like or with a trope I really like.
- [111:39]
A
I'm very happy. I'm very happy that this was the plan this week.
- [111:43]
B
Me too.
- [111:44]
A
So, everybody, we're back next week with another episode that we had to do reading for.
- [111:50]
B
I've been doing the reading for this one.
- [111:52]
A
Me too. This one has a lot of reading.
- [111:55]
B
It's a lot of reading, everyone.
- [111:56]
A
Yeah, but we. We are here. Listen. We are here for you. We are doing the job for you. Anyway, I am Sarah McLean and I'm here with my friend Jen Procop, and we are fated mates. You can listen to us every Wednesday wherever you get your podcasting, or you can find us on threads, Instagram or Blue sky, where we sometimes thread Instagram or Blue Sky. You can get the full Best of 2024 book box from Pocketbooks in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. You can do that by going to fatedmates.net bestof and clicking on the link to take you directly to Pocketbooks. If you really love talking about romance novel and you want to and or you want to tell us all about the seasoned romances you love, you can join our Patreon, which gives you access to our incredible brain trust of Discord members. You can do that@fatedmates.net Patreon. You also get an extra episode every month of us just like coming to you, talking about whatever it is we're talking about. Anyway, I think that's everything. We're very happy that you're with us another year passing us by, but it's great to have you and we'll be here every Wednesday forever.