← Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People
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- [00:00]
Sarah McLean
I went to urgent care this morning, Jen, and I thought I might have, you know, a 24 hour tumor and it turns out I have a cold.
- [00:09]
Jen Prokup
Everybody, what you need to know about us is that like Sarah has been to see more doctors in the past, like morning than I have in the past probably two years morning.
- [00:22]
Sarah McLean
Listen, everybody. I have what I have self diagnosed as stress hypochondria.
- [00:29]
Jen Prokup
But I've known you for a long time. I think there's a little bit of low key.
- [00:32]
Sarah McLean
I'm pretty stressed. I don't know if I've told this story on the podcast, but we have new listeners, so. And I can't remember telling it, so if I have, it was a long time ago, but obviously we live in New York City and I once was in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and this was years ago I was in Williamsburg and I the light turned green to cross and I stepped off the curb and there was a shout and I turned and a woman smoking a cigar, riding a bicycle ran over my foot. It's not important that she was smoking a cigar, but I kind of really like colors the story in a certain way. And she ran over my foot and it really hurt. And like she didn't care. She just kept going. And like two days later I had a pain in my foot because it had been run over by a woman smoking a cigar on a bicycle. And I turned to Eric and absolutely, fully, seriously, I said to him, do you think I have diabetes? And he said, yes, it's bicycle diabetes.
- [01:46]
Jen Prokup
Okay, that's honestly pretty crazy.
- [01:47]
Sarah McLean
So now whenever I go into one of my stress hypochondria situations, there's a.
- [01:54]
Jen Prokup
Name for that, bicycle diabetes.
- [01:55]
Sarah McLean
He says, is it bicycle diabetes?
- [02:00]
Jen Prokup
Yeah. Have I told the story about Mr. Reid's romance on the podcast at the White Sox game? Have I told the story?
- [02:07]
Sarah McLean
Oh, is this with the baseball?
- [02:09]
Jen Prokup
Yes, now I told it.
- [02:11]
Sarah McLean
I know the story.
- [02:13]
Jen Prokup
Did you tell you?
- [02:13]
Sarah McLean
Maybe you told me on the phone. Tell everybody, everyone. Just skip ahead like a minute or two if you've heard this one before.
- [02:20]
Jen Prokup
It's not like super important. I'm just saying. We went to a White Sox game with some friends of his who were in town. They were playing the Padres. It was like a couple weeks ago. It was like a huge crowd because it was like Hispanic Heritage Night. One of the best things about this before I get to like the hand and the baseball and the nose is at one point they put a like an older gentleman up on the Jumbotron and like the whole crowd kind of like whooped And I was like, okay, I don't know who that is. And I looked him up and he was like the king of the accordion. And I was like, what a time, right?
- [02:53]
Sarah McLean
Amazing. Yeah.
- [02:54]
Jen Prokup
So anyway, what happened is we were like on the first baseline about six rows back. I'm gonna tell you, there's like these nets to protect people from like fly balls and foul balls and stuff. But apparently they just get rid of a lot of balls in baseball. So someone hits ones and then it's not good anymore. I had no idea. And so they would come into the dugout.
- [03:15]
Sarah McLean
Okay, that's the correct word. Correct.
- [03:17]
Jen Prokup
And they would like throw the balls up at. At people kind of in our section to get rid of them because you can't use them again. Anyway, I was like, there is a reason those gentlemen out there are catching those things with gloves, so I'm going to stay away from this. So one kind of came towards us and Little Romance was next to me. And I think he is also the same.
- [03:38]
Sarah McLean
And apparently, like a. Like a well trained child.
- [03:41]
Jen Prokup
He didn't duck. Exactly. But apparently Mystery Romance had a whole better view of the thing. It bounced off of the empty seat next to Little Romance and into the face of the woman behind us. And I'm. I think she probably broke her nose. Yeah. Literally. It was honestly terrifying. And she ended up having to be taken away. I'm sure she went to the er.
- [04:01]
Sarah McLean
This is terrible. This is why baseball, it's so long. People don't pay attention the whole way because it's such a long game.
- [04:08]
Jen Prokup
I mean, I. And I. I don't want to joke, but I just kept thinking of that thing in Clueless where she's like, my tennis coach doesn't want me to do this. He doesn't want random balls flying at my face.
- [04:17]
Sarah McLean
There goes your social life.
- [04:19]
Jen Prokup
There's a reason for that. Okay, so anyway, the ball hit her and rolled towards my husband, who kind of grabbed it. But he was so focused on her, which I didn't really realize at the time. And he had his arm. It was like kind of in the row behind us. So his arm was sort of twisted and then someone grabbed it out of his hand and he ended up breaking his hand. But, like, as a metacarpal, he didn't go to the ER for like two days because.
- [04:43]
Sarah McLean
Yeah, see, he didn't think he had a tumor.
- [04:45]
Jen Prokup
Exactly.
- [04:46]
Sarah McLean
Which is pretty much what I. Everybody. I had a sore throat and I was like, I haven't had a sore throat since I was 12. It's obviously a tumor. No, it's just a Danish cold. Sure.
- [04:58]
Jen Prokup
Well, so welcome to the podcast, everybody.
- [05:03]
Sarah McLean
Yeah, welcome everyone. Faded mates. I'm Sarah McLean. I read romance novels and I write them.
- [05:10]
Jen Prokup
I'm Jennifer Prokup, a romance reader and editor. And you were traveling and catching cold.
- [05:17]
Sarah McLean
I thought it was a Danish cold, actually. I don't think it was a Danish cold. I think I got it from jfk because it feels like Scandinavia is like too clean to give you a cold, you know?
- [05:27]
Jen Prokup
Sure.
- [05:29]
Sarah McLean
Listen, everybody. I was in Scandinavia. I was in Denmark and Sweden and boy, what a beautiful part of the planet. Just lovely, crisp and clean. And all their signs in all the hotels that says, please drink the water. It's some of the best in the world. Like, they just. They're so amazing, you know, this is what civilized. This is what a welfare state gets you. I guess so. It was great. I went to a book festival called the Gothenburg Book Festival. Although a local in Gothenburg, Sweden told me that if you're going to pronounce it the local way, you have to say it. You have to say, yeah, in a very angry way. So there it is. I went to the Yotebori.
- [06:17]
Jen Prokup
I don't wanna live in an angry place. I really don't.
- [06:19]
Sarah McLean
But okay, here's the fun thing though. Swedes are very nice and they all really wanna show off their really tremendously crackerjack English skills. And so everybody speaks English. The country has a 99% literacy rate. What are we even doing? But more on that later. Tremendous, tremendous, tremendous book festival where a hundred thousand Swedes, which is 1% of the population of Sweden. I mean, I want you to imagine where we would be at if we as a country had 1% of the population come to a book festival. It would be incredible. Anyway, 1% of the population of Sweden descends on the town of Yottabori.
- [07:05]
Jen Prokup
And.
- [07:06]
Sarah McLean
And then. And we. And they have a. They have a. A banger of a festival. And it was great. And this year was the first year that romance was featured as part of the festival. And so there were a handful of Swedish romance novelists. There are actually only a handful of Swedish romance novelists. And I actually, Jen thought, like, it would be really fun for the Trailblazers series to think about, like, if we can find some of the firsts in foreign languages to come on and like, be a part of. Because we are such a us centered, focused, obviously, for lots of reasons, focused like podcasts. But Simona Arnstadt is a Swedish romance. I think, I think I.
- [07:54]
Jen Prokup
This I read it by her.
- [07:56]
Sarah McLean
She translated into the United States. Her. Her book all in was a U. It was translated into English. But she is, like, the first Swedish romance novelist. She. Her first book came out in 2010, and she writes historicals and contemporaries and romantic suspense, but in Swedish. And then there were a couple of others who are more recent, but literally, like a handful and so. And romance in general has only just recently started to be translated into Swedish. Like, I was there because they just translated nine rules and 10 ways. Those are out now. And then 11 scandals comes out in April. And so that's. And they have, like, the Bridgerton series. Julia Quinn was there, but apparently it's, like, really very fresh. And so this was the first year that romance had, like, a stage at the festival. And the theme of the festival was love and lust. And so there were people who. So all across, like, in the crime. You know, Sweden is where crime comes from. Not crime the stuff, but crime the fiction.
- [09:10]
Jen Prokup
I mean, those Swedes.
- [09:14]
Sarah McLean
Apparently there are like a dozen Swedish crime writers who are translated, like, all over the world and are, like, enormous. I met Camilla Lachburg, who I've never read anything by, but she is the third best sellingest, like, author in Sweden ever, behind the person who wrote Pippi Longstocking, the guy who wrote the. The Girl with Dragon Tattoo. And then it's her.
- [09:36]
Jen Prokup
Wow.
- [09:37]
Sarah McLean
And I sat next to this guy and Jen, I was so sad you weren't there, because I feel like. Well, no, I really, like, podcasted him and it. I mean, I felt really bad for this poor man who was just trying to have a dinner and, like, was stuck next to me. We. We have the same publisher. And he was, like, stuck next to me having to speak English to me all night. Perfect English, because apparently that's just what everybody in Sweden does. And he was sitting next to me and his name is Anders de la Motte, and he writes crime fiction in Sweden. And he. And he is translated into the United States. And so we talked about genre carrying the myth.
- [10:13]
Jen Prokup
Like, oh, interesting.
- [10:15]
Sarah McLean
And his. He also writes. So he. He writes, like, thrillers and crime. And then he and his wife, who is like a. Was a professor. And. And now they are together writing. They write murder mysteries. And so we talked about. And I actually don't want to. I don't want to give too much wix. I'd actually like to have him on the podcast. Like, he's so interesting the way that he talked about, like, the myth and how it fits into that. But I am going to Share one thing, which is, you know, we started talking about it, and so he asked me the question that you get asked all the time about romance, which is, does it have to have a happily ending, a happy ending? And I was like, it, in fact, does need to have a happily ever after. Like, that's the whole ball game. And he was like, interesting, interesting. So, like, what about, like, Casablanca? And I was like, no, that's just a love story. It's just. And so we were talking, and then we were talking about, like, archetypal characters and then tropes. And he was saying that, like, murder mystery is really where tropes live. Like, mystery is where tropes live. And, like, crime is, like, a different thing. Like, thrillers are a different thing. And so we were talking about it, and I was like, you know what? Love me. He was like, you know exactly what this man was experiencing.
- [11:38]
Jen Prokup
Sure. Yes. The full Sarah.
- [11:41]
Sarah McLean
I was like, you know what I love? He was like, I think you're gonna tell me. He's like, more wine, please. Put me next to this lady. And now he's like, I love it when the lights go off in a room, and then they come. Everyone screams. And then the lights come on, and there's a dead body in the middle of the. Of the room. And he was like, I actually really love that, too. Like, that's a classic trope from a murder mystery. Right? And he's like, what is the romance equivalent, Jen? What is the romance equivalent of? The lights go out, Everybody play at home.
- [12:17]
Jen Prokup
Only one bed.
- [12:18]
Sarah McLean
That's what I said. Only one bed. And he goes, what's that? And I explained it. I was like, you're in a. You're, like, on a road trip. You're, like, with somebody who you. You either don't know them very well or you hate them, or you're in a position. They're your boss. Like, you know, there's a million reasons why you shouldn't be with them. And then you get to the hotel desk, and he said, and there's only one room. I was like, yes, correct. And it was just really lovely.
- [12:44]
Jen Prokup
That's fun.
- [12:45]
Sarah McLean
Because it was like, you know, game meets game.
- [12:49]
Jen Prokup
Yeah, right, Exactly.
- [12:50]
Sarah McLean
Game recognizes game. Anyway, I hope he'll be on. I told him to come on with his wife, too. And, like, we'll talk about how mysteries and thrillers and crime novels all carry the myth. But, yeah, it was really fun. And then we went to Denmark. Eric and I went to Denmark. We haven't been away since, you know, we had a child, for God's sake. Yeah, and it was really lovely. And I met my Danish publishers and they were very sweet. And Storms is coming out there next year, so if you're in Denmark, look forward to that. And yeah, we just had a nice time.
- [13:26]
Jen Prokup
That's so fun.
- [13:28]
Sarah McLean
Everybody I met was like, how's everything? And I was like, and I kept going. I'm so sorry for everything we are doing to you people because I really think everybody's worried is the takeaway. I've now been in, you know, two hemispheres, like four separate countries over the last month and everybody I've met is like, hi, we're worried. And I'm like, yeah, we are too.
- [13:56]
Jen Prokup
The theme of today's show.
- [13:58]
Sarah McLean
So sorry that our export right now is not as great as romance novels.
- [14:05]
Jen Prokup
This week's episode of Faded Mates is brought to you by Lindsay Barrett, author of Savannah Royals.
- [14:12]
Sarah McLean
Okay, here's another con artist, Jen, and this one's a lady con artist. This one is set in Savannah during prohibition era. And Katarina Quinn masquerades as a well bred lady of Savannah during the day, but at night she runs a ragtag gang of con artists and thieves. She is fully professional and she never ever makes mistakes. Except enter Matthew de Mullen, a witty, charming, newly minted physician whose family just happens to be part of the highly exclusive, extraordinarily wealthy the American dynasties of the Rockefellers, the Astors, the Vanderbilts. And the thief inside. Cat starts to salivate what she is expecting. That she can just hang on Matthew's arm and head right into this world and just clean up.
- [15:10]
Jen Prokup
And we kind of love that for her.
- [15:13]
Sarah McLean
The problem is is that Savannah's turning into a real mess. There is a street war brewing among the city gangs there. There is a jewel heist planned against Matth, Matthew's family and Cats worlds are colliding and not in a great way. Remember how I said that she never makes a mistake? She realizes that she just might have made a mistake in falling in love with the wrong man and having to decide between her past and the people in it and her future and the man she's hoping to spend it with.
- [15:45]
Jen Prokup
Ooh, sounds juicy. So if you are interested in a prohibition era heist romance and why wouldn't you be, then Savannah Royals is probably for you. If you're podcasting up supports it, you can click on the chapter title right now to be taken to buy the book. Thanks to Lindsay Barrett for sponsoring this week's episode.
- [16:06]
Sarah McLean
Couple of weeks ago I said I thought that we should do an episode because we had been talking for several years. You're in Chicago, I'm in New York City. We've been talking for a long time about like, oh, we should do a Chicago episode and we should do a New York episode. And like, just like many, many episodes. Everybody that we, you know, have, and we just have a big list of ide ideas and that's on there and we've just never gotten to it. And in the last month or so, there have been a number of movements across the country. And actually I should say most recently in Portland. Yeah.
- [16:42]
Jen Prokup
But just as this is happening, literally.
- [16:44]
Sarah McLean
Literally, like 24, 48 hours ago.
- [16:46]
Jen Prokup
Yeah.
- [16:47]
Sarah McLean
And so, I don't know, a couple of weeks ago I texted Jen and I said, I think it's time for to do the Chicago episode. And I think it should be Chicago, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles, because those three cities are places where the National Guard has been activated. ICE is helicoptering onto apartment buildings. It is chaos. While I was away, there was a meeting of all of the generals were brought to Quantico by that terrible, lame ass man. And you know, he brought them all in and said some terrible, scary stuff about the military and civilians. Listen, I think here's where we are. I think if you listen to the podcast, you know that Jen and I, and we have been political forever. We continue to be political, we continue to be speaking up. And we, like so many people over the last, like, what, 10 months have been not sure, like, what to do, like how. That doesn't mean we haven't been acting, but you know, this. It just feels like every day there's a new thing. We have thought about the new season of the podcast. Like we are obviously, you can probably tell from the, the very we've done. This is our fourth episode of the podcast for the season. We're thinking about talking about romance in a very intentional way right now. And that's not to say that we didn't do that before, but the goal for this season is for us to really think about how we can promote books and authors and stories that help us not just survive the emotional rollercoaster that we're in with choosing joy, choosing books that give us a lot of joy and entertainment, but also books that ensure that we are connecting with places, people, communities, and stories that inspire us to continue to speak up. Is that fair?
- [19:10]
Jen Prokup
Yeah, I think so. I think, you know, one of the things that, like Sarah said, and it's just like really important for us to say, like, right, like reading is not activism.
- [19:18]
Sarah McLean
No.
- [19:20]
Jen Prokup
Right. I mean, we are not here to say like, you know, you just hide away and read romance novels and, you know, the world will get better and you've done your part. Like, we would never say that, but I think we also all realize or. Or feel that for a lot of people, romance is like. Does feel like a. A retreat, a safe space, like. Right. Like a place where you can, you know, kind of withdraw from the world if you need to at those times. But that doesn't mean like. Like putting her head in the romance stand.
- [19:51]
Sarah McLean
No, but it can. Reading can be inspiring in the sense that can make us think about. Listen, if the work of the genre is to drive characters to be their best selves and to leave the world in a better place than it was, than it was at the beginning of a book, then the work, our work as readers, is to be inspired to do that in our. In our real life.
- [20:18]
Jen Prokup
Yeah.
- [20:19]
Sarah McLean
And so today we are going to talk about books that are set in Chicago, D.C. and LA. Three cities that. Where. Where we are connected, where there are people who we love, and also places that we are thinking about regularly.
- [20:38]
Jen Prokup
Yeah.
- [20:38]
Sarah McLean
We are also going to give you a list of booksellers in those places that we think you can support organizations that we hope you will support to ensure that what's happening in those places with ice, with illegal detentions, with the National Guard deployments, with people who are fighting on the ground in those places can be supported. And we are hoping that you will take this episode or these books, read them, and then move forward in the world and speak up on behalf of these communities of people who are being, like, targeted.
- [21:23]
Jen Prokup
Right.
- [21:23]
Sarah McLean
I mean, targeted.
- [21:24]
Jen Prokup
Yeah.
- [21:25]
Sarah McLean
Jen lives in Chicago, everybody.
- [21:27]
Jen Prokup
I think the thing that's been really interesting is, like, when ICE first came to Chicago, right? Like, there is a detention center that is like, in the, like, kind of a first ring suburb called Broadview. And that is kind of the primary, like, place that they are. You know, if you've seen, like, interactions between protesters and ICE or standing outside of, like, the, you know, the. They're standing on the roof and firing pepper balls and rubber bullets at people and tear gas, right? Like, that is sort of the place that that's happening. And from there, like, ICE is basically like. It's a reign of terror throughout the city. Just yesterday they were up in a neighborhood on, like, kind of the Northwest side and like an, you know, someone from ice, like, literally, like through a can of. I don't know if it's tear gas, but some sort of Chemical, right? Like a gas outside of the car. A block away from an elementary school, right outside of a grocery store. You know, there is talk of them doing something called Freaky Friday, which is like they're essentially going to try and pressure immigrants and children, right, to leave, hoping that their families will essentially go in with them.
- [22:44]
Sarah McLean
The.
- [22:44]
Jen Prokup
There was a. They brought in Blackhawk Black Hawk helicopters and rappelled down to the A building, which is on. In the South Shore, which is actually very close to my neighborhood, like, really close to where I live, and essentially, you know, arrested everyone in there. They were zip tying children, and then really, you know, they ended up arresting. I think, all told, two people are, like, charging two people. And so they, like, terrorized an entire neighborhood. And, you know, all the people that lived in that building and what they were really doing was making, like, Instagram videos, right? They just released a video of them, you know, like, looking cool, I guess, to whoever. They would think that. And it's just been really scary, right? Like, I'm having, you know, conversations with my colleagues who are like, kind of like, do you feel safe? You know, do we need to set up like a. Are we picking you up so you don't have to be on public transportation or riding your bike or. Right. Like, thinking about kids and families and sending, you know, like sending your kid to school? And it's just been. I don't know, it's just been really awful. And I'm not personally right now, right. Feeling like I'm in danger. Right. I'm a white lady driving around by myself most of the time. But the city itself feels under siege is maybe the way to say it. And they're getting more and more, like, right. They started off kind of in the suburbs, and then it's like moving more and more into the city. And so I don't know. I don't know what to say. Like, it is almost impossible for me to believe that anyone who reads the articles or looks at this footage would think anything but, like, we are now fully under, like, fascist control and it's fucking terrifying.
- [24:43]
Sarah McLean
Yes. Some things that I want to say that I just want to say to those of you who are listening in Show Notes this week. I know we talk about show notes every week, but this week, shownotes are vital for you to look at, aside from nonprofits and other organizations, which we will talk about. I do want to just call out a couple of things. Like, one is, you are not. If you are not in these cities that we're talking about right now, I urge you not to feel com. As though, like, this won't come for you. Like, these are city. This is. This is all the start of a larger plan. This is all. The theory is that, you know, if they can do it in these cities, then they can do it everywhere. I want to say that there is, and I'm going to put this in show notes this week, but there is a tremendous piece of research from a woman who researches fascism and tyranny that says only three and a half percent of a population has to resist in order for fascism, for authoritarianism to be defeated. That is not that many people. That is four in every 100 people. We. This. We are. We are not lost. Hope is not lost hope. You know, Amanda on TikTok and Instagram and threads, she goes. She's under Amanda's mild takes. She said yesterday, like, hope is not like static noun. It is an act. It is act. It is an action. Like you. We can. We continue to have hope. We continue to stand up. I urge you to be one of the four in 100. There is a no Kings protest scheduled for October 18, and it will be everywhere, all around the country, even in your tiny little town. If you're looking for real people in the real outside world of the Internet, like beyond your headphones, beyond your rectangles, I urge you to go to Mobilize Us, which is a place where you can put in your zip code and say, like, I'm in a tiny little town in Maine and I'm looking for people to be active with, and you will be able to find the nearest groups of active resistors. This is going to be vital. I mean, I think we. I think it's vital now. I think speaking up online is very important, obviously, but if you have the. The space, the time, the ability, the, you know, the willingness to go out and meet real people in the world, other humans in the human world outside, and be active together. 1. It is deeply hopeful. It really feels. I will tell you, it feels good to be with other people doing things. And also it is how in the world, in the event that this all does sort of take the turn that we are preparing for, online won't be a safe space like, but real people in the real world, a community of people who are active together will be the safest way for us to stand up.
- [28:09]
Jen Prokup
Yeah, And I think the other thing to say is, like, you don't. You can also just find out where these things are happening and show up. You know, if you're worried about. You don't have to plan it. You don't have to put your name or email or anything, right? Don't. You know what I mean? It's okay to just. Just show up and go there. And it's also okay to do things with smaller groups in your community, right? I mean, and so one of the things that you can really do is like, find out, like, who is, you know, what do you care about and then find an organization in your community that is like, doing that thing and then just go help and do it. And so, you know, food banks are preparing for, I mean, right. Like a huge wave of people who are going to need assistance, right? I mean, so you can just be like, look, I care about people eating. And so I'm going to go and like volunteer to food bank. And, you know, maybe what you can do right now is make donations, right? So there is a organization here on the south side that I, that I support called the Brave Space alliance. And it's just to support like, queer and trans people. And it is mostly on the south side of Chicago. So you can really just also figure out, like, who is doing this work, what is, you know, I care about kids in school, I care about people eating. I care about, right? Like, there's a really cool initiative that it's like, people just have like, big kind of food pantry, like urban fridges, and you just like, go to these, like, outdoor fridges and like, fill them up for people who need them, right? So, I mean, I think the thing that is really important for. For you to hear from us is there is something you can do. There's something you can do. Maybe it is, you know, like, another thing is like we have talked about before, but today we're going to actually list some places is, you know, there are lots of. The best place to get news right now is independent news organizations. These are the people on the ground who are doing this work. And you know, in Chicago in particular, there are a handful of places that I just, you know, again, I'm like, I don't know how to help you, but I will give you money. Right? Block Club Chicago is like a news collective. You know, they essentially were founded after all of the local newspapers got like, kind of, you know, and they have like, sued ICE for information and are doing all these. All this reporting. Unraveled press is like a. It's two people, I think, but they go to every protest, they take video, they take pictures, they say what's going on? They. I follow sort of religiously. And again, I'm Just like, like, I can give you some money. And then the tribe with two I's, T R I I B E does a ton of reporting about essentially, like, black Chicago. I think might, that might actually be, like, nationwide. But because I've been reading so much Chicago news in LA, there's lataco.com which does a bunch of reporting. So, you know, like, and if you find one of those, you know, go to one of those places on social media and, you know, again, all these links will be in show notes. And then you can see, like, who else are they following? Who are the people that they are re, you know, reposting. And then you can write who are the photographers they are working with, who, Right? And then you can find out more. Because the other thing you need to understand is how vital it is going to be to have sources of information that you trust, and those are likely to be. And now, meanwhile, I want to say, like, I have been really impressed also. Like, the biggest kind of article about what happened at that South Shore building was from the Chicago Sun Times, which is like a legacy newspaper that's been around for a long time. Wbez, which is my local NPR station, has done a lot of reporting.
- [31:59]
Sarah McLean
I will say NPR has taken the gloves off. They just lost all their federal funding. And so now local NPR stations, I.
- [32:07]
Jen Prokup
Think local NPR stations are doing way more, I think, than. So, I mean, I think it's. So it's kind of finding those places in your community. I just told you the ones in mine. And then also I think it's really important to, like, Google specifically, like, immigrants rights groups. So in Chicago, there is the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, and they have essentially, like, an ICE hotline. And you can call in if you see ICE and say, right, like, here's who I saw and here's how they were, right? And there's like a little, you know, like, sort of thing you should know. I can't remember even what it is right now. And it's like, here's, you know, where were they and how many people? How many ICE officers were there? And were they armed? Were they out on the street? Were they in, you know, trucks or vehicles? And, you know, now what's happening is I'm seeing lots of videos of people in Chicago. Like, when you see ice, you just, like, honk your horn like crazy and everyone else does, too. And then it's kind of like telling everybody that that's what's happening. So giving money to organizations that are, like, have trained people who know how to like go into those situations and interview people, find out what happened, you know, and that's the part that I think is really important right now is who is doing the work of letting us all know what's happening. How can you support those people?
- [33:27]
Sarah McLean
Exactly. Yeah.
- [33:28]
Jen Prokup
Can I just say one other thing? We talk about bookstores. Yep. On the Instagram account again, I will link to this. Of Latinx publishing. Right. So Latinos and publishing, they have a list of like essentially Latinx owned bookstores around the country. And like there are two specifically in Chicago. Most of them are like for families and kids only. One is brick and mortar. One does more like pop up and bookmobile stuff. So it's Viva Los Libros and then also Los Amigos Books. So you can also write like, let's say you're not. Not from Chicago. Right. There's not a store like this. You can set your bookshop account to have that be your own bookstore. And then, you know, when you order books, those bookstores are getting your support and your money. So we've talked over and over again about how community bookstores can be a place where you can find and support like the communities in your town. Okay, that's it.
- [34:28]
Sarah McLean
We love you, Chicago. We love you so much because you are a town that has produced a bunch of romance novels that we really love and not just like the Birth of Sports Romance with Susan Elizabeth Phillips and the Chicago Stars, which actually we're not going to talk about today. And for lots of. We're going to talk about a lot of different kinds of books. But I do want to say that I limited my book choices for the day to books where they really feel like the town. There is a real sort of sense of like these people are inside the city or inside the community around the city. And so Chicago Stars, obviously that's a very different kind of. It's a different kind of vibe. But that might be the first time I ever really thought about Chicago reading those early SCP books.
- [35:29]
Jen Prokup
And I have obviously some Chicago books. But I also, like, when we're done with Chicago, have a couple of Chicago authors, people that I have met. Every time I go to a signing in Chicago, they are there. Right. People who are just really, I don't know, a part of the romance community fabric of the city. And so even if I'm not necessarily.
- [35:54]
Sarah McLean
Talking, you should talk about them now. Okay, so since you're talking about them.
- [35:58]
Jen Prokup
Yes. Okay. So there are a couple people that I have just met. Okay. So first of all, I want to Call out. There is a Chicago north romance writers group and they are. They dis in, you know, whatever, disaffiliated from rwa. And they are just like a powerhouse. These are just some of my favorite people. And every other year they have a big, big romance writing conference. And it is next year and it's downtown in Chicago. Sometimes it's out at O' Hare called Spring Fling. And it is 4-16-18th. The headliners are Adriana and Brenda Jackson, which is pretty great. And they always have amazing classes and master classes for writers. And then the last day is a signing, and that's kind of open to the public. And there are a couple people that I just feel like I. I don't know, like I meet every, every time. So I want to really specifically call out Pamela Knight and Shannon Schroeder, who like, run these events. And they're awesome. Kelly Farmer writes a lot of queer romance, Queer hockey romance. She's great. Victoria Hamill, I've met a bunch of times. She writes like, really, like, kind of, kind of sweet. Like, not like low heat necessarily, but just like, like small town romance that are kind of like, every time I read them, I'm like, this is like the south suburbs. It's not really Chicago. And then I think people that I have, like, kind of met over and over again are Kathy Douglas, who writes really terrific Harlequin romances. Like, I think mostly she writes in like, the special edition. I was reading one this morning where I was like, no absolute fucking way. Which is. Wait, the book is called. Wait, did I write this down? Something about getting Charlotte back. I'll just look at the show notes, everybody. Where a woman gets back together with the man who left her at the altar.
- [38:02]
Sarah McLean
And I was like, excuse me. All right, all right.
- [38:06]
Jen Prokup
And Shandra Bloomberg writes a lot of really great romances set in Chicago. I was reading one this morning. It's not mostly in Chicago. It's only kind of begins around the Great Lakes. It's called Second Tides. The charm where she is a shark researcher. And I was like, so she's leaving. Like, she's essentially on the Great Lakes. I was gonna say you have Lil.
- [38:27]
Sarah McLean
Roman says a T shirt opening scene.
- [38:30]
Jen Prokup
Is that she's working, like a touristy. She might actually be in Michigan. Like a tourist trap on, like, sort of on Lake Michigan. And like, essentially kind of a kid was like, there aren't sharks out there. And she was like, yes, they're just like, messing with this kid. And she writes a lot of great. Like one of her first books, I think is called like Digging up Love, where a woman in the south suburbs finds like a dinosaur bone in her and like a paleontologist has to come out and that's who she falls in love with. So, you know, there are a lot of like local people who are just like a part of the, like, real fabric of like kind of the romance community here. And they all write great books. So I will just put all those names in show notes and also put the Chicago north romance writers. And if you are an aspiring writer and you know, cannot get to Steamy lit this year at the end of the month, then consider coming to Chicago next spring. It's like a two day event and they have great, great classes.
- [39:32]
Sarah McLean
This week's episode of Fade Mates is sponsored by Jamie Varen, author of Charlie Quinn. Let's go.
- [39:39]
Jen Prokup
One of my favorite romance tropes, like, is, it's my 30th birthday. I need to get my life right a thousand percent.
- [39:47]
Sarah McLean
I mean, I've written it twice, so obviously I love it too.
- [39:51]
Jen Prokup
Keep doing it right?
- [39:52]
Sarah McLean
So here we have Charlie Quinn, who.
- [39:54]
Jen Prokup
Is kind of a control freak. And she has really been, you know, she just. Their life has rules and you should follow them. But on her 30th birthday, she is laid off. Her boyfriend breaks up with her because she's too predictable and she spends the night with violent food poisoning. And she just, it's like she hits rock bottom so fast, she can't even kind of believe how, how she got there. So she has no choice but to return to her childhood home in la, where her little sister, who is a real friend, free spirit, decides that the only way to solve Charlie's problem is to have like a detox from her controlling ways. And the way this is gonna work is for a month. Anything the sister says, like, hey, I've got an idea, Charlie is going to have to agree. And so, you know, she's like, what more can happen? Everything has already been crushed out of me. Well, there's a serendipitous encounter with her high school crush and this leads to a month of like steamy, no strings romance. But Charlie is really starting to question, like, really realizing, you know what? I am actually better, stronger, faster. Like, right? Like, maybe I should like, let go and embrace this messy, bold and exciting life that I'm living. And yet, of course, she's so afraid that if she does that, it'll all be a disaster again. So what's going to happen to Charlie?
- [41:20]
Sarah McLean
If you also want to know what's going to happen to Charlie. Then you can read this second chance. Find out what's going to happen after your 30th birthday. Find love after your 30th birthday and realize that your little sister is brilliant in all things. Then you can read this book right now in print, ebook, 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 Jamie Varen for sponsoring this.
- [41:49]
Jen Prokup
Week'S episode.
- [41:53]
Sarah McLean
Chicago Books. You start.
- [41:55]
Jen Prokup
Okay, I'm going to talk about Noel, the first by Nicole Falls. This is actually in the Holiday Sisters series and the shtick of this is, like, actually really funny. Noelle was born on Christmas Day and she was the oldest of us. And then her parents, I guess the way I kind of read this were like, so taken with the idea of having, like, holiday babies that then they, like, planned them all out and so all of her sister. So she has like four sisters and they all have, like, you know, we're supposed to be born, like, on or near a major holiday, and then they all have, like, kind of like holiday themed names. And the one the youngest is actually like Juju, but she was supposed to be Erika for America because she was supposed to be born on July 4, but came early, which is really funny. Anyway, Noel the first. I know, right? Amazing.
- [42:54]
Sarah McLean
Actually, I just had this moment of, like, are a lot of people named Erica for America?
- [42:58]
Jen Prokup
I don't know.
- [43:00]
Sarah McLean
I've never had that moment before.
- [43:02]
Jen Prokup
I really did. I really was like, oh, okay.
- [43:05]
Sarah McLean
Yeah, all right.
- [43:06]
Jen Prokup
Right. Amazing.
- [43:07]
Sarah McLean
Sure.
- [43:08]
Jen Prokup
So in this. In Noelle. So this is the first book of the series which has. Right. Each sister has a. And what happens in this one is. And they're all like, novella length. This is a quick, fun read. It is Noelle's old neighbor Jay, like, right. They grew up next door to each other. So Noelle is living in the family home and Jay moves back home to next door. And this family was super into the holidays, obviously, and he notices that the house isn't really decorated for Christmas and what is going on now. Meanwhile, he and a friend have like, a company where they, like, plan bar crawl because he's like, white people love a bar crawl. Which is really funny. And so she meets up with Jay again and he essentially, like, kind of challenges her to do like a twelve Days of Christmas type thing with him to get her back in the holiday spirit. And it involves like, a lot of. Yeah, right. It's super cute. It's. And like, basically the falling out they had and it's like, really handled very quickly. Like, this isn't like one of those things where, like, what happened is, you know, he had gone to Cal, he went to Stanford, she went to Northwestern. So they fall out of, you know, fell out of touch. And he had a girlfriend that essentially, like, kind of like, got on the text and like, changed some things so that they hadn't talked to each other. And it turned out that this ex girlfriend just was, like, threatened by Noel. So anyway, it's really cute. Like, you know, her nickname is, like, Nono in her family, and he calls her. Yes, yes. And I'm just. It's adorable. So. Yeah, it's really cute. So, Noelle, the first is the. This is the first book of the Holiday Sister series. And they kind of live out in the burbs, but, like, the first one, they, you know, they do some, like, Chicago things on his little. His little 12 Days of Christmas thing. It's great. I think Nicole writes a great book.
- [45:10]
Sarah McLean
I mean. Yes. And we've talked about her a bunch on the podcast before.
- [45:17]
Jen Prokup
But.
- [45:17]
Sarah McLean
Yeah. All right, let me think for a second. Where. Where do we go from here? I am going to talk about Becca Grishow's I'll get back to you. Which is FF Romance set. So Murphy, our. Our heroine has a. She. Let me think for a second. Okay. Murphy, our heroine has flunked out of college at the University of Illinois. She is. Has been sort of the. She is marketing major and she has to take accounting, and she's failed accounting, and. And she literally just has to, like, pass accounting in order to. To like, succeed, and she just can't. And so her parents have sort of like. She's. She's left school. She's living with her parents. She is making, like, minimum wage and she is with her, and we meet her kind of like in a state of just like. She's just like in full stasis, but which is kind of where I want a romance heroine to begin. She's in a bar. Feels like a Chicago moment, right? Listen, Chicago loves a bar, the holidays. And she is, like, home for like. She's home. She's home, like I said, in her, like, tiny small town, like in Geneva, Illinois. I don't know if this is a real place, but it's like. It's like, away from Chicago. And she basically, like, grew up in this town. She would like. She was the only lesbian in her class. And so now she's like, home and kind of alone. And her. We meet her kind of like with her Best friend who is like doing that thing that best friends do where she's like a senior in, at school and the friend is still there and has this like new boyfriend from school. And like they're kind of trying to like awkwardly avoid talking about college with her. And, and poor Kat is just sort of like I'm sorry. And. And poor Murphy is like just kind of like at sea and she is feeling pretty miserable. And she. There's this great moment where her best friend is like, well I mean you could meet somebody. And she's like, where is a lesbian supposed to meet somebody? Like in this tiny small town bar, like in the middle of nowhere. And, and she's like, she's like well there must be some girl here who's like at least bi. And like it's just as sort of like amazing. It feels like terrible. Anyway, so she goes and she ends up like in, in la, like in the bathroom. And there in the bathroom she meets this girl Ellie, who she went to high school with and who like was decidedly very straight and ice cream school but now is like cats. Like Murphy's pretty sure she's kind of into her and then they start like flirting and it's all pretty great. And then she discovers that Ali's mom is her accounting professor and she is back. So like, and she's basically like in order to go back to, she has to go back to school and like take accounting again. And so she's basically like I cannot get involved with this woman because I need her mother to like, like me well enough that she'll pass me through accounting so I can actually like achieve something. Namely getting back to Chicago and like being out of her parents house and like in a, in a real life. And so the two of them kind of decide that they're going to like have a little bit of like a fake relationship at the mom's at the like essentially Ellie is like wait, what if you fake relationship with me and then my mom like really likes you and then maybe you know, kind of everything will go to plan and we'll be able to like. And you'll be able to succeed in accounting and also I will be able to be together. And it of course all like falls apart because you know, there's this sort of big question about like is. Is Murphy actually using Ellie for her, her mom? Is there? You know, is this going to work? And it is a really like sweet Christmasy holiday wintry romance that I think you'll enjoy.
- [50:05]
Jen Prokup
I love feels like it's been a Minute since we have recommended the really terrific. What is the name of the series? Like the Priscilla Oliveira series set in Chicago about three or the Match to Perfection series is what it's called. It's about three sisters. Right? Remember? And so what happens is they're all like Chicago said. It's funny, I'm looking at these now and realizing I was like, I don't see the books. They've changed the covers, everybody. And the one that I. I really remember liking the best is Her Perfect Affair, which is number two. Because what happens is she essentially, Rosa has, you know, essentially has like a bit of a crush on this guy. And she. They have a one night stand at her sister's wedding, right? The wedding from book number one. And she ends up being pregnant. So then, you know, she and Jeremy have to like, figure out what's going on with this. And he like.
- [51:11]
Sarah McLean
Yeah, I was gonna say I like this one because it's like not a secret baby. It's like an accidental baby.
- [51:17]
Jen Prokup
Right, right, exactly. And, you know, these are also. If you're a person who's looking for like, I think these are closed door romances. So, you know, these are just like really terrific romances that capture both, like the spirit of like this big family with the sisters. And I love. God, I love a book with sisters. I don't think maybe because I don't. You know how you don't want. Yeah, exactly.
- [51:42]
Sarah McLean
I'm like, oh, sisters.
- [51:45]
Jen Prokup
And also just like Chicago itself. So, you know, pick up. Pick up their perf. Pick up Her Perfect Affair, which is book number two. But there's three books in the series and they are all really great. The first one is I think she's a dance teacher and he's divorced. And then in the third one, I think she is like a. I think she does maybe daycare or something. And he's a cop, which. It was a different time.
- [52:15]
Sarah McLean
I think that the cool thing about. The great thing about all of Priscilla's books is also the great thing about Natalie Kanye's books, which is like, there is this like real sense of like community, culture, family. Like, everything's messy, but they all love each other so much. And I think that's why. And Natalie also writes in Chicago, the series. There is the Vega family Love Stories. The first one is called A Proposal They Can't Refuse. That is not the one we read as a deep dive, right? We read A Dish, A Dish Best Served Hot. Yeah, I really love A Proposal They Can't Refuse because I'm sort of A sucker for, like, an Irish bartender. And also I picked it for this. And I know that you have Natalie on your list. Maybe you picked a different. But I picked this one because I was also, like, it feels like in Chicago we have to talk about an Irish bartender. He's not a bartender. He's like a whiskey distiller. But whatever.
- [53:10]
Jen Prokup
Same alcohol. Right.
- [53:14]
Sarah McLean
And so this is the one where, like, their grandfathers. This also. This whole series has these grandfathers who are just, like, meddling, difficult, like, old men who, like. Like, really what I love about this is this such a, like, romance classic where, like, the grandparents.
- [53:32]
Jen Prokup
Oh, God, yeah. My favorite.
- [53:35]
Sarah McLean
All along, like, they've been orchestrating it all along. And here we are with these meddling grandfathers. And so the grandfathers are best friends. There is a building that is like. Like, one grandfather owns the building and is like, in. Wants to sell it. And the heroine of this book is she owns, like, her. She has, like, a food, like a porter, like a restaurant, like a. And so. And it's in this building. And she thinks that she can, like, the. The neighborhood is gentrifying. The building is about to be sold because they can sell it for, you know, a million trillion dollars. Because gentrification and the. Basically, like, she has this plan to, like, enter the restaurant into a. Into a competition to, like, win enough money to, like, save the restaurant. And, like, the building. The building also holds Liam's distillery. And Liam is just like, if you love a grumpy person, he's just like a big, grumpy Irish hero. And so the. These. Their two grandfathers are best friends. And his grandfather tells him, like, pulls a real Roman again, real romance grandparent shtick here and says, I'm dying and I need to see you happy before I die. So they're both kind of in. Her grandfather has said, like, you have to marry Liam for romance reasons. And his grandfather is like, I'm dying and I want to see you happy. So they fake date. Sure. In order to, like, make their grandfathers happy. Like, they have this sort of, like, plan to, like, trick them both into thinking that, like, they can. That they're dating. And so, like, the building situation will be resolved. It's. It's sort of a. It's very sort of smoke and mirrorsy because these grandparents, these grandfathers know exactly what's going on the whole time. And then there they are, fake dating. And then they wanna make it real, which is exactly how a fake dating relationship would go. But the reason why I brought. I sort of thought about this is because it is this sort of. In this book, there's this, like, big Puerto Rican family on Camilla's side, and then on the other side, there's Liam and his, like, big Irish family. And it feels very Chicago. Right? And so, like, the community feels Chicago. Like, Natalie's clearly from there. Like, there's a lot of love for the city here. And also this kind of really big question about gentrification, which threads itself through the whole series. Like, gentrification is a huge piece of the series and it will be a piece of at least one of the series that we talk about in one of the other cities.
- [56:32]
Jen Prokup
Yeah. One last author, I guess I want to shout out if you are more of like, I love a dark romance. An author named Shirelle Green has an entire series called the Crown Legacy series, which is set in Chicago. And it's essentially they're all like adopted siblings, right? Like sort of that found family, but now it's a criminal enterprise. I have also met Sherrell at a couple of events and just wanted to, like, shout her out. So I would like check out the Crown Legacy series. There's like a prelude, a prelude book or like a preview book or a shorter novel. I think the first one, though, is called Sins of a Saint. So these are again, if you're looking for a Chicago set dark romance written by a Chicago author, then that might be fun for you to check out Crown Legacy.
- [57:32]
Sarah McLean
I have also thinking about books that sort of transcend the city and like, really speak to an immigrant experience. Sonali Devs Bollywood Bride and which we've talked about before on the podcast, and Change of Heart, which are in the same series and really cross. I mean, they're really about like, new immigrants to the United States and like that sort of the movement, the fluid movement between culture across. They're set in Mumbai. Bollywood Brad, at least, is set in Mumbai in Bristol, England, and in Chicago. And then Change of Heart is secondary. Two secondary characters from the Bollywood Bride in Chicago and then Mumbai. And then I do just want to call out Veronica Roth, who is not truly a romance novelist. However, her current series, which is two very short novels. The series is called the Curse Bearer. If you're a romantasy person, the these will. Or if you're a paranormal person or you like anything with magic. These are very. Veronica clearly adores Chicago.
- [58:43]
Jen Prokup
She's from Chicago.
- [58:44]
Sarah McLean
She cares a lot about the city. The city is a character in these books. The first one is called When Among Crows. And both of these books, again, very short super fast reads are set in the Polish community of Chicago. They are both, I guess they're not retellings, they're sort of reimaginings of very classic Polish myths. Baba Yaga the witch is in is a character in these books. And the first is called. And there's like a truly sexy, romantic character in these books. There's a romance that is unex. I don't want to tell you about it because it's like sort of an unexpected. This is not a romance novel, but there is like this unexpected, like, wow, he's so sexy character. And like a romance that comes through the first book and then into the second. So the first is one among crows. The second is called to clutch a razor. And they are reimaginings of classic Polish mythology. There's like vampire characters and some shapeshifters and a magic flower that only humans can touch, but like cures immortal diseases. Like they're sort of. It's just, it's all complex and interesting but like set against this very like clear Chicago. So if that's of interest to you or if you have a young person in your life who really loved Divergent and Wishes and like you think, you know, what about Veronica? What about Veronica's new stuff? This is an adult story, but, but like it's there. It is very. It is perfect for like a teenager.
- [60:32]
Jen Prokup
This week's episode of Faded Mates is brought to you by Videntro, a premium leather accessories company that makes a terrific wallet.
- [60:42]
Sarah McLean
So a thing you should know about me is that I love a pocket wallet. I like to be freed from the confines of my purse and the patriarchy. I like to be able to. To just throw on a coat and put my wallet inside my coat pocket. I like to put it in my, the back pocket, my jeans, into the pockets of my skirts and dresses. Because again, you know, your, your skirts and dresses should have pockets. This company, Ventro, makes beautiful fine Italian leather made cool colored pocket wallets. They also have a bi fold wallet if that's something that you're into. I can hear you out there going, pocket wallets. I don't know, Sarah. I have too much stuff. I can't fit it all in there. You don't need all that stu that's in your wallet. You don't need those receipts from five years ago. You need a couple of credit cards, you know, your, your license, your insurance card and some cash and then you're ready to go. And there's more than enough space in.
- [61:34]
Jen Prokup
A pocket wallet for this travel around the world like a man. My God.
- [61:38]
Sarah McLean
You know? Yeah. As Jen says, live your life like a man. Fuck the patriarchy. Get a pocket wallet. Anyway, the team at Videntro is offering faded mates listeners 30% off their order. Over at videntro.com, that's E--E-N-T R O dot com. And you can head over there, check everything out, and use the code fated for 30% off.
- [62:06]
Jen Prokup
So Ventro is actually a company owned by my brother. It is. All of the leather is made in Italy. The wallets are made in Italy. They're so beautiful and gorgeous. I have the one that's, like, navy blue, and then it's like a really beautiful robin's egg blue on the inside. So if you go to the. If you click on the chapter title right now, you'll be taken to the Vedent website, where you will be able to see all of the, like, different colors. And then, like, there's really cool videos of, like, Mike at the factory, like, watching them, like, make the wallets and, like, rolling out the leather. It's pretty. It's. They're all made in Florence. They're beautiful. So if you would like to maybe think about, right, it's early October, the holidays are coming. Maybe you want to just really go all in and get yourself and all the people you love a beautiful wallet. The code again, to get 30% off is fated, right. F, A T, E D. And we hope that you'll check it out. So thank you to Videntro for sponsoring this week's episode. Okay, so you wanna do LA or dc?
- [63:11]
Sarah McLean
It doesn't matter. You pick.
- [63:12]
Jen Prokup
Okay. I actually la. You know, what's funny is so we talked about this, and so I was really like, I just wanna try and find one great book for each and then, like, mention some others. So I read a book. Gosh, I really loved it. One of those books where you're like, why didn't I read this the year it came out? And that is Stars in youn Eyes by K. Kacen. Callender Case and Callender, they are. They write quite a lot of kind of YA middle grade. And I think this is their first adult romance. And it was horrific. And so in Stars in your Eyes, it's a very kind of Hollywood set, but in the way in which it was not, like, in the, like, sort of like, this is all dirty and makes and has made me a terrible person or has, like, harmed me kind of way. And so it is a gay romance between two actors who are on Set of the same movie. Logan Gray is sort of like, grew up like a child star. And we find out that he has a very, like, traumatic background. Right? So these are like two young. They're both young, though. I think, like, they're both under 25. So he was a child star, made a ton of money, but, you know, was like, blown through it all. Has been in and out of rehab. Right. Really struggles with, like, sort of. His father is very overbearing. I think he's potentially like a, you know, an executive or something. And, you know, and also just being like a young. A young black actor and having that background. And what happens is Matty Cole is like this, you know, beautiful, fresh face, young thing, right? Like real sunshiny. I think he comes to. He has come to LA from Atlanta and he's like, been cast. They've been cast in like a rom com together. And the thing about Maddie is he had like one hit, you know what I mean? So he's like made one movie and he's like the fresh face, new thing. Whereas Logan is already like, I've caused all these trouble. I've caused all this trouble, including when a reporter asked him what he thought of Maddie, like, flat out being like, that guy has no talent. And now they're going to be in this movie together. Well, so what happens is they are, of course, talked into kind of a fake dating scheme by their representation. And it's. What's really interesting is the way this. I don't know that this is like, this book is just so richly layered and it just, Even though what I'm describing feels like, okay, I've read a book like this before. It really felt just emotionally just really the emotions here just felt like broiling, seized. And so what's happening is Logan essentially is going to get kicked off this movie if Maddie doesn't agree to it. But he is the one who has just told the whole world that Maddie has no talent. But Mattie is so nice. He essentially does agree to it. And he is much less comfortable being out, much less comfortable, like, with people knowing his background and, like, kind of knowing who he really is. And so he, in some ways is. Look, even though no one else in the world thinks of Logan this way, Maddie thinks of Logan as being someone he can learn something from. Like, he is a great actor and he is so comfortable with his sexuality. Logan is bisexual and has had, like, open relationships with both men and women in the press. And. And I think Maddie just sees him as being like, this is someone who can teach me not to be so afraid. One of the things I also really like about this, so it's like dual point of view, but then there's like these kind of interstitial chapters that are like. And I love this, right? News articles, emails, texts, headlines, right, like, you know, podcast, podcast transcripts or interview transcri scripts. And so there's a real sense of, like, these two trying to find love together, despite the feeling that, like, Hollywood Los Angeles is like a cesspool, you know, that it's so, like, bright and shiny on the outside, but, like, how troubled and really traumatic a lot of Logan's past in particular is. So anyway, this was, was a. It was a great book. I mean, I really, I kind of just like fell into it. It came out in 2023, and I think it was just like one of those books is always on my list to read. And then I, you know, you know how it is. You just keep going. But I was really happy that I went back to it. So that is Stars in youn Eyes by Kacen Callender.
- [68:02]
Sarah McLean
Nice. A lot of Hollywood books that I'm going to sort of hold till the end because everybody knows I love a Hollywood book. I want to talk about Mia Hopkins's east side Brewery series because when I.
- [68:17]
Jen Prokup
That's a great rec.
- [68:19]
Sarah McLean
Yeah, it's such an. It's a. Like, these are like, older books, but I feel like. So I haven't, I haven't reread them recently, but, man, I still remember these, like, three brothers who run a brewery. And, and like, in the first one, there is. So in the first one, the first one is a guy who, like, was in prison and gets out of prison and he comes home to his, like, you know, what I love about these books is, like, there's a small town feel to them, which is like a very big city thing. Like, if you spend any time in a big city, like, yes, your neighborhood is my. Yes.
- [68:59]
Jen Prokup
Mayberry.
- [68:59]
Sarah McLean
Yes. Like any small town there is. And so in the first one, which is called Thirsty, the hero gets out of. Gets out of prison, comes. Comes home to his, like, small town community, you know, on the east side of Los Angeles. And like, it's, it's a girl from. It's like the perfect, like, you know, straight A's, like, you know, girl from high school. And they, they fall in love and then his. He and his. He gets a job at a brewery and then he and his brothers all become involved in this, like, brewery and there's this sort of running joke through the whole series that like, breweries are white people shit. But like, these are like Latinx men, right, who are like running this brewery and all like involved in this. And it's. So the whole thing revolves around this like, kind of cool like up and coming brewery and these, these three brothers. And so the. The one that I am going to talk about today or the one that I sort of like point to as like, this is the one that really feels like this is the one you should read is the third one, which is called Tanked. And it begins with this like great moment where the heroine of the book is Deanna. And she's there with her friend who's gotten. She's had too much to drink. The friend has had too much to drink and Deanna just wants to go home. But is there because the friend doesn't wanna leave. And she's a good friend, she's not gonna leave her friend, right? And so she ends up like there's a. Of course there's kind of a sleazy guy who's being sleazy and then the guy behind the bar kind of of like, you know, like, like say, saves them in a certain way. Like a real romance moment where like, it's sort of saved. They're saved. And like he pushes this guy out and then like, stuff happens. This is all in the like first chapter. And then she basically, like, they're outside and it's dark and like the bar is kind of closed and she like, in the mess, she's left her, Her. Her. Her credit card. And like she comes back and then he's like, they're sort of like chatty and they have this like kind of very intense, like not even super bantery moment, but they're just like clearly hot for each other. And then she's like, he's like, can I kiss you? And she's like, nobody ever wants to kiss me. Like, sure. And then he does and it's so incredible. And she's like, come home with me. And he's like, yes. And so they go home and they ask, have this, like, we don't. It's off page. But like they go home and then the whole book moves forward three years. And he's been like, into her for three years and just like waiting. But they're. And they like haven't. Nothing has happened between them. And now the pandemic is happening. So like, this is one of those few books in romance where the pandemic. Pandemic actually is going on. And so I think like, there are just interesting things, and Mia makes really interesting choices. I think these are, like, two very lonely people, despite the fact that they are in community. Deanna is like a social worker, and she's working very. She's doing a lot of, like, big kind of work around social work. During the pandemic with the community. There's like, it's just a really interesting. Mia's doing a lot of things in this book. I'm also, like, at the time, I was not super into seeing Covid on page in romance, but I went back to this book this week and I was sort of like, oh, okay. It's interesting to see the book reflect what's going on there. There are, you know, there are, like, tests. Like, there is sort of like. There's sort of a sense of, like, the pandemic being around. And I think that's really interesting.
- [73:22]
Jen Prokup
Yeah.
- [73:23]
Sarah McLean
And so. And all this is to say. And also it's a great, like, it's very sexy. And it's just like, if you're just looking for a book about, like, two people who are somehow isolated while simultaneously being, like, very, like, surrounded by people, this is a really good. A good example of how, like, a romance really looks. Can look that way. Yeah. And also, I think these are two characters who just, like, really move through the whole thing. They are. They evolve over the course of this book. Like, this is a book where characters begin in one place and end in another. And, you know, all these books just feel very honest. Like, she. She writes really honest romance.
- [74:05]
Jen Prokup
Yeah. I love Mia's books. I, listening to you describe that, realize that I might not have closed the loop in book three.
- [74:13]
Sarah McLean
It's great. And I actually wonder. I think a lot. I think a lot of people were like, I'm not ready for a Covid book.
- [74:18]
Jen Prokup
Yeah, maybe. Right. But now it feels like maybe we're ready. I'm going to recommend a YA book. A YA author I really love who is from LA and writes books set in LA is Maureen Goo. And I'm going to talk about Maure. Listen.
- [74:36]
Sarah McLean
Hi, Maureen. I know you listen to us too. Hi.
- [74:38]
Jen Prokup
I am like, the way you make me feel, which is her first book is I was obsessed with. It's one of those YA romances that you read where you think, If I was 15 and read this, it would have changed my life. You know what I mean? But I'm gonna talk about. And I mean, maybe I've mentioned this book before, like, one of my favorites in terms of, like, the LA of it all. Is the way you make me feel. And in this one, what the Clara Shin is. I think she's like a junior, you know, senior in college. And she has a. Like a. An enemy. Not a frenemy, an enemy. Rose Carver. And the two of them in sort of like one of their, like they're pranking each other goes wrong, set their like high school gym on fire and is at has like penance essentially. Right. Like, to make up for it, Clara and. And Rose have to work together on her father's food truck, the Cobra K O B R A because it is a mashup of Korean and Brazil, which is like her father's like Korean parents moved to Brazil. So he has like Portuguese accented English. There's this really funny line I remember where Clara was like, people don't really know what to make of him because they look at him and he's speaking like Portuguese accented Eng. And then she's like, it really helps with the ladies. Like ew, right. Cause her mom is kind of out of the picture anyway. The romance is between Clara and Hamlet, who is a Chinese American kid who like works at his parents coffee shop. But just like the whole vibe of the book especially I think because it's on a food truck, right, is like. It's like, you know how in fantasy they're always like on the road, like walking around to like see the world. I feel like that's what food truck romance is at their best. Right. We're seeing the world that the truck is in and you know, like sort.
- [76:33]
Sarah McLean
Of the whole idea like community.
- [76:36]
Jen Prokup
Right. And like the. The nature of like the food and how people, you know, are kind of like, what is Korean Brazilian fusion? And you know, Clara's relationship with her dad as a single father. And you know, I think they live in like Echo park maybe or. Right. And it is, It's. It's just like one of those books where like you say a book set in LA and it like popped into my head and it's just like a really great read. It's like a really sweet romance between Clara and Hamlet, but also like a really great redemption story between Clara and Rose. And the whole idea of kind of like, how have you decided someone's your enemy? And then like, how are you gonna. How are you gonna get over it? Right? And so I. I really, really love this book. So it's the Way youy Make Me Feel. And actually it's really fun because looking at this today, I realized she has actually a book coming out early next year. Called One and Only. And it is her adult debut. And I don't know if it is a romance, but I. It sounds like maybe it is and I am.
- [77:47]
Sarah McLean
It is a romance and I have it.
- [77:49]
Jen Prokup
Shut up. I'm gonna be going to an middleweiss right now. I'm looking forward, so I'm really, really excited about that. So that is Maureen Goo. She writes a great YA romance. And look, we're all gonna get a treat come February.
- [78:01]
Sarah McLean
Amazing. I have two historicals that I want to talk about because as you all know, I love a Hollywood book, but I didn't want to do. We've done Hollywood before, so I didn't really. And also it doesn't feel like super la. So, um. But I do think like both of these historicals, I mean, I think when you talk about the history of a place, it does sort of steep itself in like, place. Right? Historical's like a place. So first I want to talk about Amanda Quick's the Girl who Knew Too Much, which is Jane Ann Krentz, who writes as Amanda Quick wrote three kind of Hollywood, this kind of like Southern California, California set romances. The Girl who Knew Too Much is set in the 1930s and begins in New York City when the heroine, who is the personal assistant to like some kind of very big like person businessman, she discovers her boss murdered and there is a note for her that he's left and all it says is, right, run. So she does. This is, I mean, classic beginning, right? Come on. Amanda knows how to begin a book. She runs and she goes basically as far as she can possibly go, which is Los Angeles, where she reinvents herself as a gossip columnist in. In la. And I think what this book does, what this book sort of speaks to. And also the other one that I'm going to talk about, which is by Maureen Lenker, is this kind of like historical romance set in Los Angeles. Has a very sort of clear theme, which is like, you can be anybody, right? It's a real like Pretty Woman, like what's your dream Kind of thing. But like, I think now LA doesn't. It still sort of traffics in that. But it's not like if you set it during the like, rise of the golden age of Hollywood, it really is like you can just be literally anybody and move out to LA and like, boom, you're, you know, Cary Grant or boom, you're whatever. So she just decides she's going to. Going to be a gossip columnist. Of course, as a gossip columnist, she is quickly. She quickly stumbles Upon a second murder, which all of a sudden, it's sort of. The question is, like, is this murder related to the one in New York? Like, suddenly things start to really, like, get complicated and confusing. And also, she's, like, in hiding, which is a problem. When she meets the hero, who is an ex magician and now a hotelier, that's a lot. But, like, again, like, Amanda Quick regencies, like an ex magician makes sense. Like, that's sort of like. Like, I can just like, you know, here's a book of, you know, erotica or whatever it is from the old stuff. Anyway, the pair this, like. So they sort of are, you know, they're, like, skulking around Hollywood trying, like, old Hollywood, trying to figure out. Out, like, the. You know, what's been going on, what's the deal with these murders. They're trying to solve this mystery. And listen, like, Amanda Quick basically invented the, like, romantic mystery. So it. It's a. It's a. It really delivers. It fires on all cylinders. It's not as sexy as some of her other books. Like, this is pretty slow burn, but it is. The pages turn and it is very fun. And also it sort of paints this really glamorous picture of, like, how Hollywood, like, came to rise up out of the desert, which is interesting. And then the other. I'm not going to get too deep into it because we've talked about it before. But, you know, Maureen Lenker has written three books now about kind of old Hollywood, and they sort of roam. Like, the first book is set in Reno, Nevada. But this. The second one, I think, is called His Girl Hollywood. And that one is set flat out in. In. In Hollywood and is a. It's basically. That's like, second chance.
- [82:20]
Jen Prokup
She.
- [82:21]
Sarah McLean
Arlene, the heroine, wants to be a movie director, but she is. And she. And she is like, hired basically, like, as a PR stunt by a studio. And they are kind of. They give her this chance, but then they hand her a star. And the star is Don Lazzarini from the old neighborhood in Brooklyn. Who. Or in New York, I don't know. I think it's Brooklyn in my head. Who basically, like, disappeared like they were. Again, like they were supposed to sort of like childhood sweethearts. And he disappeared on her. And now they, like, are gonna. They're. They're stuck working together and they have to, like, resolve their past tensions. But the mob is involved because, of course the mob is involved. It's old Hollywood. And so there you go. That's Maureen's his girl Hollywood.
- [83:12]
Jen Prokup
Perfect. Don't forget our friend Chris Rice writes a lot of his books set in Southern California and obviously they're all really fun and you know, really like soapy, big over the top fun. So check out Chris Rice of course too.
- [83:31]
Sarah McLean
And then I'm also going to put, while we're on the LA front, I'm going to drop a link in show notes to a list of Latino bookstores in LA and so you'll be able to go check those out and support. Many of them have a social justice component where if you shop from them, you are also donating to LA organizations. And I want to talk about. I have a place that I have been raising money for in LA for a long time and let me just get the information. And also if you're looking for a specifically LA based immigrant rights organization to learn more about, follow online and donate to. The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, which is abbreviated as Cheerle, was founded in 1986 and has been doing this kind of immigrant family work for a long, long time. This is what Jen and I were saying earlier, like we do not need to reinvent the wheel. There are organizations that have been doing this for 40, 50 years, years, especially in cities. I mean that is the one bonus to this happening in like big cities is we are prepared. All those cities are, are organized already. They're prepared to do this kind of work. And many, many of them have been pivoting to like real on the ground social justice and human rights work. Unfortunately, that is where we are right now. But you can find more information about cheerla h I r l a.org and that is, we'll put that obviously in show notes. You can donate there and you know, volunteer if you're local with them. Okay, so dc, dc. Let's talk about Tracy.
- [85:34]
Jen Prokup
Let's talk about.
- [85:35]
Sarah McLean
Listen, you saw Tracy.
- [85:36]
Jen Prokup
I did and it was terrific.
- [85:39]
Sarah McLean
She's the best.
- [85:40]
Jen Prokup
She is the best. So yeah. Well, go ahead. Where you did some fun reviews reading this morning.
- [85:46]
Sarah McLean
I heard you guys this morning.
- [85:50]
Jen Prokup
I reread the Beginning of Love Will.
- [85:52]
Sarah McLean
Always Remember, which is an amnesia book.
- [85:57]
Jen Prokup
It is so good.
- [85:59]
Sarah McLean
Listen, let me paint you a picture. The heroine of this book is engaged. It has everything you could possibly want. It's an amnesia book. It is. It has twins.
- [86:17]
Jen Prokup
Anything you could want if you means Sarah McLean.
- [86:20]
Sarah McLean
I mean, I guess there is that. Right?
- [86:22]
Jen Prokup
I wanted it too. It's fine. Everybody.
- [86:25]
Sarah McLean
Where was I when I was in. I was in Sweden and somebody was like, can you tell us about these books that. Because I was promoting Nine Rules and Dead Waves, right? And I was like, God, they're 15 years old. Like, I don't know. I don't know that I can tell you anything about these books, but literally, at one point, I was like, what? Well, there are twins. Because of course there are. Anyway, Leighton Clark has been in an accident. She gets into a.
- [86:55]
Jen Prokup
She.
- [86:55]
Sarah McLean
She gets into a coma. She, like, falls into a coma. When she wakes up from the coma, and it's not like. It's not that long. She's lost her whole memory for the last six years. And six years is, like, a long time. During. During those six years, she has been engaged. She's gotten engaged. And her very handsome fiance is in London. He's, like, fucked off to London for some reason. It's not important. But he's left behind Jonathan, his twin brother, and his twin brother who. Who, like, is basically, like, he is there and he is, like, pretending to be her fiance because, like, it's sort of. He doesn't want to. I mean, he's a decent guy, and he just doesn't want to, like, upset the apple cart. As it is, she doesn't really remember anything, right. And so he sort of has this whole plan. That's, like, one of the cool things about amnesia romance. And I think, like, a thing that really. If you're gonna write an amnesia romance, and it's funny because somebody told me recently, you get one amnesia romance in your entire career.
- [88:11]
Jen Prokup
I. I think that is probably correct.
- [88:13]
Sarah McLean
I think you get. You get. You have to. You can only do it once. You better do it right. But I think the interesting thing about amnesia romance is, like, the whole point of it is that when you wake up with amnesia, you are very different than you were.
- [88:27]
Jen Prokup
Yeah. Right.
- [88:28]
Sarah McLean
So at the time, like, Leighton has been like. Like. Like, prior to this, like, when. Before she got into coma, she was, like, super, like, straight lace, like, very proper kind of a bitch. Like, very sort of difficult to, Like, a tough nut to crack, if you will. And now she's, like, more open. Like, she's like. She's not as, like, caged by expectation and, you know, whatever built her. Like, now she is. She remembers. Like, she. One of the first thing that they ask her is, like, do you remember what year it is? Like, do you, like, what. What. You know, whatever. And so she talks about, like, having been. She remembers, like, being at a. At a party on the Potomac river, and it's, like, years and years ago, and she sort of, like, has this very clear memory of it and, like, remember the way she remembers what New Year's Eve is like.
- [89:25]
Jen Prokup
She.
- [89:26]
Sarah McLean
You know, as Tracy writes it, she. She's like. She remembered New Year's Eve because she remembered when Harry met Sally. Like, she knew what New Year's Eve was, but, like. And it has this, like, sort of magical feel to it. And then you obviously realize that, like, before she woke up from this, from the coma, she was not a person who would ever have, like, thought about a rom com as, like, an identifying character or identifying, you know, location or. Or event. So, anyway, so all this is to say she wakes up, she's, like, softer. She's, like, more open. She's more willing to, like, love. She's more willing to, like, experience. And she has lots of questions because she cannot remember the last six years of her life. And so Jonathan basically tells her, like, I'm your fiance. I'm a chef. I'm very talented. I am very handsome. Let me show you your apartment. And she's like. She asks him a lot of questions, and, like, he sort of dances around. He doesn't fully kind of know her because she's very different now. And. And then they, like. And there's this great moment where she's like, so we are fiance, like, when are we gonna bang? And he's like, what if we waited until the wedding? And she's like. Like, it's all just perfect. It's so well done. It delivers all the different, like, pieces of an amnesia romance that you could possibly want. But also, it's, like, very sexy because Tracy writes a really sexy book. It's really fun and kind of, like, off the wall. Because it's an amnesia book, it's going to deliver on a lot of, like, you're going to be very happy reading this book. But also, also, it's set in D.C. and so, like, there's lots of reference to, like, the neighborhoods that they live in, like, the ways that the neighborhoods look like, where, you know, how the. How the neighborhoods exist and, like, the communities and cultures of these neighborhoods. Like, Tracy just really delivers a truly, like, realistic DC experience while giving you the most bananas. The romance plot that there is so good, though. I know. And the whole time I was like, maybe I can write it. What am I gonna. What's my.
- [91:46]
Jen Prokup
When's your amnesia romance coming?
- [91:48]
Sarah McLean
Soon. When is my amnesia romance coming?
- [91:51]
Jen Prokup
The entire audience right now is like, bitch, we thought you forgot about Duchess.
- [91:55]
Sarah McLean
No, I did not. In fact, I posted about her this morning. Did you see those pictures of Hannah Waddingham? Oh, my God.
- [92:02]
Jen Prokup
That's not even right okay.
- [92:03]
Sarah McLean
She's amazing. Anyway.
- [92:04]
Jen Prokup
Okay, I am going to talk about something Cheeky by Tin Kim Lam. Now, this is kind of a. It's not. When I was looking at this, I thought this is like a series, but essentially there's like three books. I don't think this series has a name, but in two of the books I think maybe I've talked about happy endings when it came out. They're sort of like a group of people that have ties to both New Orleans and D.C. and so in the first book, I think Trixie, like leaves New Orleans for D.C. and the second book, one of the characters goes like, from D.C. to New Orleans for like a. Essentially a vacation and meets somebody. But in this book, in something cheeky, it is like kind of the full DC setting. So, you know, again, Tim Kim I think might live in the area and it just feels very dc. So in this one though, Zoe Tran has a boutique where she is the owner, she's the designer of like plus size lingerie. And this is like her, her dream. Like, she's always been a person, like designing costumes and. Right. Like, she'd worked in theater in college and the. Her bestie was Derek. And together they had like actually like wrote, I guess I can't remember the exact details. Wrote, dreamed up, whatever. A kind of Vietnamese Cinderella, like rock music for the stage. And then they had like a falling out. And one of the things about this is, this is like real Friends to lovers where he was, you know, just like really into her but didn't, you know, know how to say it. And you know, they're college kids and so, you know, you drift apart and these things happen. And so. But now he's back and he is wanting to put on their show at, it's like Washington DC's like, largest theater. And it would be an all Asian cast, an all Asian creative team. Everything about it would just really be to appeal to like, their community. And what happens is that they, you know, she is not really sure this is a good idea, right. Like, you know, they have this falling out and she, um, you know, she's just not sure. You know, just. It's like water under the bridge, right to her. So anyway, she agrees to do it, but, you know, it's hard for her. Like there was all these microaggressions and all these things that she had to deal with in the theater world, that being in charge and owning her own business. Right. Means that she doesn't have to really deal with that anymore. And so what happens, of course Is she. It's interesting. She's demisexual. She really had only seen him as a friend, but somehow now things are different and she's, you know, her feelings for him kind of come up to the surface. If you've never read Tin. Kim is also, like, a sex educator. So her books are like, crazy sex positive. And anyway, they are pressured by a white artistic director, someone at the theater, to essentially, like, tone all the Asian down. And so now it's like, how are Zoe and Derek gonna respond to this challenge, to their dream and vision for what this show should be and, like, who they are as people? So it's great. It's terrific. It's called something cheeky. And as I said, this is. It's not called. I, like, really was. Sure it was, like, have a series name, but there are three books, and these are all like, you know, we've met Zoe as, like, Trixie's friend and like, we've met these characters before, I think, from what I remember. So that is something cheeky.
- [95:58]
Sarah McLean
Cool.
- [95:59]
Jen Prokup
Great.
- [96:02]
Sarah McLean
Let's see. I have lots of others. Should we talk about Rebecca Kincaid?
- [96:10]
Jen Prokup
Yes, we should, because let's talk about Rebecca Kincaid.
- [96:16]
Sarah McLean
Adriana told us to read Rebecca Kincaid the other day, as you all know.
- [96:20]
Jen Prokup
And I was like, sure, we have.
- [96:22]
Sarah McLean
Done what we were doing told. And I want to talk about streams and schemes very much.
- [96:28]
Jen Prokup
Sarah. I started this book and immediately was like, yes, this is how romance used to make me feel. And I like feeling this way right now.
- [96:36]
Sarah McLean
As many of you know listen to the podcast or who have been listening to the podcast for a long time, I am a fucking sucker for chapter one.
- [96:43]
Jen Prokup
We're going to die. We better bang.
- [96:46]
Sarah McLean
Like, anytime anybody's like, danger bang is not. Not a fun trope. You are realistic. Like, see your way out. Because right out into this book, I.
- [97:01]
Jen Prokup
Like, stopped and actually texted someone. I was like, I just read the most insane thing. I'm going to need you right now to get this book.
- [97:06]
Sarah McLean
It is terrific. So, okay, the beginning of this book. Valeria, our heroine, and Lander, they are neighbors. Next door neighbors.
- [97:18]
Jen Prokup
And they're like fancy D.C. apartment building.
- [97:20]
Sarah McLean
Yeah. And Valeria is a only fans, like, streamer.
- [97:25]
Jen Prokup
Like, she's a cam girl.
- [97:26]
Sarah McLean
Like, she's. She's a cam girl. She's a sex worker. And she has always, like, had a. Like, she's like, been eyeing the neighbor. But, like, this is not a thing you do. You don't. Your neighbor.
- [97:38]
Jen Prokup
And she's figured out he's a lawyer.
- [97:40]
Sarah McLean
And she's she has a rule. No, no, no lawyers and all. Also, like, has clearly some secrets that are, you know, she. We don't know about. And then. But Lander is the next door neighbor and he's very handsome. And that's all you need to know for right now.
- [97:55]
Jen Prokup
Wait, they do wait before this wood.
- [97:57]
Sarah McLean
Sarah, like a moment in the.
- [97:58]
Jen Prokup
Yeah. Where like, they've. She's only like, they've kind of eye fucked each other. Nothing's happened.
- [98:02]
Sarah McLean
Maybe we should just do a deep dive on this book.
- [98:04]
Jen Prokup
We should. You know what? God.
- [98:06]
Sarah McLean
Okay.
- [98:07]
Jen Prokup
I'm like, that's a great idea.
- [98:09]
Sarah McLean
Maybe we should do a deep dive on this book. Anyway. Because now we're like. We're only like four. Four paragraphs in. But anyway, so listen, there is an alert that goes off on their phones.
- [98:21]
Jen Prokup
It's so wrong. It's.
- [98:23]
Sarah McLean
They realize that there. And the alert basically says. And like, here's my thing. I hope this alert is not a real thing. Like, I don't want to know this. Although they. And the alert basically says, like, there's a nuclear weapon coming for D.C. 20.
- [98:38]
Jen Prokup
Minutes to look live.
- [98:39]
Sarah McLean
You're like, you have 20 minutes to live or 15 minutes to live. So what else would you do then? Walk in. I mean, this makes sense. You sort of walk into the. Into the, like the. The hallway outside your apartment and you're like, is this for real? And then you turn to the right and there's your hot neighbor. I'm gonna climb that like a tree. Like, this is how I should go.
- [99:04]
Jen Prokup
This is how I should.
- [99:05]
Sarah McLean
We go.
- [99:07]
Jen Prokup
Go out with a literal bang.
- [99:09]
Sarah McLean
They actually just. Super bang.
- [99:13]
Jen Prokup
Yeah, it's crazy hot.
- [99:14]
Sarah McLean
And it's very hot. Like, talk about a book that begins with a bang. Like, we did a whole episode. Like, this book didn't exist at the time.
- [99:21]
Jen Prokup
Let's go back and re record that episode.
- [99:23]
Sarah McLean
Wait, then it's like the 15, like 12 minutes go by.
- [99:28]
Jen Prokup
Yeah.
- [99:28]
Sarah McLean
And then they get a second alert.
- [99:30]
Jen Prokup
Any minute now. They're like, any minute now. Just like.
- [99:33]
Sarah McLean
Yeah. They're having that like, moment, which is actually the moment that I really love, where they're like, this is like the human connection before the end of the world. And then they get a second alert and they're like, so sorry, that was a mistake.
- [99:49]
Jen Prokup
And Valeria gets up and basically runs out.
- [99:52]
Sarah McLean
She just beats the hell out of Jod. She's like, I'm out.
- [99:54]
Jen Prokup
Yeah.
- [99:55]
Sarah McLean
And he's like, wait, wait.
- [99:57]
Jen Prokup
I've been lusting after you for a solid year.
- [100:00]
Sarah McLean
No. And she's like, too fucking bad. No, like it never happened.
- [100:04]
Jen Prokup
And you know what it is? Like you would not guess where it goes from there. I was delighted reading this book.
- [100:11]
Sarah McLean
Well, it also has a little bit of that run Posey, run action where then he's actually, he is a client. Like he watches her stream and he's always been like super polite. Uh huh. And now he's like, let me throw you, you know.
- [100:28]
Jen Prokup
Well, he's been spending money on her.
- [100:29]
Sarah McLean
For a year also where he's, he's like, he's like, I'm gonna give you $500 for like a private room or whatever. And then she's like, this is my job.
- [100:36]
Jen Prokup
Yeah.
- [100:37]
Sarah McLean
Like, could you please? I'm at work. And he's like, oh, you're right. Like, there's just this like, very cool, like, respectful of like, sex work moment where he's like, oh, yeah, keeps happening.
- [100:48]
Jen Prokup
And then when he keeps being a jerk, she's like, anyway, listen, it was great. It was terrific. And I've. I was like, what a beginning.
- [100:59]
Sarah McLean
I mean, I feel like we might do a deep dive on this. So I don't want to say much.
- [101:03]
Jen Prokup
More.
- [101:06]
Sarah McLean
But set in D.C. feels very D.C. coded. I mean, ballistic threat inbound to D.C. feels like.
- [101:14]
Jen Prokup
Well, and just like, I think the other thing, like, right. Like he has two friends and one is like an eye banker and one is in like the epa. And it's like, you know, the way they like see people and can kind of tell by the suits and the haircuts whether or not they're diplomats or whether they like that whole part of it. That was the part that felt real DC to me.
- [101:33]
Sarah McLean
Agreed. I. I mean, I had agreed dc, I guess tell the moral of this story is when Adriana tells you to.
- [101:40]
Jen Prokup
Read a book, you should do it. Yeah, Agree.
- [101:43]
Sarah McLean
Okay, let's see. Oh, I want to say, because I've been like adding one sort of wild book to every city here I want to add in. And I know I've talked about them before, but they. Every time I think about DC books, I come. I think about Pamela Palmer's Feral warriors series, which is like 15 years old. It's deep paranormal. You know, yesterday I saw Kenya Gory Bell on threads say she wanted, like, she wanted like, Romantasy where monsters were monsters. And I was like, you want paranormal, that's what you want. And I texted her and I was like, kenya, go back and reread iad. But Feral warriors is like, the heroes are all like shifters or. They're not shifters. They have, like, souls of some animal. There are 12 of them.
- [102:38]
Jen Prokup
Sure.
- [102:39]
Sarah McLean
And so. And the first book in that series is, like, honestly, crazy. Listen, this whole setup is crazy. There are 12 men who have the soul souls of animals. And together they are the feral warriors. And they can, like, save the world. Classic paranormal setup. But in order for them to properly channel their, like, warriorness, they need a woman who is, like, the being that. Through which all energy channels, of course, obviously. And she is the fated mate of one of them. And so. But she doesn't know. You don't know, like, if. If, like. So every time one of them dies, another one, like some person just living their life in the world, some, like, random middle school English teacher could just become the energy life force.
- [103:43]
Jen Prokup
Sure.
- [103:44]
Sarah McLean
Warriors. And so the book begins with, like, their, like, energy life force lady dies. And then the lion shifter goes off to find her. This is called Desire Untamed, everybody. Because of course it is. And he finds her, like, in her apartment. And he's like, hey, so this is your life now? And she's like, what? And then he brings her back to D.C. where she and like, on the trip back to D.C. it's very clear that these two are fated mates. Like, they cannot stop touching each other. Like, they're so hot for each other. And then they get back and they do this, like, ceremony to see if, like, who she. Because she's, of course, mate. She is the fated mate of one of the 12, but they have to do a ceremony to figure it out. And they do the ceremony and she's the fated mate of a different one.
- [104:33]
Jen Prokup
Oh.
- [104:34]
Sarah McLean
And then it's sort of. It's the first time I've ever seen it this like you're. You feel like faded mates, but you're not actually faded mates. And so what. How do you thread that needle? Which Pamela Palmer does. Interesting. But the point is that, that when they do these. I sure that this is not the case, but in my mind, when they do this ceremony, it's like at the National Zoo. I don't think it is at the National Zoo, but it's like. But it is in a very, like, public D.C. place. And honestly, the whole Pamela lives in D.C. like, it feels very, like it's all very like, D.C. coded space, but also like, yeah, anyway, you're gonna have a great time. Don't worry about it. Don't worry about it.
- [105:19]
Jen Prokup
Don't worry about it.
- [105:20]
Sarah McLean
Just.
- [105:20]
Jen Prokup
Yeah.
- [105:21]
Sarah McLean
Also have to say, even though we've talked about it a million times, but Pride and Protest by Nikki Payne is very DC set. This is also about gentrification. And the heroine is a radio DJ who like, is up against a real estate developer that's like. I think the corporation is called the Pemberley Corporation. Like, this is a retelling of Pride and Prejudice and she is trying to like, save her community and her space from her housing. Like, her. The. The place where she lives with like, she has five. She lives with. With like a very chaotic family full of people. And she's trying to save her space from this, like, terrible housing developer. And the hero is. Works for the housing developer. And it is great because it is written by Nikki and it's about gentrification and how billionaires should not exist.
- [106:18]
Jen Prokup
Well, there you go. And then like a final shout out for me from Mia Sosa, the worst best man. And also. So what was the one after that one? Like, what are the. The new one is la. Cause it's mostly actually set in New York and la, which is when Javi met. No, dumped Mari. I'm always wanting to say met, and it is not because that is when Harry met Sally. But in the previous series, the Wedding, you know the Wedding, what I think of as like the wedding books, right? The Wedding Crasher and also the Worst Spec are both set in D.C. and the area. I think probably most of Mia's books are maybe set in D.C. if I remember correctly. So you are definitely gonna have a great time reading, reading Mia's books.
- [107:14]
Sarah McLean
Yep. Oh, I have one to add to Chicago. Naima Simone's Blackout Billionaire series, which is also set on, as you refer to the Gold coast of Chicago, which I did not know was a thing until you taught me. So everybody, we did a deep dive of that series. We'll put links in, show notes, but that's a fun quick three very quick, very sexy categories about Chicago.
- [107:42]
Jen Prokup
Well, reading is not protesting, right?
- [107:46]
Sarah McLean
No, it's not getting up out of your chair, but it is a nice, nice way to supplement.
- [107:54]
Jen Prokup
Yeah, well. And like, you know what? It's going to be a long haul now. And so we have to find ways that we can be, I don't know, like, re. Right. Like, like filling the well. And I think for a lot of us, that's romance, which is why we're here. So it is just vitally important again, like I said, not just for us as a country, but for you as a person to like, figure out how you can. Can help. Help the world. Right? And that's going to be helping in your community going out to a protest, right? Finding an organization that needs your support through time, money, donations, phone banking, you know, whatever it is we are. And I think that's the thing that we have to say, right? Like this doesn't magically go away until we all together get up and, and make our voices heard. And so, you know, can we talk about making phone calls, right?
- [108:53]
Sarah McLean
Can we talk about a few ways that we can make our voices heard? Like yes, in the immediate. Okay, first of all, call your local representatives. And this, when I say local, I mean literally local. Your, you know, your local, your state level representatives, your community boards, your mayors, your town councils. Tell them, them that you stand against ICE presence in your communities. Ask how they are making sure that ICE is following the law in their communities. Tell them that you are watching. Make sure they know that you are willing to vote against people who are supporting ICE in your, in their communities. Ask for your local, ask your very local people to, to pass like local legislation requiring no masks, banning ICE from wearing masks, requiring that ICE deliver, you know, do their duty and provide badge numbers, et cetera.
- [109:59]
Jen Prokup
And I mean, in a lot of places, I just want to say, like local people, the smallest people are doing more than the biggest ones, right? So yesterday in Chicago they arrested, arrested alder woman Jesse Fuentes, who is in a hospital essentially trying to protect one of her constituents. Right? Alder. The alders are essentially are like city council and they're 50 of them. And so, you know, but that just shows you, right, how bold they are. But like, you know, I've seen really amazing videos of like state senators and state reps, like being out in their neighborhoods, on the block, on the street, you know. So I think that's the other thing is like you also can tell these people and say like, I saw you, thank you, thank you for being out here protecting, protecting us, protecting your people.
- [110:47]
Sarah McLean
It is speaking of local state reps, it is an off year election in Virginia and New Jersey this year. The States Project and Fated Mates are working together to raise money to keep Virginia a blue trifecta. That is essential right now. Like we have to hold the line and bring Virginia. We won Virginia a blue trifecta in Virginia last time by like something like 300 votes. Go to faded states. Go to faded mates.net faded states to click on the stage project and learn more about how you can participate in that. But basically the way you can participate is by donating. It is the election is literally one week, one month from today when we are recording. And so, so it is vital that we give them the Money they need to knock on doors and win Virginia. That said, there are 100,000 or something local elections around the country this year. More than 100,000 people on the ballot. So make sure that you are voting. Make sure that you are volunteering to. If you have time and energy and capacity, please, please volunteer for local. For Democratic candidates. Down tickets. If you. We are coming up on one year until the midterm elections. Please consider running for office. This is the big ask. We know school boards need you. Library boards need you also a lot. In a lot of places. Library boards are volunteers volunteer or they're appointed by school superintendents. You can literally walk into your local school district office and say, how do I get appointed? I want to volunteer for the library board. I want to volunteer. And like that work is literally reading books that are challenged and deciding whether the book stays in the library or leaves. If you have time for that, if you have time to participate with your library committees or your school committees, please do that. Book banning is happening around the country. We know this. It is becoming more and more present. Books are how they are going to get to us. We need you. If you need a person to tell you to run for office again, Jen and I are doing that right now. We're saying run for office. We're saying run for school board. Run. We have, we have at least one listener who's running for mayor of her small town. Like, we are so proud of you. We are so happy to help you. We will phone bank for you. We will, we have committed, we have pledged a thousand dollars to anybody who is out there thinking about running for school board. When, when Amanda Lippman was on talking about this. We'll put this, this, this episode in show notes too. But when she came on, she told us most school board elections in the United States can be won with $2,500. We'll give you 1,000 seed money. So please consider running for office. That's obviously a huge ask but important no Kings protest is October 18th. I'll be out there with signs. Hopefully you will be too. If you're Firebird and you're out there with signs, we won't post them because we want to keep people safe but we'd love to to see them. So please send them to us. DM them on Instagram and yeah, one. That's the big stuff.
- [114:29]
Jen Prokup
Yeah. I think the other thing is like calling your representatives and senators and if you've never done that before and you are not sure how to you can use five calls which Is like a service where essentially, like, you put in where you live, and it will tell you who to call. You can say what you're calling about, and it will provide a script for you. You can also use Resist Bot. I really like Resist Bot because you can pay a couple bucks and send faxes. And I love the idea of, like, just jamming up the fax machines in these Capitol offices with, like, you know, sort of our demands. And so, you know, one of the things we also know is that, like, if you make a stink and if you. If we are heard right, like, this is. And you might be saying, like, listen, I am in a deeply red state and they are not going to care. But, like, you care and they work for you. And so, you know, it is okay for you to, like, I get a lot of joy out of making these calls and telling them my, you know, my address and my zip code and where I live and making them listen to me. And you know what? And I know, like, sometimes they don't answer. And that is why. Or like, right. The phone box, the mailboxes are full on the voicemail. And that's why I really love Resist Bot because I love being able to send faxes. So, you know, there are. There are structures out there that exist that will teach you how to do this in case you are, you know, you're not sure. And sometimes, listen, every time I make a phone call, sometimes I still feel a charge. Right? Like, it feels kind of scary in a weird way, but it's not. And so you can do it. And, like, Resist Bot and five calls will help you figure that out.
- [116:11]
Sarah McLean
Yep. We are not you guys. We are not like we are. Hope is how we get through this. Resisting is how we do this. There are, you know, you pull on your thread, you trust other people are pulling on their threads. We are standing with Chicago and Los Angeles and D.C. and other places. Portland. We love you, Portland. I've been seeing pictures of people dressed as clowns in Portland, just, like, mocking. Mocking the shit out of ICE officers. And, like, listen, and I'm gonna say this, like, white women, we have a lot of power, have so much power, and we are so complacent. And like, truly, if we mobilized to stand up, we could really do some damage. So I know that most of our listeners are with us, and I know that in many ways this is the scariest thing. But if we work together, and that is another thing I'm just going to say again, mobilize us. Find a community. There are people in Your community in your. I don't care how tiny your town is, there is somebody else in your town who wants to stand up. And so the goal is to find them. And we love you. Thanks, everyone. I'm Sarah McLean. I'm here with my friend Jen Pro Cup. We are Faded Mates. You can find us every Wednesday wherever you get your podcasts or you can find us on faded mates.net also@thetamates.net if you click on Episodes, you will get all of our amazing show notes which are going to be coming comprehensive this week. We will have a list of all the books we talked about, a list of all the organizations we talked about, a list of all the ways that you can get involved, links to our fated mates and Faded States Episodes where we have interviews with Melissa Walker from the States Project, with Amanda Littman from Run for Something with young people who are fighting book bands, librarians who are fighting book bans. We, we, you know, we have a full, a full plate of things for you to listen to and do. You can also find us online at Faded Mates pod, on Instagram and threads and at Fated Mates on Blue Sky. What else? Search something on the website. Make Eric happy.
- [118:42]
Jen Prokup
Join our Discord.
- [118:44]
Sarah McLean
Yeah. Oh, Join the Discord. Listen, also, there's a great part of the Discord that's full of activism and people talking about what they're doing in their, their community. We'll throw up these organizations. We'll make space for, you know, Chicago, L.A. and D.C. and Portland on those places and people can share there how, how else we can help in those communities and we'll be paying attention as we move forward. Listen, don't obey in advance. Don't believe that it won't come for you. Make sure that if you even see a hint of it, you stamp it out. We love you. We're here. Keep us posted online with you know, how you're feeling, how you're doing. Join the discord@fatedmates.net Patreon or you can go to Patreon and search Faded Mates. You get one more episode of the podcast every week and every month. And also access to the Discord where people are talking about romance novels 24 7. Also, they're talking about Anna Waddingham today.
- [119:49]
Jen Prokup
So sure, I'm enjoying babe.
- [119:52]
Sarah McLean
Okay, bye everyone. Sa.