← Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People
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- [00:00]
A
Jen, you are like Christmas Christmasing.
- [00:04]
B
Okay, so everybody. I love Christmas tree.
- [00:06]
A
It's November 23rd, everybody, by the way.
- [00:08]
B
Okay, I feel like under normal circumstances it would be the Thanksgiving.
- [00:12]
A
We don't.
- [00:13]
B
Yeah, this is the one.
- [00:15]
A
Is this for this week?
- [00:16]
B
Wait, aren't we taking a week off the December 23rd? We're taking a week off.
- [00:20]
A
Guys, I don't even know. I'm so in the weeds on a book right now. Jen just tells me to get on.
- [00:26]
B
I'm like, girl.
- [00:27]
A
What? I'm actually I. I'm. Well, we'll talk about all the ways that I'm proud of myself today. Anyway.
- [00:32]
B
Well, you know, last week was our, our best of and then this is the day before Thanksgiving and we're like, it's nice to have a like an episode while you're cooking a turkey or whatever out there.
- [00:44]
A
Jen doesn't do that, everybody. That's a lie.
- [00:47]
B
I pick up my turkey pre cooked.
- [00:48]
A
From whole foods along with everything else this, this year. That really does sound like a dream.
- [00:52]
B
But here it's a dream, everybody. I encourage you.
- [00:56]
A
I'm pretty sure the people in your house are pretty happy that you pick up from whole food foods.
- [01:00]
B
Also, you know what's ironic is like I actually, I'm not a bad cook, everybody, but I don't enjoy Thanksgiving dinner. And so cooking it is a pain in the ass.
- [01:07]
A
But not even the sides.
- [01:09]
B
No, none of it.
- [01:10]
A
Welcome to our Italian, our Italians, our international listeners.
- [01:14]
B
Yes. Where.
- [01:15]
A
This is the part where we talk about a holiday you don't care about.
- [01:18]
B
Sure, fine.
- [01:19]
A
But I mean for me, I don't care about that protein but like the sides are where it sings.
- [01:25]
B
It sings for me, but it's just saying in someone else's kitchen. Anyway, I like eating them, sure. But I'm just like whatever. Anyway. So I feel though I've been feeling like it's Christmas time for the tree to co up. So I was sitting here and I was like whatever. I've been working. And I was like, okay, I'll take a little break and put this Christmas trip. I have a fake tree, everybody. This is because we had cats for a long time. A lot of fine Wright would climb the tree. But now I put it up in like several parts of the tree. Like the are not lit up.
- [02:01]
A
See this is. I'm a real tree person for lots of reasons. I like the smell.
- [02:06]
B
Smells good.
- [02:07]
A
I like the When Harry met Sally of it all. I live in New York City.
- [02:10]
B
Sure.
- [02:11]
A
And I like watching this man. I mean, what good Are they for really this? I mean, this one does edit a podcast every week, everybody.
- [02:19]
B
But. He sure does.
- [02:20]
A
But, I mean, like, that's a job. So. So. But when. But like, I like watching this man have to, like, wrestle a tree.
- [02:27]
B
Yeah.
- [02:27]
A
Which is a word I only use.
- [02:29]
B
When talking about trees or steers. I mean, who knows? Wrestle.
- [02:34]
A
Is wrestle an actual word or is it just wrestle, but pronounced differently?
- [02:38]
B
R, A, S, S, L, E. No, T. Just rascal.
- [02:41]
A
Two. Two S's.
- [02:43]
B
I am convinced that is correct. You can look it up while I say the other. Other time I use that word is sometimes to describe the shenanigans the children get up to at work.
- [02:53]
A
Wrestle isn't. Well, no, I'm not going to read that. That's the dumb Google AI thing, which I still need to figure out how to turn off. Hang on.
- [03:00]
B
I'll tell you later.
- [03:02]
A
All right.
- [03:06]
B
Okay.
- [03:09]
A
No, that's not right. Where there's no. There's no dictionary that claims it. At least not.
- [03:18]
B
I also have a bone to pick with Merriam Webster.
- [03:21]
A
Well, we. They don't know about my bone to pick yet. We'll get there. Okay. Razzle is not a word, everybody. It is not a standard Merriam Webster word. But let's hear about this. It is a word, okay? It's a. It's a informal dialect in the Southern US and in aave, so of course we consider this a real word.
- [03:43]
B
But the.
- [03:44]
A
And it is pronounced. You can. You can print. You can spell it with a W, without a W, with two S's, or with an st.
- [03:52]
B
It's in the Miriam Webster dictionary. Sarah. It is R, A, S, S, L.
- [03:57]
A
E. I'm looking at it right now. I can't see it. It's not a line.
- [04:01]
B
It is an intransitive verb. It means wrestle.
- [04:04]
A
To wrestle.
- [04:06]
B
Correct.
- [04:07]
A
Oh, because they spell it Ra. All right, listen, everybody. This is very boring. Eric's cutting it out for sure.
- [04:14]
B
Okay? All right, so here I'm going to tell you why I'm mad at the dictionary. Because, you know, Merriam Webster, everybody, they're printing a new. This is a great present for the wordy nerdy person in your life. They printed a new edition of their college dictionary this year with, like, fun new words in it. It's been a long time since I bought a dictionary, but I was like, I'm gonna buy this. I pre ordered it in October, and then it came out November 17th. And it, like, originally was like, it'll, you know, same day delivery. And I was like, oh, my dictionary comes today. Because I'm a nerd.
- [04:49]
A
Oh, boy.
- [04:49]
B
And didn't come. It's a backordered until December. And I was like, I pre ordered it.
- [04:57]
A
Surely they just. They weren't prepared. They weren't prepared for the high demand of the new.
- [05:04]
B
Apparently they sell like a million dictionary print dictionaries.
- [05:07]
A
The new Dick Shannara.
- [05:09]
B
So anyway, everybody, I don't need. I wrestle with the tree, but now I'm like, I got to put up more lights or I got to get a new one.
- [05:16]
A
Why don't you get a. Get a. Not get one that smells. Get a new one. Get a. Go out. Find your local.
- [05:22]
B
Sure.
- [05:22]
A
You know, empty parking lot that turns into a tree sales place.
- [05:26]
B
I made those places support. Sure.
- [05:28]
A
You know, we get it every year from an empty church, like, parking lot where these guys come down from Vermont and set up a trailer in the parking lot and, like, live here for a month. That seems nice. And I mean, does it? But listen, we go every year we've moved. We still go back to that neighborhood to do the thing because we feel very connected to these young men who come from Vermont. So you probably have young men who come from somewhere.
- [05:57]
B
Wisconsin. They probably come from Wisconsin.
- [06:00]
A
Wisconsin. Wisconsin. All right.
- [06:02]
B
I feel like that's when I can even hear the Midwestern in my voice.
- [06:06]
A
Yeah. Yeah.
- [06:07]
B
When I say Wisconsin. Yeah.
- [06:09]
A
All right, everybody. Welcome to Faded Mates. We're just wrestling our way through the episode today. It's not. There's no W in Marion. Wrestling I. In my head, it was spelled with a W. That's what I told you.
- [06:23]
B
I was like, no W. Anyway, I didn't. I will wrestle. I don't wrestle. Busted. All right, fair. I'm not even mad about it.
- [06:33]
A
Anyway, welcome, everyone, to Faded mates. I'm Sarah McLean. I read romance novels and I write them.
- [06:38]
B
And I'm Jennifer Prokop, a romance reader, editor, and person who puts up her Christmas tree a week before Thanksgiving. Some years.
- [06:44]
A
I mean, all the lights were working when you put it away.
- [06:47]
B
I don't know. Honestly, who knows? Who can tell? This is a long time ago.
- [06:53]
A
Anybody?
- [06:53]
B
Yeah.
- [06:54]
A
Every year I think to myself, I'm gonna get one of those. I'm gonna go to Container Store and get one of those special boxes. I'm not gonna do that.
- [07:03]
B
No.
- [07:04]
A
I've been keeping ornaments in a old humidifier box for 20 years as God.
- [07:11]
B
Intended, and I just.
- [07:12]
A
I just tape that shit up every time it starts to come apart. I'm very pro the environment.
- [07:20]
B
Have I told you, though, what my. My Christmas tree Skirt is. Surely. I've talked about this, have I? It's my wedding dress. I've never talked about this.
- [07:28]
A
What?
- [07:28]
B
Okay, so fuck did that happen? Well, I mean. Okay, I had my wedding dress, everybody. I'll take a picture of this. I'll put. You're looking at it right now. If you're on your phone.
- [07:38]
A
I've never seen your wedding dress.
- [07:40]
B
It was very pretty. And around, like, the. Of course, everybody's wedding dress is very pretty. Around the hem of. Right. The lower part of the skirt, there was a really beautiful, like, wide border that had, like, embroidered flowers, and it was really pretty. And so anyway, you know, there are two kinds of people in the world. There are the people who. Three, maybe. There are the people who, like, get the dress cleaned and give it to somebody. There are the people who give it away, I guess. And then there are people who put it away dirty and think, whatever, figure that out later. And I am person number three.
- [08:20]
A
So I knew that immediately.
- [08:22]
B
Yeah.
- [08:23]
A
I was like. Like, I was literally like, you're like, well, I'm obviously done with this.
- [08:28]
B
I'm done with this.
- [08:29]
A
That is no longer my business.
- [08:31]
B
Yeah. And then I can't remember. You know, my mom and my grandmother were very, like, active in sewing. And I'm not sure exactly who or when this idea came about, but I was like, you know, I love my wedding dress, and it's really beautiful. Like, you're never going to wear it again. And I don't have a daughter. I'm not going to pass it down or any of that kind of business. And so I was like, it would be nice to, like, be able to do something with it. And that's when it's. Somebody I don't know was like, you could turn into a Christmas tree skirt. And I was like, that's a great fucking idea. And my mom helped me, and she basically. Listen, just cut the. Cut the whole skirt right off. And then, like, it's not even really all sewn together. It's like two pieces because, like, the bottom of the skirt is not actually round. Like, it had, like, a train or whatever. So anyway, it's really pretty.
- [09:21]
A
I think that is very cool, Jen. Yeah, it's really beautiful. I have no idea. And I would like to see both the dress and the skirt.
- [09:27]
B
Well, I will take a picture of it later.
- [09:29]
A
All right, sounds good. What are we doing? We're talking about. We're talking about holiday romance today.
- [09:37]
B
I think that's what inspired me.
- [09:39]
A
Yeah. Well, I mean, obviously we would never dream of talking About Christmas, like off the cuff.
- [09:44]
B
There's got to be a reason for it.
- [09:46]
A
Oh, let me tell you something. Well, now that I have a. Now that I have a tween the Christmas lists that are coming through this house. Also she's a December birthday and so it's just a lot of like, you know, the. I have to have this exact thing, this exact sweatshirt.
- [10:05]
B
Do you remember these exact scenes? Gave her jeans.
- [10:09]
A
You ever thought about it? In the shower this morning, my friend.
- [10:12]
B
So everybody when a little romance but Sarah's karma Brooklyn started middle school. I. I was like, you're going to middle school. Here's a birthday present is I will buy you some item of clothing that your mother is gonna be like, you gotta be fucking kidding me. Yep.
- [10:34]
A
You know what? There is a thing. Jen, I'm ready. I should send you the link right now. And then it should turn up from you.
- [10:40]
B
Exactly. Because I was like, there is going to be a thing that you must have and your mother is going to.
- [10:46]
A
Be like, no, you absolutely do not need that.
- [10:49]
B
You do not need it. And I am not spending my hard earned dollars on it. And I will spend my hard earned dollars on it.
- [10:55]
A
Tremendous. What a good friend.
- [10:56]
B
What a good friend. Because I knew. I've been a middle school teacher for a long time.
- [10:59]
A
I know. Well, I have questions. Anyway, that is that, that is the banter for the day because. Okay, but here's the deal. Every year we do this holiday episode. I'm always looking forward to it, but you can't really prep in advance for the holiday episode because the books don't come out. The new books at least don't come out until October. Maybe like sometimes November. Sometimes. I have a bone to pick with somebody. We'll get to it. Not till December 1st. Which is too late for a holiday romance.
- [11:32]
B
Exactly.
- [11:34]
A
Anyway, the point is that. What is the point?
- [11:38]
B
Even if you could get them early, which like you and I could like as arts. You're not ready. You don't want to do it.
- [11:44]
A
I don't want to read a snowed in romance featuring Santa Claus.
- [11:51]
B
No. When it's like hot outside and your air conditioning's on.
- [11:54]
A
That's a no.
- [11:55]
B
Ridiculous. I'm honestly not even sure, like if you are like living in Phoenix right now laughing your ass off at this. I just want you to know I just feel deeply confused by how it could be that sunny on Christmas day. I mean, I support you. I'm sure it's very nice, but we.
- [12:13]
A
I mean, I think even in Phoenix people are like I get it. You want the, you know.
- [12:18]
B
Sure.
- [12:19]
A
Dreaming of a White Christmas thing. In fact, that song, I believe, was written in Phoenix.
- [12:25]
B
Fascinating.
- [12:26]
A
Yeah, I'm gonna find that and put it in show notes, everybody. But I know. I think I know this because somebody. I was at the place where it was written.
- [12:34]
B
Well, Mr. Reid's romance when he was little was like, why does it always have to be a white Christmas?
- [12:43]
A
I'm very proud because I read a bunch of books that. By people I. In fact, I believe all but one of them. Well, no, I guess two of them are by people I've never read before. So these are new to me, authors as well as new books. I actually have quite a few of.
- [13:00]
B
Those too, now that I think about it.
- [13:01]
A
Yeah. And I had a great time, as always, because here's what I want from a holiday. Holiday romance. And listen, we've done mult. Every year we do a holiday episode.
- [13:10]
B
Now I will say once again, this year, everybody, like, we're saying holiday, but.
- [13:14]
A
I'm gonna tell you, like, mine are like, mostly Christmas.
- [13:17]
B
Mostly Christmas.
- [13:19]
A
It's true. Sorry, I have one that is not.
- [13:22]
B
Me too.
- [13:23]
A
Yeah. I mean, that's the problem.
- [13:25]
B
Sure. So I'm just wanting to. Saying. And sometimes I do feel like it's a bit of a bait and switch. Like, so we're basically doing it. Gonna do a Christmas episode with a couple that are not Christmas.
- [13:34]
A
Yeah.
- [13:35]
B
So it's not really. Some years I think it's easier than others.
- [13:38]
A
Or there's been episodes where there are all sorts of things.
- [13:43]
B
Yeah. But this year was tough. Like they really all came through delivering Christmas. Yep. We.
- [13:50]
A
Traditionally.
- [13:54]
B
Yeah. We do one of these episodes every.
- [13:56]
A
We do one every year, so. And there will be links to all of the past episodes in show notes. So you can go back and look. Largely we don't repeat. Although I do always discuss the same exact Christmas novella anthology from my youth, which is called A Gift of Love. And you can find that on ebay, not anywhere else. So this year I am excited because I actually have, like. I have some weird. Some like books I did not expect. We did an episode one year where we talked about Santa. Just Santa. Like, Santa is the hero. And I still think that is the most fun one that we've done.
- [14:39]
B
Probably. Yeah, we get.
- [14:40]
A
We get close. We get close.
- [14:41]
B
On the other ears, this week's episode of Faded Mates is brought to you by Ginny B. Moore, author of how the Rogue Stole Christmas.
- [14:51]
A
I love. An estranged couple comes back together at Christmas for family reasons in a historical and that is exactly what this is. So, Lady Lily Marshall is quite lonely. She has spent the last eight years alone on Christmas. And this year she has decided that she is going to go visit her family on their family estate and take a welcome reprieve from her solitary life. Because she knows that her husband, who has disappeared, left after their wedding night eight years earlier, is certainly not going to turn up. Jen, because he's busy, you know, I don't know, doing whatever, be in cold storage forever as far as I'm concerned anyway, surprising all of us, including me, he does turn up on the family's doorstep this Christmas and Ginny is going to have. No, Lily is going to have to pretend their marriage is picture perfect to keep the holiday from turning into a disaster with her family, who she hasn't told any of this. For his part, Philip Marshall, the Earl of Whitby, has spent eight years battling demons that drove him away from the woman he loved on their wedding night.
- [16:05]
B
I guess.
- [16:06]
A
Fine. Philip finally strong enough to be the man she deserves. Though he realizes he's going to need a Christmas miracle to win her back. And maybe it's mistletoe or holiday magic. But soon the reasons they were driven apart seem less compelling than the passion pulling them together. And Lily is going to have to decide if she's going to pull Philip out of cold storage or leave him there forever.
- [16:29]
B
Amazing. So if you would like to find out what happens, you how cold is the cold storage? You can check out how the Rogue Stole Christmas. It's available in print or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited. And if you click on the chapter title right now, you can be taken to buy the book. Thanks to Ginny B. Moore for sponsoring this week's episode.
- [16:51]
A
But here's the thing. This. These are the things I want from a holiday romance. One, I want it to be quick.
- [16:58]
B
Yeah.
- [16:59]
A
Like I want to fly through it.
- [17:01]
B
Yes.
- [17:02]
A
And I will say I, I looked at a couple in the, you know, in the October, November, like early November, There were like 500 pages and I immediately did not download them. So if you have a 500 page Christmas or holiday romance that you love, feel free to recommend it in all of, on all of our social media. But I don't want that because I want something that like after I've cleaned the kitchen for the 43rd time, I can like creep up into my bed and read a full on sexy romance in a tower.
- [17:39]
B
Yeah.
- [17:41]
A
So that is a, that is a demand for me. What else do I want?
- [17:48]
B
What do you want? I Guess I would say, like, the best ones to me are the ones that are super memorable are always about some sort of reckoning. Something's not right in my life or with my family. I feel like this is more in the like, line of what's that movie? It's a Wonderful Life. I always feel like I am kind of maybe drawn to those where it's like something's not quite right in my life and I gotta fix it because.
- [18:12]
A
This holiday is gonna fix it for us. Yes. Because I think then that goes kind of hand in hand with something like one of these characters has to feel alone in some way.
- [18:27]
B
Yes.
- [18:28]
A
This is because media has really sold us a false bill of goods on Christmas, which is they've sold us a.
- [18:37]
B
False bill of goods on a lot of things.
- [18:39]
A
Well, today.
- [18:40]
B
Get in line, lonely man of Christmas.
- [18:41]
A
Today I would like to, because here's the deal. We have spent our entire life watching media that is about, you know, holiday stuff. And I think of this all the time, actually, right around Thanksgiving, when I think about, in my opinion, you would be hard pressed to find better Thanksgiving episodes of television than the Friends Thanksgiving episodes. And I think even if you don't like the show, like, they are sort of empirically funny, you can sort of drop into them without fully knowing anything. And they're just like, they're very funny. And part of the reason why they're funny is because they are kind of bottle episodes in the sense that like all the characters are stuck together at Thanksgiving and they usually do. They sort of wave it away with like, oh, there was like snow and they couldn't take their, they couldn't fly anywhere. Or like some of them are just like home, like in their apartment or whatever. But the truth is that across all, all forms of media that sort of Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year's media all feels like these people don't have annoying family to go home to.
- [19:57]
B
Right.
- [19:57]
A
They're all like, either alone or with their friends or, you know. So I think that in my head then once you get to be a grown up in the real world, you realize like, oh, you don't actually get to do this with, you know, your friends or, you know, you don't get to like, choose to stay home under your, like on your couch watching TV on Christmas. Like, often you're sort of required to travel somewhere, be somewhere like, do something with family. And that feels like a burden in a very different way. Romance on. On the. Over the holidays, like romance in holiday season often kind of waves away that family issue.
- [20:46]
B
Yeah. Agree.
- [20:48]
A
I think I have. Now, I would say this is particularly true for white romance. Like, you know, a certain kind of white romance does this. Like where they wave away community. Sure. Cis het romance does this, but I think that it's a. It's a certainly part of it. Like, I want the character to be alone or at least one of them.
- [21:12]
B
All right. So, yeah, I would say that's what I want. Also. I kind of want it to be sexy. I mean, I read a couple that weren't like, super sexy.
- [21:19]
A
Same.
- [21:20]
B
I really like it when it leans pretty hard into, like setting. So. And I guess what I mean by that is like, I don't know, like these are to me, like, the better, the more specific the book is about the place it is in and like, maybe like potentially regional variations or like whatever. Right. Like whatever the way that place is that celebrates Christmas. Kind of like, the better I like them. It just feels very. I don't know, like I. I want them to feel really, like, rooted in like, our reality of like, what Christmas in America is like or wherever it is. Right. Maybe that comes from that movie, the Holiday.
- [22:02]
A
I think that's true too.
- [22:03]
B
Right?
- [22:03]
A
Yes.
- [22:04]
B
I love that movie.
- [22:05]
A
That's great. I feel the same way. I really want them to be sexy and that is sort of hand in hand with the characters. Have to be sort of alone because they can't be like boning all over their parents house.
- [22:17]
B
Right, Exactly.
- [22:18]
A
That's not sexy.
- [22:20]
B
No. Terrifying. Nobody wants that.
- [22:24]
A
Or like boning with like the hot single dad next door while their parents are in their house. Like, that's not great either. Like if your parents are on page, it just makes it difficult for there.
- [22:35]
B
To be, you know. I think that's correct. Yes.
- [22:38]
A
But before we get into the list, Jen, there is one thing that I want to say because we do have housekeeping that we didn't get to at the beginning of the episode. And that is last week's episode, as you all know, was the best of the year episode. We named our 10 sort of favorite books of the year. We were very excited to do so. And as always, we have a great independent bookstore who is jumped in to sell a book box of eight of the ten selections. That bookstore is Pocketbooks in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. And you can get eight of the ten best of the year romances that we put on the list right now from Pocket. You can still order in advance of holiday delivery this week and you can head to fatedmates.netbookbox to be taken directly to Pocketbooks to purchase that Box. Or knowing Eric right now, if your podcasting app supports it, you can click on the chapter title and it'll go straight there. So we just want to shout out Pocketbooks. As always, Jen and I and the Faded Mates team does not. We are. We do not make any money on this. This is literally pocket. Just being jazzed about having great romances to promote. Also, if you go to that page, you'll see they have their favorite books of the year on that page. You can select additional books to go in your box if you want to add. My books are all there, too. If you, you know, want to throw in some Sarah Maclean novels, these boxes make great gifts for you. So if you have somebody in your life who's like, please send me the gift you want this year.
- [24:15]
B
Right. Let them know about this.
- [24:17]
A
This is great. And for 25% off, honestly, I did the math the other day in my head, and I was like, wait a second. This is a great deal. Um, I just don't know that you could find eight romances of all different trim sizes. Like tradition. There are trade papers. There are mass markets.
- [24:35]
B
There's a hardcover.
- [24:36]
A
There's a hardcover in there. I just don't think you could do it for the same amount anywhere else. So thanks to everybody at pocketbooks. Again, that is faded mates.bookbox to be taken directly there and to buy the book. And that is our housekeeping.
- [24:54]
B
Yeah. And Also there's a fatedmates.netbestof page that has all of our best of books for the past, like, since we started doing it. And that's a really fun page to look at, too, just to see, like, in case you're like, hey, I'm looking for, you know, great romance myself to read. So, you know, that's like, basically at this point, 70 books that we are like, you know, read these, and you're gonna have a great time. So, okay, I am going to start with Anne of Avenue A by Audrey Bellezza and Emily Harding. And everybody. This is the third in a series. I guess they're retellings of Jane Austen books. That's simply not my business. But this. This book, you know what? It. This is what made me say I, like, really wanted to be rooted in place. So in this book, it's just like, very much like, it's very New York. Okay. And so in. What happens in this book is it starts off with our two main characters who are Anne, obviously, and her boyfriend Freddie. And they are, like, students at nyu, and she comes from, like, our. It's really Interesting. She comes from a wealthy family. Her mom wants her to get an mba. Ann is a senior and Freddie is a junior. And he has, like, all these, like. He's been like, it's like, so goofy. I was super into it. He has, like, put together a, like, hydroponic system in his, like, parents, you know, basement in Queens. And he has a chance to go to Argentina to do essentially, like, like some sort of, you know, work in this area, right. Like, for his senior year. And he's like, this is great. Anne can come with me because she'll have graduated and we can, like, move to Argentina. And she has not told him that she's been accepted at Columbia for her mba. And so she realizes that he will turn down this, like, once in a lifetime opportunity and, like, stay with her instead. So she breaks up with him. And then, like, that's kind of the end of the introduction. And then it's, you know, 10 years later. Now they're both in their, like, late, you know, like almost 30. And what we would expect is that Ann is going to be the one who's like, you know, some investment banker or whatever, and that Freddie is going to be the one who's like, you know, like, you know, he's like, wanted to work for an ngo. Like, he's going to have nothing. And in fact, the opposite is true. Anne was super miserable. She ended up working for her father on his reality TV show. And she's basically been like, saving him from financial disasters for the past 10 years. And it's. Her mom was the one with all the money. And they divorced essentially right around the time Ann graduated from college. And Freddy's, like, invention ended up being, like, this huge thing. And he's like. Has traveled all over the world and he's just sold his company essentially. And so now he's basically like, I'm rich and have nothing to do, but I want to move back to New York. And, like, through a series of machinations, he ends up buying the apartment that Anne grew up in that her dad has to sell essentially to, like, you know, kind of make ends meet. Right? It's a long story. So basically, like, Freddie is moving into her childhood apartment on Avenue A, and they run into each other in the building. She's gonna, like, sublet in the building with kind of like a ditzy friend for a while, figure out what she's gonna do. And it's really a beautiful story. Like, I really loved it. Like, basically Freddie's like, I can't get involved with her Again, she broke my heart. And she's like, I'm so humiliate, embarrassed that I am kind of this deadbeat who can barely pay for rent when I want to, you know, have an MBA from Columbia. Right. Like. And so these two then sort of gradually become closer and closer. I think it's beautifully done. And it just like, was so Christmassy, you know what I mean? Like, there is the literal scene, this is why I started here, of her, like dragging. Trying to drag the Christmas tree into this apartment.
- [29:14]
A
Yeah.
- [29:14]
B
You know, and it was, it was just really great. So I thought it was. And this is, by the way, everybody, it's like, I would say if you're like looking for a book, it's not like super sexy. Like, there is some on page sex, but it's not like a real, like, you know, banger of a book. And so if you were like, I'm looking for a great read. I'm like looking for something I could give, like, you know, a friend who loves Jane Austen but, like, is kind of questioning romance or whatever. It's like one of those books that is so perfect. It's like a perfect on ramp to romance if you have a friend who is maybe like romance questioning. But I tore through it. I had a great time reading it. So, yeah, it's super, super fun. Very New Yorky. Like, very fun. And apparently you meet some of the friends that I think were the characters from the first two books and I was like, oh, I should read those. So that's Anne of Avenue A. I loved it.
- [30:10]
A
I think they're great. They also wrote a short story in the Ladies in Waiting anthology.
- [30:16]
B
Did they both or did just one of them.
- [30:18]
A
No, it was both of them together. And so it was. It's very fun. And they had, you know, I think that their love of Jane Austen really rings true in all of their books.
- [30:30]
B
I knew nothing about any of that, but I had a great time.
- [30:34]
A
This week's episode of Fated Mates is sponsored by Jenny Alexandra, author of Santa Cutie.
- [30:42]
B
Okay, so this is a really cute story written by fellow Ohioans. So I, you know, just want to support. O H I O. So Melody Whitaker doesn't just love Christmas, she worships it. And she has basically this year she is going all in. She's got thousands of twinkle lights, a storage unit full of trees. Maybe I can borrow one from Melody. And more sparkle than a Hallmark Christmas movie marathon. And determined to really, like, spread the good cheer, she's also volunteered to sign up to play Mrs. Claus at a local nursing home until she meets Eben. He is brooding, grumpy, and a Christmas hating, okay, fine, hottie. But she can't stop flirting with him even though he is just so surly all the time. Anyway, she when the nursing home pageant goes, oh, horribly wrong, Melody and Eben are left wondering if they can get into the Christmas tree spirit and save the season. And maybe she could even thaw Evan's a frosty heart.
- [31:42]
A
Oh well, if you love a holiday romance, which of course you do, because you're listening to this episode with a little bit of grumpy sunshine and a little bit of force proximity and found family, then Santa Cutie just might be for you. You can get it right now in print, ebook or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited. And if your podcasting app supports it, you can click on the chap title right now to be taken to buy the book. Thanks to Jenny Alexandra for sponsoring this week's episode. Okay, so I read a new to me, but clearly not new to I don't know, I guess probably TikTok author named Carissa Kinward and she wrote a book called Christmas in Coconut Creek. It begins on a plane. And as you all know, you're a favorite. I really love it when something begins on a plane. Does it begin on a plane? It begins like kind of on the. On the gangway to the plane.
- [32:43]
B
The Jetway, Sarah, is it not the gangway?
- [32:46]
A
That's a pirate ship.
- [32:47]
B
Correct? You know my mom worked for United Airlines, right? Did I say that? Yeah, I do know that. It's the jet way.
- [32:54]
A
Well, I mean, that's fine, but in my head, all pilots are pirates.
- [33:00]
B
Sure.
- [33:01]
A
Okay. It just, it's just, it just dials it up a notch. So. Okay, anyway, we have our heroine, Ophis. Ophelia Brody. And Ophelia is a elementary school teacher from Colorado who is the child of divorce and the only child of like her parents. And so the holidays are genuinely fraught for her always because it's like, is she gonna go be with like she has five half siblings they're into with in two separate families and it just feels chaotic. And this year she's decided she is done with all of that. She's going to take a year off from family and she's going to go visit her best friend who lives in Florida who is like wildly happy with a new boyfriend and but like this is one of those classic romance novel best friends who's like just pure chaos. So as Ophelia is getting onto the plane she is on, you know, Whatever. Carissa Kenworth's version of Hinge and just like swiping on, you know, whatever men are around, like for fun, not for like seriousness. I guess this is. She's playing Tinder, as I used to refer to it. And. And she finds this guy. She like swipes right on some guy and then she gets in onto the plane, she sits down, she buckles herself in and she is sent a notification that there's been a match. And she opens it up and there is this man. And he's like mid. Like he's attractive but like she's not really impressed by any of his pictures. And like, you know, there's a lot about him that's ah. She's not sure. And she zooms in on one of the pictures to check him out. To check out his, you know.
- [34:45]
B
Sure.
- [34:45]
A
Business heated rivalry style. And he. And then there's a throat clearing above her and the man who is about to sit down in the road is the said man. And he says it's better in person. And it's fucking. I know, it's so. So listen then. So I of course was instantly in. I was like, are these two gonna fuck on an airplane? They did not fuck on the airplane in the beginning. And that's okay. That's okay. They had lots of like banter on the airplane. They get there and basically at the end like they've. So they're kind of like, their banter is like really, you know, they're not. They're kind of mean to each other. Like it's good banter in the sense that like they're not instantly sort of. Oh my God, you're the greatest. It's very sort of tense. And at the end she sort of jokes that they've been on this like three and a half hour date. She says, you know, if you, you know, if you want to have another, you know how to find me on like through the DMs on this app.
- [35:52]
B
Yeah.
- [35:52]
A
And he's like, yeah, you too. And then they separate because her best friend has picked her up from the airport. And she tells her best friend the whole story and then is like. And she's like, well, show me pictures. And she goes to show her his thing and he's unmatched her.
- [36:08]
B
Oh, what?
- [36:10]
A
Right, terrible. So then of course she gets home, Jen. And the best friend's boyfriend has a roommate and his roommate is the ex fighter pilot from the plane.
- [36:27]
B
Yeah.
- [36:28]
A
Okay. So now in person, then this becomes a really like there's. It's really a Straight down the middle, like, rom com. And it. It's funny. There's, you know, there are. There are like, kind of. There's all sorts of, like, you know, there's dirty jokes in it. There's a kind of. There's this real sense of, like, these two characters are kind of thrown together again and again by their friends who are a couple from the next book in the series, which I have already downloaded. And. But one of the things that I think. So, two things I want to say. One, Frankie the hero is a smoking hot dirty talker. And so there is just, like, a lot of, like, really sexy. Like, their interactions are very, very humid. Like, there is. They can't. They don't sleep together right away. And so there's just a lot of like, like kissing and touching. And he's talking. He's, like, talking to her a lot. And then he. There are these dirty texts that they share that they send back and forth. And, like, this is the kind of. It's. I would not call this a slow burn in any way, but this is the kind of I want if they're not going to hop into bed together.
- [37:44]
B
Yeah. Yeah.
- [37:45]
A
Also, I would say this is like, traditionally a book that I would not necessarily be drawn to because, like, they are really right for you. Like, they're cool people who are, like, cool together, but there are all these, like, little ways that it wouldn't work for them, aside from, you know, the logistics of the distance. It's also like, you know, is he really ready? And they ultimately, about halfway through, they make a deal where he's kind of, like, been through a very bad relationship, and he's like, I want to be able to do this again. Like, really, like, be able to give to a relationship.
- [38:17]
B
Well.
- [38:18]
A
And so she's like, well, what if, like, we date while I'm here for two weeks and I'll show you, like, how dating should be. And he's like, cool. And I'll show you how you should just come a whole lot. Like, when you're with men, that seems nice. And it's a great trade. It's a really nice trade off. They fall for each other. It's not a, like, complicated romance novel. It just is like, go. This is probably also what I want from a holiday romance. Yes. It goes down easy.
- [38:49]
B
Yes.
- [38:50]
A
And, like, it's. He is. It's very, very sexy. So that is Carissa Kinward's Christmas in Coconut Creek. And I'll tell you, I have not read the second book, but the one of the like, kind of surprises over the course of this book is that the best friend and her boyfriend are onlyfans. Like, they have an onlyfans channel where they, like, do sexy stuff, you know, dress up like Santa and Mrs. Claus and, like, fuck, that's hilarious and wonderful. And they have the next book in the series, which is when they're getting married. It's their wedding, and, like, their family comes into play, and they realize, like, they've only ever had each other alone and, like, can they make it work with a larger community? And I think that's an interesting challenge for a romance. So I'm looking forward to reading that, too.
- [39:45]
B
That's awesome. So I'm gonna. You said elementary school teacher. So I'm going to read Mistletoe and Mishigas by Ma Wardell now, everybody. This feels great. If you are on our Discord, there's, like, a, you know, extra episode. And on the November one, we talked about, like, dialogue. And I was saying, like, one of the things I really think makes for good dialogue is, like, really great characterization. And so this book had me in stitches, like, kind of over and over again because of how funny Sheldon, who is one of our main characters is. So Sheldon is a first grade teacher who has been reassigned to another school essentially to alleviate overcrowding. So he is leaving one school and, like, going to another where there are two overcrowded first grade classrooms that are gonna become three. And it's like, in November, it's like, you know, like, kind of after Thanksgiving. So it's a strange time of year to start. He has to go to a new school, so he's, like, a little nervous about it. So he gets to his new school, and the classroom he's gonna be in isn't even really a class, and it's empty. And the principal, who is just like, this very nice man, is like, okay, Theo, our custodian will help you go downstairs and get, like, the furniture you're going to need for your classroom. Now, Sheldon is, like, you know, like, 150 pounds soaking wet. And, you know, he's in his skinny jeans and his, like, you know, sneakers. And, you know, he's really worried about, like, ruining his new fresh manicure. And. Right. Like, he is just very confident and in himself. And I think this is particularly interesting because Theo, who is the custodian, is like, the love interest. And, you know, everybody assumes Theo straight because he's kind of like this big, burly guy. And in fact, it's really funny when Sheldon, for Sheldon, is just like, A talker. Now I was dragged to hell and back by Theo, who basically at one point is like, he's a talker. Most teachers are. And I was like, shut up, Theo. Fuck. Right? But like, Sheldon basically calls him sick and juicy, right? And like, and then there's. So they're down in this like, storage room trying to get like the furniture and there's this huge stack of chairs. And Sheldon is just like not very good at like thinking things through. And he goes to like sort of grab one from the middle of the stack. And Theo's like, top. And Sheldon's like, how rude. And it's not even true. Honestly, Sarah, I just was so delighted by this book. Now it turns out that Theo is like the strong silent type. He was in the military and was injured and then like sort of had to, you know, leave. Sorry, I don't know, like the right words to say. But what was really interesting to me about this. Okay, right. So we have, now we have an openly gay first grade teacher and Theo was in the military at the tail end of Don't, Don't Ask, Don't Tell. And I just thought like this book was doing such really interesting things about just how quickly society had sort of like changed and embraced queer people. And I just, as I read these books, of course I was like really delighted by their romance, which essentially Sheldon's ex boyfriend is getting married at Christmas and that was always like their holiday. And Sheldon's really hurt by it because they broke up. And you know, now this guy's getting married at Christmas. And so we asked Theo to be his date. And in exchange, Theo's parents come every year for Hanukkah. And he has asked Sheldon to essentially pretend to be his boyfriend to just like keep his mom off his back. Back now. It's great. It's just so charming. I had, I laughed out loud lots of times reading it. Just like really funny. I mean, Sheldon is just like, non stop talk, non stop talk, self talk, talking outside. And at one point they're out on the state to like see like the zoo lights. And Theo's just like, stop talking. And Sheldon's like, really hurt. But then like, I don't know, they figure it out. It's great. I loved it. But I also, like I said I thought it was just doing really interesting work around essentially like queer identities. What it means to be a gay man in America, how quickly those things have changed, right? Like, Theo's older, right? Sheldon's younger. Their comfort with who they are and what that looks like, so it was just like everything you would really want in holiday romance. Theo was our like our grumpy loner and yet he is the one who like breaks through to a really troubled like boy in, in Sheldon's class. It was awesome and like fucking funny as hell. Like that top joke. I really did laugh. So anyway, and Ma Wardell, if you have never read one of his books, super sexy. So this really just every single thing you could want out of a holiday romance you will get from this book. So I loved it.
- [45:09]
A
You talked about family and I want to talk about a book that I have not read because I have a bone to pick with Amazon Publishing.
- [45:16]
B
All right, here we go.
- [45:16]
A
Sorry Amazon.
- [45:18]
B
They're fine as you.
- [45:19]
A
They're not listening. As you all know, I'm obsessed with Uzma Jalaluddin. Like, I think she is one of the best of us. And she has a book out with the Mindy Kaling imprint at Amazon called Yours for the Season and it is not published. I just realized today that it is actually available on Kindle First Reads, but it is not published in paperback until December 1st. And I have of course pre ordered it because I see above about my feelings for Ousma. And so I was very upset that it like I literally last week was like, where is that book? I know I ordered it and the.
- [46:02]
B
Same place my dictionary is Sarah coming.
- [46:05]
A
Next week from Merriam Webster and Mindy Kalingster. Anyway, so I, I haven't read this, but I'm going to tell you that like I, I fully intend to read it like the moment I unwrap the package. And this is because Jen, if you have, I'm just gonna tell you about this book and you're gonna be like, oh, Uzma just sat down and wrote a book for Sarah. For Sarah, the heroine is an ambitious attorney. The hero is a rising star chef. And listen by usma. They meet at a holiday party. They are neither of them looking for romance, but they are. He is like hustling to become more of a star in social media. And like, or rather he's hustling to turn his social media stardom into a real career. Despite his. His family thinking like, you being a chef is a nonsense job. And they like have a really lovely like first little time together. And she that one of his posts like featuring her makes him go viral because his followers start to think like, oh, they're dating. Like, he has a girlfriend. And Samira is like a very, very, like a very driven attorney looking to like make partner. I think in her firm. And the problem is that so what they decide what happens is when he goes viral, some like a wealthy client comes to the firm and says, I want her to work on my project. And this is like a huge thing for Samira's career. And so they decide they're going to fake a relationship for the benefit of both of them. The problem is, is her very Muslim parent insist on meeting Tom's very not Muslim family over Christmas in rural Alaska.
- [47:56]
B
Sure.
- [47:56]
A
And so it's just like a cross cultural, like misunderstandings, hijinks, a culture clash as the sort of trading in holiday traditions. And Samira and Tom are realizing that they're falling in love because it's Oozma and I can't wait. And I'm so excited. And so while I haven't read this one, I'm going to recommend it anyway because I know she's she very likely. I mean, she definitely knocks out of the park. So that's yours for the season by Uzma Jalaluddin, which you can get right now on Kindle 1st and December. Well, actually, yeah. And then on December 1st.
- [48:32]
B
Right.
- [48:33]
A
You can pre order it like I did and get it on December 1st.
- [48:40]
B
This week's episode of Fated Mates is brought to you by Laquette, author of the King's Pregnancy Proposition.
- [48:47]
A
I love a king who needs to secure the line of succession and then ends up down bad with feelings.
- [48:54]
B
Me too.
- [48:55]
A
Okay, this is the second in Laquette's Crowning a Devereaux series. And Regina Devereaux, who is a businesswoman, knows that she absolutely cannot become entangled with Alexandros, who is the tortured, feelingless king of Obsidian island, infamously cold and steely and rigid, and also a man who she's had one night of pretty intense passion with, but she is pretty stunned when he turns up and says, hey, I will help you with your business and make it so that you are a queen in the business world if you meet me at the altar, become my queen in real life and have my baby. So this all sounds shocking to Regina, but also, Alex has a big plan, which is this is going to be a marriage of convenience. I don't ever have to feel another feeling. This woman has, like rocked my world in bed, but I never have to know her or love her outside of bed. Problem is, the wedding night does even more and he is just unable to deal with the idea of never touching this woman again. And also, lucky for both of them, she's not even pregnant yet.
- [50:14]
B
So obsessed he's gonna be Great. All right, so if you would like to check out the King's Pregnancy Proposition, it is available in print, e or audio. And if your podcasting app supports it, you can click on the chapter title right now to be taken to buy the book. Thanks to Laquette for sponsoring this week's episode. The Holiday Hookup List by Alexis Daria is like a Montlake romance, right? So it's essentially in this little. Right. Like, they do, I think, a great job with these. I don't know, like, it's like, it's. It's Christmas. Here's a bunch of, like, you know, romance authors you love or whatever writing about the season. So in the holiday Hookup list, which is really fun also, I think really hits the, like, short. It's probably 200 pages. I read it really fast. Fast. Valencia and Gideon were essentially, like, high school rivals slash enemies. And now they're both lawyers. She's like an environmental lawyer, and he's. I don't know. I'm not gonna get those details right. Like a bad lawyer. No, I'm kidding. I'm sure he's fine. So she. She finds out that her boyfriend or fiance is. Has been cheating on her, and he's like one of these dirt bags who's basically, like, blaming it her on how hard she. And she's just so pissed. And so her bestie Fearne, invites her. Like, they are gonna go, like, essentially out to almost like, a rave. And they are gonna. And, you know, they're also, like, in their late 20s. It's been like, 10 years since they graduated from law school or something or, I don't know, high school maybe. So they are gonna go out to this rave and, like. And Valencia's like, hell, yeah, I'm gonna go out and, like, dance the night away. And instead, she runs into Gideon, who is basically like, this is great. I can apologize to her for being a dick back in high school. And it turns out they have amazing chemistry. And Valencia's like, you know what? Let's go. So she invites him back to her apartment, and they are gonna have essentially, she's like, yeah, we'll just have this one night stand. But when he really does apologize and listen, the sex is great. Like, this book is like, like, wild sex. And it's fantastic. So when Gideon apologizes for, you know, like, his past behavior and sort of explains what had been going on in his life, they decide. And that they decide to essentially, like, have what? Like, make a list together of all of the fun things they want to do and it's like. Because there's like 12 nights till Christmas and one of the lists is like fun things around the city and the other list is like sex stuff they want to try. And the only deal is this part I loved. Whatever it is that goes on the sex list, they both have to be like giver and receiver. Oh, right. She's not like you're not like if, if it's anal, guess what? I'm pegging you. Like, I'm just gonna be really like. Right. Terrific. Working.
- [53:24]
A
Does that happen?
- [53:27]
B
I read this while I don't remember, but I do remember it being really sexy. Maybe it's just about plugs. Anyway, so they have a really great time and it's really sexy. Right? And it's just like a real fun holiday romp, you know? And it's. It's not like. It's not like you get super invested in what happened in their past. And it's not, you know, it's just them essentially like as. And I think the brilliance of the conceit here is it's not just like a. A sex to do list. It' also a like let's go and do stuff around the city list. And so this is how they really get to know each other as people again, not just as like sort of high school rivals. So it's really, really fun. It's really, really sexy. And it's just like a. A quick, fast read. What? Exactly what you're going to be looking for.
- [54:17]
A
Perfect.
- [54:18]
B
That's the Holiday Hookup list by Alexis Daria.
- [54:21]
A
Alexis is so good at toys and sex that it.
- [54:25]
B
It. I know, exactly.
- [54:26]
A
That's going to be a great read. Okay, I want to talk about Caroline Linden, who I feel is somebody who, whenever I'm thinking of like something, I just want like a really straight down the middle, like delicious romance that also is quick. Caroline is often my go to person, so Caroline writes historicals largely. And this book, Make My Wish Come True is brand new. It came out the end of October and it is a very short Christmas novella about. And it's set. It's a road trip. Guinevere, our heroine, things have happened. Her grandmother is ailing. She is a maid. She's a governess in a big house in. In England. And she asks for two weeks at Christmas to go home and be with her ailing grandmother, who is the person who raised her with the understanding that like she's received word that this lady is dying. Right. Although we all know what happens to dying people at Christmas, so. Miracles. Christmas miracles.
- [55:40]
B
I was like, an angel gets its wings.
- [55:42]
A
I don't know. Not in real life, unfortunately, but in. In a.
- [55:45]
B
In.
- [55:46]
A
In romance life. So anyway, when she asks for these two weeks off, her terrible boss is like, no, if you need two weeks off to see your grandmother, you better just head out, pack in.
- [55:58]
B
Wow.
- [55:59]
A
And while we're at it, I'm not going to pay you for the wages.
- [56:03]
B
That I owe you.
- [56:04]
A
Like, man. And so this lady steals a cat from the stable because she's like. Like, you, I'm taking your cat.
- [56:14]
B
Listen, I like it already. Yeah.
- [56:16]
A
And puts the cat in a basket and heads to catch the stagecoach to go home. And of course, she shows up and she's missed it, and she has no money. She has, like. The only amount of money that she has is the amount of money it will cost for the stagecoach, like, to the penny.
- [56:34]
B
That's it, right.
- [56:36]
A
And so she basically says to the innkeeper, like, can I spend the night inside? And the innkeeper is like, sure, you can sleep on a pallet in the kitchen, but only because, you know, I'm being extra kind today. And she's, like, kind of in a bad place. And then this handsome man in the inn sends her soup and then sends her, I don't know, a sandwich. And suddenly she's like, oh, like, here's this handsome man who's doing this. And she's a little bit like, what am I have to do if I eat this soup? And he's like, no, no, no. Like, I just saw you and I know that you could use some food. Like, enjoy yourself. I don't want to talk. Like, goodbye. And then he, like, leaves and he immediately. And she thinks, oh, he was very handsome. Like, that's too bad that he left. And then he comes back in and he's like, actually, you know, there's a room down the road and it's owned by the, like, parson. Like, the parson's cottage has a room in it, and would you like to come with me? And so they go in a sleigh, which is so sexy.
- [57:48]
B
I love it.
- [57:49]
A
Down the road to this Parsons cottage, and they have to pretend to be husband and wife, because this is a man of the cloth, Jen.
- [57:59]
B
Sure, of course.
- [58:00]
A
And so he puts them, like, in a room that only has one bed. And, like, what are two handsome people to do? And so Captain Fitzhugh, who is running home to his own dying grandfather and dusty from war in Spain, and Guinevere end up, like, kind of together on this, like, sexy road trip where they, like, kind of are falling for each other. And then he sort of dumps her unceremoniously, like, at her grandmother's house and, like, heads off. And she goes in and she's like, I. There was this man, and it turns out he's heir to the, like, earldom or the VI county, of course. And it's. Then she's like, well, I'm just a governess. Like, I can't be a, you know, lady of title. And everybody's just like, oh, it's just so, like, classic. And it's like a classic romance. Like, everything that happens feels. Feels classically romance novel y. It is very short. Like, do I wish it had had another 150 pages? Yes, because it was just charming. And Caroline knows how to write a.
- [59:11]
B
Book that's so fun.
- [59:12]
A
So that is make my wish come true. It has a sleigh. I love a romance with a sleigh. There aren't enough of them.
- [59:20]
B
Sometimes I do like a novella. Like, I'm just like, Christmas is for novellas. You know?
- [59:25]
A
That's what I mean. Yeah. You want it to be just like a. A tight hundred pages. Right?
- [59:30]
B
Like, just keep it tight.
- [59:31]
A
That's what he said.
- [59:32]
B
That's what he said. Okay, I'm gonna combine two together to, like, squeeze them in. And they're two Harlequin Presents.
- [59:40]
A
Okay.
- [59:41]
B
So one is called Claiming His Christmas Wife by Danny Collins. Because, listen, you know, if you want to read something just, like, short impact and really good, like, a Harlequin Presents is great. And for sure there's gonna be a bunch of, like, holiday ones. This might actually be from last year, but I read it this year here. So in this one, Travis is, like, you know, a billionaire, and his ex wife is named Imagin. And he gets a call that she has been hospitalized. And the only reason they knew to call him is because, like, this was, like, the only piece of identification in her bag or whatever, like, named him. Well, it turns out that she essentially, like, like passed out cold on, like, a New York street corner, right? Like, it was slushy. She, like, sat down and then, like, passed out. And they rushed her to the hospital. And she, of course, is like Sarah. Even though he's a billionaire, she has nothing. She is flat broke. And she knows that Travis hates her because he thinks that, like, essentially they have this whirlwind courtship where they, like, got together, got married a week later, and then divorced like, like two weeks after that. Like one of those. One of those things.
- [60:58]
A
And she.
- [60:58]
B
He thinks the Only reason that she did that was for his money. So he's basically like, how come you don't have any money? What happened? All the money you essentially extorted from me. And what he doesn't know is that she had used all the money trying to save her father's business. And her father is, like, a terrible person, right? Like, he basically, you know, there was like, this tragic situation where, you know, she was like the second daughter and the mom, you know, they had one child, and everyone doted on this child. And the mom's like, I want another one. And, you know, somehow this, you know, like the kind of dick bag father only a Harlequin Presents will give to you. And then, like, what I liked about it is, like, he's dead. No one's gonna try and, like, forgive him. There's no, like, redemption journey for him. He's just a terrible person. So Imogen had taken all this money to essentially try and save his business. And in doing so, he. He, like, had like a. Like a newspaper or something. And in doing so, like, ruined her own reputation as a journalist and, you know, just, like, threw all this bad money at, like, this problem. And her father wouldn't let her, like, make smart decisions. And now he's dead and the business is shuttered, and she has nothing except, like, Travis's name on a card in her wallet. Anyway, Travis puts her in a private hospital, and she wakes up and she's like, no, I can't be here. I've got nothing. And he's like, I'll pay the bills, you dummy. And then these two, like, have to, like, fake being back together because, like, the press gets wind of it, and he eventually figures out, like, the whole story and happily ever after. It was great. It was super over the top. Dramatic as only a Harlequin Presents can be.
- [62:46]
A
Amazing.
- [62:46]
B
Yes.
- [62:47]
A
That's so exciting.
- [62:48]
B
Yes. Here's a second one. Don't.
- [62:50]
A
I'm not going to.
- [62:51]
B
Don't go. Okay. A second Harlequin Presents. Same energy. It's called An Heir for Christmas by Caitlin Cruz. In this one. This one just came out. Hannah is the heroine. It opens with her. She lives in this, like, tiny little town in Italy, even though she's from Nebraska. Nebraska. And she is a single mother. And it turns out that the single mother, she's the child. Dominic Is the result of a one night stand where essentially she was the manager. She, like, grew up in Nebraska, but her whole family is just garbage and hates her. Again, why? We don't know. And they. She Went to New York and she worked for like this really fancy like restaurant and had a friend who she like sort of confided in that she thought the food wasn't that good. And the friend went to the tabloids. And so then the restaurant essentially calls her in and makes her work the whole weekend. No one will meet her at face. Like, no one will look her in the eyes. They all know. They're basically just torturing her to like give her like the shittiest weekend ever. And then they're gonna fire her. There's a really hot guy at the bar. So she goes home with him one night. They have the best sex ever. She was, was Harlequin Presents style a virgin?
- [64:05]
A
Of course she was.
- [64:07]
B
Of course. Right. And he disappears the next morning. She has no idea how to find him. Now it's three years later, she is the mother of their child. How is she supposed to find him and tell him? And her boss, she now works for this woman who, you know, bought a castle in Tuscany and has converted it to the hotel, has sold her hotel to someone else. And this guy is going to be Hannah's new boss. Boss. Sarah, who do you think it is?
- [64:33]
A
I mean, I know people who write Harlequin Presents have know the job.
- [64:38]
B
Yes, it's Anton Luca and it is the father of her child. But she's like, how can I tell him?
- [64:47]
A
How indeed? And that does feel like a reasonable question. When he's both. Your one night stand, you were a virgin and he's now your brother.
- [64:56]
B
Now meanwhile, he's the lonely cold son of itch. He also has a castle. There's like another one maybe, I'm not sure. And like, but it's like empty, right? And he was the sh. It turns out he owned the restaurant and he like right where she got fired from. He'd like come all the way across the world to fire her ass. And instead they have this great night of sex. And here's the best part.
- [65:16]
A
Wait, so wait, is she fired?
- [65:18]
B
No, because she's basically like, listen, I'm great at the job. We're just gonna pretend that didn't happen. He's like, okay, I'm guess so. He's just buying things. Cuz he's a bored rich man now. He doesn't. Sarah, he can't cook anymore.
- [65:33]
A
He's lost his love for cooking because of just feelings.
- [65:36]
B
Yes, at one point, at, there's like a lot of feelings that have to do with like the way he's raised and his siblings. But at one point, wait, I actually did. Wait, I have to actually read this exact thing to you because I was crying. It was literally so perfect. Perfect. So at one point he is basically like thinking about, like all of this, like, hot water he's in. Right? And all of this that's going on. He figures out that she has a child and is basically like, what the? And she's like, what do you mean, what the. I told you I was a virgin. How'd I end up pregnant? That's on you. It was amazing. Perfect.
- [66:11]
A
So anyway, you had one job, my dude.
- [66:14]
B
Exactly. Right? And so there's this great line where it's like, right. It was disorienting in every way or so. So he was pleased to enter the chapel. He's like, you got to get married. I want this child to have my name. Right. And have them all clustered together there at the ancient altar. Right. And then. Because that meant this was happening. So this is about. They're about to get married. He was sure that once it did, he would stop being victimized by all these feelings. Amazing. And she's like, you have everything in the world. Why can't you cook anymore? Why aren't you happy? She's like, let me tell you your life.
- [66:54]
A
And Amazing. Let me tell you your life. I'm telling you your life, pretty much.
- [67:01]
B
And he's like, you are right.
- [67:02]
A
She's like, I'm making you a steak.
- [67:04]
B
Yeah, pretty much. It was great. So that was an error for Christmas by Caitlin Cruz. So again, I had a great time.
- [67:10]
A
Caitlin Cruz also knows the job 100 job confirm.
- [67:15]
B
Yes. So those were two Harlequin presents. Both perfect.
- [67:22]
A
This week's episode of Faded Mates is sponsored by William Morrow, publishers of Olivia Dade's Second Chance Romance.
- [67:28]
B
This is the second book in Olivia's Harlot's Bay series. And we have Carl and Molly. They were really never together. There was a time right after high school when it looked like their friendship might transition to being something more. But instead, a foolish misunderstanding meant they never spoke again. Molly went to LA and got married. Carl bought a bakery and made a life for himself in Harlots Bay. The only connection the pair shared over the years is pretty painfully one sided. And that's that. Now divorced, Molly is the narrator of Carl's favorite audiobook monster romance series. So he just like, listens and is clinging to like, oh, this is like the only way he can have a piece of this. Like the one that got away.
- [68:11]
A
Really cute.
- [68:12]
B
It is cute. So Molly has still, you know, keeps in touch with Harlots Bay. And when she hears that Carl's obituary has run in the local paper, she's really overwhelmed by an unexpected wave of grief. She hops on the next flight to Maryland and finds Carl is very much alive, the victim of essentially just like a really cruel accident. So the pair reunite, cash out that mixed connection. But Molly isn't really ready to trust again. And Carl, on the other hand, is determined not to lose her a second time. So Molly, our cynical heroine, has to figure out if Carl, the cranky town curmudgeon, is one she is going to, like, find a second chance for.
- [68:57]
A
Well, you can read Second Chance Romance right now in print, ebook or audiobook. And if your podcasting app supports it, you can click on the chapter title to be taken to buy the book. Thanks so much to William Morrow and to Olivia Dates for sponsoring this week's episode. I have a Romantic suspense.
- [69:16]
B
Ish. Ooh, I love it.
- [69:18]
A
I know. It's like romantic suspense kind of sprinkled over the top.
- [69:24]
B
Like a, you know, like I like a, like sprinkled on a cookie.
- [69:28]
A
Exactly what my daughter refers to as razzle dazzle on a, on a, on a meal.
- [69:35]
B
Sure.
- [69:35]
A
Okay, here we go. This is called the Rescue by Julie Weaver. And it is the. It's like the prequel novella maybe of her Zulu CIA Intelligence Team.
- [69:52]
B
Sure.
- [69:53]
A
Series. Okay. Lily Hart. It's Christmas Eve, and Lily Hart is the only intelligence officer who doesn't have a family in the course on the New York desk of the CIA. And so because she's like a decent person, she is like, I will work tonight. The intelligent desk. Because, like, I mean, how intelligent do we have to be on Christmas Eve? Who can say problem is or no, not problem. Excellent turn of events is Dylan Fox, our field operative, who is like, like Cracker Jack, you know, ace, sure, Spy, whatever. Like the guy you send to, like, handle everything if you're the CIA, is in New York City and he is in a place where he needs an intelligence the intelligence desk to help him. Now, Dylan and Lily have had, like, flirtation, like, of sorts over the last three years. He whenever he, you know, needs anything from the intelligence desk when he's in New York, he calls and he asks for Lily and they've never met. And she knows what he looks like because she has access to, like, the CCTV cameras around the world. Sure. He does not know what she looks like. They have like a flirty banter where, like, they talk about all sorts of personal stuff. He always asks her what she's wearing and she's always wearing, like, some, like, dumb message T shirt, or, like, in this particular case, she's wearing, like, a very ugly Christmas sweater. And so this is. This is what they do. And she's like. She finds him super duper dreamy. Now the problem. So Dylan is on the case. He's trying to find this, like, international art thief, and he's, like, posing as a very, very wealthy, like. Like, art dealer. And he's in a gallery on Christmas Eve. And basically, he's like. He calls her, and he's like, I need you to get eyes on this man who's in the gallery, because I am pretty sure he is my thief. But I need confirmation from, like, you know, the computers.
- [72:13]
B
Sure.
- [72:14]
A
So she, you know, taps into all the cameras.
- [72:16]
B
Sarah and Jen talk. Spy.
- [72:18]
A
Exactly. She taps into all the computers. The computers, like, do a scan of this guy's face, and boom, Turns out bad news bears. Because he is not an art thief. He is a spy assassin from Germany. And so she's like, oh, Dylan. And, like, first they have this, like, cute bantery thing while she's doing all this, and then she's like, oh, Dylan. Like, this guy's a baddie. And bad news, because Dylan's phone drops the call right as she's like, he's. Maddie, get out of there.
- [72:54]
B
Get out of there.
- [72:55]
A
Get out of there. So he's, like, five blocks from her office, and she's like, it's Christmas Eve. It would take an hour and a half to get a team together to go, like, help him. By then, he could be dead by assassin. So what is a girl to do?
- [73:12]
B
Run out and save him by herself?
- [73:14]
A
She gets a Glock from a drawer.
- [73:16]
B
I was gonna say. Does she get, like a. I thought you were gonna say like, a scooter.
- [73:19]
A
No, she gets a Glock from a drawer.
- [73:21]
B
It's a city bike.
- [73:23]
A
She, like, runs to get to him, and she, like, turns to go down toward the gallery, and he's already on the street coming toward her. And she. And he, like, sees her, and he, like, brightens. And then she grabs him, pulls him into a bar, and these two just, like, make out. Because we all know from movies that's.
- [73:44]
B
The only way to. People will hide. That's how you hide. People are so horrified by the PDA that you look away.
- [73:52]
A
And then he, like, releases her, and he's like, who are you? Like, you're, like, the greatest Christmas present I've ever gotten. And she's like, dylan, you're being chased by a baddie. And he's like. Like, oh, my God, you're Lily. And then they're, like, in an alleyway. And then she has to be cool and, like, you know, punch a bad guy.
- [74:13]
B
And he.
- [74:14]
A
And then she's heard. And he's like, you got to come back to my apartment so I can, like, you know, make you.
- [74:20]
B
Feel to you. Yeah.
- [74:21]
A
Minister to you. And then they get back to the apartment, and he's like. And she's like, well, he's like, there's an. There's a spare bedroom. And she's like that.
- [74:29]
B
Where's the bed?
- [74:30]
A
And then they just, like, bang. And it's great. It's very fast. It's very. It's very yummy. And, like, I just think I had a great time. Ask me how it ends. I don't remember. They get together. It doesn't matter.
- [74:43]
B
They get together. So fun. The bad spy is probably dead. That's all you.
- [74:47]
A
Yeah. No, she takes care of that guy. And it just was really. It was just really fun. I had a great time.
- [74:53]
B
What was the name of that again?
- [74:54]
A
It's called the Rescue by Julie Weaver. And there's a whole series of them.
- [75:01]
B
Nice.
- [75:02]
A
And I had. Yeah, I think you'll have a nice time, everybody.
- [75:06]
B
I love a romantic suspense. Like, that sounds.
- [75:09]
A
I mean, again, suspense is sprinkled through. But I bet I'm gonna read the next one, too, because I bet on the next one, there's, like a. It's probably a little more suspensy.
- [75:20]
B
Yeah, sure. I mean.
- [75:21]
A
Because, I mean, how much you're gonna do in 70 pages is you.
- [75:24]
B
You can't do that much. You just really can't.
- [75:27]
A
You kill a bad guy and then everybody goes home and.
- [75:33]
B
A.
- [75:33]
A
This is like my dream date. Let's kill a bad guy and go.
- [75:40]
B
Sure. I mean. Correct. Okay. All right. I am going to talk about. I have two more. How many more do you have?
- [75:46]
A
I have two more as well.
- [75:47]
B
Oh, Per.
- [75:48]
A
They are both Santa romances.
- [75:51]
B
Okay. Mine are not Santa romances. I just was waiting for the right moment. Okay. I'm not sure that I can make connections anymore, so I'm just gonna go for it. Yeah.
- [75:58]
A
Well, I mean.
- [75:59]
B
Sure. My next one is called Christmas in Spite of you by K.C. mills. Okay. So Christmas in spite of you. Listen, I love this. Okay, so it starts off with Noel. Noel has. It's almost Christmas, but she is trying to start her own business. Business. And she has been starting her own business. And, like, she's basically, like, waiting for a job to drop in her lap. And once that happens, right? And I think, like, you know, like, all prognosis is good, that it's going to happen, but until that happens, she's essentially, like, maxed out on her credit cards, doesn't have any money, right? Like, essentially. And, like, the book opens with her essentially getting the email that's like, we'll get back to you in January. And she's like, like, right, like, I cannot afford. Like, you know what I mean? And now, meanwhile, she's basically been, like, hiding from her parents a little bit, like, just how tight things are, because she's just like, I made this choice, and I'm gonna, you know, I'm gonna, like, live by it. So her friend gives her this idea of essentially, like. So Noelle is supposed to go home and visit her family for Christmas, and her friend gives her the idea of essentially putting her apartment up on, like, Airbnb for the week, like, as a way to make money, right? You'll make money. Now, the thing that's always so funny in these books is like. Like, they're gonna make money immediately. Like, you're not gonna get paid for 90 days, Noel. But whatever. Okay, so Noel decides, like, this is a good idea. Puts her place up on, you know, it's not called Airbnb, but it's basically Airbnb. It's not really, though, because it's like more like a. A. It's more like a holiday situation where you're, you know, you're renting someone else's house and their stuff's gonna be in it. It's not really like, airbnb has, like, that, like, it's just like, a hotel vibe or whatever. Okay. So anyway, she, though. She gets sick, and her friend is like, noelle, you have to make sure, like, you know, she's all doped up on, like, NyQuil or whatever. You have to make sure that you cancel the reservation or else you're gonna have to, like, pay it back or whatever. So Noelle's, like, in the depths of her NyQuil fuzziness, like, starts the process and is, like, watching the, like, you know, watching it load. And here's like, a confirmation and is, like, passes out. Well, two days later, who shows up to her apartment? And, like, there's, like, a code on the door, right? So he's able to, like, go right past, you know, the front desk or whatever. Is Canton. Now. Canton is. He walks into this apartment now. He's like this, like, kind of master of the universe type, very rich, wealthy, trying to close a business deal in Atlanta. That's why he's going there. And the reason that he was really interested in this particular apartment to rent is the guy he is going to try and, like, do a deal with lives in the same building. So it's like, right, Like. So he's like, I can't just stay anywhere. Like, this is going to really allow me to, like, close the deal with this guy. So he, like, goes into the apartment, and he's like. And he's talking to his, like, assistant. She's like, how is it? Did you get in? And he's like, yeah, but it's kind of, like, messy in here. She's like, what do you mean? He's like, well, there's, like, boxes, like, with Christmas stuff. And he's like, there's dishes in the sink. And, you know, the assistant's like, that's outrageous. I'll call and get someone in to clean it. He's like, no, it's fine. I can do it. So he's like, in the kitchen doing the dishes when Noelle, who has been sound asleep in her, you know, in the sleep of the sick in the dead, wakes. Wakes up and is like, oh, my God, someone broke into my apartment. And then he's like. And she's like, yeah, but why would they be doing the dishes? So she comes out and there's this very handsome man in her kitchen looking for garbage bags. To which I say, noelle, grab this man.
- [79:48]
A
I know. I mean, let the man finish before you call the police.
- [79:52]
B
And he's like, like, she's super cute, and she's got, like, like, Christmas jammies on. It's adorable. And he basically overhears her talking to her friend and realizes, like, she's doing this for the money. And so he basically, like, kind of. They figure out what happened and says, like, you know, she's like, well, you'll have to sleep on the couch. And he's like, for full price. You know what I mean? And he pretends he's gonna, like, sort of argue with her about the money. It's just really cute. I really had a good time reading it. So it's, like, got the forced proximity. There's only one bedroom, right? Eventually, they're gonna figure it out. But also, just, like, really cute, like, sort of opposites attract. He's real Scrooge. Doesn't believe in Christmas, right? Where she's, you know, got, like, the Christmas stuff all over the apartment, the Christmas jammies. It's just like, really great, perfect holiday vibes. Like, like, you know, when you Said straight down the middle. That's why I felt about this. It was really fun. So Christmas In Spite of youf by Casey Mills.
- [80:56]
A
Okay, I want to talk. I'm getting into my Santa portion of the podcast because I feel like every episode that is holiday related should have a Santa romance in it. And this one will have two fair. But I want to talk about Saint and the Queen by Desiree. So this, this book is set in modern, present day Atlanta and Eve Noel has what a name already.
- [81:25]
B
Listen, name, name these women. Noel, you are doing the Hollies.
- [81:29]
A
I want all the Eves. The Hollies, the Noel's, the like Ivies. I want to be on the COVID Yeah, this cover. By the way, everybody is tremendous. Okay. So Eve Noel has grown up. She is the child of a single mother who has always told her and in sort of like a really intense and kind of terrifying way that her father is Santa Claus. And so, so much so that like her grandmother is basically like your mother's like not well, like an unwell person. Like she's on medication. She is institutionalized at one. At some point. And like it's generally accepted that Eve has generally accepted that like she, like her mother is delusional and of course, like, she wasn't. Her father is clearly not Santa Claus because there is no Santa Claus.
- [82:18]
B
Santa Claus.
- [82:18]
A
Claus. Because of this, she hates Christmas. But it turns out that there is a very real situation where her father is in fact called the saint. And he is. He is. He is the Santa Claus. He does they, by the way, they hate being called Santa Claus. They are saint. His name is Saint Christopher. His name is Christopher and he is also saint. And he made a terrible mistake, though not really back in the day where in where he cheated on Mrs. Claus with Eve's mother and Eve's mother got pregnant and had Eve a girl. And that. And that broke the line of saints from back before time, right?
- [83:10]
B
Oh boy.
- [83:11]
A
And so in the premise, in the structure, the sort of mythology of this book, there is saints come from this like the saint, right? This kind of magical Christmas creature, you know, human comes from the oldest black descendant family in the world, which before they were human, were men.
- [83:35]
B
Magic.
- [83:36]
A
And now every time one of the saints makes his match, he mates, he marries or he marries and then he mates and then they have a boy and that boy becomes the next saint. Current saint is getting old. He needs a new saint. But he only has this daughter, right, who is not. Who is not eligible to be saint but is eligible to be gen. Winter Queen. So amazing. Problem is, they need a saint. And in order to have a saint, they need somebody who's, like, great with deliveries. So Kenan Hayes, who is just, like, a random Amazon delivery guy.
- [84:17]
B
Amazing.
- [84:18]
A
I don't think it's Amazon, but, like, you get it. Like, he's, like, a package delivery guy in Atlanta who is just, like, a very normal guy in, like, the world in Atlanta.
- [84:29]
B
I feel like this is, like a Hallmark movie. I just want to watch this.
- [84:32]
A
Yeah. Hangs out with his friends all the time. Suddenly is, like, approached by this, like, very dapper, older black man in a red suit who says, I am the saint. Like, let me explain to you. And he's like, wait, you're Santa Claus? And he's like, don't ever call me that again. Very, very great. Basically says, like, you have. You're it. Like, you've been tapped. You have to come and basically save Christmas.
- [84:57]
B
Sure.
- [84:57]
A
Because if you don't take this.
- [84:58]
B
No pressure. Keenan, Roll.
- [85:00]
A
It's you or no one. It's you or Christmas is dead forever. So Keenan's like, what the fuck? So he signs. So then he's like, this guy's crazy. Like, this is not a real thing. Like, Santa's not real. We all sort of know this. So Christopher's like, let me, you know, sign this piece of paper. And he's like, fine, I'll just sign your contract, old man. And, like, then you'll just. You'll go away from me forever. And he signs it and then is whisked to, like, the Crystal Land. I forget what it's called, but, like, it's like a snowy wonderland right from Atlanta where he meets Eve, who is, like, his. It's an arranged marriage. It's like the saint marries the Winter Queen, and that's the way it goes. And then you have babies. And so the two of them are like. What's lovely about this is he sort of instantly. Kenan is this, like, beautifully caretaking hero who instantly is like, this is weird for me. And then, like, even wilder for you as, like, this woman who is, like, forced into this world. Right. Eve is trying to reckon, like, with the truth of her birth, this sort of whole thing. And then on top of it, there are all these kind of, like. There are all these kind of, like, moments where, for example, they have their first kiss. And it's, like, in the dark, and it's this, like, beautiful, hot kiss, like, in the dark outside. And then she's like, I think we're being watched. Watched. And she, like, uses her Winter queen magic to, like, turn all the lights on in the whole. And, like, there are, like, there are people. There are, like, elves, although you're not supposed to call them elves. All through the woods, like, watching them. And later, when it's time for them to, like, consummate, he sort of says to everybody, like, if any of you are watching, like, you're gonna wake up in winter hell, like, in the fires of winter hell if, like, I will burn. Burn this place down if any of you watch, like. He's so protective of her. He's so sexy. They're so, like. It's just a really low. It's a really beautiful romance between two people who are, like, caught between a rock and a hard place.
- [87:06]
B
Now.
- [87:07]
A
Problem is, they all sort of think to themselves, like, there. There's. In the back of their mind, there's this real sense of, like, well, this can't really be true. Like, everything we know about the world indicates that this is sort of we're hallucinating. And each one of them keeps thinking to themselves, like, what if this is just not real? Like, what if we're. I'm just hallucinating. And she says that to him at one point, and he says this beautifully romantic thing, which is, like, if we're hallucinating, then I'll come find you in the real world.
- [87:40]
B
Kanan. I love it.
- [87:42]
A
It's so sexy and, like. Like, it's just like, oh, it's so romantic. And so that is Saint and the Queen by Desiree.
- [87:51]
B
Perfect.
- [87:52]
A
You're welcome, everybody. It's gonna. You're gonna have a great time.
- [87:55]
B
Amazing. Yes. All right. I actually realized I have two more, so I'm gonna go fast. Then you can go, and then I'll maybe squeeze the last one in. Okay, So I have a marriage in trouble romance called Date Night in December by Jacqueline Snow. And in this one, it opens with Lainey Reynolds having left her husband and, like, move. They live in Chicago and, like, moving back to, like, her small Illinois town. And it's like, essentially, like, she moves back in with her parents, and she's just like. And basically the thing is, is he. It's like he just works too much, and he is not paying attention to her, and he is not, you know, like, I think, like, the kind of the final straw was that, like. Like, he didn't show up for their anniversary dinner. You know, I mean, just like. Or she was just, like, you know, one of those things where now it's interesting because it starts where she's already gone, like, we don't see her kind of making this decision. But then it's clear afterwards that she had been. You know, she basically was like, I. I promised myself that I. Like, there was like, lines that, like, if you crossed him, that we would be done. And this was it. So she, like, picks up and like, packs up her shit and moves back home with her parents, like a couple. Cherrywood is the newest town. And, you know, and then she realizes, like, she misses her this small town she grew up in. You know, she's kind of tired of living in the big city. And, you know, she just feels a sense of home and community with these people. And all of a sudden, her dad, you know, I think her dad's like, okay, so Connor's next door. This is her, you know, soon to be ex husband. She thinks she's like, I'm going to file for divorce and this will be it. And Connor, like, came home and found her missing and was basically like, holy shit, I am going to lose my wife. And so he drops everything even though there's some major problem. You know, he's the CEO of his father's company. There's some major thing going down, and he's like, I do not care. I am going to lose my wife. So he goes back, you know, he basically rents the house next to her parents and basically says, Delaney, like, I will do anything to get you back. Back. Give me the months up until Christmas to prove to you that I really understand that I have done wrong. And, you know, it turns out that, you know, of course it's, you know, his father was pressuring him to act certain ways about work. And it was just really easy for the people at his job to kind of run interference on, like, the father's orders. He didn't even realize how many times Lainey had been sort of mistreated by these people. I would say, like, listen, Connor from the jump is like, I really up here and I want her back. So it's not really like one of those. I mean, I think when it comes to marriage and trouble, you either are like, working through it or the one person is like, I cannot lose you. And that's. It's this one. But I think for a Christmas romance, it's kind of what you want. And he really just has to show that he, like, can take care of her. So there's a whole thing where she has to go back to Chicago one night to. To do, like a. A job. I think she's a photographer, and he knows that she doesn't really like driving when it's like snowy and icy. And so he's like, I will drive you. I will drop everything and drive you. And then they like spend the night in their house and you know, it's just, it's I think very romantic. And it's very much like people who are like right at the edge realizing that they will do anything to like, sort of like, I don't know, find each other again. So if you're in the mood for that and like, sort of that like small town, you know, Christmas miracle vibe, then date night in December might be for you.
- [91:47]
A
Nice.
- [91:48]
B
It was fun.
- [91:50]
A
Okay, my last one is like a basically one handed Santa read. Sure, everybody. You deserve a nice thing. This is Santa's Baby by Lacy Hawthorne. Santa is not the only one coming this Christmas, just FYI.
- [92:06]
B
Sure.
- [92:08]
A
Holly, our heroine of course is having a very bad year, Jen. She is stuck in Ohio, a place she never intended to live in because her boyfriend brought her there to live in his house, then cheated on her.
- [92:28]
B
Oh no.
- [92:29]
A
Shook off and she is just pissed off. She has never had a merry Christmas. She has always had a rough time of it. And one night on a drunken bender, she decides to tell Santa all the ways she has a bone to pick with him.
- [92:50]
B
Sounds like something else is gonna happen with that bone, huh?
- [92:52]
A
Listen, Santa gets the letter and she is very surprised that he gets the letter and also is real. And on Christmas Eve he turns up in her house with a sack of toys, if you will.
- [93:06]
B
I understand. He's like, I'm picking up what you're putting down.
- [93:11]
A
And also he's super duper hot and divorced from Mrs. Claus because he wasn't great. He wasn't a great husband.
- [93:22]
B
Could have been better.
- [93:23]
A
Cared too much about his work, if you will. But nobody's ever given Santa a present, Jen. He's never received anything for Christmas and Holly's gonna take care of that also, I will tell you. But basically this is my favorite. Listen, I love a Santa book, everybody. My favorite micro trope of Santa world building is Santa can slow down time or time works differently for Santa. So it happens over Christmas Eve. But like also the kids all get their Christmases and I actually really love for all the ways that this is literally like a one handed Santa read. What I would say to you is there's like something very charming that Lacy Hawthorne does here, which is she makes. She. Holly thinks a lot about the fact that she has never had a good Christmas and she does not want to be responsible for ruining Christmas for Anyone else on the planet.
- [94:16]
B
Very sweet.
- [94:17]
A
And so it's just very sweet. You know, they have a great night. And he basically is, like, watching the.
- [94:22]
B
Clock a little bit.
- [94:23]
A
And then he comes time for them to, you know, listen. If you love ex revenge in your romance novels, there is a very great moment in this where her ex sees Santa coming in through on the ring camera at the door. And, like, I don't think he clocks it at Santa. Cause this does not look like any Santa you've ever seen in. In a storybook. But he. And he calls her and is like, what the fuck? Do you have a man in our house? And she's like, fuck you. Not only do I have a man in my house, I'm gonna go outside and fuck Santa in front of the ring camera.
- [95:02]
B
So, A. I mean, amazing.
- [95:09]
A
There's Q. Me just being like, terrific work.
- [95:12]
B
Good job, everybody. A little light Santa revenge.
- [95:17]
A
Yeah. And then she, like, gets to go in the sleigh and, like, travel all around, and it's just really fun.
- [95:26]
B
That's nice.
- [95:26]
A
It's really fun. This is a fun one. You're gonna just tear through it.
- [95:31]
B
Good. You know, that's great.
- [95:33]
A
Have a nice time, everyone.
- [95:35]
B
I'm not actually gonna do another one. I think we should end there. I don't know how you could really.
- [95:39]
A
Santa's Baby by Lacey Hawthorne.
- [95:43]
B
The ring camera. Amazing.
- [95:45]
A
It's really terrific.
- [95:47]
B
Great.
- [95:48]
A
Anyway, everybody, those are the holiday romances that we read this year. I do want to say one thing, Jen.
- [95:53]
B
Yes.
- [95:53]
A
I did that whole list without one single second chance romance.
- [95:59]
B
You did? I mean, I had marriage in trouble. I don't know if that counts.
- [96:03]
A
Yeah, I'm. I'm very proud of myself.
- [96:05]
B
I had a second chance.
- [96:06]
A
I was like, I'm not doing second chances. So these are all. Every one of these.
- [96:11]
B
That's not what the Christmas season's about.
- [96:14]
A
Every one of these is. They met a stranger. What? As I say to Jen, y', all, I mean, literally, I would say 60% of my text to Jen involve the words, why can't strangers just meet anymore?
- [96:28]
B
Sure. Well, you saw someone on. Yeah. Okay. Well, you know, I'm not gonna say.
- [96:35]
A
We'Re not gonna do that, Jen. But my point is, is strangers can just meet. And I just gave you all these books, and sometimes the stranger is Santa.
- [96:46]
B
And to all a good night.
- [96:50]
A
Everyone. We hope that you are gearing up for a very, very calm holiday season full of hope and goodwill.
- [97:00]
B
I hope all the lights on your Christmas tree you light up.
- [97:03]
A
Exactly. I hope everything. Nothing burns in the oven. All your family members are chill. Tell them I said calm the down. Just bring that up like at holidays. Be like everybody. Sarah says calm the down. Calm the down. And then let them, let them worry about who Sarah is. Anyway. We are. We're not done. We're here through December. We've got debut romances. We've got a re, not a reread. We've got a deep dive of the Magpie Lord by K.J. charles. Everybody go check that one out. It's very, very fun. I'm listening to it right now. We've got a fun interstitial coming that will keep you busy all through the holiday season. And we've got on New Year's Eve coming up on New Year's Eve, everybody. Lauren Billings of Christina. Lauren will be with us. And you know what that means. It's gonna get weird.
- [98:06]
B
Oh, boy.
- [98:06]
A
In the meantime, you can head to fatedmates.net where you can hit episodes or show notes and head right to the show notes where Jen keeps a delicious list of all of the books that we talked about during this week's episode. You'll see links to everything else that we said we promised we drop links to and links to the Fated Mates Best of the year episode, which was last week's episode. You can hear about the 10 books that we loved almost the most, close to the most. I don't know. It always feels like we loved a lot of books, but 10 books we really loved this year. How about that? Eight of those 10 books are available in a book by box which you can get for 25 off. You won't be able to get these books at any better price anywhere else From Pocketbook Shop in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. We love the women who run Pocketbooks. It is a queer, woman owned, anti racist, feminist, just cool store in Lancaster. We love being able to support them every year. We love that you are able to support them every year. So head over to fatedmates.netbookbox to get to that or head to show notes and click on the links and you'll be able to listen the whole episode from last year. Tell us about your favorite holiday romances. This year we want to hear all about them. You can find us on Instagram and on Threads at Faded Maids Pod and on Blue sky at Fated Mates. Oh, if you love talking about romance novels, head to our patreon patreon.com faded mates where you can join for as little as $5 a month and join our Discord where people are talking about romance novels all the time. My favorite days are actually Wednesdays on the Discord when everybody then goes into the episode chat channel.
- [99:57]
B
Oh yeah, me too.
- [99:58]
A
And drops all their favorite books that are related to the the interstitial or the topic that were at hand. Which is great because that's how I film my tbr. Also, this year we are able to give. We have gifts. You can, if you have thought to yourself over the years. I really wish I could join Faded Mates Patreon or join the Discord and be a part of that community, but I don't really have the extra cash. If you have somebody in your life who you think would be interested in giving you a gift that you really would like, you can go to fatedmates.net gift and ask for a Patreon subscription.
- [100:35]
B
Or you maybe. Maybe you have a friend who you think would have a great time in the Fated Mates Discord. That's right.
- [100:41]
A
So that's fatedmates.net gift and we will hopefully see you there. And other than that, we love you and. And take care of yourselves, everyone and each other.