Fated Mates, S08.15: "Jen & Sarah's New Year's Milkin' Eve!"
Release Date: December 31, 2025
Host(s): Sarah MacLean & Jennifer Prokop
Guest: Lauren Billings (“Lo”), one half of the author duo Christina Lauren
Episode Overview
The Fated Mates’ annual New Year’s Eve episode goes off-the-rails in the best way, as Sarah and Jen are joined by the irrepressible Lauren Billings (Christina Lauren) for a deeply fun, raucous—and surprisingly thoughtful—romp through the world of lactation kink in romance novels. The trio share personal histories, peer into the genre’s wildest corners, and explore how lactation, breastfeeding, and kink appear in romance across publishing eras. Amid genuine analysis of gender, bodies, and relationships, they sample stories ranging from the straight-up bonkers to deeply moving explorations of postpartum intimacy.
"On our New Year’s Eve episodes, the rules are just out the window." —Sarah [02:07]
Headphones in (double-up!), because this episode runs the gamut from scholarly meta to riotous smut recs, with no kink shaming and all the merriment.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Why Lactation Kink? Setting Up the New Year's Milkin' Eve
- The episode is pitched as "New Year’s Milkin’ Eve"—the hosts’ most taboo, no-rules topic yet.
- Jen and Sarah explain that the topic comes up surprisingly often in romance fiction, but hasn’t been explored at length on the pod.
- Lauren ("Lo") is their dedicated “slightly dirty” guest, handpicked for her openness and humor on such topics.
- The logistics and difficulties of searching for these books online—algorithms, keyword challenges, the term “adult breastfeeding” versus “lactation kink.” [05:34]
2. The Spectrum of Lactation Kink in Romance
- The trio identifies a spectrum:
- Taboo/Erotica: High-concept, often porny books designed for immediate gratification.
- Emotional/Healing: Stories where lactation/breastfeeding becomes a metaphor for acceptance, motherhood, and new post-partum identities.
- Monster/Paranormal/Sci-Fi: Lactation melds with fantasy and monster romance tropes—e.g. Minotaurs, MPreg, Omegaverse.
- Multiple “gazes” are identified, ranging from the male gaze to a more woman-centered, healing, or emotionally validating depiction.
“There’s a spectrum of what’s happened, how it’s written into the books... how it’s relevant to the books.” —Sarah [17:19]
3. Their Early Encounters with the Trope [07:48+]
- Jen recalls Sandra Brown novels from the late 1980s—“Love Swept” and “Sunny Chandler’s Return”—as her earliest encounter (“One day, I’ll drink your milk”). [09:50]
- Sarah recalls Bertrice Small’s All The Sweet Tomorrows at age 12—deeply problematic by today’s standards, but memorable for featuring a sheik with a lactation kink. [13:08]
- Lauren didn’t notice the trope in books until researching for her own writing, particularly for Beautiful Beloved. [16:45]
4. Motherhood, Kink, and Emotional Resonance
- They discuss the reality of postpartum bodies, feelings of desirability, and the friction (or synergy!) between the roles of “mother” and “sexual partner.”
- Jen admits to a difficult breastfeeding experience and finds kink appealing partly because her own reality was so different.
- Lauren: “My relationship to my body as a mother was very different than my relationship to my body as a wife... to read these where the child is not a part of it—as it should not be... that appeals to me." [20:24, 20:44]
5. Types, Tropes, and Notorious Titles [23:49+]
- Many quickies and full-lengths:
- Pure Kink/Quickies: Jade Swallow, Lucy Swells, Violet Dare (Real Men Suck series), Luna Stark (The Dairy Diaries).
- Monster/Lab Lit: e.g., Fresh Cream by Ex Callisto, a “Why Choose Minotaur Hugh Cow Romance.” [25:31]
- Voyeurism: e.g., Milky View: A Show for My Grumpy Neighbor (Luna Stark)—characters discover community via kink. [27:00]
- Parody/Hyperbole: Alexa Riley’s AR Taboo, often crossing into incest/taboo as reader beware.
- Fanfiction Origins: Lo recalls reading “Volturi Dairy,” a Twilight fic with cow-play. [28:33]
- Sad/Emotional: Recurring scenario of single moms, heartbreak, and the man who loves her “flawed” postpartum body. [33:34]
6. Male Gaze, Gender Essentialism, and Metaphor
- Some books make lactation a means of achieving perfect “womanliness” or serving as sexbot, clearly written with a male gaze.
- Others use it to reclaim desirability, agency, or as a metaphor for acceptance and adult sexuality.
"These books are like taking gender essentialism and turning it into a milkshake." —Jen, [42:22]
7. Authors and Standout Books
- Elena Dawn produces a “hybrid”—kinky but still containing character work (Mountain Daddies: “gender essentialism as a milkshake”).
- Daisy Jane – The Wild One: Sarah highly recommends this contemporary, reverse-age-gap, single-mother romance with a lactation kink that is truly part of their full-length love story, not just an erotic moment. [55:15–59:16]
“I would recommend it to anybody… the breastfeeding was the sex kink, it was just very clear these two wanted it the whole time.” —Sarah [59:04]
- Julia Wolf – P.S. You’re Intolerable: Boss-assistant romance, where lactation kink is seamlessly folded into a larger emotional narrative—“more Harlequin Presents than porn.” [77:14–82:42]
- Christina Lauren – Beautiful Beloved (novella): Explored the challenges and beauty of postpartum sexual reconnection in an established relationship (see “Notable Moments” for expansion).
8. Discussion of Realistic Versus Fantastical Narratives
- Many “bonkers” stories use drugs, magic, or monster biology to justify lactation.
- A recurring metaphor: lactation kink books as contemporary fairy-tales—“these books all have a real element of, like, none of this would ever happen... we like that.” —Sarah [75:26]
9. Expanding the Amazon Algorithm: Finding These Books
- Discussion about self-published taboo and kink, including how books get excluded from Amazon and migrate to direct buy or Smashwords. [51:12+]
- Warnings to listeners: Pay attention to content warnings, author websites, and personal comfort with taboo material.
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
On book searches and naming the kink:
“My problem is that when you actually search this stuff, the algorithm doesn’t allow you to do a lot… The reason why I think I do call it adult breastfeeding is because that’s what you have to put into Amazon to get the full scope.” —Sarah [05:34]
Lauren on research dedication:
“I have professionally researched this. Professionally destroyed my Kindle algorithm.” —Lo [04:52]
Sarah on childhood taboos:
“I could get in trouble if my mom knew I was reading this… even then I understood, like, this is kink in a way that none of the other—white bread and mayonnaise! ...And then there was whatever this was.” [14:44]
On voyeurism & “The Milky View”:
“At the end of the book, the ultimate scene is they go to [the neighbor’s] backyard and have sex so he can watch them, and they both have a great time. These two lost souls have found each other… but the writing is just terrible.” —Jen [27:00]
On what makes a book work:
“If I’m reading, it doesn’t matter what the kink is, as long as I believe those characters would get there together.” —Lo (paraphrased)
On the emotional side of kink:
“There’s something very emotionally compelling about these books and what they’re actually saying about your body post-birth… you find a person who is so hot for you.” —Sarah [34:18]
On the difference gaze makes:
“That’s one of the good examples—those books feel very male gaze-y… is it male gaze or is it us reckoning with it, or both?” —Sarah & Jen [42:13–42:46]
Timestamps for Key Segments
- 00:41: Special Guest Lauren Billings introduced; banter about episode setup
- 05:34: Difficulty searching for lactation books; “adult breastfeeding” as a keyword
- 07:48–17:00: Early reading memories of the trope in traditional romance
- 20:24 & 20:44: Discussion of motherhood, self-image, and sexuality
- 23:49: Mapping the spectrum of the trope in romance—kink to healing
- 25:31: Monster romance and Fresh Cream (Ex Callisto) [Minotaurs]
- 27:00: “Milky View: A Show for My Grumpy Neighbor” (Luna Stark) [Voyeurism, quick review]
- 28:33: Fanfiction roots—“Volturi Dairy,” Twilight cow-play
- 33:34: “Sad lactation kink” trope—single moms, healing, and vulnerability
- 42:13–42:46: Gender essentialism and the “milkshake” of kink
- 55:15–59:16: Sarah’s full-throated recommendation: The Wild One by Daisy Jane
- 77:14–82:42: P.S. You’re Intolerable by Julia Wolf—boss-assistant slow burn
- 83:53–87:11: Behind the scenes of Christina Lauren’s Beautiful Beloved (postpartum epilogue novella)
- 91:02: Lauren shares news of the In a Holidaze Netflix adaptation starring Rob Lowe
Series Standouts & Recommendations
- If you want ultra-smutty, single-serving kink:
- Jade Swallow, Lucy Swells, Luna Stark (esp. Dairy Diaries), Violet Dare’s Real Men Suck series
- For monster romance & smutty fun:
- Fresh Cream by Ex Callisto (Why Choose Minotaur Romance)
- For complex, contemporary narrative with character depth:
- The Wild One by Daisy Jane
- P.S. You’re Intolerable by Julia Wolf
- Beautiful Beloved (novella) by Christina Lauren
- For hybrid, character-driven filth:
- Elena Dawn’s Mountain Daddies, Daisy Unchained
- For fanfiction and boundary-pushing:
- “Volturi Dairy” (Twilight ff)
- Alexa Riley’s AR Taboo website (heavy content warnings!)
Reflections & Listener Engagement
- The hosts encourage listeners to share further recommendations, especially stories that explore established couples navigating new parenthood and bodies (“...books where they explore, let’s change together”). [90:22]
- The conversation ends with a celebration of Christina Lauren’s upcoming Netflix adaptation (In a Holidaze) and book news for 2026.
Final Thoughts
With affection, hilarity, and an unflinching eye, the Fated Mates crew delivered an episode that covered much more than just “getting on the tit.” They wove together romance history, pop culture, fanfic, and contemporary writing, always returning to what makes kink work for readers—authenticity, character, and the joy of finding yourself seen, even in the weirdest corners of genre fiction.
“If you have a book that we have missed that you think we would love related to lactation kink, you can drop it anywhere on our social media…” —Sarah [97:47]
Happy New Year from Fated Mates—may 2026 bring you great reading, joy, and just the right amount of chaos.
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