← Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People
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- [00:00]
Jennifer Prokop
That time again, no time for banter, everybody.
- [00:04]
Sarah MacLean
Only discoverability is.
- [00:07]
Jennifer Prokop
I know, we need like a special. An intro. A special intro. And maybe, no offense, it's not going to be me singing you have a nice time.
- [00:15]
Sarah MacLean
It should be a jingle. It should be like Sarah and Jen here again. We're your discover a bill of bodies.
- [00:26]
Jennifer Prokop
Yeah. And then there'd be like a. If it was a real jingle, it'd be like, followed up by like a number, right? Like 8, 6, 7, 7, 5, 3. Oh, no, that's a real song. Okay, fine. It's song. Yeah, it's different song entirely. Right. It is funny when you move to a new place and you have to, like, get used to all of their weirdo jingles about, like, buying carpet or
- [00:43]
Sarah MacLean
windows or whatever, furniture, couches.
- [00:46]
Jennifer Prokop
Young people don't know the joy of this, I'm sure.
- [00:48]
Sarah MacLean
No, they don't have any local. Local television ads. They barely know about actual real ads. Anyway, point is that we should have a jingle for our quarterlies. I don't know, Eric. Get, get, get together. This is our note for you, Eric. Somebody sings beautifully in the discord shortly.
- [01:11]
Jennifer Prokop
And yes, it's record. It's not me.
- [01:13]
Sarah MacLean
Happily record a jingle for us.
- [01:15]
Jennifer Prokop
It is not me.
- [01:17]
Sarah MacLean
Anyway, everybody, it's happening. We're back. We're talking about the spring, which is exciting. It is April, May, June. No, May, June, July. No, April, May, June, April, May, June.
- [01:27]
Jennifer Prokop
You got got it right the first time. April, May, June.
- [01:31]
Sarah MacLean
And we're talking about all the books that we're excited about. I always love this because I just, like, sure, hang around on my couch and like, search for fun books. I know it's the best time. And then today I had a couple where I like, fully cackled and hoped that you didn't pick them too, so that didn't see them first so that I can, like, shock you with the descriptions of them.
- [01:52]
Jennifer Prokop
Well, I will also tell everybody. Like, years ago, we had. I had this really funny idea and I like, put it on for, like, this day because it is actually April 1st.
- [02:01]
Sarah MacLean
Oh, it is April 1st.
- [02:02]
Jennifer Prokop
Where I was like, sarah, we should have an episode where we just make up fake books. And then, like, sort of like, people will be like, wait, where can I buy these books? And we'd be like, nowhere. That's all. April Fool's Day.
- [02:13]
Sarah MacLean
And then Eric reminded us that that would actually take a lot of time and energy and work.
- [02:18]
Jennifer Prokop
Yeah.
- [02:18]
Sarah MacLean
And so sorry we're not as creative as we like to think.
- [02:23]
Jennifer Prokop
And then I was like, maybe I could just slip one fake book in here. And then I was like, you know, people have real discoverability problems. They do not need me.
- [02:30]
Sarah MacLean
They don't make it things worse.
- [02:32]
Jennifer Prokop
No, exactly.
- [02:34]
Sarah MacLean
Anyway, well, let's get it together then.
- [02:38]
Jennifer Prokop
Well, maybe introduce us. Oh, yeah.
- [02:40]
Sarah MacLean
Welcome to Faded meets, everyone. I'm Sarah Maclean. I read romance novels and I write them.
- [02:44]
Jennifer Prokop
And I'm Jennifer Prokop, a romance reader and editor. And yes, we are are going to do this. If you are new to one of our discoverability episodes. The only thing you really need to know is none of these books are available. And we have not read any of these books. These are purely like, we think these look cool and fun. We're interested in them. We think you will be too. And so these are all pre. This is a pre order situation for everyone. So you can either pre order them, add them to your Amazon cart as physical books so that you remember them. And then on our website, all the books that we talk about will be in order and they'll be like, sort of organized by. By month. So we're gonna start off by talking about April books, and then those will all be together and then May and then June. Because what is the point of discoverability if you can't actually then remember things?
- [03:31]
Sarah MacLean
Organized.
- [03:32]
Jennifer Prokop
Yeah. So.
- [03:32]
Sarah MacLean
So the way you get to that list is you go to our website, thetamates.net and then you click on Episodes and it'll be right there at the top of the page and you can see all of the April, May, June books that we've chosen. Also, I had something else I was gonna say. It's just gone from.
- [03:52]
Jennifer Prokop
Anyway, maybe you'll remember it later.
- [03:54]
Sarah MacLean
Maybe it was a lie. Okay, so here we go. Gosh, just right into it.
- [04:02]
Jennifer Prokop
You know, let me say a little bit more about my one thing is like, I do try and I do try and think of, like, you're not going to hear about, like, the new. There's like a book by Abby Jimenez coming out or Lucy Score. Like, they do not need our discoverability superpower. So we are always really trying to like, think these are authors maybe I've never read before or I've only read one book. So, you know, we're really trying to really, like, dig deep and like, let you know about stuff that isn't gonna like, be like, plastered all over anything. Everything anyway, right?
- [04:31]
Sarah MacLean
Correct. Oh, I remembered what I was gonna say, which is if you are an author out there and you think to yourself, gosh, I really wish Sarah and Jen had known about my book this Spring. We do have a Google form which you can find in our show notes. Same way that I said you can find the whole list and you can click on that and you could drop the name of your book and your and your publication date in there for the back half of the year and through 2027. And then we'll have evidence that it exists and we will try really hard to make it happen on a future episode. Also, and this is a big, this is a big one. If you are out there and you are the author of one of these books or you are an author who is not on this list but you want to be part of Fated Mates, we every year do a debut romance episode. At the end of the year we talk about our favorite debuts of the year and there is a form for that as well. I will put that also in show notes. And if you have a debut book out this year and you want to be considered for that debut episode, make sure your name goes on that list so that we know you exist and we know that this is your first book because first books are important.
- [05:46]
Jennifer Prokop
Yeah, yeah. And then one last little piece of information is. And we say this every time this list is gonna skew very heavily towards traditionally published books because there's just sort of more architecture and infrastructure for like finding out those books and knowing about them in, in advance. So this is not to say that we do not love all of our self pub and indie author friends but just like those books tend to sometimes not quite have like the the same like discoverability even for us until it happens. So that's just like one last thing I'm gonna say. Okay.
- [06:21]
Sarah MacLean
Okay. I do want to start, I want to start with our friend Kate Claiborne. And I'm not going to talk a ton about this because we are going to talk about this book when it is out and when we can scream about it and when we can love on Kate because she is one of our very favorites here at the pod. But her next book, the long awaited Paris match is coming April 7th. I am so excited about is already getting a million accolades including from us. It is about a heroine who has had a divorce but still keeps has like a tight relationship with her ex husband's family. And she has been invited to Paris for his sister sister's destination wedding which seems like the most brutal of experiences. Like you have to go to the city of love to celebrate the wedding of the family of the man who broke your heart. But while he's there, there is a very sexy best man who is very gruff and very scarred and very perfect. And he is Griffin and you are
- [07:31]
Jennifer Prokop
going to love him.
- [07:32]
Sarah MacLean
And that is all I will say about that right now. But if you have not pre ordered Kate Clayborne's Paris Match, you would just do yourself a favor. Do that now. And then on April 7th, you'll be so happy that past you gave you a delicious gift.
- [07:48]
Jennifer Prokop
Yeah, just take plan to take the day off work right now. Okay, so I am going to talk about the Art of Loving you by Natasha Bishop. This is. She wrote a book called Only One Week, which I really loved. And so in this one we have Dani Jenkins. She is a model turned influencer who is just not going to be taking any risks on romance. She prefers to keep things casualty casual, keep things casual until her mentor, a woman named Tanya, dies and essentially has left kind of a, like a. A like sort of like one of these situations where she like really wants to bring Dani back with artist Micah Wright, who like broke her heart. They had like a really hard, like sort of breakup. And it's Tanya's dying wish that Dany and Micah would get back together and she has like left a scavenger hunt road trip to like sort of get them on their way. And so this is like a road trip romance tensions are really high. Dani is going to refuse to let her guard down. But as they continue on their journey, maybe she is really kind of realizing that this is a case of the right person, but it was the wrong time. So we are going to see that forced proximity bring these friends back into and like sort of X's into a new situation. So that is the Art of Loving you by Natasha Bishop.
- [09:20]
Sarah MacLean
Okay, I want to talk about Lenora Bell, who actually has a book out, had a book out in March under the name Lenore Nash, a thriller which was delicious and everybody should go read that. It also has a little thread of romance in it. But Lenora's, his most recent historical can't get enough of the Duke is coming out April 7th as well. So pre order of this and you get Kate and Lenora all at once. And here's the deal with that one. So she is finishing up her Thunderbolt Club series and this one is a marriage of convenience between a grumpy, combat scarred duke and his cheerful ward. And listen, I love a guardian ward situation. I know, I know, I know everybody, but I really do love one war hero. Deckard Payne, the Duke of Warburton made a battlefield promise to become the guardian into the orphan of one of his compatriots on the battlefield. He definitely did not agree to marry her. But that is exactly what happens. When he gets home, he discovers she is no child. In fact, she is a woman of marriageable age, and she is in a absolute situation related to her reputation. Of course, Annelise doesn't want a loveless marriage to a brooding, though handsome duke who lives in a gloomy castle. Although, be honest, everybody, that's kind of the dream. She can save him, but he is determined to keep her at arm's length. And she is just sort of like the sunshiniest sunshine. So this one is for anyone who loves a guardian ward, who loves a grumpy duke, who loves a grumpy sunshine situation, who loves a marriage of convenience. Lenora Bell is fantastic and one of our very best historical voices. And I hope you will all love. Can't get enough of of the duke.
- [11:14]
Jennifer Prokop
Okay, so I am going to talk about Married to the Mafia by Lucy Smoke. This is sort of a. Looks like to be a little bit of a Mafia romcom. I'm. I'm curious. I'm interested. So here, what we have is Daisy Turner is just basically, listen, a clueless kind of waitress without, like, whatever. She's fine. So what she has done is signed up to be a server at a high end, ultra private wedding. So she figures this is like a great opportunity to like, see some famous people and like, you know, essentially like leave some stacks in her bag and a bunch of cash, right, because they're going to pay really well. But. And the day of the event, which is a wedding, she walks in and the bride is dead. Turns out this wedding is an arranged marriage between two dangerous crime families in New York, and she is now an accomplice to a Mafia murder. And the groom essentially realizes that she has, you know, she. She's like trying to, like, sneak out the side door. And the groom realizes what's going on and essentially gives her an ultimania, an ultimatum that she has to marry him. And it says the or die is implied, but what is a girl to do? So Daisy ends up married to handsome Julia, Julio, Julio La Rosa. And she thinks she's gonna be taken care of, but she's not quite sure in which way. So that is Married to the Mafia by Lucy Smoke. Love it.
- [12:52]
Sarah MacLean
Let's talk about Claire Contreras, who is a favorite here. Claire has a new Romantasy series coming out. This is the first book in the Cursed Realm series. It's called Isle of Wrath. And here's the deal. Lunaris is the world that we are in. And Lunaris has been hidden away from the rest of the world for 300 years. And it has provided asylum to hundreds and thousands of people who need asylum. But when they come to Linares to trade for asylum, they have to trade their memories. So when they enter this space, they no one remembers their past, their homeland, or the curse that brings them into this world. They have many, many rules, including not including a rule that keeps them from revealing their gifts, their magical gifts. Well, Ada Acevedo has been he hiding her gift for healing for years. But her twin brother is struck by a poison arrow. And she breaks the rule, reveals that she is a healer, and then is forced to bargain with the Goddess of Death to save his life. She does not expect the goddess to send Malachi Bane. Listen.
- [14:12]
Jennifer Prokop
What a great name it is. Great. That's great.
- [14:14]
Sarah MacLean
A warrior for the Goddess of Death to collect.
- [14:18]
Jennifer Prokop
Sure.
- [14:19]
Sarah MacLean
And she really doesn't expect to be soul bound to him until she repays what she owes. Now Ada and Malachi are working together to lift the shroud and break the curse that's kept this whole world H for 300 years. There are forbidden prophecies, there are buried secrets. And a devastating truth that Lunaris is not the paradise everybody thinks it is. And it's gonna be Malachi and Ada against the world here. And I cannot wait. That is Isle of Wrath by Claire Contreras
- [14:58]
Jennifer Prokop
this week's episode of Fated Mates is brought to you by Lavinia K. Darcy, author of Return to Kingscote.
- [15:06]
Sarah MacLean
So this is the first in Lavinia Darcy's the Gallants of Gloucestershire series. And it features Maxim Rupert Hammond, a great duke name. He is the newly minted Duke of Hargrove and he has reluctantly agreed to his mother's demand for a month long house party.
- [15:27]
Jennifer Prokop
Jen, I love a house party.
- [15:29]
Sarah MacLean
A attending this house party is a whole like gaggle of de debutant, of course. And they are eager for a match because guess what his mom wants Grandbabies. Grandbabies?
- [15:43]
Jennifer Prokop
A daughter in law.
- [15:44]
Sarah MacLean
I mean, it's time for Max to do his duty. But his heart remains locked away because his first love is long dead and he remains mourning her. Ms. Rose Hamden arrives at King's coat cloaked in mystery and a veil. She is penniless, Scar and the companion to a cruel countess and her manipulative daughter. But Rose has plans. She intends to stay quiet, invisible and out of trouble. Which those plans never come to pass in a romance novel. So I'm feeling good about it. But a chance encounter. Here we go. Out of trouble, in trouble. It seems like there is a quiet lakeside glen and a tentative connection and then a strong attraction. And then one unforgettable, forgettable night of passion between this kind Duke and this quiet companion. And Max and Rose ultimately have to choose whether they'll bow to duty and the weight of expectation or risk everything for a love that was never part of the plan.
- [16:48]
Jennifer Prokop
So if you would like to check out Return to Kingscote, a fun new historical romance with a scarred heroine. I love that. Then you should check it out. It is available in print and ebook, and if your podcast app supports it, you can click on the chat chapter title right now to be taken to buy the book. Thanks to Lavinia K. Darcy for sponsoring this week's episode. Okay, so I'm going to talk about Dreamt I found you by Jimin Han. This is a retelling, a contemporary retelling of Korea's most famous Romeo and Juliet myth. But the cousin of the star crossed lovers is there to help them avoid their tragic fate. So in this one, Dahee Shin was nine years old when she made a promise to protect her favorite cousin Channing, who's always been like a sister to her. But now at 30, Dahi has found herself in a sort of New England beach town that has a very Korean, like, very strong Korean American community. And but basically she's like, once again sort of running to Channing's rescue because Channing is just seems like kind of a hot mess. Channing has spent her life haunted by the tragic story of Chun Hyang and Moon Young, which are essentially like the Romeo and Juliet characters. And she has fallen in love with Minja, who is essentially like, these two are trying to hold off, like, a powerful politician and, you know, sort of this, like, crooked guy. And he is really suspicious, suspicious and obsessed. And, you know, Dahi begins to realize that if she is going to ensure her cousin's happiness, she is going to have to essentially like, like, basically, like, finally, like, be the fixer on all of this together. So this is just apparently a really tender retelling of Korea's, like, classic love story, but with and like, all the, like, sort of folklore and magic. But. And now listen, I've already, I've not read it. The whole part about, like, helping them avoid a tragic fate leads me to believe that we will be potentially safe reading this. So this is Dreamt I found you by Jimin Hannah.
- [18:59]
Sarah MacLean
I want to talk about the Duke's Got Mail by Samara Parrish which is, again, an epistolary love story. Everybody, I'm so excited about this. Eleanor Wright is the best compositor in London. So a compositor is a person who, like, typesets things, and she is in high demand. She, like, travels from printing press to printing press all through London. But there is a new. A whiskey whisper of a new machine that is going to put her out of a job. And so she writes to a mysterious pen pal and, you know, for help, and he writes back. And then these letters back and forth between them start to become her only relief from this life of, like, real worry. She is very concerned that, like, as a woman in England, in history, she's going to have a real problem soon. Peter Montgomery, Duke of Strafford, is trying to get his estate out of debt. He has the solution now, this. He's created this machine which will revolutionize the publishing industry. Problem is, he's now got this witty pen pal who is struggling with this machine. And when they find out. And they're also falling in love in real life. So when they find out that Peter invented this machine, that's going to put Eleanor out of. Out of work. This is going to make them absolute bitter rivals in person. And they are going to have to figure out whether their love can overcome whether their love is mightier than their printing press. So that is the Duke's Got Mail by Samara Parrish.
- [20:47]
Jennifer Prokop
Perfect. I mean, you cannot stay away from an epistolary.
- [20:51]
Sarah MacLean
I really cannot. Fine.
- [20:54]
Jennifer Prokop
I'm not even so sorry.
- [20:55]
Sarah MacLean
But I. Yeah, I mean, I'm a basic bitch. I don't know what to say.
- [20:59]
Jennifer Prokop
All right, so my next one is La Dolce Vito, only that is spelled V E T O by Caitlin Alice Gilbert. And in this one, we have debut author who is telling us the story of a US Congresswoman, Isabella Rhodes, who is supposed to be making history, not headlines. But when a devastating betrayal shatters her political career overnight, she flees to a sleepy village in the heart of Umbria, where the days are slow and the pasta is handmade and no one knows her name. So there she essentially learns she will be discover sharing her villa with Benito, a brooding, newly elected mayor of the town who is very determined to save his crumbling hometown, and he does not trust outsiders. So there's a controversial hotel development. Izzy is pulled into the fight for the town's future and further into his world. But is this gonna happen? Given, like, all of the business that she has left behind and. Right, like, can she, like, find a happy new life together in. In this place considering like everything her whole life back in the States. So that is La Dolce Vito by Caitlyn. Caitlyn Alice Gilbert.
- [22:16]
Sarah MacLean
Okay, how about some vampires? Haven't done vampires yet. Let's talk about Love at First Bite by Katherine Dyson. This one is the. So the premise of this is that Lucy Partridge is a reporter who loves reporting, unlike the feel good stories of the time. So she decides that she's going to head off to a small seaside town where a goth weekend is taking place. And she and this will give her a little bit of outs stuff outside of her comfort zone, but it'll still feed the kind of like people having Joy feel for her. So she gets there and she discovers that she is in a quite difficult situation.
- [23:00]
Jennifer Prokop
Jen.
- [23:01]
Sarah MacLean
Because there is only one bed and only one hotel room at the place where she's supposed to be staying and she is sharing it with 6 foot 3 inches of a bar owner, Liam Bramwell, who isn't just a bar owner, he's actually a living vampire.
- [23:16]
Jennifer Prokop
Oh boy.
- [23:17]
Sarah MacLean
So she knows she should run the other way. But he's very handsome and very compelling and the reporter instinct in her says there's more to him than his fangs. So Lucy's like, well, maybe I'll just stay the weekend with him and see what happens. And I love the idea of this like very charming, like vampire rom comy contemporary on the COVID The tagline for this book is he's a pain in the neck. And yeah, so that's Love at First Bite by Katherine Dyson.
- [23:55]
Jennifer Prokop
Okay, so I am going to talk about Annie Knows Everything by Rachel Wood. Because I love a know it all. It's fine. So after getting let go from her job and learning her sister is engaged to the worst man alive, Annie needs a win. So what she decides to do is fill in an open role in her company's data strategy team. Right, because who needs to write code? How hard can it be? Surely Connor, the team's overworked, aggravating and distractingly hot interim head will soon realize how capable and awesome Annie is. So she sets her sights on landing this new job, even if it means ignoring the chemistry between her and her new boss, trying to get her sister to reconsider her engagement. But with sparks flying at work and at home, maybe Annie doesn't actually know everything. So this one, based on the COVID looks like it might be taking place in my home city of Chicago. I can't really tell, but it looks like a really cute one. So that's Annie Knows Everything all Right. I have one that I want to talk to you about.
- [25:08]
Sarah MacLean
I'm so glad you haven't picked it yet. Do you have Backstage Night with the Billionaire on your list?
- [25:12]
Jennifer Prokop
No, I don't, but tell me more.
- [25:16]
Sarah MacLean
Backstage Night with the Billionaire by Mariah Ankenman. Jen. Oh, my gosh. All right, so a down on her luck aerialist, Piper has a rented theater and she has a problem because there is a problem with the theater, and she needs a handyman to come in and help her kind of fix up something backstage. But she cannot allow anyone to discover that she has rented this theater for a show. But she is also living backstage because she is deep, deep in her down on her luck era. But this handsome handyman, Kellen, turns up, and he's interested in helping her kind of renovate the backstage problem is Jen. Helen Kellen is no ordinary contractor. He is a billionaire with a tool belt.
- [26:12]
Jennifer Prokop
Sure, of course.
- [26:15]
Sarah MacLean
And honestly, I don't even know what comes next. It doesn't matter. There's a billionaire renovation going on here. Sure. You know, he does not end. Even better, he doesn't believe in love, which is all I want from a billionaire contractor. But Piper is idealistic and arty and charming, and she, like, is willing to dig in and, like, believe that good things are around the corner. And listen, I wish there were more billionaires with tool belts building actual stuff. So that is Backstage Night with the Billionaire by Mariah Unkenman. And also an April book. Sure.
- [26:55]
Jennifer Prokop
Okay, so I have more like an Amigas by Hope. Yes. So what we have here is a really fun Sapphic romance set against a wedding and all the family drama that comes along with a big family wedding. So Isabella Valdez knows three things for certain. Her late father's Cuban restaurant is thriving. She owns lots of designer things. But. And both of those statements are absolute lies to make her mother happy. So. But she would do anything to keep her father's legacy alive, including attending her strange cousin's week long wedding extravaganza. But once, once she is there, she's convinced that, like, once Issa prepares, like, sort of this, these, like, delicious meals from her father's cherished journal that, like, her cousin's wealthy fiance will essentially like, you know, be like, yes, let's save the restaurant.
- [27:53]
Sarah MacLean
Right?
- [27:54]
Jennifer Prokop
But to Issa's annoyance, she will be sharing a cabin with Valentina, a former friend to turn rival who ruined her quinceanera. So let's. Listen, I don't blame you for being mad about that, but Val is offering an unexpected Deal. She'll help Issa unravel an old family secret in return for help sabotaging the wedding and winning the heart of the bride. What? So saying yes is a bad idea? But Issa's perfectionism meets its match and Val's carefree demeanor. And then all of a sudden, it's these two that are falling in love. So that is more like an Amigas by Stephanie Hope. Perfect.
- [28:32]
Sarah MacLean
Danielle Allen has a new book out this month called it's part of her Curve series, and this one is called Big Girl Blitz. And Jasmine Payne, the heroine, has fled her hometown and all of the fat phobes who live there who made her life hell. And she did that the moment she graduated high school. So her haven growing up was Aunt Addison. But when Aunt Addison's health takes a drastic turn, she insists that Jazz come home and spice up her life. But an emphasis on spice. So, like, Aunt Addison is like, come back, get dating and tell me all the gossip. But dating is the last thing that Jazz has on her mind until Lamar Anderson sits next to her at a local sports bar. We know, like, Danielle loves this. This sort of sports bar setting. There's always sports in her books. He is sexy, fun, and refreshingly drama free. And with him, Jazz is able to pretend that everything is all right and let down her guard. But when real life intrudes and the past comes back and her aunt's sickness, you know, comes. Comes to a head, she has to decide if she's willing to stay in this town and stay in the past and. And, or rather reckon with the past in order to maybe find love for the future. And I've loved Danielle's books. I love her heroines, and I'm looking forward to this one. That is, again, Big Girl Blitz by Danielle Allen.
- [30:11]
Jennifer Prokop
Okay, how many more do you have for April?
- [30:13]
Sarah MacLean
How many is that? That's seven for me, so I can do one more.
- [30:17]
Jennifer Prokop
Okay, so. All right, I am going to do the write off by Kara McDowell. So what we have here are, we have, like, a second chance book where it's been 13 years since Mar's darling first met Wes Emerson on a bench outside their writing class. Their friendly rivalry turned into best friends, and then for a brief time, romance. Now it's a decade later, and Mars is standing on their college campus. She was once an esteemed YA fantasy author, and she comes face to face with west, who was the muse behind, like, this trilogy. She wrote like, heartthrob hero, but he betrayed her in the worst way. So she is determined not to let her comeback tour be ruined by the fact that west is also at the festival as an author. But the longer they're on campus with so many shared memories, she's starting to wonder. Wonder if it is not just her writing career that deserves a second chance. So this actually gets told in dual timeline. Once back when they were in college, and another one here in the present as they try to get it all together. So that is the write off by Cara McDowell.
- [31:32]
Sarah MacLean
Okay, I want to talk about.
- [31:38]
Jennifer Prokop
I choose the Bear
- [31:42]
Sarah MacLean
by Shiloh Walker. Okay, all right. So it's this. I mean, I immediately. The moment I saw this title, I was like, oh, yeah, I'm gonna read this. So, okay. Ivy thought she had found like one of the good guys, a nice guy who everybody liked. And then, you know, they head to a lake house for a night to watch a meteor shower and kneel. This nice guy has some plans that Ivy isn't into. And when she says no, he doesn't like it. Enter the Bear. Jonah is on a hiking trip with his best friend. And after he is a bear shifter. And after the unexpected death of his clan's alpha, he is enjoying the last few hours of freedom. He'll know for quite some time. Time. Because he is about to become alpha of his clan. The countdown is ticking. He is just having like a nice time. Beneath a meteor shower as a soon to be bear alpha. It is shouted. It is shattered by the shouts of an angry, frightened woman. Liam and Jonah take off running to investigate. And as they reach the edge of the property, Ivy shouts, you're the woman. The reason. You're the reason why women choose the bear, Neil. And now Jonah abides by the laws governing supernaturals and doesn't reveal himself to be a shapeshifter. But walking out there in his bare skin isn't really revealing himself. Right. Predators deserve to be frightened, don't they? But then he sees Ivy and his whole world is in chaos. And he has fallen in love with a human and he's gotta be a bear shifter leader. And love is not convenient. But she is gonna choose the bear and I have a feeling the bear is going to choose her.
- [33:43]
Jennifer Prokop
Perfect.
- [33:45]
Sarah MacLean
I choose the Bear by Shiloh Walker.
- [33:48]
Jennifer Prokop
Amazing. Okay, so I'm gonna talk about my last book for April is Unbound by Peyton Corrine. I really love it.
- [33:55]
Sarah MacLean
Has a beautiful cover.
- [33:56]
Jennifer Prokop
Yeah, it has a beautiful color. I love the first two books in this series. I'm really looking forward to this one. And in this one we have. She just writes really. I mean, if you're like, I love angst. Then Peyton Corinne is the low lady for you. So Paloma Blake is just antagonistic. Benice. It's. She's. But she has a lot of trauma and she masks it with things that are like walls that are really designed to keep people away. And you know, everyone just sees what she wants them to see and that's like sort of this like, like sexy attitude, you know, essentially kind of vibes. And the person who can see through it is a Bennett Reiner. He is very carefully controlled. He's a neurodivergent and a goalie. So he is like a man who has routines and sticks to them and because if he doesn't he can really get overwhelmed by like sort of anxiety and OCD and things that. So you know, he has to really keep, keep a tight lid on it. So this quiet and meticulous Bennett sees everything, including the real girl. Palomas sort of masks so be essentially they are like the real first love. There was like this heartbreak that they kept hidden from people and then all of a sudden here we are like in the present with them like really trying to figure out if they can figure it out again now that they're older, wiser and really determined to not let love get away from them again. So I anticipate that I will be just a mess and crying and all that good stuff. So that's, that's unbound by Peyton Corinne this week's episode of Fated Mates is brought to you by Metal Tale Press, publishers of S.E. mcPherson's A Villain's Hope. This is the second book in the Heart Mage trilogy.
- [35:44]
Sarah MacLean
So after the end of the first book of, of this series, Elias, one of our protagonists, has all that he ever wanted. Magic has get garnered him the love and trust of his two royal partners, Bo and Penny. He's got the supernatural skills to protect them from any evil and the power to make any noble in their world dance at his whim. But all magic is a trade in this universe. And every gift from the Mage king has taken something from Elias in return. So he's really like suffering silently here. Not to mention the fact that Bo, one of his lovers, made a deal with an ancient entity to bring Elias back from the dead in the last book. And now that entity is back, ready to take oh its pound of flesh from Elias. So Elias, Penny and Bo have to fight. They have to, they, they have to do everything they can to beat this, this old mage. And in doing so they find their kingdom caught in a centuries old battle. Between ancient magic and that's built to defend against it. And the big question is, can Elias come to terms with the man that he was before Beau? Can he come to terms with the fact that he may have to go back to that man, to becoming that man? And how will he secure the unlikely allies that will keep magic from breaking the world in this in this book?
- [37:13]
Jennifer Prokop
So this is if you're really into like a cinnamon roll king, a loyal guard, a badass queen, and characters that are a little bit older, in their 20s and 30s, then you would definitely love this series. Also, the first book in the series, A King's Trust, was named one of the best LGBTQ Indies of 2025. It is available in ebook and if your podcast stamp supports it, you can click on the chapter title right now to be taken to buy the book. Thanks to Metal tale Press and SE McPherson for sponsoring this week's episod.
- [37:50]
Sarah MacLean
All right, so that's April and there are a lot of you guys. There's so many more books in April that we could have talked about. I have so many, but hopefully we'll talk about more of them on the podcast as we go. Okay, so let's get to May. I want to talk about Mothman is My Boyfriend.
- [38:05]
Jennifer Prokop
I mean, me too. Tell me more.
- [38:08]
Sarah MacLean
Okay, this is by Michaela Coyle, and I believe Michaela Coyle has written all 10 of the stories inside this book, which is entitled Mothman is my boyfriend 10 tales of cryptid Love, Love and Lust.
- [38:21]
Jennifer Prokop
Sure.
- [38:22]
Sarah MacLean
And listen, I'm in it.
- [38:23]
Jennifer Prokop
I'm already in it.
- [38:24]
Sarah MacLean
Welcome to Cryptid Creek. An invitation only a rare few receive. This is a cozy, romanticy series or a series of short stories. Each story about one of 10 mysterious inhabitants of this secret town, Cryptid Creek, where humans and Cryptids fall in love. So you've got Yetis and lake monsters and Sasquatches and nightcrawlers and yes, Mothman. And it sounds utterly charming. Again, I love a short story collection. So this is right up the up my alley. And what's even cooler about this is each of these stories, aside from having a unique kind of cryptid monstery creature in it, is LGBTQIA related. So there are multiple non binary characters, there are late in life lesbians, there are trans characters and gay couples and kind of mask presenting Sasquatch and all sorts of like cool little things going on in in these books. So if this sounds like it's something that is up your alley, then I it is up mine too. I'm very excited. I'VE already requested it on NetGalley and I hope I get approved. So that's Mothman is My Boyfriend by Michaela Coyle.
- [39:48]
Jennifer Prokop
Perfect. Okay, so I am going to talk about Death's Daughter by S.A. barnes. This is the first book in a new series called the Children of the Old Ones. And so this is like a real. Has like mythology meets Buffy vibes. And so our heroine here is. Is Yokaista. She is carved out a normal life for herself at Beecher University. As normal as it could be if your name is Yokesta and your father is the. And you are the only child of Death. So she has friends and a messy situationship with her former TA but none of them know the truth about who she. Who she is or what she is. So they would be horrified to discover that Joe must. Must feed to survive. And she feeds on them. She refuses to take their life, instead feasting on their disappointments, their failures and their rejections. It's not a perfect system, but it works. Until a sexy stranger and a descendant of lust shows up on campus. Because Death has just named Joe as his successor all of a sudden, making her either a powerful, powerful ally or a massive target. So her little safe bubble is about to burst. But she really wants to protect any. You know, will do anything to protect the people she loves. Even if it becomes. Even if it means becoming what she hates. So I don't know, this just seems really fun. I love it when your dad's death. It seems bad. And the tagline on this one is she's dying to get a life.
- [41:21]
Sarah MacLean
Perfect. Perfect.
- [41:23]
Jennifer Prokop
Death's Daughter by S.A. barnes. Okay, I want to talk about.
- [41:28]
Sarah MacLean
There's something fishy about my boyfriend.
- [41:30]
Jennifer Prokop
Oh, yeah, I had this one too. That's fine. You beat me to it.
- [41:33]
Sarah MacLean
By Gloria Duke. Part of the Jersey Shore Merman series Romance.
- [41:40]
Jennifer Prokop
I love you. Unmatched, Unmatched match.
- [41:43]
Sarah MacLean
It begins. The description begins. Jim Tan, Merman. Welcome to the Jersey Shore, where the men are hot, the sun is sizzling, and the boardwalk's seen it all until now. So after the years of living on the shore, Hannah, our heroine, is sure of two things. One, her family bed and breakfast is her future. Like that is what she is aiming for. She's going to run this place. She's going to run it beautifully. And this is her future. And two men like Xander, mysterious, charming and very, very attractive, do not just wash up on the shore. Except Xander appears mostly naked and half conscious in the surf. And Hannah does what any sane, decent person would do. She brings him into bed. Her bed and breakfast. That is. It is polite and it is the right thing to do and it is very neighborly. And she sets him up in the BNB and the whole thing goes sideways fast when this man, who is perennially
- [42:46]
Jennifer Prokop
topless
- [42:48]
Sarah MacLean
starts to fix leaky faucets with a wink and like, make fishy dad jokes and casually reveal that he is a merman. Not only that, but he is the mer. The merman who rescued her a decade ago and then ghosted her. So that was rude. But now Hannah reels from the revelations and Xander is trying to stay one step ahead of the danger lurking in the sea that has washed him ashore this second time. And they are going to have to do some serious figuring stuff out if they are gonna learn to live together as merman and lady. Anyway, that's There's Something Fishy About My Boyfriend by Gloria Duke.
- [43:34]
Jennifer Prokop
Yeah, Perfect. Okay, so I am going to talk about soon by you by Dahlia Adler, who I really love. She writes great YA romances. So I'm really looking forward to this one. And this one is sort of like 27 dresses seemed almost in. So we've got a romcom set in the modern Orthodox community of New York City. So Ariel Becker is one horror away from a meltdown. She has been the bridesmaids too many times, including, you know, the Spanx and the heels and the hideous dresses. And she is super over it and like, right, like being asked to spend all this money and she just doesn't want to do it anymore.
- [44:15]
Sarah MacLean
Right.
- [44:15]
Jennifer Prokop
Especially when they keep coming in contact with this, the same smug, judgmental wedding singer. Right. And so Judah Klein is the go to guy, right? He is the wedding singer and the most eligible battler bachelor of all of these sort of the whole community. So years of failed setups have left him really jaded until repeated clashes with a fiery bridesmaid wake him right up. But when snark turns to sparks and fights turns to feelings, things get really complicated. Ariel is not a girl. A girl who settles down. And Judah is not a guy who hooks up. So why does walking away feel so impossible? So we have off the charts chemistry between these two at the.
- [45:05]
Sarah MacLean
Like, everybody loves a.
- [45:07]
Jennifer Prokop
Okay, everybody, that's me. Loves a romance set against a wedding. I cannot get enough of it. So that soon by you by Dalia Adler.
- [45:18]
Sarah MacLean
Okay, let's talk about Double Happiness by Heather Ang. So May Lee, our heroine, runs into Alexander Brodor at a family function. And they are. Sparks are immediately flying. They are May and Alexander knew each other Years ago. And it just like it didn't click then, but now suddenly there's something very different about him. His he. There's just like rich chemistry between them. However, this is a very bad thing for me because she has created an incredibly carefully constructed life and it has no room for this man because she is engaged to Joey, a fellow native of Queens who keeps her grounded as she works her ass off and like is making herself a star in the tech world. They have known each other forever. After a childhood marked by financial and emotional turmoil, May is like Joey gives me the stability that she has always wanted. The problem is, is that like Alexander is so enticing and they are so connected in a way that she just isn't with Joey. And it doesn't take long for immediately everything to just like fall apart. And Mae is starting to think is the future with the guy who she has already committed to or is there something different and, and changed and brighter and more powerful with someone else? This obviously is a book that is going to be about a love story that is, is. I'm sorry, this is obviously a book that is going to be a love triangle and I think it won't obviously be for every person. There's probably going to be a sort of thread of cheating in this one. But as you all know, I love that in a book. So I'm super excited. And wedding dates fast approaching. And how are these? Who is, who is she going to choose? That is Double Happiness by Heather English
- [47:24]
Jennifer Prokop
okay, so I am going to talk about the Dating Pact by Lulu Morris. Ellie essentially is a nurse who has bluffed her way into a high end party with her best friend. The last thing she expects is to end up going home with infamous Alex King. He's an actor and the thing is, is it's not that like they're going home for sexy times. It's that this dummy is too drunk to remember the hotel he's staying in. But the next morning when the paparazzi catch them together, their new kind of friendship becomes the like tabloid like sort of front page fodder. So Alex realizes like this could really work to his benefit. He needs a plus one because his brother is marrying his ex and he's really become the villain in the eyes of the press. So if he has like a, like a date who's all like thrilled to be with him by his side, maybe the public would finally see him as like moving on. You know, this play he's a part of, Mike gets a ticket sales and needs stay open so this is the big plan is that Alex asks Ellie to go to this wedding in the Bahamas with him. But you know, it's like gorgeous celebrities. Ellie is plus sized and it's just like this is a nightmare. But you know, Alex is sort of like being all lovey dovey but it turns out that this affectionate becomes more real and less fake. But she's really worried will like she lose herself in the process of being like swept into sort of this life of like celebrities and all and you know, famous beautiful people. So that is the dating pact by Lulu Morris.
- [49:00]
Sarah MacLean
This week's episode of Faded Mates is sponsored by Neha Liu, author of Midnight at Soulfield.
- [49:07]
Jennifer Prokop
So Midnight at Soulfield is a dark academia Romance where 18 year old midnight, oh young essentially is just like laying out in her yard one day. It's this amazing opening when she is visited by a demon. Sarah, you will love it. An incubus in her dream.
- [49:24]
Sarah MacLean
I love an incubus.
- [49:26]
Jennifer Prokop
And this incubus is essentially like we are bound together. And she like wakes up and immediately like runs into her home and tells her father essentially that this has happened and like they can't avoid it anymore. She has no chance but to go to Soulfield, which is like a magical academy. And this is like her birthright because this is where her parents met. And on the way she like her mother who has died, leaves her this like letter that of course tells her all the things she shouldn't do no matter what.
- [49:56]
Sarah MacLean
And of course hang out with incubi
- [49:59]
Jennifer Prokop
also, no matter what. If she finds the Satori sword, don't let anyone have it, including the headmaster. Uh oh. I was like she's gonna find this sword. So I love the beginning of the this and like the m. The mystery of like why Midnight has this ability to like sp speak or like communion with an incubus. And what is going to happen when she gets there and meets a handsome fellow student named Jack?
- [50:23]
Sarah MacLean
I also love a Jack. So if you also love an incubus, a Jack, dark academia, morally gray characters, dark romance, possessive lovers, etc. Etc. Then you are going to love Midnight at Soulfield. You can get it right now in print or ebook or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited. If your podcasting app supports it. You can click on the chapter title right now to be taken to buy the book. Thanks to Naya Liu for sponsoring this week's episode. Let's talk about Swati Hedges new book, Love Beyond Reasonable Doubt. This one is about two lawyers who sort of Nina Shetty is A proud workaholic. And she is that way because a year and a half ago she broke, she had a terrible breakup at that center, kind of on this chaotic, intense vacation searching for a no strings attached fling which she found on the beaches of Goa with a handsome stranger. But the deal with that fling was they would not tell each other their actual names. They would respond to all personal questions with wrong answers only. And they would definitely not reach out to each other after this. Like one particular fling. Jen, who do you think is working at the law firm that Naina is now at, desperate to become partner in? Do you think it could be the mysterious one night stand or casual fling from the beaches of Goa two summers ago?
- [52:06]
Jennifer Prokop
I mean, that's all. It's always how it works.
- [52:07]
Sarah MacLean
Well, it is Ta Rajput is there and they are now working side by side and he is like, this is all terrific. That's. That fling was great and why don't
- [52:22]
Jennifer Prokop
we just do it again?
- [52:23]
Sarah MacLean
And she's like, absolutely not. No relationships at all. We don't know each other. Don't perceive me. So now they're sort of stuck together on a case that could make or break the firm and their careers are on the line. And the big question is, are they going to take a risk on love? I think they might.
- [52:47]
Jennifer Prokop
I think they might too.
- [52:48]
Sarah MacLean
Okay, so that is Swati Hedges, love beyond reasonable doubt.
- [52:55]
Jennifer Prokop
All right, so I'm going to talk about Marooned by Ben Chalfin. In this one, we've got sort of a Survivor kind of element because Ryan Levine is a contestant on the newest season of Marooned, which is a hit reality TV show where 18 people are stranded on a desert on a desert island and they compete in challenges and voting each other off until one is left to com to claim the million dollar prize. And listen, Ryan is like, I have one thing I'm trying to do here, which is take home that money. And nothing is going to stand in his way until he meets Cole Walker. And Cole is his habs, his handsome tribe mate with a great smile and a great laugh and a great body. But in other words. So Cole is a real distraction. And like, Ryan can't afford distractions because the slightest mistake would get him voted off. So they are now going to be navigating the twists and turns of the game and try to win their million dollars or are they gonna go home with empty pockets and broken hearts. So that is Marooned by Ben Shelfin.
- [54:01]
Sarah MacLean
Okay, I want to talk about Edward Underhill's new book, the House of Now. And then Edward has, I think, until now, only written ya. But this is his first. His first adult book. And this is a story of a trans man in his 30s who books a Cape Cod car cottage for one lonely summer. And Harlow has. His academic career is in shambles. His relationship with his longtime boyfriend Jackson has absolutely, absolutely collapsed. And he gets thrown a sort of suspiciously cheap summer rental on the Cape. Which, if you know anything about the
- [54:46]
Jennifer Prokop
Cape, like, the moment I read this,
- [54:47]
Sarah MacLean
I was like, like, oh, you should. There's definitely something up with that house. Because you could barely find an expensive summer rent. You cannot find an expensive summer rental on the Cape. Anyway, he heads off to this seaside cottage. It's picturesque and it's perfect. And inside he finds his discouraging former professor, his father making coffee in the kitchen, and a very handsome young repairman fixing things in the bedroom. But, oh, and the boyfriend is in the bathroom, the ex boyfriend. None of them will leave. No one else can see them. And they won't leave him alone. So this seems crazy. And also so they're not dead, they're just there. So the house isn't magic. Only for Harlow, though. As the summer grows kind of busy with tourists, these kind of old wounds and fresh secrets, threats begin to transform it and him. And it's clear that the house is trying to send him a message. And he's pretty sure it has to do with the handsome repairman who suddenly seems to be everywhere that he looks. But Harlow isn't sure that he can let go of all of his concerns and his fears from the past to go off and find that handsome repairman who is going to let you live on the Cape all year round.
- [56:07]
Jennifer Prokop
Which seems.
- [56:08]
Sarah MacLean
Get it, Harlow, get it. So that is the House of Now and Then by Edward Underhill.
- [56:16]
Jennifer Prokop
Perfect. Okay, so I am kind of excited that vampires are back, Sarah.
- [56:21]
Sarah MacLean
Yeah, me too.
- [56:22]
Jennifer Prokop
So I am going to talk about the last true vampire by Kate Baxter. So Michael Aristol is the last vampire king. He survived a massacre that killed all the other vampires. And now he's just an immortal predator hanging out in the nightclubs of Los Angeles, longing for vengeance. But he needs to find the woman whose blood will restore his power. His fated mate. Along comes Claire Thompson. She survives by stealing from men who underestimate her. And you know, I love a street thief. And so she is fast and fearless and sharp tongue. And she never planned on crossing a monster. She's not 88 it until one claims her. So the moment their faded mate bond sort of clicks into place. It does more than ties, than tie them together. It makes him stronger, but puts a target on her back because the slayers who like massacred all of the other vampires are watching and they are willing to kill her to destroy him. So Claire has spent her whole life running from danger and now she's like, well, I would like to run again. But this immortal king is ready to burn the world down for her. What's a girl to do? Step into the shadows beside him and become something far more dangerous? Or, you know, I don't know. I think that's the answer. So this is the last True Vampire by Kate Baxter.
- [57:50]
Sarah MacLean
Cool. All right, I want to talk about the Long Haul by Hannah Doyle.
- [57:55]
Jennifer Prokop
Who?
- [57:56]
Sarah MacLean
Which sounds very cool. It sounds. It's a little Groundhog Day, this one. So Nina Moss has a once in a lifetime work trip to Australia and she is pretty pissed off when she is in the airport like ready to go and it is rudely interrupted by her perfect co worker and arch nemesis, Callum Bang.
- [58:16]
Jennifer Prokop
Shut up. That's amazing.
- [58:18]
Sarah MacLean
A plus she is furious at Mr. Bang. But then worse, worse things happen. Jen. Because she sees the one that got away burn boarding the very same flight and she realizes that she is going to be stuck with these two dummies for 18 hours of travel. So she devises a plan to get away from Callum and back into Hamish, the one that got away his heart. Or at least to the seat next to him. But the universe has other ideas. When Nina wakes up to her blaring alarm, packed suitcase and airport outfit the next day, all over again. This is a time loop romance where they are caught on a long haul flight with she is caught on a long haul fight flight with her enemy and her ex in an infinite time loop and has to figure out how
- [59:14]
Jennifer Prokop
to get out of it.
- [59:15]
Sarah MacLean
So it's perfect for fans of Enemies to Lovers and Grumpy Sunshine, but probably less so for Enemies of Air Travel. So I'm gonna read the shit out
- [59:25]
Jennifer Prokop
of this book though really, truly terrible.
- [59:28]
Sarah MacLean
Okay, that is the Long Haul by Hannah Doyle.
- [59:32]
Jennifer Prokop
Preparations. Prepare a pace for our wants to be our like time travel episode. Right? Time loops. Time travel. I am going to talk about Second Chance Prince by Sarah Bennett. And listen, I feel like we don't get enough historicals with a prince, so sign me up. Here we have Prince Nikolai of Holzwig. He is journeying to London with one purpose. To stay out of trouble until the unrest in his country dies down. But after an assassination attempt at the season's first ball, which I think sounds really fun only because I don't have to be a, you know, target to that. He has no deal, no choice but to accept a deal from the British government. Essentially, they're like, we will offer you protection section if you get engaged to a proper English woman. And Nikki is just not interested until they suggest his childhood best friend, Lady Roberta Ashton. And Roberta was totally infatuated with him kind of those summer when they spent a couple summers ago, all those years ago. And he basically is like, all right, let's fake this engagement because it would definitely liven up the season for her. But there's a difference between lively and deadly. So as the threats increase along their attraction, Roberta and Nikki must learn to trust each other and protect themselves and their hearts. So that is Second Chance Prince by Sarah Bennett. Perfect.
- [60:58]
Sarah MacLean
All right, I want to talk about Running Home to youo by Samantha Saldivar. This one is a Sapphic sports romance. Two college softball stars competing for each other's hearts. So Abby Cruz transfers to this new university and she joins the softball team. And it seems the only thing that she and Kate Hutchins have in common is their love of softball. Abby's raw talent, reckless behavior. Kate is careful control and absolute focus. And this is especially true when the coach assigns Kate the unwelcome task of tutoring her rival on just like getting it together. So these they learn to work together. They discover their differences are exactly what they've been missing off the field. And Kate provides Abby with like a sense of home after some loss and some grief. Abby, meanwhile, helps Kate embrace a freedom that she's never known because she had this like very strict religious upbringing. Which is tricky for the Sapphicness of this romance. As they chase the national title, it's not long before they're falling for each other. Their relationship though, it requires like pretty perfect timing. So they the book tracks them over a full decade and this game of softball keeps bringing them back together from Puerto Rico to Tokyo and courtrooms and churches in Las Vegas casinos. And they fight to sort of chase each other, throw off the past, throw off the expectations of family and culture. And finally an alumni game returns them to the college field. And they decide if it's really the game that's called them home or if it's the chance to finally get it right with each other. So that is Running home to you by Samantha Saldivar.
- [62:58]
Jennifer Prokop
So I am going to do When Sparks Fly by Monica Murphy. In this One we have 22 year old Aris Rachel Henderson. She has one goal this summer she's going to, like, hide out at her family's lakehouse and recover from the most mortifying breakup Manhattan society has ever witnessed. Sun, swimming, zero paparazzi. What could go wrong? Well, I'll tell you what's going to go wrong. She's going to light a candle and burn the house down, practically. And the local fire department shows up, specifically, the ridiculously hot fire captain. And his name is. You know, they don't even tell me his name in the sport, but I'm not even sad about it. Anyway, the house is saved, but the captain scorches her pride by giving her a stern lecture about fire safety. So determined to prove she can handle life on her own without her family's help.
- [63:50]
Sarah MacLean
Help.
- [63:51]
Jennifer Prokop
Rachel finds a new roommate and a new job. She's kind of terrible at it. And she keeps running into Captain Tall, dark and infuriating all through the town. So they spend more time together. His name's Wyatt. And she thinks that maybe they're going to fall in love. But Wyatt is all about Roops roots and permanence in this little town. And Rachel is the very definition of flighty. So what is going to happen? I cannot say, but when sparks fly, might help you find the answer.
- [64:24]
Sarah MacLean
Sounds like June.
- [64:25]
Jennifer Prokop
Yeah, it does sound like June. Let's go.
- [64:27]
Sarah MacLean
All right, June it is. Let's start with Julianne Long's game of rogues, which people are already reading and talking about. Very exciting. Julian Long has a new historical coming out. A sexy Regency about a lady on the edge of ruin and the king
- [64:47]
Jennifer Prokop
of London, London's underworld. You had Martha King in the underworld?
- [64:52]
Sarah MacLean
Right there. I had everybody.
- [64:54]
Jennifer Prokop
Everybody is now. Like.
- [64:55]
Sarah MacLean
Hang on a second. Let me get my pen.
- [64:57]
Jennifer Prokop
Okay,
- [64:59]
Sarah MacLean
Gabriel, listen. It's time for Julianne Long to get her. Gabriel.
- [65:04]
Jennifer Prokop
Sure.
- [65:04]
Sarah MacLean
Gabriel Marchand ruthlessly fought his way up from the gutters of sin Giles to preside over London's most exclusive gaming hell. Few dare cross him. But when a young earl gambles away his inheritance, Martian makes an enemy. A woman with wit like a dagger and the softest eyes he's ever seen. So he says to Guinevere Woodville, the dumb earl's sister. All right, I'll call off your brother's debt. What does he have to. What does she have to do? Jen,
- [65:42]
Jennifer Prokop
Don't ask me these questions.
- [65:43]
Sarah MacLean
She has to spend a night in his bed.
- [65:46]
Jennifer Prokop
Of course she does.
- [65:47]
Sarah MacLean
Anyway, so she is like, I would rather die. Unlike me, who'd be like, show me the way.
- [65:57]
Jennifer Prokop
Are you the Lord of the Underworld? I hear your bed's a very nice place to be.
- [66:02]
Sarah MacLean
How exactly can I get into your debt? But when they're seething enmity gets gives way to sizzling attraction. The offer haunts her and soon it seems a matter of not if she's
- [66:16]
Jennifer Prokop
gonna get into that man's bed, but when. Anyway, this is gonna be great.
- [66:21]
Sarah MacLean
I'm not even gonna tell you anymore.
- [66:23]
Jennifer Prokop
I. I don't. Why would you?
- [66:25]
Sarah MacLean
I don't feel like you need to know anymore.
- [66:26]
Jennifer Prokop
You don't? I don't. I absolutely don't.
- [66:28]
Sarah MacLean
Game of Rogues by Julianne Long. And just a little plug. If you love Historical, buy Historical.
- [66:34]
Jennifer Prokop
Yes, thank you. Correct. Okay, so I am going to talk about Samantha Spook. Paranormal Wedding Planner by Elise Lynn.
- [66:45]
Sarah MacLean
Perfect.
- [66:46]
Jennifer Prokop
Samantha Spook. That is spu with like the two little dots over at K, just to be clear. What's that? An um. A lot? No. Is that an umlaut? Yeah, I think so. Okay. Anyway, she is your go to wedding planner. Be it for werewolf, vampire or Fae. Even if it's less than she would have managed. Imagine. So Savvy has spent her entire life trying to escape her family's legacy of supernatural chaos. She's finally graduated and landed a nice normal 9 to 5 job at New York accounting firm. But then she gets the call. Grandma Rose is gone and Savvy has been named executor of her magically binding will. So now Sabby is stuck in her dreaded hometown of Salem and Massachusetts, which I hear is very nice. Actually taking on some odd jobs. Some very odd ones. Like wedding planning for a not so human locals until she can sell the family home. At least. This means a date with Hanry, the mysterious hottie Sabby meets in the neighborhood graveyard. With help from Henry, a talking head sidekick and a manic pixie assistant. Sabby might pull these weddings off in time to salvage her accounting career. But is she ready to say goodbye to her paranormal one?
- [68:03]
Sarah MacLean
Oh, perfect.
- [68:05]
Jennifer Prokop
Seems very cute. I was super won over by the title. So that is Samantha Spook. Paranormal wedding planner.
- [68:13]
Sarah MacLean
Tia Williams has a new book in June because of course she does. It's June is Tia Williams time. And this one is called the Missed Connection. Sasha Cruz is a casting agent and she knows types. Jen, she's always casting. Anytime she meets anybody in the in the world, at happy hour, at the grocery store, everywhere. She is always looking for the perfect person to act in the perfect role. But what she does not do is relationships. Because that is simply not her business. It is. They take too much time. They take too Much energy. They never work out. Anyway, she's on a flight to Paris for work, and the man sitting next to her is very attractive and very mysterious, and sparks fly. And they have the most incredible few hours together and they don't exchange contact information. So she gets off the plane and is kind of like, I'm pretty sure I have lost out of my soulmate. Which she does the only thing possible. She emails her work friend to say, how do I find this very handsome man who sat next to me, describes him, and accidentally sends the email to her entire company all around the globe.
- [69:28]
Jennifer Prokop
Oh, no.
- [69:29]
Sarah MacLean
Starting an international manhunt.
- [69:32]
Jennifer Prokop
She probably should leave the planet. I don't know what that embarrassing.
- [69:39]
Sarah MacLean
Meanwhile, Sasha hires a detective who she knew in another lifetime to find this man. And this detective is. Is also complicating things because he is pretty irresistible himself. So there's a worldwide search underway, and Sasha is going to have to either leave the planet or trust herself enough to fall in love. So who knows what will happen? But I know that Tia Williams is going to make it great.
- [70:07]
Jennifer Prokop
Oh, of course.
- [70:08]
Sarah MacLean
And that is the Missed connection by Tia Williams.
- [70:11]
Jennifer Prokop
Okay, so I am going to listen. I am thrilled to have a new sports emerge under the sports romance landscape, and that is a volleyball romance. It is called Bump Set Sparks by Jennifer Moffat. And it's great, you guys. The COVID is, like, these two women, like, walking on the beach and the, like, the sun is setting in front of them, and then the sun has, like, the volleyball lines on it. It's very cute. So in this one, we have Jess, who loves volleyball.
- [70:40]
Sarah MacLean
She.
- [70:40]
Jennifer Prokop
She really does, but she. So she plays in a Southern California beach league with her best friend, but they've had a real, like, losing streak recently. And so a lot of what used to really bring her joy just isn't cutting it anymore. And it doesn't help that Vivian, which is one of Jess's rivals in the league, always seems to be around just when Jess is feeling at her worst. And Vivian is everything just isn't. Beautiful, effortlessly charming, and most infuriatingly winning. So Jess, when she's ghosted yet again, it's just like her ego is just crushed. And so who better to challenge her than the most confident girl she knows? So as Jess gets to know Vivian off court, she discovers there's way more to her than being just a pretty face and a wicked serve. So there's an undeniable connection between them. But they are also competing for the same spot in the pro league. So Jess has to, like, build her self confidence and figure out a better life for herself. But. But she has to do it by believing in herself. And she doesn't want to lose all the things that she's gaining. She is tired of losing. So can she have volleyball? And the girl? We are about to find out. That is bump set Sparks by Jennifer Moffat.
- [71:54]
Sarah MacLean
Fun. All right, let's talk about Sophia Benoit's debut, the very definition of love. This is a Regency romance, everybody. So exciting. Harriet Bancroft Croft is on her fifth season with absolutely no marriage prospects. But she's totally fine with it because she is working on a dictionary of modern slang. Words are her passion and she especially likes the dirty ones, the ones that have been kept from women for far too long. She accidentally finds herself through, you know, just being curious into a compromising situation with a notorious rake and has no choice but to kind of kidnap him. And suddenly they're eloping. And this is an arranged marriage and it has a single condition, one of our very favorites. It will be in name only, leaving each of them to follow their own interests. Harriet is going to continue her dictionary work and Alexander is going to, you know, cat around town. But soon Alexander discovers that, like, it's not so fun hanging out with his rakish friends when he could be spending time with Harriet. And Harriet just devastated to discover that she might actually like her husband. Behind the closed doors of their house, they things get complicated and Harriet seems to start to realize that like, there is somebody in her home who could give her very thorough explanations of each of the indecent words in her dictionary. So maybe this marriage won't just be in name only, but definitely gonna have to have to decide whether or not they're gonna let it be about love.
- [73:32]
Jennifer Prokop
Love.
- [73:33]
Sarah MacLean
So that is Sophia Benoit's the very definition of love. And we're excited about it.
- [73:40]
Jennifer Prokop
Okay, so I am going to talk about Puck by Samantha Allen. And one of the things you need to know about me is like, I really love. I really love a book that commits to the bit. Okay? And so this is essentially like a retelling of A Midsummer Night's Dream. And Puck in this case is a reality TV show producer and a real agent of chaos with a talent of for bringing people together. So Puck is a non binary 30 year old mastermind behind a TV show called Home Wreckers, right? A dating show that puts troubled couples through hell with help from their exes. So they are perfectly primed for like a real shock in their personal life when. Okay, so Puck's college bestie is MIA and she is announcing that she has. She has just broken up with her longtime boyfriend, and now she is engaged to Xander's best friend, Damon. And Puck is like, what is going on? You didn't even. You don't even know this guy. What about Xander? Right. And so the friend group is reeling. And so when they arrive for a week of wedding festivities at an upscale resort in the Appalachian Forest, Puck is immediately like, mia's gonna be miserable with this new man. I am the perfect person to essentially ruin everything. So. So Puck is determined to essentially, like, rearrange the couples without anyone finding out. But there is an A type. A maid of honor, which, you know, she is determined to essentially keep the wedding happening.
- [75:13]
Sarah MacLean
Right.
- [75:14]
Jennifer Prokop
And so Puck has met their match, and it is clear that in order to essentially, like, get what they want, they're going to have to really take their eye off. Off the bridesmaid. But as it says in Shakespeare, the course of true love never did run smooth. And so we get a lot of Shakespearean mischief from Puck, which is like a real romcom for our chaotic era. So that is Puck by Samantha Allen.
- [75:41]
Sarah MacLean
All right, well, you know, I love a storm chaser, Roman. I don't like outside.
- [75:46]
Jennifer Prokop
Yeah. At all. No.
- [75:48]
Sarah MacLean
But I do like storm chaser romance. So there's one coming in June, and it's called chase me if you can by Heather Francis. And the cover's great. It's so, like, sexy. They're kissing. She has big hair in the storm. The rain does nothing to romance. Romance hair is. If it's raining, it's still gravity defying.
- [76:12]
Jennifer Prokop
Sure.
- [76:12]
Sarah MacLean
Of course, it never gets stringy. Anyway. Anyway, wedding photographer Sloan Michaels spends most of her year taking pictures of brides. But she takes six weeks off every spring, and she chases tornadoes because she is actually chasing the prestigious cover shot of Nature shots magazine. And she knows that winning this cover shot could be her best opportunity to establish herself as likely a landscape photographer, a serious photographer trademark. The last thing she needs is a distraction in the form of reckless, wild Wes Talbot. Wes is a legend among storm chasers. He is Sloane's close personal frenemy. And for the last decade, he has won the COVID contest. So Sloan isn't surprised when Wes gets into an accident that jeopardizes his chances. But instead of just, like, letting him fade away and running to win the gold and the COVID contest all at once, she's like, you know what? I want to beat this man fair and square. Like, I don't want to win on a technicality. So she invites him to join her for the remainder of the season. And these two are together, racing through hail, high winds and stormy skies. Sloane soon realizing that Wes might be more than the rich, flirty wild card that she thought she knew and that the feelings blooming between them are pretty charged and dangerous, much like the storms they chase. That is chase me if you can by Heather Free Francis.
- [78:01]
Jennifer Prokop
Okay, so I have another, like, time travel book up on my up my sleeve here, and that is Sometime this Century by Samantha Silva. So what we have here is Annabel Blake was born in the wrong century. She is an Austin loving book nerd, dreams of being a writer herself and just wrote a Regency romance to essentially prove it. But her hopes sink when her hot author cried crush rejects her, saying that the novel reads like she's never been in love. So Annabelle sees the chance to rewrite it when her boss sends her to England to like, sort out the boss's like sort of crumbling old pile of the country house. So when she gets there, there's this like invitation on an antique writing desk. There's a period coachman at the door. And so she's whisked away to a local Regency society ball. Candlelight costumes, dancing. This is going to be the inspiration she needs when she meets the perfect and wildly out of her league Henry Layton Deversey. But when Annabelle's audacious influencer sister crashes the party with her super chill ex boyfriend, the unlikely trio wake up to find themselves trapped in the actual Regency area era. No wi fi, no lattes, no cell phone. Just a world where manners, money and marriage rule. And it turns out that Henry, right Deversey, is in fact part of this like real Regency landscape. What is happening? So we're gonna have to sort out some time travel, sort out some marriage march stuff and sort out everything about being a good writer, I guess. So that is Sometime this Century by Samantha Silva.
- [79:46]
Sarah MacLean
Let's talk about the Open era, Another sports Romance by Edward Schmidt. This one is a tennis romance. So. And it sounds it when I explain it to you, you'll know why I say this, but this one might be a really good read for those of you looking for something to read while you're waiting for heated rivalry season two. So recently turned pro tennis player Austin Hardy has been out out since high school and it has never been a big deal. He's like publicly gay. That is until he becomes the first openly gay man to compete in a grand slam tennis tournament. And then suddenly being gay is a huge deal. And the headlines like don't seem to care about his tennis as much as they seem to care about his sexuality. And he is unprepared for this new spotlight. So Austin is going through it. He is. His anxiety disorder is returned. He trips and he falls at practice and he is really struggling. And right in front of very attractive, very talented, and very likely straight Diego Cruz, who is ranked number two in the world. So these two are professional rivals and they start a friendship off the court. But between their flirty banter and Diego's mixed signals and a looming showdown at a Grand Slam tournament, Austin is thrown further off his game by Diego. So the eyes of the world are on him. The weight of history is on his shoulders as a first, and Diego is across the net. And now Austin has to decide whether love means nothing or if it means everything as he battles for the trophy during two weeks at a US Open that is the Open era. By Edward Schmidt okay, all right, I
- [81:32]
Jennifer Prokop
am going to talk about the Great Outdoors by Kayla Olson. So we have a rom com about a high maintenance woman who embarks on a wilderness this trek to prove to her ex how low maintenance she could be, only to find herself realizing, I don't know, something. Maybe he has a point. So Sadie has essentially like her nickname is basically be prepared, right? And so she's always been praised for being the one in the room who has thought of everything, every backup plan, every situation. She knows exactly what she wants, exactly what she loves and will go to great length lengths to make her life run as planned. So when her laid back boyfriend breaks up with her for being too high maintenance, she's determined to prove him wrong. And she signs herself up for a weeks long guided wilderness adventure in the high Sierras of California. Camping, hiking, rappelling, kayaking. This is a miserable, uncomfortable situation. What better way to prove that she's up for anything? So she's really a resort girl at heart. But the her tour guide is August Thorne. He lives for adventure and is always keeping a very professional distance from the truckers under his care. But there's just something about Sadie and he finds himself wanting to get closer. So as they explore the wilderness together, Sadie realizes the great outdoors might truly be great with the right person.
- [83:04]
Sarah MacLean
Let's talk about waking up Married Jen.
- [83:08]
Jennifer Prokop
Let's talk about it. We've done a whole episode on it
- [83:10]
Sarah MacLean
and it never gets old.
- [83:12]
Jennifer Prokop
Never.
- [83:13]
Sarah MacLean
Let's talk about Winner Takes all by Emily Martin. This one is about Eleanor Thompson, who is a talent scout who arrives in Las Vegas to sign a popular rock group called Dempsey to her record label and save her job. Unfortunately for her, Adam Shaw, a former colleague who she hates and who recently poached the top performing artist from Eleanor's roster, is also in Vegas to do exactly the same thing. Adam crashes Eleanor's dinner meeting. It sets them off on a one night of shot fueled one upsmanship that ends with them waking up fully married.
- [83:53]
Jennifer Prokop
I love it.
- [83:55]
Sarah MacLean
And these two realize pretty quickly that annulments are a lot easier to get on television, especially when you factor in that they one of them is missing an id, There is a run in with casino security and a band that it is expecting to be wooed before hitting the stage for the final show that night. So they have a few hours until the party where Dempsey plans to announce which record label they're going to. And Eleanor and Adam are embarking on a wild dash around Vegas to fix the previous night's mistake. So there's like meeting with lawyers in the background of strip clubs, getting blackmailed into playing the Newlywed Game. And then some pretty deep moments that are surprising them both. And these two are like shockingly falling for each other in this like big crazy bananas day. So the big question is, are they gonna place a bet on love or they are they gonna miss. Miss their shot? This on this day in Vegas. This one is obviously inspired by the Hangover. It sounds like shenanigans. I'm actually really excited about it. It sounds like it's going to be a very, very fun book. So that is Winner Take all by Emily Martin.
- [85:06]
Jennifer Prokop
Okay, so I'm going to talk about Romantic Hero by Kirsty Greenwood in this one.
- [85:12]
Sarah MacLean
Okay.
- [85:12]
Jennifer Prokop
Gertie Bickerstaff is a. An author. She writes happily ever afters for a living. Or she did, until her own love life fell apart. So now her ex is thriving, she's got a deadline looming and she cannot write a single word. So the last thing she needs is more drama. Like waking up, for example, to find a confused and rugged cowboy on her sofa. And not just any cowboy. This is River Oakley, the villain from her unfinished novel. Somehow very real and very shirtless. River just wants to go home. Gertie wants her life back. So they strike a deal. He'll use his cunning, villainous ways to help her win back her own X. She'll finish the novel and send him back to wherever he came from. Only River Oakley is proving to be more than just the bad guy. So does Gertie have to go with a plot twist she never saw coming in order to get the ending she thought she wanted
- [86:10]
Sarah MacLean
another historical. Coming out in June, Shayna Galen has a shop girl's guide to wooing a lord. And this is a class difference regency from Shayna Galen, who has been around and knows how to write a book. Tamsin Archer, our heroine is having the worst year of her life. And that is saying something considering her father is dead, her mother was maimed at work and her family regularly sleeps under London's bridges. But when her younger siblings go missing one day, Tamsin decides like she has to step up and she has to do something. Desperate times call for desperate measures and she is disguising herself to sneak into homes and steal from the rich because that's what we have to do. Unfortunately, she gets herself into an earl's house and is immediately caught by Garrett Kildare, the second son of the earl. And much to Tamsen's surprise, Garrett has no interest in turning her into the police. He wants to help her, though she's pretty wary because. Because she has been taught by life never to trust. Good luck. So the unlikely pair form an alliance. Garrett proves to be helpful and suddenly we are in a class romance. A class difference romance. He knows he has to be careful because if he falls for a woman of the lower classes, this is going to be a very, very serious problem. Her, his family is already on thin ice when it comes to social standing and there are eyes everywhere. But at the same time he's really into her. And ignoring their attraction is pretty much proving to be impossible. So the question is how much is responsibility and respectability going to come into play when Garrett and Tamsin can't keep their eyes off of each other? This is Shayna Galen's a shop guides. A shop girl's guide to wooing a lord.
- [88:06]
Jennifer Prokop
Okay, I'm going to talk about Leave and Come Back by Lavanya Lakshmi. And in this one, listen again, this is really perfect for me. I love it when people are like, the plot is like, I can't believe we have to act like we're in a Bollywood movie. All right? And so what happens is Simran is living out a perfect like sort of swoon worthy romance. Anything, it would rival the beloved Bollywood films of her childhood. Right? And so this is her, her boyfriend's name is Leo Bridges Bridgers and she receives an invite to her cousin, cousin's wedding. And so now she's gonna essentially have to like go back to the home she's been avoiding for seven years to take part in this big two week long like Indian wedding. Like the whole, like the whole situation, right? So family drama is already at a peak when Leo essentially accidentally crashes the engagement party. And all of a sudden the entire family is like, what is going on? Who is this gentleman? And so now Simran and Leo essentially have to like, they all like Simran and Leo and the cousins essentially are gonna rally together to get Simran's judgmental Aunt Veena to essentially fall in love with Leo and then therefore like approve of like their relationship. So what happens is there's like misdirection and hijinks. Leo's whole job is to essentially prove himself to be the most charming, helpful wedding guest imaginable. And he cannot give away that he has ever met or is currently in love with Simran. And for Simran, all of like being around family is just really bringing back a lot of difficult memories about her parents and, and what happened when they died and nosy aunties and so you know, she has to find a way to like heal these wounds or risk losing her happy ending with Leo and her family. So this is leave and come back. And it just sounds really delightful.
- [90:07]
Sarah MacLean
Christina Forrest has a new book out this summer. In June, the summer girlfriend arrives. So Noelle Lewis is really, she is hustling. She does not have time for free time. She is busy saving up to go back to college. She was recently laid off and now her main job is to serve as a standin bridesmaid. So you've heard of these people, Rich.
- [90:31]
Jennifer Prokop
I'm like, yeah, yeah.
- [90:32]
Sarah MacLean
We're like, there's an extra spot. Like the, the man has more friends than the woman in a wedding and so she has to hire a stranger to like for pictures. It's a weird job but she doesn't have, it doesn't pay very much. But you know, it's what, it's whatever it, it, it's whatever it pays toward her next semester's tuition. Luckily she runs into Jeremiah Smith ii, grandson of the founder of a kind of well known baked goods company. And Jeremiah has since his grandfather's death, tried to clean up his act. But when his family requests that he attend a party and an event at the summer house house, a summer house in New Jersey, he resists going because he has some very painful memories from that place. And he claims that he already has plans with his girlfriend. He's so sorry, he's too busy. His girlfriend is, you know, too girlfriendy. And his family says, hey, no problem. Why don't you just bring her? And luckily this is where Noel comes in. He doesn't have a girlfriend, but he does have Somebody who he's met whose job is to basically, like, be a companion and actually to make people be fun at a party. So he hires her, he make. They make a deal. She says she'll stand in as his girlfriend for a weekend and he will pay her tuition, which is quick, easy money. But as it turns out, his family is really lovely and he is really lovely. And then the weekend turns into a whole summer, and then the big question is, like, how are these two gonna work it all out? Which they will because they sound lovely. So Christina Forrest's the summer girlfriend.
- [92:17]
Jennifer Prokop
All right, My last June book is the Winged Game by Sophie Kibb. And I am basically like, okay, it's fantasy meets sports romance. Which I was just like, hello, this is what I want. So in this one we have there is. Okay, so Tasia Cho's whole life essentially was playing this, like, kind of violent, rugby esque game called Cara Witch it. And you basically play it on top of, like, these winged beasts. And she was the UK's most promising player until her nemesis, rival player Keon Locke, destroyed her career in a single moment. So she's been expelled from the sport in disgrace. And Tasia has spent the last two years dreaming of nothing but revenge and relishing watching Keon's team plummet to the bottom of the league. So when Tasia is offered the chance to redeem herself and her career, she can't refuse, even if the offer is coming from the very man who ruined everything in the first place. So it's pretty close to a dream come true. Except for a pesky clause in her contract that demands that she and Keon enter a fake relationship in order to garner some, like, pr. Good PR for the team. This could not be a worse match. Tessie and Keon only have two things in common. Their love of the game and their hatred for each other. But when a mysterious illness ball befalls all of the winged creatures that are like, kind of help the league exist, right? Putting their the beast lives and the sport itself at stake. Keon and Tessia have to essentially figure out who is like, crack the case of this eerie sickness. This takes them on an adventure where maybe they're fake for the camera's relationship is something real after all. So that is the Winged Game by Sophie Kim. Well, there you go, Sarah.
- [94:11]
Sarah MacLean
I think we've done it again.
- [94:12]
Jennifer Prokop
You know, every time I just feel like we're tighter and tighter.
- [94:15]
Sarah MacLean
I know, sorry. It feel.
- [94:17]
Jennifer Prokop
It does.
- [94:17]
Sarah MacLean
It feels a little bit like we just blew through that, but I know
- [94:21]
Jennifer Prokop
everybody listen we talked about 50 books. You're welcome.
- [94:24]
Sarah MacLean
Did we really? Was it 50 books? And I could have talked about another 20.
- [94:29]
Jennifer Prokop
Of course.
- [94:29]
Sarah MacLean
Of course, you guys, April, May and June are full to the brim with romance novels. So make sure you get to your local independent bookstore, the one that really likes romance novels, and check out all the new releases every week because there. It's literally every week there are piles of new romances and you are gonna have a time. I'm gonna have a great time. I just downloaded like 10, 15, 20 books and I'm gonna download more and I can't wait there. And we also specifically didn't talk about some books I specifically didn't talk talk about some books that I know we're going to talk about over the course of the next few months. So it's gonna be fun.
- [95:12]
Jennifer Prokop
I love.
- [95:13]
Sarah MacLean
Look, I. I actually really love these episodes because I'm like, oh, look at all these books I can read.
- [95:17]
Jennifer Prokop
Yeah, it is. It's great. It's great for us to like, sort of. It's great for us. It's great for you all. So. So lots of fun things to look forward to as you are thinking about your spring and early summer reading.
- [95:29]
Sarah MacLean
I'm Sarah McLean. I'm here with my friend Jen Prokop. We are fated mates and you can listen to us every Wednesday wherever you get your podcasts. You can also find us online@fademates.net where you can click on episodes and read the show notes where every book we talked about this episode is listed. You'll see all the covers. You can shop at whim there. And then you can also see, for those of you who are authors, links to our forms to submit books for the next few discoverability episodes. And also if you're a debut to the debut form where you can tell us about your debut romance for 2026 so we don't miss it. Additionally, you can. You can find us online at Instagram and threads at Faded Mates pod and at Blue sky at Faded Mates. What else, Jen?
- [96:24]
Jennifer Prokop
What else do we do? Oh, the Patreon Patreon looks like.
- [96:27]
Sarah MacLean
Listen, if you're just looking to hear about more books. More books, more books. The Patreon is for you. If you join our patreon@faded mates.net patreon you get access to our discord where people are talking all the time about romance novels. And also you get an extra episode every month while you're there. So that is exciting. And again, you can find that@fatedmates.net Patreon Other than that, that's what we got for you. Neither of us are going to be doing anything interesting for the next foreseeable future, but we hope you're doing something interesting and we hope that you come over to social media or join the discord to tell us all about it. So thanks so much for having us. We love you. We hope you read a million amazing books in the next three months. And next week we have more excitement for you.