← Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People
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- [00:00]
Sarah MacLaine
Summer reads.
- [00:02]
Jennifer Prokup
Ugh. The best time for you.
- [00:05]
Sarah MacLaine
You're like, I'm ready. Bring me my summer stack of books.
- [00:10]
Jennifer Prokup
You know, in fact, I have struggled to manage my reading and my editing life. And so one of the things I'm doing this summer, which I have not done, is I am giving myself six weeks off. I have no editing jobs between August 1st and the middle of September. And you know what? I deserve that.
- [00:28]
Sarah MacLaine
You are doing great.
- [00:31]
Jennifer Prokup
So I'm gonna read and go back to work. But still only one job.
- [00:35]
Sarah MacLaine
Well, listen, summer is for that. It's for being lazy. It's for, you know, laying around and reading romance novels. Ugh.
- [00:43]
Jennifer Prokup
I woke up this morning and it was, like, raining outside. And I was like, oh, perfect. I'm gonna stay in bed and read for a little bit.
- [00:50]
Sarah MacLaine
Yesterday it rained here. It was 73 degrees and rainy, and
- [00:53]
Jennifer Prokup
I was like, so amazing still.
- [00:56]
Sarah MacLaine
Yeah. Anyway, everyone, it's summer. It's official. It was the solstice this year. I know this year it was a solstice.
- [01:05]
Jennifer Prokup
Happens every year.
- [01:05]
Sarah MacLaine
Happens every year. Happens multiple times a year. It's the solstice this week. Longest day of the year. I actually somebody. I sent somebody an email, and there was an out of office. And the out of office. First line of the out of office was, I hope the solstice has left, you know, has left some lingering light on your week. And I was like, oh, so nice. Anyway, very exciting. And, you know, the Instagram witches were out in full force telling us how to witch up the rest of the
- [01:38]
Jennifer Prokup
back half of the year. I love the Etsy witches. Like, not a lot of good things happening in our world, but something about that always makes me laugh.
- [01:45]
Sarah MacLaine
Well, I read some article, like, after game four. No, game four was the. Was the game where they won in the last second. The Knicks won in the last second. And some guy was like, before the fourth quarter, I hired. I quick hired an Etsy witch.
- [02:04]
Jennifer Prokup
Amazing.
- [02:05]
Sarah MacLaine
So he was taking, like, full responsibility for it.
- [02:08]
Jennifer Prokup
Sure. I mean, a man. Of course. Why not? So who had nothing to do with the game itself, which is. That's how sports fandom is, though I actually had. So everybody knows I went to Villanova, and, like, three of the five Knicks starters also went to Villanova. The Nova, Knicks, and my husband. Yes. Last night, like, a box arrived, and he opened it. He's like, I got you a present, and I am obsessed with it. I put it on blue sky, but it's a. It's a baseball hat, and it says Nixon 5. But instead of 5. It's a Roman numeral, like a V. But it's the Villanova V, of course. And I was like, I'm going to wear this all the time. It's perfect. I am obsessed with it. It's. And it fits. Really cute. You know how that is, too.
- [02:55]
Sarah MacLaine
I love how this has really activated your college loyalty.
- [02:58]
Jennifer Prokup
Oh, yeah, right.
- [02:59]
Sarah MacLaine
You have never really discussed. I don't really.
- [03:02]
Jennifer Prokup
You know, I have two. Like, two friends I still keep in touch with, and we have, like, basically a group text that only gets activated when, like, something Villanovi happens. Very big fall with the Pope and all. And then, like, we sort of reactivated it, but so it was really fun.
- [03:17]
Sarah MacLaine
I wonder. I mean, the Pope. Must I. I hadn't put it together, but of course, the Pope's been, like, a huge Knicks fan.
- [03:24]
Jennifer Prokup
I mean, the Pope's got it. Sure. Well, I mean, the Pope can. There. There's the Etsy witch that really got hired.
- [03:31]
Sarah MacLaine
I think you hired an Etsy witch. We have the actual Pope.
- [03:36]
Jennifer Prokup
A line to the big man himself. Oh. Anyway. All right. We don't have a lot of time for banter.
- [03:43]
Sarah MacLaine
We don't. We have to get. We have to get into.
- [03:45]
Jennifer Prokup
We gotta get.
- [03:48]
Sarah MacLaine
Welcome, everyone, to Faded mates. I'm Sarah MacLaine. I read romance novels and I write them.
- [03:53]
Jennifer Prokup
And I'm Jennifer Prokup, a romance reader and editor. And this is our quarterly, like, summer preview. Right, Discovery Buddies. Yes, exactly. Here we are again. And what we're going to be doing is talking about books that have July, August or September release dates. And the whole goal here is, like, these aren't books that we've read. These are books that we just think look fun. We're interested in them. We think you might be. And just to, like, sort of, like, remind you that, like, there are so many books out there or. Also as a reminder, though, this episode tends to lean very hard, pretty much entirely towards, like, traditionally published books, just because of, like, the way we also are discovering books.
- [04:31]
Sarah MacLaine
Right.
- [04:31]
Jennifer Prokup
I discover indie books when they come out. It's often really hard for indie authors to kind of, you know, pre order that whole situation. So, of course, there are great indie books. Those tend to be really highlighted in our regular episodes. So before we get started, though, I just want to call out one June book, which is our favorite Frederick Smith released Love is a Contact Sport. I think we've talked about it at a previous episode, but I don't think it was on our sort of spring preview episode. So did you have any June books you wanted to mention.
- [05:08]
Sarah MacLaine
It's possible. I mentioned this on the last one, but it's a June 30th book and we always sort of.
- [05:13]
Jennifer Prokup
It's always a little tricky.
- [05:14]
Sarah MacLaine
It's always tricky with that last week of the season. But Vanessa Riley wrote A Deal at dawn, which is book three, three of her current romance series. And it's, you know, a really classic setup from Vanessa. The heroine is a viscountess who has lost custody of her secret daughter. And she now has to. There's been a court ruling and it's sort of chaotic. And now her, his, the child's father is about to die. And Catherine, you know, Vanessa loves a series, loves a book where like somebody might be a bigamist, somebody might be a, you know, scandalous husband, somebody might. There's always like law involved in her books. And she really uses like romance law to thread all these like really interesting needles. Anyway, she agrees to nurse this duke back to health. This is the father of her secret child. And he agrees to secure her a respectable husband. But in private, she has to be his mistress, of course. Listen, so this is gonna be real deal messy because, you know, there's a past, there's a secret baby. He might be dying. I don't think he is. And then I don't think he does in the end at least. Cause it is a romance and there's going to have to be a lot of apology ing going on here.
- [06:57]
Jennifer Prokup
Well, I think what's really fun about that is just like Vanessa writes a great book and a really well researched historical. I feel that really is sort of the pleasure of those books for sure. One other thing I just wanted to mention, I guess I'm thinking of this back to Frederick Smith, which I did not give a full update on that book. I think we talked about it a few weeks ago. We did.
- [07:17]
Sarah MacLaine
There was an ad.
- [07:18]
Jennifer Prokup
Yeah. Keep an eye out everybody for your like favorite authors. Like a lot of people are book touring this summer, right? Like they're at bookstores near you maybe. I mean, and I'm actually like devastated to realize that Frederick Smith, there's a really cool black owned bookstore that I can like walk to called the Book Joint. And it's actually really fun. They have, I think they were like selling books to the Obama library opening and Frederick will be there. And I was like, I could walk there and it is. I have plans like at that time. So I was like, oh, I can't go. But anyway, so I just was like, it's, you know, I. I missed out on like Another A Christina Forest was close by and I would have gone. So just keep an eye out for bookstores near you. Like, look and see if there's anybody you like coming, because those can be just really fun ways to, like, I don't know, be in a romance room. So, anyway, that's my last piece of advice.
- [08:13]
Sarah MacLaine
Um, you said Obama library. Did you see that at the Obama library, there are a bunch of black romances on the shelf?
- [08:19]
Jennifer Prokup
Yeah, no kidding. That's, like, on my, like, list of things to do over there. Because this, again, is a walking distance in my house. But they have a Chicago Public library on site, and I need to get over there because they have a limited edition Obama library library card.
- [08:32]
Sarah MacLaine
Oh.
- [08:33]
Jennifer Prokup
And I'm like, I need to get one of those. So.
- [08:35]
Sarah MacLaine
Okay. I didn't realize that there was a public. A Chicago library. Somebody post today. I saw Kennedy replying that she to a post where she was like, holy shit.
- [08:46]
Jennifer Prokup
Yeah. So there's the library, which is, like, what we talk about when we talk about, like, the Obama Library, like, museum kind of part of it. But there is also a Chicago Public Library on the campus, which is super fun. So perfect.
- [09:01]
Sarah MacLaine
Well, listen, somebody posted to Threads like, here are all the black romances that I found on the shelf at the Obama library.
- [09:09]
Jennifer Prokup
Yeah, I saw that go by, which is super cool. Very fun.
- [09:12]
Sarah MacLaine
Anyway, okay, but now back to our regularly scheduled programming.
- [09:16]
Jennifer Prokup
Yes, let's start with July.
- [09:18]
Sarah MacLaine
All right, I'm going to start. I'm going to start with Eva Lee, who has a new book out, an indie book, it's coming out July 8, called Seduced by the Werewolf Highwaymen.
- [09:34]
Jennifer Prokup
Click.
- [09:35]
Sarah MacLaine
And so let's just begin as we
- [09:36]
Jennifer Prokup
mean to go on.
- [09:37]
Sarah MacLaine
Is what I'm saying about summer here, correct? When three dashing highwaymen hold up the carriage of Jessica Colfax. Some Jen might call it bad luck, but not us. Not us. For Jessica, it is an invitation to seduction. And these three highwaymen hold a secret. They are werewolves. Three Supernatural. I mean, did you immediately buy this as soon as I started talking?
- [10:08]
Jennifer Prokup
Preorders are for. So Evelyn knows the job. I don't know.
- [10:11]
Sarah MacLaine
Three hot historical werewolves and a woman in a carriage. And I don't really feel like I need to say much more.
- [10:19]
Jennifer Prokup
I don't think you honestly do either. If that's not enough for you, nothing is. What do you think?
- [10:24]
Sarah MacLaine
Then why do you listen to this podcast?
- [10:27]
Jennifer Prokup
Correct? Like, literally, why are you even here? Okay, so I am going to talk about Fire on Fire by Lucas Games. This is great. So Ash Pierce lives by the fire mantra that is financial independence. Retire early as you go. He has a spreadsheet for everything. His money, his workouts. And essentially, you know, when he has time, maybe he'll date a little bit. And then there's Kyel, I guess, Wright. He is paying on his jeans, overdue bills. Like, kind of like an idiot, honestly, it sounds like. And he has, like, sort of a billionaire patron who is essentially a founder of some sort of tech giant thing. But, you know, this is. Everything is, like, sort of going in a certain way for these two. They meet at this mountain retreat. It's sparks fly, like they're attracted to each other. But Ash thinks that Kyle's like a walking financial emergency, right? Kyle's just like, you're a boring, douchey, like, tech, like all these other guys, right? And then a wildfire comes and traps them together in the backcountry. So I feel like this sounds like a, you know, great forced proximity. Opposites attract. Gay romance. So that is Fire on Fire by Lucas Gaines.
- [11:51]
Sarah MacLaine
Okay, I want to talk about the. How about Princess Bride with Benefits by Bella Mason? A Harlequin Presents. There's always gotta be a harlequin in the mix.
- [12:06]
Jennifer Prokup
Sure.
- [12:07]
Sarah MacLaine
And here it is. This is a marriage of convenience. This all things Harlequin presents promises a marriage of convenience, a revenge deal, and a royal romance by Bella Mason.
- [12:17]
Jennifer Prokup
Sure.
- [12:18]
Sarah MacLaine
Ten years ago, Princess Giselle Betancourt chose to go into hiding rather than endure an unwanted wedding. And now a handsome billionaire has found her in hiding and has a shocking proposal that he'll reunite. Reunite her and her siblings only if she marries him. So, but this is revenge because the royal family has destroyed this billionaire's father, and now our hero wants to just ruin everybody. But actually, he's going to fall in love with Giselle, and that's going to be that. At least that's what I predict. And that is Princess Bride with Benefits by Bella Mason.
- [13:05]
Jennifer Prokup
Perfect. Okay, I'm gonna talk about as Long As It Takes by Jill Francis. So what we have here is one of Jill. This is her second book set in, like, these sort of seaside towns in Italy, which I just think are perfect for summer. So Laura Brooks is essentially, like, over it, right? She had a bad breakup. She's basically just gonna focus on her PhD research, which is debunking Maslow's hierarchy of needs, which is amazing. Anyway, Laura and a friend are sort of traveling to the Ital where her father was born, because Laura is hoping to sort of, like, reclaim her Italian citizenship. But once she's there, it's just like Italian bureaucracy and an outdated filing system and a handsome, handsome mayor. So this is going to be a romance between Laura and Andrea, the handsome mayor. And what we're hoping is going to happen here is just that these two are going to fall in love. Laura's, like, future and destiny might be somewhere where her parents are from.
- [14:14]
Sarah MacLaine
Paranormal. Not romantic, but paranormal. Feels like it's having a little bit of a boost this week.
- [14:19]
Jennifer Prokup
A resurgence. Agreed.
- [14:21]
Sarah MacLaine
Die for Me by Charlene obuobi is out July 14th. And this is one that everybody is talking about and I still haven't gotten. My plan is to read it very soon. So Charlene is a black cardiologist in her real life, and she is right. This book is about Shawn, the only female black interventional cardiologist at her hospital. And she is. She has, like, a very focused life. She's focused on work, she's focused on her friends, she's focused on her goddaughter, and that is it. Until she meets Julian, who is brooding, beautiful, and 11 years her junior. But Jen also kind of, like, wise beyond his years, and there's sometimes a look in his eyes that's a little less than human and leaves her feeling a little more like prey than she's entirely comfortable with. And then it, you know, he's got all these weird symptoms. She's fantasizing about him in her dreams. And then there's this moment where she realizes that Julian has been around and alive for a very, very long time. Way too long to be human. Nice. So that is Shirlene Obobi's Die for Me.
- [15:47]
Jennifer Prokup
Yeah, everyone is talking about that one. It sounds really fun. Okay, I. Everybody knows, I think, like, I'm always like, what's capturing my eye? It's just something that seems, like, really fun or funny. And in this case, I have Kiss, Marry, Kill by Cara Tanamachi. And in this one, we true crime podcaster Ella Takata is a sucker for a good mystery, right? She has a great. She can, like, really point out those killers until she gets it wrong. So she identified an innocent man as something called the Canceled Killer. And she. And there's like this huge backlash, so she has to go back to her Midwestern town. But the Canceled Killer might not be done with her yet. She is afraid that she's basically, like, made herself his next target. So then she essentially has, like, these three men, like, in her orbit. And I'm assuming she's going to kiss one, marry one, and kill the Other. Which I am for. Right. So is it Aaron, the hot Chicago detective, Jude, the sexy cheese loving nerd, or Mateo, a Hollywood stunt double who's got all the right moves? So, anyway, I don't know. I'm just delighted by this premise. Less love triangle and more love. You got to kill somebody.
- [16:59]
Sarah MacLaine
Amazing.
- [17:01]
Jennifer Prokup
How about.
- [17:02]
Sarah MacLaine
So, okay, there's also another thing going on this summer, and I'm going to try and talk about all of them, but. But there is an F1. I mean, there's just so much F1 romance out there right now. So let's talk about the Paddock Club by Madge Merrill. So this is a formula one romance. The heroine is a fashion influencer, and she is on a secret mission to ruin an F1 driver's reputation. So she is a professional heartbreaker, our heroine, and she basically pretends to fall in love for a price and then dumps the world's worst men. You can hire her to, like, seduce and then dump the jerk in your life. So she is offered the chance to pull off her biggest con date and dump an F1 driver who recently left his very angry ex at the altar. And she just. She's pretty excited about this. She's an F1 fan. She's, like, ready to go. And she gets there ready to ruin this guy and also sort of, like, experience the F1 world. But all of a sudden, this guy leaves his racing team and she's assigned to, for romance reasons, work with another F1 driver who she then falls wildly in love with. But he is nothing like these men that she usually dates and loves to hate. He's actually, like, a really good guy. And she ends up, like, having to reckon with her intention never to fall in love and accept that, like, the world that she has built could actually make it so that it's impossible for her to succeed in this romance. So that is the Paddock Club by Madge Merrill. This week's episode of Fated Mates is sponsored by Juniper Butterworth, author of the King in the Forest.
- [19:00]
Jennifer Prokup
So this is the fourth book in the Goblins and Cheese series in which Elson and her goblin consort, Kandar have a human lover, Ben, and the three of them are very happy together. But there is trouble afoot in their land. Always, always right. So strange and terrible fairies are attacking her subjects. Her people are going hungry. She's struggling to feed them. Kandar is, like, sort of losing his temper and throwing noblemen down a hill, and Ben is trying to figure out what is going on with his mother. So the two Elson is separated from two from the other two, from Kandor and Ben as they seek aid from a fire worshiping duke. But he Ben nearly loses Kandar to like some magical mind control and Elson is alone and these three have to like figure it out. So they must reunite to defeat these fairy lords and and along the way discover Oberon who is an even more powerful fairy king lying in wait with like a secret that is going to undermine everything. So we've got these three. They're trying to overcome all the bad guys and make the world and all of their cheese loving subjects happy again.
- [20:15]
Sarah MacLaine
Well, if you also are a cheese loving subject and you would like to read a fantasy adventure romance with an MMF trio, then this book, the King in the Forest just might be for you. You can read it right now in print or in ebook. And if your podcasting app supports it, you can click on the chapter title and be taken to learn more. Thanks to Juniper Butterworth for sponsoring this week's episode.
- [20:42]
Jennifer Prokup
Okay, everybody knows I love a space romance. So in this affairs of State by Calvin James, we've got sort of like a kind of big space opera political like sci fi business. So LeVar Boylan is essentially, he's been, he's just like a junior supply officer, but he's pulled from the front lines to serve as a diplomat because there's some peace talks that have been like arranged with the empire. And it turns out that he once dated an imperial baroness named Astrid who's like of tied up in all of this. So she is now the reigning demon emperor. And essentially despite like their differences in rank, she's the demon Emperor and he is a supply officer. Their attraction is still burns bright, even all these years later. So she is horned. And anyway there's all these like conflict, conflicting agendas and you know, levar's superiors suspect that he's really loyal to Astrid. And of course Astrid's hoping that he'll, you know, kind of come with her sinister schemes, assassins, kidnappers all. And space. So that is affairs of State by Calvin James.
- [22:03]
Sarah MacLaine
Well, you said space romance and so I gotta talk about this one, which I actually can't wait to read. I wanna Talk about Formula Zero by Meredith Lanzen, which is like F1 adjacent but. But it's actually about a space race.
- [22:18]
Jennifer Prokup
Oh amazing.
- [22:20]
Sarah MacLaine
And it has a lot of the tropes that I look for in romance. So Madeline Clark, our heroine, has earned her spot in the solar system's most elite zero gravity racing circuit. And she is. It's hard. She is one of the only female pilots in a male dominated sport. She hates her boss. Her estranged father is like resurged from the team, from the past because he now has a reason to care about her. And there's Julian Kaspari. Julian, who was Clark's. Madeline's childhood best friend and is a rising star in the league. And they've always had like a complicated will they or won't they relationship. But a few years ago, Madeline walked away and was basically like, I need to focus on my life, my work. And Julian kind of didn't stop her from leaving, didn't tell her the truth about how he felt. And now they are competitors until Jen. Madeline gets into a near fatal accident on the track. As you know, I always think. I think racing books should have accidents in them.
- [23:33]
Jennifer Prokup
Somebody's gotta be.
- [23:35]
Sarah MacLaine
And Julian comes to her rest rescue. So these two have got to figure out how they're going to make the past and the future coincide. So that is Formula Zero by Meredith Lanzon.
- [23:51]
Jennifer Prokup
Okay, I'm gonna talk about A Date with a Death by Kelly Cree. This one. Okay, so the grim reaper obviously is not supposed to have feelings. He's supposed to not have a soulmate. He's supposed to take your soul. And so he instead falls in love one night with a children's library. And her name is Helena Hart. She's not having her great night. It's a Halloween party. Her costume is sort of like a failure. Her date just ditched her. And her only sympathetic ear is a dead silent partygoer in a grim reaper costume. Except she falls off a balcony and he catches her with a very real skeletal hand. And she realizes he may not be a party guest after all. He is in fact the real grim reaper. Now, he's not supposed to save souls, he's supposed to reap them. And so he's not sure exactly why he spared Laina. But he does know if his superiors finds out, he's as good as dust. Which is saying something for a guy who's mostly bones. Right? So. But he can't keep away from her. He is making. Listen, this is great. This is classic romance worst. To his horror, Helena makes him feel things. And for a grim reaper, feeling is a fate worse than death. So I was just like, okay, this sounds so fun. So yeah, A Date with Death by Kelly Cree. I'm not sure I'm saying your name right, Kelly, but I'm obsessed with the whole premise.
- [25:18]
Sarah MacLaine
How about a new Felicia Grossman coming this summer? Very exciting. This one's called Dearest Beast, as you all know, Felicia's doing fairy tale retellings, and this one is about Roger, who had an unhappy first marriage and is now just focused on being a good father. But his daughter's recklessness damages their neighbor and their neighbor's home, and he is like, maybe I'm not such a good father. So to make amends, he agrees to provide lodgings to this neighbor until the repairs of her home are complete. Unfortunately for him, the victim, the neighbor, is the same woman with whom he foolishly shared one night of passion a while back and then deserted her because she had no status. So listen, Rebecca Adler, who is nobody's fool, is a local midwife and she is now living because she doesn't have enough money or status to find her own spot. She is living as a guest in Roger and his daughter's home, and she is trying very much to remind herself and him that he is simply contemptible and certainly not for her. But as we know, Felicia knows the job and these two are going to have to dance around each other and reckon with each other and reckon with themselves and they're gonna fall in love. So that is Dearest Beast by Felicia Grossman.
- [26:56]
Jennifer Prokup
Okay, yeah, I love a Felicia Gross milk. And I love. Listen, Beauty and the Beast retellings. I'll read every single one of them.
- [27:04]
Sarah MacLaine
We are but simple people.
- [27:07]
Jennifer Prokup
Okay, so I am going to talk about falling for you by Natasha Madison. In this one we have Theo Williams. He's loved and lost and isn't interested in doing it again. He's got friends and family, but plenty of women pass through this town that are happy to have like a no strings kind of thing happening so that he's perfectly content. Sarah. Until he meets Collins Henderson, the one night stand who's gonna change his world forever. She grew up on the wrong side of her small hometown, and thanks to her parents, she's just like kind of like tarred with that brush. Like, everybody thinks that she cannot be trusted. So she works hard as a paramedic, but every time she starts to pull ahead, like her deadbeat parents show up and just like kind of ruin everything for her. So she's not really tipp into one night stands, but there's something about him. And then wouldn't you know it, she turns up pregnant. So she has to tell him, right? But this is now, like, he's so nice and he's like cooking her meals and stocking her refrigerator, like taking care of her, even though she's one been the person always taking care of herself.
- [28:15]
Sarah MacLaine
So how about a new Christina Lauren book out in July? The romance revival is here. Emery, Emily Finch, our heroine, is a scientist. And three years ago, she married a man who was charming and wonderful, and they had, like, one night in Vegas and woke up married. And since then, he's made her laugh and he's made her feel feelings. But now Emery is consumed by her research and she is not really home very much, and she's not really doing the marriage thing very well. And then a tragic accident takes Luca from her and he dies. But. Or he. Well, a tragic accident takes Luca from her. But desperate not to lose him, Emery breaks some science rules, using some classified science stuff, romance science, to bring him back to life. And Luca is back, but he can't remember her, and he can't remember anything about them. And here is Emery's second chance to make good on the marriage that she was sort of shitting the bed on.
- [29:28]
Jennifer Prokup
So look at this, Sarah. My goodness.
- [29:31]
Sarah MacLaine
I mean, you know that Christina Lauren
- [29:34]
Jennifer Prokup
can do the job.
- [29:35]
Sarah MacLaine
So this is the romance revival, out in July.
- [29:40]
Jennifer Prokup
Perfect. Okay, so I am going to talk about Eclipse of the Crown by A.K. cagiano. This book just is like one of these, like, I don't know, you'd read a description. You're like, this is. Sounds great. And for me, this is a third book in a series. I haven't read the other ones. I'm just gonna say that's not gonna matter. So Damian and Amma have landed themselves in the midst of Yulkhan, right? The preeminent congregation of the vilest and most unscrupulous villains in existence. It's like the Senate for bad guys. Okay. Okay. So once again, among his peers, Damian's moral growth is threatened just when he's learning to be slightly less so. Consequently, Amma finds her own virtue in peril when faced with so much temptation, namely in the form of a dominating, domineering maid she can't, like, really say no to. So their romance is doused in the coldest of baths when the Grand Order of Dread commands Damian to essentially, like, do some evil. But what's gonna happen when he doesn't really wanna do that evil? So there's sort of a couple weeks where the world is supposed to end, and these two, instead of, like, doing the bad thing, are gonna try and do the good thing so that they can be together in the world that they've saved. So this is part of the Villains and Virtues book. And I don't know, it just sounds really fun to me. So that is called Eclipse of the Crown.
- [31:08]
Sarah MacLaine
How about a Harlequin special edition by Sarah Taino. Their summer rescue. So this one is set in a small community off the coast of Florida, and Dr. Naila Davila is protecting the turtles of Soledad Bay. And this is her whole life. She's a sea turtle researcher, an educator, and all of a sudden, the sea turtle center that she works for falls victim to a cyber attack. And she is willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that she can protect these turtles, even if that means enlisting the alluring hacker, Olivia Navarro. With the reputation of her company on the line, Olivia does not need to be distracted by a sexy lady who loves turtles. But the more the two work together, the deeper they fall for each other. And the more Olivia starts to realize that Soledad Bay and Nyla just might be her future, too. So that is Their summer rescue by Sarah Taino.
- [32:19]
Jennifer Prokup
Okay, I'm gonna say this is like the end of July after this one, because that's 16.
- [32:24]
Sarah MacLaine
Oh, God, I have so many more.
- [32:26]
Jennifer Prokup
Whatever.
- [32:26]
Sarah MacLaine
Fine.
- [32:27]
Jennifer Prokup
I'm just telling you I'm sorry. I guess I should have warned you in advance. You should have. I just. Sorry, that's not the way this episode goes.
- [32:34]
Sarah MacLaine
It's just a shocker.
- [32:35]
Jennifer Prokup
It's just a shocker.
- [32:36]
Sarah MacLaine
It's because Jen has an obsession with even numbers, and she likes rows of four. It's not like a rule.
- [32:45]
Jennifer Prokup
Okay, it is a rule, though. Cause it's also in 30 minutes, and we can't be up doing July forever. Okay, so Maggie and Arthur's Magic Moment by Lisa Renee is basically like professors at a magical college falling in love. Right? Budget cuts are ruining everything for Professor Maggie Linden. She teaches linguistics and incantation. Um, and it's almost the end of the spring semester, so Maggie attends a magical masquerade. And there's sort of like this. You know, it's like a big, fun party. And she kisses a masked stranger at the festival. Um, who is it? Well, that was alchemist Arthur Taliesin, and he's had an accident in his lab. He's famously broody, so now he's just brooding even more. And he set loose some dangerous magic. And so it's kind of, like, inhabited the building, and everyone's having to move around. And now, all of a sudden, Maggie is assigned to share her tiny basement office with none other than Arthur Taliesin, who is, of course, the guy she kissed. So she'll do anything to get Arthur out of her office, including offering to help him reverse the magic that threatens the school. But she's starting to realize that that mask he was wearing, he's like, wearing around all the time. And, you know, just his broodiness and his grumpiness and is not the real him. So anyway, they're gonna figure it out. Maggie and Arthur in their magic moment.
- [34:12]
Sarah MacLaine
Jen, I feel bad because there is one that I was saving for you. That is a you book. It's a book for you.
- [34:18]
Jennifer Prokup
Tell me.
- [34:19]
Sarah MacLaine
So we're gonna have to do one more. You're gonna have to find one more.
- [34:22]
Jennifer Prokup
I will do it.
- [34:22]
Sarah MacLaine
So then it's a row of two.
- [34:25]
Jennifer Prokup
It's fine. Okay.
- [34:27]
Sarah MacLaine
Did you see Fox by Paisley Hope?
- [34:30]
Jennifer Prokup
Yes. I mean, I haven't read it. Yeah, like, it's.
- [34:32]
Sarah MacLaine
First of all, the COVID is amazing. It's super pulpy and it's like two hot people sitting on a motorcycle.
- [34:42]
Jennifer Prokup
I mean, fine.
- [34:44]
Sarah MacLaine
And here it is. This is an enemies to lovers motorcycle romance made for Jen, made for me. She is set on revenge and the rival club president is her enemy number one. So perfect Mia Tyler is looking for revenge on the only men left with answers about her, her sister's death. The president of the Disciples of Sin Motorcycle Club.
- [35:04]
Jennifer Prokup
And I feel like all I have
- [35:06]
Sarah MacLaine
to do is say that, yeah, Disciples,
- [35:09]
Jennifer Prokup
you are but a simple person. I was like, cluck, clap.
- [35:13]
Sarah MacLaine
But listen, there's like a, like, baddie who's chasing her. And then this guy, the head of the Disciples of Sim Motorcycle Club, has to save her. And then what is she going to do? Because he was so nice. Nice to her and also very hot,
- [35:28]
Jennifer Prokup
apparently, according to the COVID of course.
- [35:30]
Sarah MacLaine
And she's wearing leather pants and it just.
- [35:33]
Jennifer Prokup
I'm for it.
- [35:34]
Sarah MacLaine
So
- [35:37]
Jennifer Prokup
that's really all you need to know. Okay. Since I am actually obsessed with it being even, I'm going to say that there are three other books. I'm going to name their titles by Faded Faze. Then you should get two and I
- [35:47]
Sarah MacLaine
should get one more.
- [35:49]
Jennifer Prokup
Fine. I'm going to say I'm not going to actually talk about them. I'm just going to list their titles. These are three books by faded mates phase. We love Ravenous by Cressley Cole. It comes out in. In July, which is a future kind of IED book. It's not really one of our IID books. It's got some other book. An Education and Longing by Charlotte Stein. Looks like maybe a return to old school. Charlotte Stein, which is, you know, gothic Y vibes where everyone's just like, hidden away and, like, hot for each other. And then One Shattered Crown by Rebecca Zanetti, who wrote writes a great romantic suspense. All right, this week's episode of Faded
- [36:30]
Sarah MacLaine
Mates is brought to you by E.
- [36:32]
Jennifer Prokup
Kennedy, author of Thornbird.
- [36:36]
Sarah MacLaine
So E. Kennedy is L. Kennedy, and this is E's E. Slash L's first foray into YA thrillers. Thornbird is the story of Ryan Shipley, who is the daughter of one of the most infamous serial killers in history. Gabriel Thorne was caught 10 years ago in Starling, Tennessee, and Ryan is back to the house and to the family and to the to the town 10 years later. Except no one kind of knows how Ryan has lived for the last 10 years or how she might have been connected to her father back in the past. And she is back to solve the crimes of her family's twisted past and better understand understand everything that's gone on. Of course, as she starts to dig deeper into the case, old secrets refuse to stay buried. She's got cryptic texts. There are eerie coincidences all through town. And there's a chilling note that leaves everyone wondering, is it possible that Ryan knows even more than she's letting on? As the truth unravels, one thing becomes clear. In a town full of secrets like this one, Ryan might be the biggest, biggest mystery of them all.
- [37:54]
Jennifer Prokup
So if you would like to check out this YA mystery, it is available in print, ebook, and audio if your podcast app supports it. You can click on the chapter title right now to be taken to buy the book. Thanks to E. Kennedy for sponsoring this week's episode. All right, you ready for August?
- [38:13]
Sarah MacLaine
I am ready for August. I'm starting with Kimberly Lemming.
- [38:17]
Jennifer Prokup
Really?
- [38:18]
Sarah MacLaine
Hitting the ground running.
- [38:20]
Jennifer Prokup
Correct.
- [38:20]
Sarah MacLaine
Kimberly Lemming has a new book out. Everybody knows I'm actually, like, deeply charmed by the Kimberly Lemming universe. This one's called I Punched an Alien and now we're in couples therapy. I mean, I just don't even know
- [38:33]
Jennifer Prokup
how you could not read those titles and want to read it right.
- [38:36]
Sarah MacLaine
It's true. This one is about a woman who finds herself stranded on a far off planet and mated to the warlord Alien King. And so there we go. Men in fur. It's not in Blair's nature to just give up. Not when she's beamed to a spaceship, dropped on an alien planet. Not even when she's in the middle of a forest surrounded by dinosaurs. And definitely not when she's captured by an arrogant alien king. But nothing prepares her for finding out that she is that arrogant alien king's mate. Mm. This one is gonna be very funny. Kimberly knows she writes Such a funny book. They're very steamy and they're very over the top. So enjoy yourselves. I punched an alien. And now we're in couples therapy.
- [39:24]
Jennifer Prokup
All right, all right. I'm gonna talk about Steelborn by Taylor J. Leroux. Which is a romantasy, the first in the Steelborn saga. It's got a really stunning cover. It's like this beautiful red haired warrior woman with like a big sword. And so what we have here is Rhea Connery has become something called the, the Crimson Dagger. That's like what everybody calls her. The most notorious thief in Ra. By following essentially a really strict set of rules. There's no honor among thieves. A good blade is key to any negotiation. And only the dead keep secrets. And so she's got a secret that really has to be kept at all costs. But a heist goes wrong. She's had was just about to pay off her debt to a ruthless crime lord. So she now needs a new set of rules and a lot of money. Enter Salen Halcyon, an immortal warrior whose magic makes him valuable target. But there's this like curse inching towards her heart. And there's just one person who might be desperate enough to try and get their hands on the curse to save his life. Right? This person claims they can steal anything the Crimson Dagger. So he cannot stand that this is his only hope for survival. She needs to take him to like the edge of the world so that they can like defeat their foes. And of course there's a growing attraction. He's got a perfect jawline and she's really angry and I just think that seems like a nice time together that they're gonna have. So that is Steelborn by Taylor J. LaRue.
- [40:58]
Sarah MacLaine
Perfect. Let's talk about Embrace by Bal Cabra. We talk a lot about hockey romances. This one has. This one is about a hockey player and the coach's daughter. Kyan Ishida is all about parties and hockey. But when he realizes that he is headed to the NHL without fulfilling his father's, his, his dead father's one wish for him, which is that he finish his college degree before he go pro, he is determined to do that. So he joins a study group led by none other than Scarlet Kilner, who is beautiful and smart and the hockey coach's daughter. And after making reputation for herself, all Scarlet wants for a senior year is to prove that she is more than her past mistakes. But when Kyan, her dad's star hockey player, joins the study group, things get complicated. Her dad's, like, in the mix and thinking that this is not the future for either of them. And it's a little bit of a will they, won't they? And how are they ever going to convince everyone in their lives that they're the right match kind of book that is Embrace by Balcabra.
- [42:19]
Jennifer Prokup
Okay, I am going to talk about the Cozy Nook Bookshop by Jeannie Chin, everybody. You might remember that I loved Jeannie's first series, which just came out a couple years ago. Um, this is, I think, a standalone maybe. And in it we have Emma Rogers Lee. She is really going through it. She lost her friends, her Manhattan apartment, and her jerk of an ex. So when a job opens to run a bookshop in the quirky small town of Harts Hope Crossing, Vermont, Emma's like, all right, I'm doing it. I'm starting over. And for the first time in years, she actually, like, feels like she's sort of in charge of her life again. Until she runs smack into Hunter Hall. According to town legend, it's fate that any couple who collides at that corner is meant to be. And so while Emma. I know, right? While Emma doesn't believe that the town gossips are like, right. But everybody in town is convinced that they're now meant for each other. He's a forest ranger, and she is kind of attracted to him, but, you know, he's got a complicated past of his own. So can they take a chance on love again in their cute little Vermont small town? We're about to find out. In the Cozy Nook Bookshop, here is
- [43:35]
Sarah MacLaine
a sapphic romantic mystery that has a little bit of a speculative twist. It's called in what World? By Bridget Morrissey. Two high school rivals, Marlo and Priscilla. I mean, these two hated each other in high school, and now that they're in their 30s, they remain connected through a mutual mentor. Their, like, drama teacher when they were growing up. Except the drama teacher goes missing, and each woman believes that they can figure out exactly where he is. But this is no ordinary disappearance. Dallas, the drama teacher, has found a way into alternate versions of reality. And while trying to follow him and figure out what happened to him, Marlo and Priscilla find other versions of themselves at the same time and are surprised to learn that not all realities have them at each other's throats. Some of them have each other have them falling wildly in love. So as they are forced to rely on each other as they search for their missing teacher, it becomes harder and harder for them to ignore that maybe this reality is not the one that will give them the most joy. That is Bridget Morrissey's.
- [44:51]
Jennifer Prokup
In what world? Yeah, that one looks cute. Okay, I have again, a great title. It's A Business Doing Pleasure with you by Lindsay Lewis. In this one, Lauren Hart is a straight, lace, like, sort of life coach, right? Her own life is a bit of a mess, but her clients don't need to know that. What happened is her best friend died six years ago and, like, Lauren's really been putting everything on hold to help her, her friend's husband, Casey, raise their daughters that were left behind. And in the process, she has developed a massive, huge crush on Casey. But she is then blindsided when Casey introduces a new girlfriend and says that he and the kids are moving to LA for the summer. But la LA is calling to Lauren too. So she has a promotion out there and she can essentially, like, kind of build out the LA office and kind of maybe see if her, like, this thing with Casey, like, has a chance. Instead, all she has to do is keep her new client, troubled UFC fighter Danny Kakoa, in line until a critical fight. How hard could that be? Well, pretty hard, because he does not want a babysitter and he is intent on making Lauren's life hell. That is, until they come to a business agreement. He will follow her straight and narrow rules if he can give her rules about how to be a little more hedonistic and enjoy her life. And so all of a sudden, these two are really learning that sometimes there is a good balance between business and pleasure. So, again, great title. It's a Business Doing Pleasure with you by Lindsay Lewis.
- [46:33]
Sarah MacLaine
Well, you all know that I have a very soft spot for Saffron Kent, who writes sort of bizarre, dark, like, truly troubled characters in her romances. She has a new one coming out this, this August called Rote. This one, you are gonna have to check your trigger warnings if this is a thing that seems interesting to you. But Peyton, the heroine of this book, is a young woman who does have a stalker. And she doesn't have very much proof, but she knows that there is somebody out in the darkness watching her. He wears a cowboy hat and a skull mask. And there is. And she is basically, like, haunted by him, but also, like, kind of interested in him. Except when her best friend goes missing, she decides, like, she needs somebody to help her track her best friend's kidnapper and find out what happened to her friend. And she just happens to have a man in the yard who's very, very good at tracking People down. So she heads out and gets him, and then they.
- [47:41]
Jennifer Prokup
They.
- [47:42]
Sarah MacLaine
I don't know. I don't know what's gonna happen.
- [47:44]
Jennifer Prokup
They're gonna bang a lot is what
- [47:45]
Sarah MacLaine
I can tell you. I never know what's gonna happen at
- [47:47]
Jennifer Prokup
the end of a.
- [47:48]
Sarah MacLaine
Of a Saffron Kent book. But listen, I'm for it. So she is my. She is the darkest. I go, and I always have a great time. So that's roped by saffron count.
- [48:00]
Jennifer Prokup
Okay, perfect. All right, so how many left, Jen?
- [48:04]
Sarah MacLaine
So you don't shock me.
- [48:06]
Jennifer Prokup
Well, I'm about to do number eight, so you can do four more, and I can do four more.
- [48:10]
Sarah MacLaine
Okay, fine. Thank you very much.
- [48:12]
Jennifer Prokup
You're welcome. I'm happy, happy to cruise direct this. This. This aotic endeavor that we always.
- [48:18]
Sarah MacLaine
I know.
- [48:19]
Jennifer Prokup
I'm like, Sarah, we'd spend three hours on July and then be like, sorry, everybody else if it wasn't for me. And just everybody needs to know that we each have a job to do here at Faded Mates. Okay, I want to talk about. I'm like garbage for these Mafia romances, everybody. So don't say Mafia. By C.R. jean. And so what we have here is Jagger Thatcher doesn't take no for an answer. He is the leader of a criminal empire that rules Las Vegas known as the Veil Syndicate. And he's used to taking what he wants. And so from the moment he encounters these, the exquisite Eden Thorne, he's determined to make her his. There's just one problem. She's married. Trapped in a toxic union and working two demanding jobs. Eden has really given up on, like, kind of escaping her reality until she meets Jagger. His presence really, like, conjures up sort of like a fantasy of, like, a very different kind of life, at least like an escape from the one she's currently in. But it's his loyalty, protection, and the promise of. Of passion that keeps her up at night. So Eden resists him. Of course. Jagger sees a problem with an easy fix. She's resigned, staying true to her husband because they've bonded over a shared child, childhood trauma. But everything changes when all that's familiar to her comes crashing down and Jagger is there to sort of pick up the pieces. I have no idea what's going to happen here, but I'm all about it. And that is don't say Mafia by C.R. jain.
- [49:50]
Sarah MacLaine
Susan Lee has a new book coming in August. It's called See youe at the Sunset. This one is Enemies to Lovers on a summer vacation. A summer escape. So Jia Chung Our heroine gets fired from her job and ends up having to escape before her mother forces her to move home. Her. Her beloved grandmother invites her to spend the summer in Palm Springs. And Gia heads off to kind of get her head on straight and decide what she's gonna do next. She moves into the Sunset Hill Senior living community. And she's having, like, a great time because all these people in here, they are living their best, like, retiree lives. And. But she happens to meet Henry Shin, who is an overworked corporate lawyer who does not fly off to Palm Springs to help. To help his grandfather move into a new home, traditionally. But Dennis, his grandfather, is Henry's only family. So he's there to make his grandfather feel settled and safe very quickly and then head off back to life as a lawyer. What happens is he gets roped into Zumba classes and spicy book clubs. And at the center of all of this chaos is. And he can't quite shake the fact that he is very into her. In fact, so into her that they had a one night stand several months back, and now he is. I mean, listen, this chaotic place full of chaotic octogenarians is gonna get these crazy kids together if that's the last thing they do.
- [51:31]
Jennifer Prokup
Amazing.
- [51:32]
Sarah MacLaine
So that is. See you at the Sunset by Susan Lee.
- [51:36]
Jennifer Prokup
Perfect. Okay, so I'm gonna talk about Old Flames by Nadine Gonzalez. A couple of summers ago, she wrote Only Lovers in the Building. She's been around for a while. I really love, love that one. So in this one, we have author Jules Levy Jones. She is running from her past, from her grief, and from the only man that ever really sparked her interest. So she's drawn to Key west for a prestigious literary festival and then, like, finds herself back in Leo White's orbit. And she knows she cannot run from him anymore. He's a brooding. I'm into it. Horror writer. Also into it. With demons of his own. And he's even more captivating than ever. And he's just like, you know, you're not. You're not going to walk away from me again. Not even when she confesses, Sarah. That she's been haunted by eerie whispers and chilling visions. So as the tropical heat rises, so does the tension between them. But Key West's historic Aurora Inn holds more than just romance. Could the ghosts following Jules be echoes of her own past or something more sinister? So it's like romantic suspense, but, like, with a horror angle, which I think is going to just sound really fun and fresh to everybody out there. So that is. And Nadine writes A great book. So that is Old Flames by Nadine Gonzalez.
- [52:57]
Sarah MacLaine
How about a sex lessons book, Jen?
- [53:00]
Jennifer Prokup
Always.
- [53:00]
Sarah MacLaine
How about Sex Positive by Brooklyn Rose? So college senior Charlotte. Charlie is over abstinence only. Sex education. Same girl, same. And she is ready to start a comprehensive build and disseminate a comprehensive sex education curriculum. The only catch is Charlie's knowledge of sex is sort of textual rather than physical. And she needs somebody who can teach her all the things that she. All she can. That who can help her kind of practice what she preaches. Enter Wes Quinn, who is, you know, a sexy resident playboy and the boy who broke Charlie's heart three years ago. But she kind of, in a moment of vulnerability, tells him that she needs somebody to help her, like, understand the sex of it all. And he thinks this is something that he can really help with. He's more than happy to give her the research facility, if you will, access to the research facility. And the two of them decide that they're going to get into it for pure research, research, experimental. Experimental research purposes. Except old emotions resurface and as we know, sex lessons. It's a slope directly.
- [54:30]
Jennifer Prokup
That's love lessons in romance. Right?
- [54:33]
Sarah MacLaine
Exactly. So that is Sex Positive by Brooklyn Rose. This week's episode of Faded Mates is sponsored by Felicia Grossman, author of Dearest Beast, which I talked about on this episode.
- [54:47]
Jennifer Prokup
Amazing. So in this. This is the third book in the Once upon the East End series, which are fairy tale retellings set in, like, Regency London. And so in this one, we have Roger Barab. Now, he's always taken pride in being a really good father, despite the fact that he was very unhappily married to his wife who died. His daughter, though, is a real wrecking ball. And this kid essentially just like, runs wild and causes destruction. And he's sort of like, cleaning up after her. She's like 10 or 11. So she has essentially destroyed the like, sort of home and, like, workshop of Rebecca Adler, who is not really a darling of the Jewish community. They respect and admire her midwifing skills and her skills as a healer, but she's just always been on the outside. So after this destruction, Roger is essentially, you know, has to like, keep her whole, like, right. Like, make her whole again. And so he essentially invites her to live with them while the repairs can be done. And then these two and the explosive chemistry they feel, even though they don't seem to really like each other, takes over. But as time goes on, they discover that they actually have a great deal in common. And she has things to teach him, even though he sort of is like, kind of like a Master of the Universe type character who really is at like the top of the heap in their community versus her being sort of like lower class and poor and all of the ways in which she seems like different in an outsider. They're gonna get sexy and it's gonna be real fun.
- [56:27]
Sarah MacLaine
Yay. Well, if you love a single dad who maybe I don't like, but maybe I do like, and class differences and forced proximity and Beauty and the Beast retellings, then this book is for you. You can get it right now in print, ebook or audiobook. And if your podcast app supports it, you can click on the chapter title and be taken to learn more. Thanks so much to Felicia Grossman for sponsoring this week's episode.
- [56:53]
Jennifer Prokup
Okay, International Relations by Zach Hammett has a gay Roman where Max is essentially a he works in international diplomacy. If this was a thriller, that would mean he's a CIA agent. But it's a romance. So basically what it means is there's a high profile position as an ambassador in Athens. And what he's told is like, you can't be single and have that job. In this line of work, appearances matter. And so Max's rival Quentin has like a charming and accomplished girlfriend. And so Max is like, like, well, I'm gonna hire myself a charming and accomplished boyfriend. So he hires Hunter, an actor, to play the perfect man for him. He is dazzling on the diplomatic circuit, but soon the charade takes on a life of its own because visa complications force them to essentially marry a marriage of convenience. There's only one thing that could make, of course, all of this more complicated, which is fake datings turning into real feelings. So this is International Relations is glamorous locations, sizzling chemistry, and really great like, opposites attract. Grumpy sunshine romance. So that's International Relations by Zach Hammett.
- [58:11]
Sarah MacLaine
How about Kayla Perrin's Her Undercover Protector, A Harlequin romantic suspense about a bodyguard. Bodyguard Griffin Woodward. His latest assignment is posing as a CEO's assistant. But things get real complicated when that CEO, Dahlia Mondale is hot. She is an heiress. She believes her father has been murdered and her life has been threatened. So Griffin is on a constant lookout for baddies through this book and willing to spring into action and protect her at any cost. As for Dahlia, she can't really escape any of the ghosts of her past, but she is really having trouble escaping all of the things she is thinking about. This former Navy SEAL who is determined to keep her safe. So that is her Undercover protector by Kayla Perrin.
- [59:10]
Jennifer Prokup
Fun. Okay, so I have the Marriage Rebound by Micah James.
- [59:18]
Sarah MacLaine
This is going to do this one.
- [59:19]
Jennifer Prokup
Yeah.
- [59:20]
Sarah MacLaine
Of course.
- [59:20]
Jennifer Prokup
This is the second book in the series that has, like, WNBA romance. Hello. And so in this one, Atlanta Cannon star Courtney Bradford should be soaring after a winning season. But off the court, things are not going well. She loves her gorgeous, fiery wife, but the passion that brought them together is no longer enough. And, like, there's just, like, a feeling that, like, they don't appreciate each other anymore. So Sasha Adams Bradford gave up her life as an exotic dancer to become a doting housewife. But she expected the woman she loved would. Wouldn't, you know, would be. She hadn't realized, like, what it would take out of their relationship that Courtney is just on the road all the time. So, you know, Sasha has been kind of. It's, like, been some retail therapy that's been adding strain to their relationship. And an injury forces Courtney to sit out the European League, which would be, like, the winter season. And Sasha finally has the things she's longed for. But is this, like, a case of be careful what you wish for? So I love a marriage in trouble romance, and I think that this sounds like a really fun one. So this is the marriage rebound. Okay.
- [60:33]
Sarah MacLaine
I said I was gonna talk about F1 romances, so I'm gonna give you another one. So this is. This one is called full throttle by JK McLaren. And I will tell you, her publicist that this, to me, a few weeks ago, a few months ago, and I immediately wrote back and said, is her Last name actually McLaren, like the car company? And. Yes, in fact, it is.
- [60:54]
Jennifer Prokup
Which name is Destiny?
- [60:55]
Sarah MacLaine
I mean, listen, Name is I. I was like, cool. Name is Destiny. This one is about the first ever female F1 driver and her biggest competition. And as they were coming up through karting and through, you know, early days of the academy, they broke each other's hearts, and now they are teammates for a season in Formula one. Um, so Juliet is. If you know anything about Formula one, she is. She's driving the worst car on the grid, and her teammate is a guy who she just wishes she never had to see ever again. Dominic Hastings, who is the prince of F1, but his father has fired him after a terrible performance last season, and now he is. Is driving the worst car on the grid, desperate to show dad and the rest of the racing world that he is far from finished. The problem is, is that these two are now training together. They're in close quarters they are butting heads constantly and they are hot for each other. Um, so competition is growing and they are competing with each other and against the rest of the grid. And the big question is going to be if, you know, is all fair in love in Formula One. That is Full Throttle by J.K. mcLaren.
- [62:18]
Jennifer Prokup
Okay, so I am going to do again. I think these gothic paranormal romances do sound really fun. So I have Vow of Eternal Night by Lily Crozier. It's got, like, a really great cover. Clara Wagner has always known monsters are real, and the worst of them, Sarah, is Prince Raleigh of Rustenburg. But when he decides it's time to marry, Clara inadvertently finds herself at the center of his attention. So, forced to accept Raleigh's proposal, Clara would rather do anything, would do just about anything to escape her fate. But the prince provides an ultimatum. If he. Basically, if she cannot lift the curse on him, that makes him a vampire before the end of the year, she'll have to be his bride for eternity. And so Clara knows what she's gotta do. Heal the prince and stay alive and try not to fall in love. So this is Vow of Eternal Night by Lily Crozier.
- [63:19]
Sarah MacLaine
Okay, there are a lot of Halloween romances coming out this month.
- [63:23]
Jennifer Prokup
Oh, yeah. So we're on to September. Yeah.
- [63:27]
Sarah MacLaine
Is that what we're doing?
- [63:28]
Jennifer Prokup
We're doing September.
- [63:29]
Sarah MacLaine
We're on. We're tuning. Sorry.
- [63:31]
Jennifer Prokup
Moving forward. Sorry. There was a bunch of things on the list. Sorry.
- [63:34]
Sarah MacLaine
Also, while we're talking about this, you should know that if you follow us on Instagram @BetAmazePod at the beginning of every month, Eric reposts all of the books that we have talked about this month. So you can keep your big list in your, you know, calendar or whatever, or, you know, remind yourself to come back. But if you follow us on Instagram, you'll actually be reminded that all these books are coming out. So head over and do that while we're talking about this. So, okay, lots of. Lots of Halloween romances coming out in September. So let's start with. I mean, for the purposes of the title only, Hexy Beast.
- [64:18]
Jennifer Prokup
That was on my. Again, a great title.
- [64:21]
Sarah MacLaine
I don't feel like I need to say very much more. By Avery Flynn, an impulsive witch and a buttoned up werewolf in a spicy rom com by Avery Flynn. Avery does write a very spicy book. So the heroine, Effie, is the eldest daughter of the magical Sherwood family, and she's supposed to have everything together, but she does not. And one night she kind of accidentally on purpose jumps on the back of the motorcycle of a guy named Darius. Darius is gruff and grumpy and hot and the head of the local werewolf pack. And this spur of the moment decision has caused not a small amount of problems because, oh, no, they are fated mates. And as we all know, the rules are, once a werewolf sends his favorite mate his fated mate, I mean, there's just no going back.
- [65:20]
Jennifer Prokup
No, that's. It's all done.
- [65:22]
Sarah MacLaine
So now she's a witch and he's a werewolf. And there is some tricky politics ticks in the magical town of wherever they live. And I'm gonna have a great time reading this, honestly, in September. Get myself ready for fall.
- [65:34]
Jennifer Prokup
Okay, I'm going to stick with the Halloween ghosty theme with you're the one that I Haunt by Katie Young. So Libby Lakoski has two major problems. Okay? One is that she's secretly in love with her best friend. And the problem is. Second problem number two is that he is marrying someone else. So, yeah, Carter is great to her, and his fiance is some diamond heiress, and so she's kind of like, what kind of chance do I have? But the thing is, is that Libby is really the only person that Carter has trusted enough to reveal that there is, like, this dark magic that is plaguing his family. I don't know how he thinks marrying a diamond heiress is going to make that better, because. Woof. But anyway, now we have a third problem. Which is Trip Caldwell is Carter's handsome, smart, flirtatious cousin, who also happens to be a ghost. He has unfinished business to break the Caldwell curse, but the solution hinges on Libby encouraging Carter to allow his wedding to proceed. And Libby is the only one who can see Trip. And her objective, of course, is the exact opposite. So can Libby put aside her pining for Carter and work with his hot but not quite living cousin to save both of them? So, as they follow a trail of clues across New York City, Libby finds herself really kind of noticing for the first time that maybe Carter wasn't as good of a friend as she thought. And feeling super perplexed about how she's attracted to a ghost. And Katie, the author. I'm also super perplexed, but I'm gonna read and find out. And find. Trust the process. So that's. You're the One that I Haunt by Katie Young.
- [67:17]
Sarah MacLaine
Okay, how about A Spell of Heart and Havoc by Kristen Vale? This one is like a cozy, spicy fantasy romance about a half dwarf thief assigned to be a fake bodyguard for a rich noble. So, Meryl, our half dwarf has the world on her shoulders and she will do anything to save her brother, who is very ill. To do so, she joins the guild of thieves and gathers with the idea that she will essentially steal enough coin for his cure. And she agrees to infiltrate a noble family by acting as bodyguard for their spoiled daughter. Dove. The daughter in question, yearns for independence, has no interest in a babysitter or a bodyguard, and, and as Meryl loves to remind her, she lives a charmed life. Although no one knows that Dove actually has a magical ability that she has to hide. So spending every moment together is infuriating for these two. But before long, spending every moment together is causing some sparks that these two ladies cannot ignore. This is a spell of heart and heaven by Kristen Vale.
- [68:35]
Jennifer Prokup
Amazing. Okay, so I'm gonna talk about the Alibi Club by Carrie Talik. So we have single female, 41 year old forensic psychologist Jamie Frisco. And her bio reads more like, you know, she's just like she's supposed to be. She's like basically on the verge of becoming like her. Her mother thinks like a spinster. So her mother is basically like, I am leaving you out of the will unless you bring a danger to her mom is like getting remarried. Right. So enter matchmaker Lorna Gray, who invites Jamie to a blind date night called Dinner for six. What she meets there who are One of the person people she meets there is recently paroled antiquities thief Cliff Weston. And he is really like desperate for a change. But he needs a loan to start his new security business because who better to start a security business? Either a Navy SEAL or a former thief. So looking to schmooze his benefactor, bypassing a sort of a family man, he also accepts Lorna's Gray to the to the Dinner for Six. But unfortunately, there the power goes out. Everything is in chaos. The SWAT teams arrive, a lockdown ensues. Right. Like there's just like. It's like I kind of picture this as like the movie clue in book form. As the night goes on, sparks fly between Cliff and Jamie. But the biggest heist in Manhattan beach history is going down. And someone at the table might be behind it all. So that's the Alibi Club by Carrie Talek.
- [70:08]
Sarah MacLaine
Doesn't that sound fun?
- [70:09]
Jennifer Prokup
Yeah, I want it to be fun, everybody. This week's episode of Fated Mates is brought to you by Union Square publishers of this Blaze of Ours by Shalini Abbasakera.
- [70:23]
Sarah MacLaine
This blade of ours is the second book in Shalini's this Monster of Mine series. And in this one, Death isn't finished with our main characters. Saray, the heroine of this book, believes that the worst was behind her. In the first book, she and her partner Khadra exposed the government's corruption in what has now been deemed the Great Unraveling. But now they throw face scorn from the citizens who honestly preferred them as underdogs. Now they have to lead, which is much, much more difficult. Worse, eerie omens have rocked the country. There is a deadly plague outbreak. There's a sweeping madness that's leaving afflicted people ranting of an approaching reckoning, which doesn't sound good. And Saray has been accused of angering the gods. So she returns to the only place that can clear her name, the frozen north of the country. But among the secrets buried in its ice are Cadra's secrets. So historical tensions between the north and the south are worsening. There's a powerful religious order that seizes control in the chaos, led by a man whose voice can kill Jen. Which I appreciate is probably not supposed to feel sexy, but definitely feels sexy to me in some way. Trapped between love and a crumbling country, Saray and Kadra have to outwit a power with roots deep in fear and cruelty. And the gods are watching, as always. So the question is, are they going to escape a second time?
- [72:01]
Jennifer Prokup
So if you would like to check out this blade of ours, it is available now in print, ebook and audio if your podcasting app supports it. You can click on the chapter title right now to to be taken to buy the book. Thanks to Union Square and Shalini Abbasakera for sponsoring this week's episode.
- [72:21]
Sarah MacLaine
Oh, I wanna talk about Timothy Janofsky.
- [72:24]
Jennifer Prokup
Oh yeah, always.
- [72:25]
Sarah MacLaine
Okay, so I love Timothy's books. I think he's such a great writer. This one is called the Invisible Roommate and it also has like a little bit of that science stuff that we were that Christina Lauren delivered last month. So this one is. It's billed as the Invisible Man Meets Love Is Blind so Wild. Gerard Wells is a musician who is like a wildly famous pop star, the youngest member of a chart topping band of brothers. But he hates being famous and so when he gets a chance to, he runs away to a small island in the middle of the town, Chesapeake Bay, where he goes by James and takes up residence in a crumbling Victorian house. Little does he know that he is not the home's only inhabitant. Mysterious and moody Emory Griffin also lives there. Except Emory is a scientist and he accidentally on purpose became the test subject for his own groundbreaking invisibility research.
- [73:37]
Jennifer Prokup
I Love it.
- [73:38]
Sarah MacLaine
An invisible man inside a home with a world famous pop star. The local police are looking for him. These two agree to be an unlikely pair of roommates and forced proximity and kind of vulnerability that I think probably only exists exists if one of you is invisible.
- [74:03]
Jennifer Prokup
Sparks a romance.
- [74:04]
Sarah MacLaine
This one sounds like it's actually a pretty fun Halloween romance too. Timothy loves to write a book that's related to a holiday in some way. And so this one is sure to be very fun. And that's called the Invisible Roommate.
- [74:19]
Jennifer Prokup
Amazing. Okay, I'm going to talk about from Beijing with Love. The author's name is Balin.
- [74:25]
Sarah MacLaine
I called Ernie because I was like,
- [74:26]
Jennifer Prokup
Ernie, I want to make sure, sure I'm pronouncing the author's name right. And he went on a whole journey of like trying to figure out. And I learned a lot about speaking. Speaking Amandarin. And you know, the long and the short of it is I cannot know because he couldn't find her actual Chinese characters anyway. And that would indicate the actual like tonal. It was actually really interesting. I learned a lot. Anyway, in this book we've got Daniel Wu. He lives in Amsterdam and he has like a pretty like lockdown life. He's not spontaneous at all. But when his boyfriend dumps him on the same day a work mishap lands him on leave, he breaks all of his rules by impulsively escaping to Beijing to visit his best friend Poppy. Only problem is Poppy isn't there. So all of a sudden he's alone in the foreign. In a foreign city where his late father grew up. And he doesn't want to just like fly home early. But he, but Poppy, like has signed him up to take a tour of the Great Wall. Enter yang Lee. A PhD student moonlighting as a tour guide. He, Yang has, is a transplant to Beijing himself. He's never really felt quite at home in the bustling capital. He's like very disciplined and like not at all impressed. When Daniel shows up hours late for their tour, they are both like, well, at least it's a one time ordeal. But life keeps pushing them back together again and again until this time spent essentially in like sort of like some of the most stunning kind of like landscapes in China. Really show them, I don't know, like just how to find each other and how to feel at home. So this is a book that is like humorous. It's like really full of like travel and wonder, lust and emotional vulnerability. That's from Beijing with Love.
- [76:17]
Sarah MacLaine
How about Megan Frampton's new series Demons?
- [76:21]
Jennifer Prokup
I know this looks so good.
- [76:23]
Sarah MacLaine
And diplomacy, which is like paranormal fantasy romance. The first in a new series. I'm super excited about it. It's 1851 and this is an alternate universe where Queen Victoria is a vampire, Prince Albert is her dampier consort, and supernatural species have emerged from hiding as a result of these two ascending to the throne. It is. Cora Hastings has taken a job as the British government species ombudsman. She is a human who is tasked with keeping this peace between supernatural creatures. And this is like paperwork. Like she is enforcing new like shifter codes and negotiating contracts between species and generally making sure that like everyone is treated equally in London. And then, wouldn't you guess, Jen, the devil decides to come on up from hell and see what's going on up here. There's a grand exhibition happening and he has brought his son, the Marquis of Hell. Diabolically good looking, unnaturally perceptive, and a demon. Cora is assigned to watch these two and make sure that they don't, you know, let all hell break loose. And she gets a. She gets wind that there's like some conspiracy set to cause chaos at the Grand Exhibition. And this leaves her with an impossible choice, which is either enter into an unholy alliance with the Marquis of Hell or watch as the real world is torn apart. This is Megan Frampton's new book.
- [78:14]
Jennifer Prokup
Oh, it sounds so fun.
- [78:15]
Sarah MacLaine
Demons and Diplomacy.
- [78:17]
Jennifer Prokup
I mean the Marquis of Hell is pretty great. I really love that. I was like, oh, hang on now, what'd you say about that? Okay, it's fine. Okay, so everybody, I want to talk about With All My Haunted Heart by Isabel Sterling. And this is a Sapphic romance where a witch is essentially hired to ethically haunt a small town bed and breakfast as like we talked about the Etsy witches and instead is spellbound by her non magical. So Pippa Ainslie is our witch and she's really been getting desperate because there's a new like DIY magic shop across on the other side of town and people are going to like the magic shop with its like crystals and herbal blends. And it's cheaper, sure, but like you know, not as good of a product as she can deliver. So her best friend essentially hires her to inspect his newly acquired bed and breakfast for ghosts. And she really doesn't think think twice about it. Except that there is a very attractive co owner, Elle Thompson, who doesn't want Pippa to get rid of their business of spirits. Right. She basically wants the haunted house to be haunted because she thinks it will like pull in New clients. So, anyway, Ella's persistent, and this would be a big financial boost to her business, but Peppa's Pippa is not really sure this is a good idea. And so there's a growing attraction between Elle and Pippa, but also, potentially, Pippa is going to discover what the limits of her magic are. So we're going to find out what happens here in With All My Haunted Heart by Isabel Sterling.
- [79:59]
Sarah MacLaine
I really loved Shelly J. Shore's first book, Rules for Ghosting. And her new book is called Love Me Like a Rock Song. And I'm very excited. It comes out in August.
- [80:12]
Jennifer Prokup
And.
- [80:13]
Sarah MacLaine
And Delilah Cohen is a musician and a lyricist, and she. Her much more famous fiance left her at the altar right before she was supposed to start recording her first solo album. And she's got this notebook of unusable love songs, a honeymoon road trip that's been planned, and she decides, I'm gonna take it. I'm gonna go. I'm gonna try and see, you know, I'm gonna take this road trip, and I'm gonna see if I can, like, find inspiration in the wake of my, like, life falling apart. What she doesn't expect is a mysterious passenger who she picks up two hours in. And it turns out that this mysterious guy, Emmett, is a golem, a human, A humanish being of Jewish folklore created from. From clay. And now he's supposed to serve a now deceased master who gave him one final task. To road trip with Dahlia. And this is the first thing that Emmett has chosen for themself. The longer Emmett spends with Dahlia, who obviously is, you know, in a chaos of her own, the more it ends up feeling like maybe these two are meant to know each other, be with each other, love each other. Of course, Emmett is a golem. And the question is, what comes with the end of this road trip? And what will happen to them when they get there? So Shelley J. Shore writes these really beautiful, kind of complex books that never quite feel. You can never quite see where they're going, but they're real meditations, you know. She's also very a thoughtful writer about grief, so I'm eager to read this one. It's Love Me like a rock song.
- [82:11]
Jennifer Prokup
Okay, everybody, Just to point out, that's an August release, so it'll. Oh, I will. That's okay. I'll put it in the August.
- [82:18]
Sarah MacLaine
Oh, no, we've ruined your.
- [82:21]
Jennifer Prokup
That's okay, Sarah. I forgive you.
- [82:23]
Sarah MacLaine
All right.
- [82:24]
Jennifer Prokup
It's fine. It doesn't matter. I just want to, like, keep. Usually we try to keep them by months. No, you're right. I don't know.
- [82:29]
Sarah MacLaine
September folder.
- [82:30]
Jennifer Prokup
Yeah, don't.
- [82:31]
Sarah MacLaine
Sorry, everyone.
- [82:32]
Jennifer Prokup
Okay. No, it's no big deal. Even I can be a little flexible. Not really, but fine. Okay, I'm gonna talk about Isn't he Romantic by Adib Khoram. And so in this one, we have a love Lauren Selous starting a fake relationship with his one night stand in order to deter his ex. So Arya's always been kind of a one and done guy when it comes to romance. But with his friends all pairing up in the big four zero, creeping ever closer, he's really starting to question his life choices. Especially when he discovers that his latest hookup is the new committee chair for this charity ball that Aria's company is planning. So Ben is starting to plan start over in Kansas City. But it's not going so great, right? So. And having to spend a lot of time with this one night stand who ghosted him isn't helping. So worse yet, his ex boyfriend shows up looking for a reunion. And a panicked Ben claims that he's already moved on. With whom else but with Aria. So torn between staying professional and helping the man he can't forget, Aria agrees to give Ben a hand in exchange for Ben's help landing this big client. So when the lines start to blur, they'll have to decide if it's time to change their tunes about love. So this is. Isn't he romantic?
- [83:53]
Sarah MacLaine
Amazing.
- [83:54]
Jennifer Prokup
I mean, Adib writes a great romance, everybody. And they're so fun.
- [83:56]
Sarah MacLaine
Really?
- [83:57]
Jennifer Prokup
Really. Does.
- [83:57]
Sarah MacLaine
Does.
- [83:58]
Jennifer Prokup
Yeah.
- [83:58]
Sarah MacLaine
How many? Where are we at? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
- [84:01]
Jennifer Prokup
So we are at two more. Yeah. No, we can do three more each. I'm weird. 10.
- [84:07]
Sarah MacLaine
Okay.
- [84:09]
Jennifer Prokup
Trust the processor.
- [84:10]
Sarah MacLaine
How about. How about Kate Pierce? Kate Pierce has a new historical alley.
- [84:17]
Jennifer Prokup
Fun.
- [84:17]
Sarah MacLaine
How to ruin a rake. I'm always interested in those kinds of instructional material. And this one is the next in her. She's got a new series. This is the second book in her Rakes of London series. It's about the sister of the last heroine who. I think I talked about that book a few months ago. So Allegra Musgrove has resigned herself to never marry a real classic tee up of a historical heroine, Carenza. Her sister has caused a massive, massive scandal and is now happily wed. But the fallout from that scandal has landed squarely on Allegra, who is now ordered to leave London for the countryside. And this actually suits Allegra sort of down to the ground. Unfortunately, she gets into her carriage and she is heading out of the city when fate comes knocking and a rake just, like, abducts her as part of a men's club wager. She is furious. He, like, brings her into his carriage, it's overturned, and suddenly her captor is revealed. Lord Max Devereaux, a notorious ne' er do well who pays his way out of trouble and beds women with impunity. Say less, as the kids say. Suddenly sober from a garage accident, Max is like, oh, no, this is all gone just sideways. And he wants to forget everything. But Allegra is sort of like, wait, this is actually kind of great because this gives me an opportunity to get fully ruined and then I won't ever have to marry. Like, I can just, like, tidy up a lot of mess here. And so she makes him a proposal that I don't think he is going to be able to refuse. And that is how to ruin a rake by Kate Pierce.
- [86:17]
Jennifer Prokup
Okay, I'm going to talk about Ghost Me Maybe by Amanda Collins. Amanda writes a really great historical, and this is a fun contemporary about a librarian who inherits a library and then falls for the sexy architect who believes he should be the rightful owner. So Kelly Jamison is really floored when she learns she's to his inherit this historic library off the coast of Louisiana from her benefactor and beloved patron, Mrs. Bordreau. And so she has been told all about, like, sort of the beautiful life and love and experiences she had on this island. So Callie's really excited about the chance to start over. So she packs up her cat and heads south. But the moment she sets foot in this beautiful old building, she encounters an all too handsome tenant who claims the library really belongs to him. He is Trey LeBlanc. And his aunt is the one who left Callie, like, the library, right? And so he has been living at the library and renovating the building, and he's basically like, how could my aunt have cut me out of the will? And so now he's trying to convince Callie and her cat that the library really belongs to him. But when strange things start to happen. Trey. Callie realized that these aren't just neighborhood kids pulling pranks, but it's rather potentially, you know, something that's going to throw them together forever. So that is Ghost Me maybe by Manda Collins.
- [87:51]
Sarah MacLaine
Well, it's an election year, Jen.
- [87:53]
Jennifer Prokup
It is.
- [87:53]
Sarah MacLaine
And Kate's Damon London has an election book, which is interesting. It's billed to me. It was. It was pitched to me as West Wing meets When Harry Met Sally. And if you know anything about me, you know that that.
- [88:04]
Jennifer Prokup
That is.
- [88:05]
Sarah MacLaine
I'm definitely going to check it out. It's called see you next Tuesday. And the premise is that these are two Democratic campaign staffers who agree on politics and disagree on everything else and work for rival campaigns over the course of many years. So in every single election, like, everyone knows that these two are going to be at each other's throats. Anya, Katie Katz is highly driven. She has unfaltering morals. She works her ass off. Gabe Hunt is staggeringly handsome, a charming golden boy who will do whatever it takes to win. And they work on rival campaigns and have an undeniable attraction. This book follows them through a decade's worth of elections, from phone banking, which we love here at Fated Phone, to greasy takeout, to celebrity fundraisers and presidential debates. Politics is the art of making change.
- [89:08]
Jennifer Prokup
But Anya and Gabe need to figure
- [89:11]
Sarah MacLaine
out how they are going to change themselves in order to find love with each other. When they find each other. Absolutely enemies at every turn. When it comes to work, this one seems like it's. Exactly. Listen, my big problem with politics books is I hate when they're across the aisle. This one actually doesn't seem like it's across the aisle. It seems like it's like two driven people trying to figure out how they're gonna make it work when they can't really stand each other, but also can't stand not being near each other. So that is. See you next Tuesday. By Kate Stamen, London.
- [89:49]
Jennifer Prokup
That sounds so fun. Okay, so I am going to talk about Game over by Bella. Um, Dylan Sullivan's football days are over. He had a career ending injury and he has been forced out of the game. This has been really hard for him. And so Izzy Brooks learns that her grandfather is selling his ranch and all the horses she loves, meaning she's not only out of a job, but also out of a home. So this is like game over for both of them. But then Dylan, I think he's drunk and doesn't really know what's going on. In some sort of spirit, spur of the moment situation, ends up buying all 18 horses to fill his family's empty ranch because he's like sort of licking his wounds there. And these are Izzy's horses. He has no idea what he's doing. So Izzy is basically like you. If you want to be a rancher, you need someone who knows what they're doing. And so she essentially agrees to, like, work for him. Of course, sparks fly and something more sizzling between them develops. But when Dylan gets a chance to rejoin the world of football. What is Izzy to do? So can you know, was she right about him all along? Is he just gonna leave? Or is there a path that can lead to true love for both of them? So that is Game over by Bella North.
- [91:11]
Sarah MacLaine
One of Fademay's favorite has a YA romance coming out in September. It's called Formula. He's the One. And it's by Andy J. Christopher. And this one is a YA about Tessa James, who spent her childhood dreaming of becoming the first full time female driver in Formula 1. Until everything changed when a car crash took her mother's life and ended her father's career. And now he runs a small machine shop in Indy in Indianapolis, servicing race teams. And Tessa manages the front office. But when her best friend gets a chance to go to Monaco for the F1 Grand Prix, she is swept into a glittering world of champagne, yachts and designer shoes and racing royalty, including Pietro Devereaux, a driver whose quiet confidence reminds her what it feels like to chase something with her whole heart. And so this is a YA romance, a slow burn about grief and resilience and rediscovering your fire when life takes you off track. So that's Andy Christopher's formula. He's the one perfect for the young F1 reader or the young romance reader in your life.
- [92:32]
Jennifer Prokup
So fun. Okay, so I am going to talk about Doomsday by Laura Piper Lee. So this is when a first date between a doomsday prepper and a nerdy film professor Go goes horribly zombie apocalypse level wrong. They have to. So essentially, Maisie Bennett is our doomsday prepper. She has heard about a new virus spreading and there's gonna be a lockdown on the horizon. And so she's basically like, listen, I'm gonna get out there and get laid before I have to like lock myself down. And so she ends up with on a date with a handsome, stubbly jawed professor. His name is Dr. Evett Greer. And he, he's really kind of like lost his lust for life. But you know, his best friend is really kind of trying to force him to get out there. But like, there's really like something weird about her. He's basically like, what's in her cargo pockets? And is that a utility belt full of weapons? But their awkward first date goes from bad to doomed when this virus essentially starts claiming casualties. And it's not just a virus. It's turning the people that get the virus into zombies. And so as the country spins out of control, Maisie and Everett find themselves an Unlikely team of two. Well, three with Everett's cat, and they travel north and like, right, she's going to teach him how to survive and he's going to teach her how to live. And hopefully these two are going to fall in love but not get killed by zombies. I don't know, it seems like a time. So that's Doomsday by Laura Piperlee.
- [94:13]
Sarah MacLaine
Well, we've done. Again, Jen.
- [94:17]
Jennifer Prokup
We've done something.
- [94:18]
Sarah MacLaine
I mean, that's a lot of books, everyone. If you read every one of those books, you would be sure you'd be really getting through your Goodreads goals.
- [94:29]
Jennifer Prokup
I mean, listen, you're trapped in your prepper basement anyway. Why not?
- [94:32]
Sarah MacLaine
Yeah, Eric sent me this video this week of a. And maybe we'll link to it, but it was about a guy who was like. Who's like, I thought Goodreads was going to be just like a lovely little website to be on, but actually it's like cutthroat competition website. And he was like, every time I get to December and I realize I'm 50 books off my goal, I break out the plays.
- [94:53]
Jennifer Prokup
Yeah, right.
- [94:55]
Sarah MacLaine
So anyway, everybody, that's the summer, and there are a million more that we didn't talk about, and we will try and talk about as many of them as possible during the episodes of the podcast as we go. So there are at least three that I didn't talk about that I will definitely be talking about over the course of the next couple of weeks. So, everybody, tell us what you're reading. You can find us on Instagram @thetamates pod, on threads aided mates pod and on blue skyupvated mates. If you. You want to just talk about books more with us and share books that you think are great, then you can join the Fade of Mates Discord, which is available if you join the Faded mates patreon@fatedmates.net patreon Other than that there, that. That gets you one extra episode of Fated Mates every month. A little episode where we banter a little more, we talk more about craft, we say some things that maybe we wouldn't necessarily say on Maine. And then you can, like I said, meet the whole crew over at the Fated Maids Discord, which is a really, really fun place full of romance lovers. I'm Sarah McLean. I'm here with my friend Jen Prokup. We are Fated Mates and you can find us every Wednesday wherever you listen to your podcasts. If you do listen to us and you do enjoy us and you feel up to the task, head on over and leave a review for us at your favorite podcast service. We haven't been asking for those for a long time, but it's always nice to have a couple of recent ones right there at the top. And other than that, I don't have anything going for a while.
- [96:38]
Jennifer Prokup
No resting and reading.
- [96:40]
Sarah MacLaine
Exactly. Thanks everybody. We'll be back next week. It. Sa. It.