Fated Mates

Romance Books for Novel People LISTEN IN YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP

[fated-mates]

A quick and dirty read doesn't have to be InstaLust, but it does have to get right to the inciting incident.

[fated-mates]

Do you know about stern brunch daddies? Because Andie J. Christopher knows about stern brunch daddies.

[allcavesin]

One of my favorite types of Mary Balogh male antagonists are the potential fiances who are just the weirdest of men. Obsessed with their moms or gross and icky but also have zero self awareness of it. Like the FMC doesn't want to marry him but it's a marriage of convenience or whatever. And he's not necessarily a bad guy, just a total fucking weirdo. And then the MMC comes back from the war or meets her at a house party and she's just like "okay for real? why couldn't it have been the hot guy?"

[dhaaruni]

Omg my book recs made it onto @fated-mates !!!

[fated-mates]

Once upon a time, Sarah went to Sweden and met a thriller writer who likes talking about the rules of writing in genre as much as we do. We’re so excited that to be able to bring Anders de la Motte’s brilliant thoughts about thrillers and mysteries to Fated Mates in this far-reaching conversation on romance’s sister genres—thrillers & mysteries. We talk about Anders’s path to writing, about the rules of writing thrillers and mysteries, about the covenant mysteries and thrillers have with readers, and about Mystery Reasons™️. We had the best time with this one — you’re going to love it.

[fated-mates]

t’s hard to believe it’s July, but we’ve got another quarterly upcoming romance episode here to ease the pain of half the year already passed! Here’s a huge list of books arriving in July, August & September 2026—historical, paranormal, speculative, contemporary, a YA or two and a romantic suspense or two, we’ve got something for everyone. As a reminder, we haven’t read most of these, but we have big plans!

[fated-mates]

Our July picks!

[fated-mates]

t’s hard to believe it’s July, but we’ve got another quarterly upcoming romance episode here to ease the pain of half the year already passed! Here’s a huge list of books arriving in July, August & September 2026—historical, paranormal, speculative, contemporary, a YA or two and a romantic suspense or two, we’ve got something for everyone. As a reminder, we haven’t read most of these, but we have big plans!

[fated-mates]

This week we’re talking about books that focus on birthdays — something you would expect to be more common in romance. We talk about birthdays that are cursed, mistakes made on birthdays, why heroes don’t seem to have birthdays, and old reliable — I’m turning thirty, better get rid of this pesky virginity!

[fated-mates]

This week, we’re talking about one of our very favorite romance novels, Sarah Mayberry’s absolute banger, Her Best Worst Mistake. We talk about how enemies to lovers works best, about how POV changes the whole game with this particular trope, about how Mayberry threads a very difficult needle with the main characters’ past relationship, and about how conflict somehow remains queen, even when not a ton is going on on page. All that, and it’s a novella! An absolute gem.

[fated-mates]

You can pick this up for $3 right now, and you should.

Amazon Apple B&N Kobo

[fated-mates]

We’re back with a deep dive on one of our favorite recent romances, Seven Days in June by Tia Williams! We talk about yearning in contemporaries, about books that have a powerful sense of place, about dual timelines, about secondary characters, about lines that stick with us years later, and about how fated mates works as a trope in a contemporary romance.

[imageoscillite]

Ricardo Montalban for Silhouette Romance

[imageoscillite]

Michel Gondry is always finding new ways to be Michel Gondry.

Metronomy - Love Letters

[fated-mates]

Love letters are the best because they’re personal and honest and raw and beautiful, and in this episode—by request—we’re talking about all the different ways romance tells epistolary love stories!

[fated-mates]

I was almost scared when they opened the door because it was like (she makes a whizzing sound) and this stampede of women came in and they were so alive and so excited in their eyes and their energy. And I was like, "What is this? What is this?" Now remember I'm here screaming, "Jane Austen. Come on women writers!" I have no idea what this is. So about 11 o'clock before my lunch break, I took a copy. I knew we were going to run out, and I hid it like under the counter. And on my lunch break I went back and put it in my locker because I thought, "I'm buying this, whatever this is. I don't know what it is, but it's something. It's something."

Romance trailblazer Elda Minger, on discovering historical romance in 1977.

Skip to 8:43 to hear the whole story. 👆

[multifandominfj]

A movie adaptation of ⬇️THIS⬇️

✨STARRING✨

Tell me I’m wrong

Not only would they match each other’s freak, but their combined charisma would break the Richter scale, causing women everywhere to question their sexuality. 👀👏🏻

[fated-mates]

Satan's Angels: Kristin James and Fayrene Preston

[fated-mates]

The Great.

[firawren]

Here, enjoy this meme, you five people out there who will get it