Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People

It’s the end of Season 8 (what! how!), and we usually celebrate the end of the season with a read along of Sarah’s new book, but since there is no new book, we have no choice but to go back to the beginning of “The Casino Series,” which is what Sarah calls The Rules of Scoundrels. We’re reading A Rogue By Any Other Name, the first in the series focused on the rakish owners of The Fallen Angel, Sarah’s casino. We talk Bourne, turning around big ships, writing sexy stained glass windows, and what it means to look back on the early part of a career.
Next week, we’re taking a little break, and then we’ll be back with Season Nine of Fated Mates. As ever, we’re so grateful to you for listening, reading and being a part of this community. We’re nothing without you.
If you’d like to spend more time talking about romance novels, join our Patreon! You’ll get an extra monthly episode from us and access to the incredible readers and brilliant people on the Fated Mates Discord. Learn more at fatedmates.net/patreon.
Notes
The jellyfish thing is a myth, you don’t have to pee on a jellyfish sting.
All about the amygdala, or Amy for short if you think of her as that messy friend who will definitely lead you astray.
JB Pritzker talked about the colors of school folders, and it’s A MESS. Feel free to report back on your preferences for folder colors if you, like Sarah, are outraged.
New York Times hosted a conversation with Tressie McMillam Cottom, Nadja Spiegelman, and Mary HK Choi called “Have We Turned Personality into a Diagnosis?” It’s worth the listen!
Is it true that Gen Z is this puritanical (the Puriteens!), or are they just worried that everything is cringe?
JK Rowling is a piece of shit.
Gambling has always been bad, but it’s especially bad on your phone. Please talk to your kids about sports betting and make sure these apps are not on their phones.
Crockfords moved a lot of money in the Regency.
One of the big influences for Bourne & Penelope was Alfred de Vigny’s poem Éloa, ou La sœur des anges about an angel who falls in love with a stranger who turns out to be Lucifer. English translations are tough to find, but here’s a website that has part of it in translation.
When you think of the The Fallen Angel (the club), you might think of the famous painting by Alexandre Cabanel, but that’s from 1847!

Sponsors
Megan Frampton, author of Demons and Diplomacy, available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, or wherever you get your books.
Madison Score, author of Wild About You, available in print, ebook or audiobook at Amazon.
Tracy MacNish, author of Of the Ashes, available in print or ebook, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
Hachette Books, publishers of Jennifer Givhan’s The Sleeping Sisters, available in print, ebook or audiobook at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, or wherever you get your books.

The Rest
For even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2026/8/25/s0849-a-rogue-by-any-other-name
If you wish you had six more days in a week of people talking about romance, may we suggest joining our Patreon? Aside from an additional episode every month you get access to our Discord, where other romance readers are talking about books they love (and many other things!) all the time. It’s so fun! Learn more about the Patreon and go join those cool people who love romance as much as you do at patreon.com/fatedmates.
Beyond your favorite podcast app, you can find us on Instagram, Threads, Blue Sky, Tumblr, and probably some other places, too, if you look hard enough.
If you've never listened to our Stop Book Banning episode, there's no better time than now.

We are once again celebrating a wide swath of historical romances that are recently published and by authors we’ve not talked much about on the podcast! Saddle up, because we’re talking the Titanic, submissive heroes, heroines against the wall, bodily autonomy and even centaurs! If you’re a historical lover, you’re going to have a great time finding your next read in here, and if you’re not a historical lover, what are you waiting for? We're so excited to be your discoverabilibuddies on this one!
Come talk about your favorite recent historical romances over on our Patreon! You’ll get an extra monthly episode from us and access to the incredible readers and brilliant people on the Fated Mates Discord. Learn more at fatedmates.net/patreon.
Our next read along, next week, is Sarah’s A Rogue By Any Other Name, the first in her casino series. This is one we’ve gotten a bunch of requests for, and so, it will be our final read along of the season. Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.
Books
Across the Living Infinite by Logan Sage Adams
To Covet a Countess by Sapna Bhog
Centaur and Sensibility by Quenby Olson
The Seduction of Mr Alfred Sainsbury by Lydia Lloyd
The Magnificent Earl of March by Cecilia Rene
You Had Me at Heist by Christina Britton
I Shall Never Fall in Love by Hari Conner
Favors From a Gentleman by Lauren Hayworth
Mrs. Milner Gets a Kitchen by Jane Hadley
His Awful Grace by Anne Knight
Earl on Fire by Fe

Notes
Listen to our Long Live Historicals, Volume I here.
Fill out more about the Romance Novel Collective and fill out their survey.
There was a salt water pool on Titanic.
The centaur in The Lion, The Witch & the Wardrobe is not a centaur or a satyr, but a faun, and his name is Mr. Tumnus. Here’s a primer on the difference between satyrs and fauns. Apologies to the Greeks, Romans, and CS Lewis fans in the crowd. The OG Centaur books Sarah mentioned are also not centaurs, they are satyrs, but they are Holy Cannoli, Batman and by Elizabeth Amber. Proceed with caution.
Some SFW and NSFW images about centaurs.

The Rest
For even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2026/8/17/s0848-the-new-historicals-volume-iii
If you wish you had six more days in a week of people talking about romance, may we suggest joining our Patreon? Aside from an additional episode every month you get access to our Discord, where other romance readers are talking about books they love (and many other things!) all the time. It’s so fun! Learn more about the Patreon and go join those cool people who love romance as much as you do at patreon.com/fatedmates.
Beyond your favorite podcast app, you can find us on Instagram, Threads, Blue Sky, Tumblr, and probably some other places, too, if you look hard enough.
If you've never listened to our Stop Book Banning episode, there's no better time than now.

We’re talking tattoos and body art this week! You might not have a tattoo, but odds are you’ve read a few thousand of them, as romance novels love a main character with a message…right on their skin. We talk about some of our favorite tattoo romances, about what tattoos represent, why they’re so sexy, and why romance loves a tattoo artist. Every one of these books is a banger…enjoy filling your end of summer TBR with them.
Come talk about your favorite romances with tattoos or about romance in general over on our Patreon! You’ll get an extra monthly episode from us and access to the incredible readers and brilliant people on the Fated Mates Discord. Learn more at fatedmates.net/patreon.
Our next read along, in two weeks, is Sarah’s A Rogue By Any Other Name, the first in her casino series. This is one we’ve gotten a bunch of requests for, and so, it will be our final read along of the season. Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.
Books
The Montgomery Ink series by Carrie Ann Ryan
The Duke with the Dragon Tattoo by Kerrigan Byrne
To Desire a Devil by Elizabeth Hoyt
The Magpie Lord by KJ Charles
Daring and the Duke by Sarah MacLean
These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean
Merry Inkmas by Talia Hibbert
Repeat by Kylie Scott
Written on his Skin by Simone Stark
Three Dirty Secrets by Nikki Sloane
Under Her Skin by Adriana Anders
Permanent Ink by Avon Gale and Piper Vaughn
Sin & Ink by Naima Simone
Reaper’s Legacy by Joanna Wylde
Hard as it Gets by Laura Kaye

Notes
Tattoos have a long history tangled up with colonization, which is why for a long time they were thought to be stigmatizing. They are definitely more mainstream now, which means tattoo culture is changing which has caused its own clashes, but they also aren’t thought of as class markers anymore.
All about sextants.
Merry Inkmas is actually Talia’s second book, her first was Bad for the Boss, which is no longer in print. Jen reviewed both of those for The Book Queen when they were released.
Check out the secret tattoos collection on our website.

Sponsors
Ellie Devine, author of The Survival Guide to Alexander McBryde, available in print or ebook, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
E. Kennedy, author of Thornbird, available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, or wherever you get your books.
Harpercollins, publishers of Spellfire by Agatha WIllow, available in print or ebook at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, or wherever you get your books.

The Rest
For even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2026/8/10/0847-romance-tattoo
If you wish you had six more days in a week of people talking about romance, may we suggest joining our Patreon? Aside from an additional episode every month you get access to our Discord, where other romance readers are talking about books they love (and many other things!) all the time. It’s so fun! Learn more about the Patreon and go join those cool people who love romance as much as you do at patreon.com/fatedmates.
Beyond your favorite podcast app, you can find us on Instagram, Threads, Blue Sky, Tumblr, and probably some other places, too, if you look hard enough.
If you've never listened to our Stop Book Banning episode, there's no better time than now.

Why is photography so hot? We’re tackling this question this week, talking about why romance novels featuring photographers work so well and push so many sexy buttons. We’re talking about characters who notice, about characters who are patient, and about characters who carry sexy bags around the world. We’ve got storm chasers, nature photographers, CSI photographers, about darkrooms on boats and even historical nudes! You’re going to have a great time.
If you want to talk more about your favorite romances that feature photographers, or about romance in general, come join our Patreon! You’ll get an extra monthly episode from us and access to the incredible readers and brilliant people on the Fated Mates Discord. Learn more at fatedmates.net/patreon.
Our next read along is Sarah’s A Rogue By Any Other Name, the first in her casino series. This is one we’ve gotten a bunch of requests for, and so, it will be our final read along of the season. Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.
Books
A Duke Worth Falling For by Sarah MacLean
Best of Luck by Kate Clayborn
Chase me if You Can by Heather Frances
Lay it Down by Cara McKenna
My Dirty Duke by Joanna Shupe
To The Ends of the Earth by Elizabeth Lowell
Taming Teddy by Lucy Lennox
Flight by Laura Griffin
Three Dirty Secrets by Nikki Sloan
Managed by Kriste

Notes
The WNBA all star game was pretty fun, and Sky player Sydney Taylor is both very beautiful and very good at basketball.
Wicker the movie trailer, and our Sentient Object episode.
Jen had a throwaway line about how “AI has ruined everything” in photography, but just like with everything else, that’s a real concern.
Up Close and Personal (1996) is a movie with Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer about television journalists.
According to this timeline from Harvard about the history of photography, the first surviving permanent photograph dates back to the 1820s, but most people probably think of the daguerreotype, invented by Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre in 1839.
Um, in case you need to know what a darkroom is.
There is a chain of 7 barrier islands in Texas on the Gulf of Mexico, Padre is probably the most well-known.

The Rest
For even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2026/8/3/s0846-photographers-in-romance-books
If you wish you had six more days in a week of people talking about romance, may we suggest joining our Patreon? Aside from an additional episode every month you get access to our Discord, where other romance readers are talking about books they love (and many other things!) all the time. It’s so fun! Learn more about the Patreon and go join those cool people who love romance as much as you do at patreon.com/fatedmates.
Beyond your favorite podcast app, you can find us on Instagram, Threads, Blue Sky, Tumblr, and probably some other places, too, if you look hard enough.
If you've never listened to our Stop Book Banning episode, there's no better time than now.

Show Notes
Roy Kent screensaver video
Diamond Dogs Book Club

The Rest
For even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2021/12/30/s0417-roy-kent-redux#notes
If you wish you had six more days in a week of people talking about romance, may we suggest joining our Patreon? Aside from an additional episode every month you get access to our Discord, where other romance readers are talking about books they love (and many other things!) all the time. It’s so fun! Learn more about the Patreon and go join those cool people who love romance as much as you do at patreon.com/fatedmates.
Beyond your favorite podcast app, you can find us on Instagram, Threads, Blue Sky, Tumblr, and probably some other places, too, if you look hard enough.
If you've never listened to our Stop Book Banning episode, there's no better time than now.