Historicals are dead! Long live historicals! This week, we're talking about fourteen (and change) historical romances that we've never talked about before -- all published recently, some already this year. Every book we talk about is available right now for download and reading pleasure--and we have a stack of them ready to talk about in future episodes! We're so excited to be your discoverabilibuddies on this one!

If you want more Fated Mates in your life, please join our Patreon, which comes with an extremely busy and fun Discord community! Join other magnificent firebirds to hang out, talk romance, and be cool together in a private group full of excellent people. Learn more at patreon.com.

Enter the Macmillan Audio sweepsteakes to win one of five free copies of the audiobook of Stephanie Burgis's Wooing the Witch Queen.

Our next read along is Julie Anne Long's What I Did For a Duke, available in print, ebook, and audio at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.

• Lyon’s Lover Maggie Sims
• The Sapphire Heiress by Ella Leon
• A Shore Thing by Joanna Lowell
• The Duke’s Bartered Mistress by Caroline Lee
• The Villain by Victoria Vale
• Exit, Pursued by a Baron by Aydra Richards
• Seduced in a Storm By Royaline Sing
• A Bloomy Head by J. Winifred Butterworth
• Never Woo the Wrong Lady by Charlie Lane
• Dionysus in Wisconsin by EH Lupton
• All About That Duke by Merry Farmer
• The Wayward Duke by Katrina Kendrick
• Where Have All the Scoundrels Gone by Louisa Darling
• Winnie West has an Agenda by Kat Sterling

• Check out Bookshop’s Black Romance List and you might want to use their new digital books app to read The Co-Op by Tarah DeWitt or any other eBook on a Boox Palma 2. 
• Budleigh Salterton seems nice next time you’re going to England.
• A bike with a big front wheel is called a penny-farthing.
• Bicycle jousting sounds like that whole scene in Footloose. 
• Endymion is a myth, a poem, and also a burly, grouchy Scot.
• Exit, Pursued by a Bear is a stage direction from a Winter’s Tale. 

• Rien Gray, author of Double Exposure, available in print, ebook, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
• Stephanie Rose, author of Just One Favor, available in print, ebook, audio, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
• Stephanie Burgis, author of Wooing the Witch Queen, read by Amanda Leigh Cobb, available form Audible, Kobo, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Libro.fm, or wherever you get your audiobooks. Enter the Macmillan Audio sweepsteakes to win one of five free copies of the audiobook.
• Lumi Labs, creators of Lumi Gummies. Go to lumigummies.com and use code FATEDMATES for 30% off.

• For even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2025/2/13/0723-the-new-historicals
• 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.

00:00.000 Heavy is the DiscoverabilityBuddy Crown

11:09.500 Upstairs Downstairs Reading

14:37.500 The New Historicals

18:56.000 AD: DOUBLE EXPOSURE

21:03.000 Lyon's Lover

27:38.000 The Sapphire Heiress

33:15.000 AD: WOOING THE WITCH QUEEN

35:50.000 A Shore Thing

43:48.500 The Duke's Bartered Mistress

49:36.500 AD: JUST ONE FAVOR

51:31.500 The Villain

59:14.000 Exit, Pursued by a Baron

01:04:12.000 AD: LUMI GUMMIES

01:06:30.500 Seduced in a Storm

01:11:56.000 A Bloomy Head

01:19:19.000 Never Woo the Wrong Lady

01:27:07.500 Dionysus in Wisconsin

01:32:52.000 All About that Duke

01:40:48.000 The Wayward Duke

01:45:59.500 Where Have all the Scoundrels Gone

01:52:13.000 Winnie West Has an Agenda

02:03:22.000 AD: WOOING THE WITCH QUEEN

There's a new Adriana Herrera book out this month, so that means we get to have one of our very favorites back on the pod to talk about not only her banger of a book, A Tropical Rebel Gets the Duke, but also about historical in general! This week, we talk about historicals, in general, about why everyone seems to think they're dying (spoiler: they're not!), and do some myth busting on perceptions of the historical romance. We're extremely grateful to friend of the pod Alexandria Bellefleur for offering up her collected data on historical romance and readers -- check out her books (listed below), as well, and come back next week for more historical recs!

If you want more Fated Mates in your life, please join our Patreon, which comes with an extremely busy and fun Discord community! Join other magnificent firebirds to hang out, talk romance, and be cool together in a private group full of excellent people. Learn more at patreon.com.

Our next read along is Julie Anne Long's What I Did For a Duke, available in print, ebook, and audio at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.

Enter the Macmillan Audio sweepstakes to win one of five free audiobook copies of Chloe C. Peñaranda's The Night is Defying.

• A Tropical Rebel Gets the Duke by Adriana Herrera
• Perks of Loving a Wallflower by Erica Ridley 
• Proper English by KJ Charles
• My Lady’s Lover by Nicola Davidson 
• The Duchess Hunt by Lorraine Heath
• The Gilded Heiress by Joanna Shupe
• The Duke Gets Desperate by Diana Quincy
• Love, Death, and Lanterns by Jeanne Lin
• A Duke, the Lady, and a Baby by Vanessa Riley 
• The Duke Gets Even by Joanna Shupe
• The Magpie Lord by KJ Charles
• Wicked and the Wallflower by Sarah MacLean
• The Luckiest Lady in London by Sherry Thomas
• The Prince of Broadway by Joanna Shupe
• The Bride by Julie Garwood
• Let Us Dream by Alyssa Cole
• An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole
• Night Hawk by Beverly Jenkins
• Forbidden by Beverly Jenkins
• To Catch a Raven by Beverly Jenkins
• The Earl Takes All by Lorraine Heath
• Any Old Diamonds by KJ Charles
• The Raven Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt

• Welcome Adriana Herrera, author of A Tropical Rebel Gets the Duke, the third in the Las Leonas series set during the Exposition Universelle in 1889 Paris. 
• In this book, Aurora is running a women’s health clinic and the text is a fierce call for reproductive justice, and we’re back there. If you’re interested in checking out some of the books she used to do her research, try Sex, Herbs, and Birth Control: Women and Fertility Regulation Through the Ages by Ann Hibner Koblitz and The Story of Jane: The Legendary Underground Feminist Abortion Service by Laura Kaplan. The Comstock Act of 1873 was a problem then, and sooner or later, they’ll be a problem again.
• Thanks to Alexandria Bellefleur for sharing the results of her poll about historical romance. You can check out her latest contemporary romance, Truly, Madly, Deeply.

• Jenn Bouchard, author of Considering Us, available in print or ebook, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
• 1001 Dark Nights, publishers of From Friends to Forever: A Love Grows Collection , available in print or ebook, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
• Chloe C. Peñaranda, author of The Night is Defying audiobook, read by Corvin King and Jacci Prior, available from Audible, Kobo, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Libro.fm or wherever you get your audiobooks. Enter the Macmillan Audio sweepstakes to win one of five free copies of this audiobook.
• Sophie Lark, author of Kingmakers: Year One, available in print or ebook from Amazon, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
• Annabelle Slator, author of The Launch Date, available in print, ebook or audiobook from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.

00:00 Welcome Adrianna Herrera

01:34 A Tropical Rebel Gets the Duke

07:41 The Political Realities

11:24 What Historical Can Do

14:54 AD: FROM FRIENDS TO FOREVER

16:41 Romance and Feminism

29:26 AD: CONSIDERING US

31:17 More of What Historicals Can Do

43:29 AD: KINGMAKERS: YEAR ONE

45:39 The Future (and Present) of Historical Romance

57:38 Myth: There Aren't Sapphic Historicals

59:54 ADL THE NIGHT IS DEFYING

1:07:07 Myth: The Writing isn't for Me

1:09:56 Myth: I Can't Relate

1:15:10 AD: THE LAUNCH DATE

1:16:56 Myth: History is a Problem

1:25:52 Foolproof Recs

1:43:22 Beverly Jenkins Recommendations

1:47:24 The "Wettest" Historical Romance

1:59:19 Outro

2:01:01 ADL THE NIGHT IS DEFYING

Jen had a great time chatting with the New York Public Library's Best New Romance List Committee Co-Chairs Kate Fais and Grace Loiacono this week. They talk about the list and how they built it, about the power of libraries, and, as always, about joy.

• See the full list
• Visit the New York Public Library

We're mixing it up today with a fabulous special guest! The brilliant V.E. Schwab joins us for a far-reaching chat about writing romance outside of romance novels™️, about the difference between obsession and love, about the way we can't help but ship characters who will never get together, and about writing in general...and how we tackle character, conflict, and power in storytelling. We had a great time, and you will, too.

If you want more Fated Mates in your life, please join our Patreon, which comes with an extremely busy and fun Discord community! Join other magnificent firebirds to hang out, talk romance, and be cool together in a private group full of excellent people. Learn more at patreon.com.

Our next read along is Julie Anne Long's What I Did For a Duke, available in print, ebook, and audio at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.

Enter the Macmillan Audio sweepstakes to win one of five free audiobook copies of Emma Lord's The Rival.

• Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab
• The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
• Vicious and Vengeful by V.E. Schwab
• A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
• The Fragile Threads of Power by V.E. Schwab
• This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
• The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
• Babel by RF Kuang
• The Midnight Line by Lee Child
• Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
• When Among Crows by Veronica Roth 
• A Heart of Blood and Ashes by Milla Vane
• Chaos by Constance Fay
• Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells

• Welcome V.E. Schwab to the podcast! You can check out her podcast about writing called No Write Way, and you can click her to sign up for her newsletter. 
• Sarah has a new birdfeeder for her office. 
• You, too, can watch Lee Child playing chess. 
• Philip Larkin wrote a great poem about parents, This Be the Verse.

• Max Monroe, author of Playing Games, available in print or ebook from Amazon.
• Adriana Herrera, author of A Tropical Rebel Gets the Duke, available in print or ebook from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.
• Macmilllan Audio, publishers of The Rival by Emma Lord, read by Jesse Vilinsky, available from Audible, Kobo, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Libro.fm or wherever you get your audiobooks. Enter the Macmillan Audio sweepstakes to win one of five free copies of this audiobook.
• Allison A. Andrews, author of The Winning Ticket, available in print or ebook from Amazon, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.

00:00 Bantr

07:54 Welcome VE Schwab

15:15 AD: THE WINNING TICKET

21:37 Writing Relationship

32:29 The Marketing Problem

34:24 AD: THE RIVAL

44:47 Characters and Genres Evolve

49:10 AD: PLAYING GAMES

57:35 Judgement & Labels

1:03:56 AD: A TROPICAL REBEL GETS THE DUKE

1:12:32 The Minions Complex

1:20:02 Recommendations

1:31:25 Outro

1:33:44 AD: THE RIVAL

It's February 4th, the most important romance holiday in February: Derek Craven Day! We're celebrating this year with a little reminiscing of the past years' episodes, and a close reading of the first chapter of that classic, Lisa Kleypas's Dreaming of You.

Read Dreaming of You at: Bookshop, Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Apple Books, or wherever you get your books.

Learn more about the holiday, and the man who inspired it, and listen to past Derek Craven Day episodes on the Fated Mates website.

If you want more discussion of Derek Craven in your life, please join our Patreon, which comes with an extremely busy and fun Discord community! Join other magnificent firebirds to hang out, talk romance, and be cool together in a private group full of excellent people. Learn more at patreon.com.

We'll be honest, we don't know what the heck is going on, either. If we could find someone or something to make all this chaos make sense, we'd be very very happy. And so, we're reading books this week about people and things that make sense of chaos--that realign the universe. It's tarot, astrology and psychics this week!

If you want more Fated Mates in your life, please join our Patreon, which comes with an extremely busy and fun Discord community! Join other magnificent firebirds to hang out, talk romance, and be cool together in a private group full of excellent people. Learn more at patreon.com.

Our next read along is Julie Anne Long's What I Did For a Duke, available in print, ebook and audio at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.

Enter the Macmillan Audio sweepstakes to win one of five free audiobook copies of Jenny Elder Moke's She Doesn't Have a Clue.

• Temperance by Cassia Leo 
• Queen of Wands by Suzanne Halliday
• Five of Cups by TriciaWolf 
• Outsider by Cora Brent
• The Lovers by Rebekah Faubian
• In on the Action by Elle Diaz
• The Arcana Chronicles by Kresley Cole
• Lord Lightning by Jenny Brown
• Lunar Love Laura Kung Jessen
• Seducing The Colonel’s Daughter by Amy Andrews
• Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur
• The Kismat Connection by Ananya Devarajan
• Baron by Joanna Shupe
• The Wicked Deeds of Daniel Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley
• Proof by Seduction by Courtney Milan
• Sensing Danger by Wendy Vella
• Carolina Moon by Nora Roberts
• The Third Circle By Amanda Quick

• Eric listens to the ATP (Accidental Tech Podcast) and this week, they gave a little pep talk. It helped us to remember we aren’t alone. It’s not going to be easy and lots of people are going to be hurt. But we are a community and we love you. 
• BTW, that's Marco Arment doing most of the talking at the beginning of the ATP episode. He's the creator of our favorite podcast app, Overcast.
• We did a witchy episode this past summer. 
• Maybe you want to learn about tarot. The Cards of Love series has a very nice website that is still functioning.

• Jillian David, author of Dr. Alaska, available in print or ebook from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.
• Macmilllan Audio, publishers of She Doesn't Have a Clue by Jenny Elder Moke, read by Sarah Mollo-Christensen, available from Audible, Kobo, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Libro.fm or wherever you get your audiobooks. Enter the Macmillan Audio sweepstakes to win one of five free copies of this audiobook.
• Avery Maxwell, author of The Renegade Billionaire, available in print or ebook from Amazon.

We're getting into the romance time machine and setting the course for 2001, when Harlequin decided that those Temptations could get scorching hot and become a Blaze. We scoured ebay for boxes and boxes of old Blazes, dug deep into the back catalogues of our Kindles, and are celebrating the OG one-handed read, the Harlequin Blaze. We had a great time, but we knew what to expect -- if you need content warnings, make sure you check them. And let us know if you want us to explore some other category lines!

If you want more Fated Mates in your life, please join our Patreon, which comes with an extremely busy and fun Discord community! Join other magnificent firebirds to hang out, talk romance, and be cool together in a private group full of excellent people. Learn more at patreon.com.

Our next read along is Julie Anne Long's What I Did For a Duke, available in print, ebook and audio at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.

• Her Naughty Holiday by Tiffany Reisz
• Getting Physical by Jade Lee 
• Just Watch Me Julie Leto
• Too Wicked to Keep by Julie Leto
• Anything Goes by Debbi Rawlins
• The Fantasy Factor by Kimberly Raye
• Whisper by Nancy Warren
• Shameless by Toni Carrington
• What a Girl Wants by Jamie Sobrato
• Silent Desires by Julie Kenner
• Certified Male by Kristin Hardy
• Hot Island Nights by Sarah Mayberry

• Sarah is teaching her beginner Start Your Romance Today class virtually on February 23rd at 1pm eastern.
• What is a category romance? Maybe listen to our episode from season 5.
• The Blaze line, from 2001-2017, was a spin off from the Harlequin Temptation line. The Kimani romance line ran from 2006 to 2019.
• We had an episode about Tiffany Reisz’s Men at Work trilogy, a 2016 Blaze series, back in season 4.
• Join Sarah with Rebecca Romney at The Strand’s rare book room on Feb 18, 2025 to celebrate the release of Rebecca’s book, Jane Austen’s Bookshelf.
• Jen is SCREAMING because the sequel to Certified Male? You guessed it. 
• If you read Hot Island Nights first, go back and check out Her Best Worst Mistake.

• J. Winifred Butterworth, author of A Bloomy Head, available in ebook from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.
• Jill Shalvis, author of Better than Friends, available in print, ebook or audiobook from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.
• Macmilllan Audio, publishers of Let's Call A Truce, by Amy Buchanan, and read by Charlotte North, available from Audible, Kobo, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Libro.fm or wherever you get your audiobooks. Enter the Macmillan Audio sweepstakes to win one of five free copies of this audiobook.
• Maureen Lee Lenker, author of His Girl Hollywood, available in print, ebook or audiobook from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.

00:01 Sarah's Romance Class

01:31 Bantr

06:25 Pour One Out for Harlequin Blaze

15:12 AD: LET’S CALL A TRUCE

17:51 The Segregation of Harlequin Lines

27:11 Sex in Harlequin Blaze

33:19 Plot, Character, and Tropes

36:45 AD: HIS GIRL HOLLYWOOD

38:52 Just Watch Me

42:26 Too Wicked to Keep

47:58 Up to No Good

50:35 Anything Goes & the Fantasy Factor

53:17 Gender Essentialism & Consent

55:55 Whisper

1:00:23 AD: A BLOOMY HEAD

1:03:06 Shameless

1:07:20 What a Girl Wants

1:12:16 Play With Me

1:17:24 AD: BETTER THAN FRIENDS

1:19:22 Guess the Title!

1:27:36 Hot Island Nights

1:37:33 Outro

1:39:02 AD: LET’S CALL A TRUCE

Loretta Chase's Lord of Scoundrels is 30 years old this year, so we're resurfacing her trailblazer episode in the feed. Enjoy!

You can get Lord of Scoundrels for just $2 through the rest of the month at Kobo, Apple, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon. It's also available Bookshop.org and Libro.fm.

Loretta Chase's is 30 years old this year, so we thought we'd revisit it by resurfacing this in your feed. Enjoy!

You can get it for just $2 through the rest of the month at Kobo, Apple, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon. It's also available Bookshop.org and Libro.fm.

Lots of great show notes for this one!

We're toppling TBR piles and preorder lists today with our quarterly "Books we're excited to read" list! We're name-checking more than 50 romance novels we're looking forward to, and looking forward to hearing about the ones you're waiting for, too! If you're a romance novelist and have a book coming this year, please head over and fill out this Google form to let us know!

If you want more Fated Mates in your life, please join our Patreon, which comes with an extremely busy and fun Discord community! Join other magnificent firebirds to hang out, talk romance, and be cool together in a private group full of excellent people. Learn more at patreon.com.

• Los Angeles, we are thinking of you.
• After our very silly firefighter episode, we chatted with magnificent firebird and wildland firefighter, Emma, who gave us the lay of the land as a woman firefighter. You can listen to that conversation on YouTube.
• Emma recommends the following resources: the Grassroots Wildland Firefighters account on Instagram, and you can make donations to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation. If you are looking for factual, reliable information, check out the website of the National Interagency Fire Center, inciweb is the national situation report with information from wildland firefighters. If you are looking to make donations to aid those impacted by the fires, we recommend World Central Kitchen, Baby2Baby, the Pasadena Humane Society, and Octavia’s Bookshelf which has details mutual aid collection efforts on their Instagram. The Ripped Bodice has free wifi and period products .
• If you have a 2025 release you have written or you are a reader looking forward to something this year, please use our handy form to submit books for upcoming episodes in spring, summer, and fall.
• For more Romantasy recs, follow Jen’s friend Gabriella Guava on Instagram.

• Empire of Temptation by Mila Finelli 
• Beg, Borrow, or Steal by Sarah Adams
• Flirting with Disaster by Naina Kumar 
• Let’s Call a Truce by Amy Buchanan 
• Book People by Jackie Ashenden
• His Girl Hollywood by Maureen Lee Lenker
• The Relationship Mechanic by Karmen Lee
• Shifting Gears by Jazz Forrester
• She Doesn’t Have a Clue Jenny Elder Moke
• Better than Friends by Jill Shalvis
• The Naked Truth by Sandy Lowe 
• Yin Yang Love Song by Lauren Kung Jessen
• Best Mistake Ever by Christy McKellan
• Fighting for Berlin by Katie Reus
• Immortal by Sue Lynn Tan
• Malcolm by Margot Bond Collins
• Unromance by Erin Connor
• My Inconvenient Duke by Loretta Chase
• 3000 Reasons to Stay by Jaime P. Bradley
• Strike and Burn by Taylor Hutton
• Into the Woods by Jenny Holiday
• The Duke’s Guide to Fake Courtship by Jade Lee
• The Broposal by Sonora Reyes

• A Tropical Rebel gets the Duke by Adriana Herrera
• Deep End by Ali Hazelwood
• Never Gamble Your Heart by Lindsay Lovise
• The Mafia King’s Sister by P Rayne
• Frenemies with Benefits by Synithia Williams
• Unloved by Peyton Corinne
• First Time Caller by BK Borrison
• On Screen and Off Again by Caitlin Cross
• I Got Abducted by Aliens and Now I’m Trapped in a Romcom by Kimberly Lemming
• Wooing the Witch Queen by Stephanie Burgis
• No Saint by Donna Alam
• The Devils Charm by Megan Frampton
• The Love Lyric by Kristina Forest
• Break Point by Yahrah St. John
• Losing Sight by Tati Richardson
• Rebel Witch by Kristen Ciccarelli

• The Trouble with Anna by Rachel Griffiths
• Take a Chance on Me by Elizabeth Eulbert
• A Gentleman’s Gentleman by TJ Alexander
• The Shots You Take by Rachel Reid
• One in a Million Beverly Kendall
• And They Had a Great Fall by Shelby Saville
• Unlikely Story by Ali Rosen 
• Fan Service by Rosie Danan
• The Big Fix by Holly James
• Jane and Dan at the End of the World by Colleen Oakley
• A Wager at Midnight by Vanessa Riley
• A Circle of Uncommon Witches by Paige Crutcher
• The Lady Sparks a Flame by Elizabeth Everett
• Chaos by Constance Fay
• Just Our Luck by Denise Williams
• Something Cheeky Thien-Kim Lam
• Go Luck Yourself by Sara Raash
• Code Word Romance by Carlie Walker

• Jamie P. Bradley, author of 3000 Reasons to Stay, available in print or ebook from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, or wherever you get your books.
• 1001 Dark Nights, publishers of Love Rekindled: A Second-Chance Romance Collection from Tessa Bailey, Sawyer Bennett, Alexandra Ivy, Corinne Michaels, and Kennedy Ryan. Available in print or ebook, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
• Jenni Bara, author of Mother Maker, available in print, ebook or audiobook, with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited, or wherever you get your books.