We’ve talked about this week’s read along so much it’s kind of impossible to imagine that we haven’t read it with y’all, yet! But here we are, finally cracking open Claire Kent’s brilliant novella, Hold. Set on a prison planet, this one dials forced proximity up to 11, and does the excellent job of answering just how horrifying a world can you write a romance in? The answer is very. Very horrifying. We talk about sex and consent and strength and humanity and how love blooms in even the darkest of places. Is it possible we needed this book this week? It sure is.

Content warnings for the book and headphones in for the episode, magnificent firebirds!

Get Hold at Amazon, free in Kindle Unlimited.

Thanks to the Meet Cute Bookshop in San Diego, CA and Lumi Labs, creators of Microdose Gummies, for sponsoring the episode. Visit the Meet Cute website to browse their Space Romance list, and use the code FATEDMATES for 30% your order at Microdose.com

Show Notes

• If you like astrology, check out the CoStar app.
• Claire Kent also writes as Noelle Adams. Hold was released in 2015 and is the first book in a series, the next books in the series are Release, Fall, and Rise.
• It doesn’t take much digging to find out about the inhumanity and injustice of the American Justice System. It is absolutely unjust and racist to the core.
• Alcatraz and Ellis Island are tourist destinations worth seeing, but also…who the fuck invented Alcatraz.
• Emma on TikTok and abolitionism and romance. Also here. Just follow her!

The Rest

• For even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2022/11/8/s0509-hold-by-claire-kent
• 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.