We definitely have a hope became reality hangover this morning, but we also have a very fun episode for you today! We're talking romance shorts -- not novellas, not short novels, but actual short stories under 15,000 words (or about 50 pages). We talk about why this is such a difficult goal to hit, about why romance lends itself to longer formats, and about why short fiction is a really great way to keep reading when things feel chaotic.

We also chat about Sarah's new short story, a part of the Ladies in Waiting anthology, out this week and providing minor characters from Jane Austen their own happily ever afters. Sarah is joined by romance greats Diana Quincy, Nikki Payne and Eloisa James, among others. Get the collection at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.

Also, we want to take a moment to send enormous thanks to everyone who donated to the Fated States Giving Circle at The States Project this year — those donations were gamechangers — last night we expanded our majority in the VA House, and secured a Democratic Trifecta in Virginia! As ever, we’re so proud to stand and fight with you!

If you'd like more romance chat in your life, please consider joining our Patreon, which comes with an extremely busy and fun Discord community! There, magnificent firebirds 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 will be KJ Charles's The Magpie Lord. Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.

Notes

• The Ladies in Waiting anthology was released this week, and in the anthology, authors wrote HEAs for minor Austen characters. Sarah wrote about Miss Bates from Emma. Sarah has a few short stories: The Bladesmith Queen, a Medieval short available with her newsletter signup; "Fire That Lasts," and a YA short in the Generation Wonder anthology. The duke who has a sheep is in a novella called A Duke Worth Falling For. 
• Sarah asked Threads for recs of romance short stories and that’s where many of these stories came from, but there are many more we didn’t get to. So check it out.
• There are lots of news articles and independent essays about why people are reading less, college kids are reading less, and children are reading less, But also, the decline of reading has been something we’ve been talking about for years.
• Check out the Read Me Romance podcast and Audible Originals for other pieces of original short fiction.

Books

• Ladies in Waiting: Jane Austen’s Unsung Characters
• No Taste Like Home by Nisha Sharma 
• Falling for Nola by Katie Reus
• His Duchess’s Lovers series by Elizabeth Roubaix
• Give it To Me by Angelina M Lopez
• Hands on Learning by Maggie Eliot 
• Remedy for a Rake by Ginny Moore
• The Worst Possible Thing by Melissa Kendall
• While it Was Storming by Cara Dion
• The Greymere Cliffs by Anne Knight
• Books & Broadswords by Jessie Mihalik
• Cynders & Ashe by Elizabeth Boyle 
• Splash Me by Laura Lovely
• Whispers of Love by Jayashree Gopal
• Ten Things I Loathe About You by Leslie Vollard
• The Spicy Bites anthologies
• The Bladesmith Queen by Sarah MacLean
• Fire that Lasts by Sarah MacLean

Sponsors

• Blue Box Press, publishers of Jennifer L. Armentrout's Official Blood and Ash Coloring Book, available in print at Amazon, B&N, or wherever you get your books.
• Avon Books, publishers of Sasha Laurens's When I Picture You, available in print, ebook and audio at Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Apple Books, or wherever you get your books.
• William Morrow, publishers of Akwaeke Emezi's Son of the Morning, available in print, ebook and audio at Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Apple Books, with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited, or wherever you get your books.
• The What in the Smut Podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts.

The Rest

• For even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2025/11/4/0808-the-ladies-in-waiting-anthology-and-other-romance-short-stories
• 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.