Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People
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We’re so excited for our deep dive of KJ Charles’s The Magpie Lord, first in her magical, gothic series, A Charm of Magpies. We talk about the clear chops displayed in this romance --strong plotting, complex characterization, and a beautiful understanding of what happily ever after looks like. And yes, we get to the tattoos. Obviously.
Don't forget--you can buy the Fated Mates Best of 2025 Book Pack from our friends at Pocket Books Shop in Lancaster, PA, and get eight of the books on the list! Scoundrel Take Me Away and Lazarus, Home from War (independently published) are not in the box. As always, you can add additional romances, or one of Sarah's books to your box.
If you want other people to discuss great romance series, maybe you want to join our Patreon? You get an extra monthly episode from us and access to the incredible readers and brilliant people on the Fated Mates Discord! Support us and learn more at fatedmates.net/patreon. You can also ask for it as a gift, or give it as one at fatedmates.net/gift.
Our next read along will be Ruby Dixon's Ice Planet Barbarians. Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, from your local indie, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
Notes
- This is our second KJ Charles deep dive. The first was Band Sinister.
- We were lucky enough to speak to KJ Charles about her work and her pathway through romance as part of our Trailblazers series. Listen to that interview here.
- It’s been the snowiest start to winter in Chicago since 1978! The Great Lakes can freeze, kind of. Here’s what the Great Lakes ice prediction for this year.
- The Ice Fishing town hall meeting, as promised.
- Heated Rivalry is great and Jen (and everyone else) thinks you should watch it.
- The Magpie Lord was published in 2013 by Samhain Publishing, which shut down in 2016.
- You can find all of our 80+ deep dive episodes in the Fated Mates Book Club.
Sponsors
- Zara Doyle, author of Bianca and Her Wolf, available in print, ebook, audio or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
- Lumi Gummies. Go to lumigummies.com and use code FATEDMATES for 30% off your order.
- Alexandra Cait, author of Storm of Fire, available in ebook or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
- 1001 Dark Nights, publishers of years of delicious romance novellas and collections. The imprint will shutter in 2026, so head over and load up on print versions of all your favorites right now.
The Rest
- For even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2025/12/2/0813-the-magpie-lord
- 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 Wintr Bantr
08:17 Discor Bantr
14:40 AD: BIANCA AND HER WOLF
16:43 Best of 2025 Book Box
20:25 KJ Charles
28:36 The Samhain Publishing Story
32:10 AD: STORM OF FIRE
34:17 The Samhain Publishing Story
36:24 The Magpie Lord
43:19 It's Bad Magic
48:06 AD: 1001 DARK NIGHTS
50:19 Two For Joy
59:28 AD: LUMI GUMMIES
1:01:05 Curses & [in]Fluences
1:10:53 The Romance Pacing
1:19:51 Sex and the Ether
1:31:01 The End
1:40:42 Outro
It's winter, which means that it's time to get cozy, build a blanket nest on the couch, and read a million books one right after the other in the great tradition of our ancient forbears. Today, we're talking about series that deliver one banger after another and, yes, that also bang. We'll talk historicals, contemporaries, and of course, the paranormal series that started it all for us.
Don't forget--you can buy the Fated Mates Best of 2025 Book Pack from our friends at Pocket Books Shop in Lancaster, PA, and get eight of the books on the list! Scoundrel Take Me Away and Lazarus, Home from War (independently published) are not in the box. As always, you can add additional romances, or one of Sarah's books to your box.
If you want other people to discuss great romance series, maybe you want to join our Patreon? You get an extra monthly episode from us and access to the incredible readers and brilliant people on the Fated Mates Discord! Support us and learn more at fatedmates.net/patreon. You can also ask for it as a gift, or give it as one at fatedmates.net/gift.
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
- Go to Sarah’s site to sign up for her newsletter. Apparently, it’s going to be a snowy winter because of squirrels, the Farmer’s Almanac is over, and social media is ruining your life and your brain, or maybe it’s just your whole damn phone.
- Heated Rivalry, baby. Also this fall, the CW has unveiled a bunch of movies based on Harlequin books, including Savvy Sheldon Feels Good as Hell, Mason Deaver’s YA romance I Wish You All the Best and in January we get Season 4 of Bridgerton, and Netflix's adaptation of Emily Henry's People We Meet on Vacation.
- Graphic Audio has adapted a bunch of your favorite books, not just Kate Daniels.
- A graphic of the Beverly Jenkins universe.
- Here’s a cool way to look at the connections from Lorraine Heath’s Scoundrels of St. James series.
- Sarah misses Romantic Times magazine.
Books
- Immortals After Dark by Kresley Cole
- The Game Maker Series by Kresley Cole
- Kate Daniels by Ilona Andrews
- The Cynster Family by Stephanie Laurens
- Pennyroyal Green by Julie Anne Long
- The Beverly Jenkins Universe
- The Game Changer Series by Rachel Reid
- The Irish Shifters by Theodora Taylor
- Temperance Falls by London Hale
- His Duchess’s Lovers by Elizabeth Roubaix
- Scoundrels of St. James by Lorraine Heath
- The Toronto Series by Farrah Heron
- Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon
- The Undone series by Payton Corinne
- Fast Track Billionaires by Amanda Cinelli
- Bourbon Brothers by Reese Ryan
- The Shieldmaiden Sisters by Lucy Morris
Sponsors
- Zara Doyle, author of Tanya and Her Wolf, available in print, ebook, audio or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
- Jenny Alexandra, authors of Santa Cutie, available in print, ebook or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
- Bailey Seaborn, author of Peppermint Bark, No Bite, available in ebook or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
- Blue Box Press, publishers of JR Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood: 20th Anniversary Insider's Guide, available in hardcover, ebook and 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/2025/12/1/0812-bingeable-romance-series-update
- 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.
S07.33, originally released on April 29, 2025.
The Rest
- For even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2025/4/28/0733-heated-rivalry-by-rachel-reid
- 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.
The end of the year is nigh, and it's our holiday romance novel episode! We're talking about a collection of romances that are entirely new to us (except for the one moment where Sarah talks about that old McNaught short story that installed all her cold-weather romance buttons). We've got Austen retellings, Regency cats, characters playing with holiday toys, CIA agents and, of course, some sexy Santas. You deserve nice things.
Don't forget--you can buy the Fated Mates Best of 2025 Book Pack from our friends at Pocket Books Shop in Lancaster, PA, and get eight of the books on the list! Scoundrel Take Me Away and Lazarus, Home from War (independently published) are not in the box. As always, you can add additional romances, or one of Sarah's books to your box.
If you want other people to discuss holiday (or other) romances, maybe you want to join our Patreon? You get an extra monthly episode from us and access to the incredible readers and brilliant people on the Fated Mates Discord! Support us and learn more at fatedmates.net/patreon.
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
- There are several accounts as to where Irving Berlin wrote White Christmas. Sarah stayed at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel, which claims it inspired the song (by being the opposite of snowy), but there's also an account that he wrote it in La Quinta, CA at the La Quinta Hotel (not to be confused with just any LaQuinta).
- Check out our prior holiday romance episodes:
- 2024, including Sara Raasch, Vivian Mae, Evie Rose, Timothy Janovsky & more
- 2023, including Holly June Smith, Oona Grace, Kayla Grosse, Tracey Livesay & more
- 2022: Here Comes Santa Claus
- 2021: Short & Sexy Christmas Recs
- 2019, including Adriana Herrera, Delilah Peters, and several anthologies
- 2018, including Therese Beharrie, a Chanukah anthology, Cecilia Grant, Tiffany Reisz & more
Books
- Anne of Avenue A by Audrey Bellezza and Emily Harding
- Christmas in Coconut Creek by Karissa Kinword
- Mistletoe and Mishigas by MA Wardell
- Yours for the Season by Uzma Jalaluddin
- The Holiday Hookup List by Alexis Daria
- Make My Wish Come True by Caroline Linden
- Claiming His Christmas Wife by Dani Collins
- An Heir for Christmas by Caitlin Crews
- The Rescue by Julie Weaver
- Christmas in Spite of You by KC Mills
- Saint and the Queen by Desiree
- Date Night in December by Jaqueline Snowe
- Santa’s Baby by Lacey Hawthorne
Sponsors
- Jenny Alexandra, authors of Santa Cutie, available in print, ebook or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
- LaQuette, author of The King's Pregnancy Proposition, available in print, ebook and audio at Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.
- Ginny B Moore, author of How the Rogue Stole Christmas, available in print, ebook or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
- William Morrow Books, publishers of Olivia Dade's Second Chance Romance, available in print, ebook and audio at Amazon, B&N, 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/2025/11/23/0811-holiday-romances
- 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.
It's that time of year! We're talking about the Best Romance Novels of 2025. We've chosen ten books that we love and that cover a range of historical, contemporary and paranormal, featuring romance with werewolves and cowboys, vaudeville actresses and vikings, Dukes and the actual Devil.
This year, you can buy the Fated Mates Best of 2025 Book Pack from our friends at Pocket Books Shop in Lancaster, PA, and get eight of the books on the list! Scoundrel Take Me Away and Lazarus, Home from War (independently published) are not available. As always, you can add additional romances, or one of Sarah's books to your box.
We love the idea of you gifting yourself this box (you deserve it!), but maybe you’d like to slide into someone’s text messages with the link as a very excellent gift for you! Or…you can do what Sarah does, and buy the box and spread the love around—sending each of the books to someone on your list or wrapping them up and popping them in your local Little Free Library. Let us know what you end up doing with these fabulous books, and don’t forget to tag us on Instagram or Threads or Bluesky when you unbox!
Check out our “Best Romance Novels” lists from previous years: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, and 2019. (We were 5 minutes old in 2018 and didn’t do a list that year), and please tell us what your favorite books of 2025 were!
If you want other people to discuss this list with, maybe you want to join our Patreon? You get an extra monthly episode from us and access to the incredible readers and brilliant people on the Fated Mates Discord! Support us and learn more at fatedmates.net/patreon.
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.
The Books
- Fan Service by Rosie Danan
- Scoundrel, Take Me Away by Louisa Darling
- Son Of The Morning by Akwaeke Emezi
- Tempest Of Desire by Lorraine Heath
- Into The Woods by Jenny Holiday
- Lazarus, Home from the War by E.H. Lupton
- A Showgirl’s Rules For Falling In Love by Alice Murphy
- The Bone King And The Starling by Elisabeth Stephens
- Some Kind Of Famous by Ava Wilder
- Cowboy It’s Cold Outside by Maisey Yates
Sponsors
- Lyx Books, publishers of Selina Mae's Lessons in Faking, available in print, ebook and audio at Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books. (We mistakenly called this YA in the ad read. It is New Adult.)
- Lumi Gummies. Go to lumigummies.com and use code FATEDMATES for 30% off your order.
- Darcy Green, author of After the Siren, available in print or ebook at Amazon, Kobo, and Apple Books.
- Zara Doyle, author of Emma and Her Wolf, available in print, ebook and audio at Amazon, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
The Rest
- For even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2025/11/17/best-romance-novels-of-2025
- 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.