S07.17: The Proposition by Judith Ivory

S07.17: The Proposition by Judith Ivory

Author: Fated Mates January 7, 2025 Duration: 1:44:06

Happy New Year, Magnificent Firebirds! We don’t know what 2025 is going to bring, so we’re starting with a bang—the long awaited deep-dive of Judith Ivory's The Proposition, featuring that rakish rat catcher, that ferret-loving firebrand, the man himself, Mr. Mick Tremore! We’re talking sexual tension so overwhelming it makes a girl cry, horse-faced ladies who bring men to their knees, kissing on omnibuses and legs! All that, and Sarah and Jen disagree heartily on the issue of mustaches, but agree heartily that lionhearted virility is the energy we want this year. 

Get the book at your local independent bookseller, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or Amazon.

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The Notes


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Co-hosted by bestselling author Sarah MacLean and critic Jen Prokop, Fated Mates-Romance Books for Novel People digs into the genre with a blend of scholarly enthusiasm and pure fandom. This isn't just a book club; it's a deep, weekly examination of why romance novels work, how they mirror and challenge our world, and why they are often dismissed despite their massive cultural impact. The conversation is always grounded in the text itself, often through structured read-alongs of seminal works, where Sarah and Jen unpack character motivations, tropes, and narrative structure with the detail they deserve. You'll hear lively discussions that treat the genre seriously-analyzing its function as a subversive force and a powerful tool against patriarchal norms-while never losing the joy and sheer fun of a good love story. The tone is inclusive, insightful, and famously without kink-shaming, creating a space where appreciation and critical analysis coexist. Tune into this podcast for a dialogue that celebrates complexity, champions the reader's experience, and consistently argues for the intellectual and emotional heft of romance fiction.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People
Podcast Episodes
S07:13 Getting Pearl Jammed: Romance After 40 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:53:40
Let's talk about the over 40s and how they deserve love, too! This week, we're diving into what the industry calls "seasoned" romance, though we're not wild about this phrasing and prefer "Women over forty can get it!" W…
S07:12 Bookstores and Booksellers [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:28:40
It's Thanksgiving week in the United States, which means capitalism! We're skipping (mainly) the talk of the midnight electronics runs, and heading straight to Small Business Saturday, when your local independent booksel…
S07:11 Best Romance Novels of 2024 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:29:40
The Best Romance Novels of 2024! This is our favorite episode of the year, where we get to shout at you about the terrific books we read this year, and tell you all the ways romance continues to excite us. It's the best…
S07:10 Comfort Reads and Finding Solace in Romance [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:20:15
Like many people, we don't have much to say this week, and whatever we might have said probably wouldn't have been very eloquent, so we've decided to talk about something we know about: Comfort reading and the way romanc…
November 2024 Bantr+ [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:12:00
It’s just a very normal first Tuesday in November, and you need — and deserve — a distraction! We’re here to help with an episode that not only avoids discussing anything that might or might not be happening in the US to…
S07:09 Mermaid Romance with Zoraida Córdova/Zoey Castile [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:25:53
Today we're talking mermaids with our friend, Zóraida Cordova, an author of many genres who also writes romance under the name Zoey Castile. We talk about the appeal of mermaids, why we're so drawn to them as creatures,…
S07:07 The Seven Deadly Sins: Let's Fire Up Wikipedia [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:56:07
Happy anniversary, Firebirds! Seven years ago this week, we launched Fated Mates with our first Episode, "A Wolf Without a Foot," in which we planned a tight 18 episode series, here and gone before you'd know it. Seven y…
S07:06 The Everything I Left Unsaid duology [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:55:10
We're starting our Season 7 read alongs off with a bang! M. O'Keefe's Everything I Left Unsaid duology is some of the best contemporary romance out there, and if you need proof, here it is: The first book ends on a cliff…
S07.05: Some Light Kidnapping: Restraints are for Amateurs [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:50:40
An episode for the old school romance readers in the audience, we're talking about kidnapping this week! A trope that either absolutely works for readers (aka us) or absolutely doesn't, we talk about why that is, how the…