S08.27: Romance Baby: Not the Secret Kind

S08.27: Romance Baby: Not the Secret Kind

Author: Fated Mates March 25, 2026 Duration: 1:37:58

It never fails to surprise us when we realize we’ve never talked about a really classic trope even now…eight years in. This week, we’re talking about kids in romance—which we’ve somehow never done before?! We’re covering Romance Babies, Romance Kids, and Single Parents in Romance — but so sorry to the Secret Baby lovers out there, that one deserves its own episode (someday). We’re talking babies, toddlers and teens, the appeal of the single parent romance novel, and that one Erin St. Claire book that Sarah can’t get out of her head.

If you want more Fated Mates in your life, or you want to talk more about Romance Babies/Kids, 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 The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie by Jennifer Ashley. Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.

Notes

  1. The Silhouette Intimate Moments line eventually turned into Harlequin Romantic Suspense. Erin St. Claire is one of Sandra Brown’s many pen names.
  2. Wet nurses have been around for a very long time, baby bottles not so much. I say this only because Sarah said “Bottle service” and that’s something different.
  3. Red ink has been around for a long time, actually. So maybe that’s how Sophie had access to it during the Regency?
  4. So there’s not a whole lot of evidence that birthmarks are hereditary. Shocking, I know.

Sponsors

  1. The Romantasy Letters, a new kind of romantic fantasy storytelling, delivered right to your door twice monthly. Use the code FATED to get 20% off your year's subscription. Learn more at RomantasyLetters.com.
  2. LJ Andrews, author of Heir of Twisted Lies, available in print or ebook. Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, or wherever you get your books.
  3. Neyha Liu, author of Midnight at Soulfield, available in print or ebook, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
  4. Lucy Score, author of Mistakes Were Made, available in print, ebook or audiobook, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited. Get it 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
  • 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.


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
S07.41: Audiobooks with Julia Whelan [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:18:10
We're thrilled to have audiobook queen and Voice of the Summer (USA Today), Julia Whelan with us today! Aside from being the voice of Emily Henry, Taylor Jenkins Reid, VE Schwab and Kristen Hannah, she's also an author o…
S07.40: Hot 2025 Summer Reads [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:59:36
We're both staying very still in front of air conditioners this week, so that means we're very very happy to have a pile of summer reads at the ready! We're teeing up your piles of summer reads this week with our quarter…
S07.39: Dysfunctional Families (The Fun Kind) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:25:27
This week, we're talking about romance's most common family: the dysfunctional one! Sarah wrote a book about one, so we're thinking about what makes them special to romance, and what sets the romantic dysfunctional famil…
S07.38: Second Chance Romance Redux [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:39:09
We're taking a second run at second chance romance this week, and while we intended to recommend a million books, we ended up talking about all the ways this trope really works and really doesn't work for us! We're talki…
S07.37: Run Posy Run by Cate C. Wells [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:42:26
Another deep dive episode, and this one feels like it shouldn't have taken so long! We're reading Run Posy Run, talking about the way Cate C. Wells walks a fine line of mafia romance while keeping the book on the moralit…
S07.36: Celebrity + Normie Romance [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:56:20
Sarah is over the moon that we're talking about celebrities again, especially because we're keeping it tight this time around and limiting it to celebrity/normal person romance (mostly -- Jen is ungovernable)! Yes, Sarah…
S07.35: On the Shelf with Spinsters and Wallflowers [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:20:10
One of the og romance tropes is on the table today -- we're talking about heroines who are on the shelf! It's not quite wallflowers, not quite ruined, not quite spinsters...it's a very particular flavor of unmarried woma…
S07.34: The Third Act Break-Up (Complimentary) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:28:12
We're gonna get people excited with this one (it's us. we're the ones who are getting excited). Back by popular demand, we're talking craft this week--digging deep into the third-act breakup, what it really means, why it…
S07.33: Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:34:10
Today we're headed back in the time machine to before the pandemic when everyone but us read this one m/m hockey book and lost their collective minds! Heated Rivalry is one of those books that romance lovers place high u…
S07.32: Ruination! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:53:23
We're talking about the worst possible thing that can happen to a romance heroine today (it's always the heroines) -- ruination! Whether the hero did it, another man did it, or society simply decided that she's ruined, t…