S08.34: Historical Romance with Ali Hazelwood and Adriana Herrera

S08.34: Historical Romance with Ali Hazelwood and Adriana Herrera

Author: Fated Mates May 13, 2026 Duration: 1:53:28

We are thrilled to have two of our favorite people with us today to discuss one of our favorite genres! Ali Hazelwood and Adriana Herrera, the masterminds behind the AH2 Kickstarter of Historical Trailblazers are here to talk about all the ways historical romance is unmatched! We talk about the new Historical Trailblazer special edition box set that AH2 launched this week, about the power of historicals, and about some of our favorite historical romances, past and present.

The Historical Trailblazer Box Set of books, including Indigo by Beverly Jenkins, Butterfly Swords by Jeannie Lin, The Magpie Lord by KJ Charles, Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase, and (of course) Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas. The box set includes stunning hardcover editions, gold foil, sprayed edges, original artwork and letters from the authors. Learn more at the AH2 Kickstarter page.

If you’d like to continue the conversation about historical romance, please come join the Fated Mates Discord, which is accessible to our Patreon subscribers. By joining the Patreon, you meet other Fated Mates listeners and get an extra monthly episode from us. Support us and learn more at fatedmates.net/patreon.

Our next read along is Seven Days in June by Tia Williams. Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, wherever you get your books, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.

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  • For even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2026/5/11/historicals-with-ali-hazelwood-and-adriana-herrera
  • 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: 50

Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People
Podcast Episodes
S08:43: Romance with Magical Elements [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:23:23
The last few years have brought a wave of romances with magical elements—not really paranormal, not really witches, not really contemporary — books where something is just slightly ✨magic✨. Today, we’re talking about tho…
S08.42: Romance Reasons Meet Thriller Reasons with Anders de la Motte [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:37:22
Once upon a time, Sarah went to Sweden and met a thriller writer who likes talking about the rules of writing in genre as much as we do. We’re so excited that to be able to bring Anders de la Motte’s brilliant thoughts a…
S08.41: Country House Parties [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:39:54
It’s summer, so we’re talking Country House Parties! We’re skulking around, having scandalous meetings in cupboards, getting caught in the rain near the groundskeeper’s cottage, and generally causing chaos during a summe…
S08.40: Summer 2026 Preview [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:38:45
We’re filling summer reading lists and making sure that you have plenty of beach reads ready for whatever your plans are! It’s hard to believe it’s July, but we’ve got another quarterly upcoming romance episode here to e…
S08.39: Romance Birthday (Do Men Have Them?) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:19:26
Is it our birthday? It is not! But who says you need to celebrate a birthday in real life to celebrate birthdays in romance novels? Not us! Today we’re talking about books that focus on birthdays — something that you wou…
S08.38: Seven Days In June by Tia Williams [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:07:26
We’re back with a deep dive on one of our favorite recent romances, Seven Days in June by Tia Williams! We talk about yearning in contemporaries, about books that have a powerful sense of place, about dual timelines, abo…
S08.37: Road Trips and a Chat With Mary Kay Andrews [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:18:02
This week, we’re visiting with Mary Kay Andrews, a longtime writer and certified badass who we adore for her WTAF Wednesdays and her delightful books. We talk about her writing journey, her decision to get publicly, voca…
S08.36: The Rain Fell in Torrents: Weather Is Genre [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:27:42
We’re celebrating the paperback release of These Summer Storms this week, and that means we’re talking about the weather! We talk about rain and snow and wind and tempests and tornadoes and monsoons, and we talk about wh…
RERUN: Trailblazer Loretta Chase [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:19:04
AH2's Historical Trailblazers Romance Collection is inspired by the Fated Mates Trailblazers series, so we thought it would be good to rerun each featured author's Trailblazer episode. This time we've got Loretta Chase,…