{"podcast":{"title":"Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People","slug":"fated-mates-romance-books-for-novel-people-607367","podcast_index_feed_id":607367,"rss_url":"https://feeds.captivate.fm/fatedmates/","website_url":"https://fatedmates.net","image_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/bf72ead3-5923-498d-8717-800adee158d0/fm-logo-3000-small-file-size.jpg","author":"Fated Mates","episode_count":419,"summary":"The most listened to romance novel podcast, Fated Mates is co-hosted by bestselling author Sarah MacLean and romance critic Jen Prokop. Weekly episodes include romance novel read-alongs and lively discussions of the work of the genre, highlighting the romance novel as a powerful tool in fighting the patriarchy…with absolutely no kink shaming. RSSVERIFY","last_synced_at":"2026-09-16T12:23:22.788723+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/fated-mates-romance-books-for-novel-people-607367"},"episode":{"title":"S08:43: Romance with Magical Elements","slug":"s08-43-romance-with-magical-elements","published_at":"2026-07-22T04:45:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/fated-mates-romance-books-for-novel-people-607367/s08-43-romance-with-magical-elements","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/fated-mates-romance-books-for-novel-people-607367","url":"https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2026/7/5/s0843","audio_url":"https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/cfaee493-134a-4883-a9b1-8ebf1f0cbce2.mp3","summary":"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 those books, how they work, what they’re saying, and how they work in terms of character, plot and POV. We’re also discussing how the books exist on the outer edges of the romance pool. If you want to talk more about these speculative romance novels, or about romance in general, come join our Patreon! You’ll get an extra monthly episode from us and access to the incredible readers and brilliant people on the Fated Mates Discord. Learn more at fatedmates.net/patreon . Our next read along is an old school contemporary, Perfect by Judith McNaught. Sarah says it has the greatest all-is-lost moment in romance history. Read it to find out if she’s right. Get it at Amazon , Barnes & Noble , Kobo , Apple Books or wherever you get your books . Books A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams My Date with a Pair of Gray Sweatpants by Cassie O. Peia The House of Now and Then by Edward Underhill Do Your Worst by Rosie Danan Every Version of You by Natalie Messier The Night Island by Jayne Ann Krentz The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston The Someday Garden by Ashley Poston Losing Sight by Tati Richardson Struck Speechless by Tati Richardson Notes This year’s men’s World Cup actually broke the Own Goal record with 14 of them. Get ready for the Women’s World Cup in Brazil next year in 2027! So these English fans made up a bunch of chants for a regular player, which is very charming. Speaking of soccer, Mamdani continues to show us all that politicians can just…help make people’s lives better? Here’s a handout Jen uses to teach the three genres that fall under the spec…","meta_description":"The last few years have brought a wave of romances with magical elements—not really paranormal, not really witches, not really contemporary — books where…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":5003,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/fated-mates-romance-books-for-novel-people-607367/episodes/s08-43-romance-with-magical-elements/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/fated-mates-romance-books-for-novel-people-607367/s08-43-romance-with-magical-elements.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}