S09.03: Hammered, Nailed & Drilled: Romancing the Tool

As they say on the Discord, this year’s theme is…Themes! This week, we’re talking about hammers, nails, drills, pipes and more — literal characters who are wielding literal (and metaphorical) tools! We’re hopping in the wayback machine to talk about books from the 00s and early 10s, on a continuum of content from “oh this has a whole plot” to “here’s a great one-handed read.” We’ve got plumbers, blacksmiths, contractors and a sentient screwdriver…there is literally something here for everyone.If you’d like to come over and talk about romances, with or without tools (jk, they all have tools), please join us on the Fated Mates Discord, where you’ll find a few thousand other listeners who love talking about these books we love. You also get one extra episode a month from us!Fated States, our democratic phonebanking initiative begins this week! We’ll be calling Texas to get out the vote for James Talarico and Gina Hinojosa! There will be games, prizes and special guests! Learn more and register to phone bank with us at fatedmates.net/fatedstates.BooksRoller Girl by Vanessa North The Scoundrel Falls Hard by Sophie JordanUnder Construction by Kate ColeLaying Pipe by Kiki ClarkThe Carpenter by Ramona GrayEntwined by Kristen CallihanCaulky by KM Neuhold Hard Time by Cara McKennaKate’s Crew by Jane RylonLaid by Brill HarperScrewed by CD ReissNotesThis Saturday, we’re calling Texas to get out the vote for James Talarico and Gina Hinojosa at 1pm eastern time! Learn more and register to phone bank with us at fatedmates.net/fatedstates.Some books about unions and unionizing: Make Room for Love by Darcy Liao, and the 1984 Harlequin American Romance was The Third Time by Rebecca Flanders. Our listener Sylvia suggested two others: Don’t Forget to Smile by Katherine Gillis Seidel and Here Be Dragons by Jenny Redford. These titles are also in the photo array above!We did have an episode about renovation romance with Nikki Payne back in season 6 and one on quick and dirty reads back in season 2.Unfortunately, it seems Entwined by Kristen Callihan is no longer available for sale. Sorry, everyone!Samhain and Elora’s Cave were two early erotic romance publishers that closed and we’ve lost a lot of information about these publishers and their backlist of titles and authors.SponsorsLucy Score, author of The Dead Guy Next Door, the first in the Riley Thorn series, available in print, ebook and audiobook, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.HarperCollins, publisher of A.T. Qureshi’s Rider of Dragons, available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, or wherever you get your books.MJ Hastings’s Firstborn, available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, or wherever you get your books.LJ Andrews, author of The Stolen Crown preorder now in print, ebook or audiobook at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.The RestFor even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2026/9/21/s0903-carpenters-plumbers-and-other-metaphorical-romance-jobs 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.

This is a fun one! We’re talking romance novels with numbers in the titles today, a wide collection of books from zero to infinity! While we came prepared to talk about four or five books each, we ended up playing a little impromptu game where we name books for every number we can. We haven’t reread most of these, but you’ll hear that there are a few peppered through here that we were prepared to talk about. We had a great time, and hope you do.If you’d like to come over and talk about romances, with or without numbers, please join us on the Fated Mates Discord, where you’ll find a few thousand other listeners who love talking about these books we love. You also get one extra episode a month from us!Fated States, our democratic phonebanking initiative begins this week! We’ll be calling Georgia to get out the vote for Jon Ossoff and Keisha Lance Bottoms! There will be games, prizes and special guests! Learn more and register to phone bank with us at fatedmates.net/fatedstates.A Number of BooksBelow Zero by Ali HazelwoodZero to Sixty by Marie HarteIt Happened One Summer by Tessa BaileyOne and Only by Jenny HolidayParty of Two by Jasmine GuilloryGoldie and the [three] Bears by Hannah MurrayThree Dirty Secrets by Nikki SloanThree Way Split by Elia WintersParty of Three by C. Travis RiceFourth Wing by Rebecca YarrosFourth Wing by Rebecca YarrosFive Brothers by Penelope Douglas Six by Opal CarewHoliday for Six by Kelly FinleySeven Secrets of Seduction by Anne MalloryThe Seven Rings by Nora RobertsThe Seven Year Slip by Ashley PostonSeven Days in June by Tia WilliamsChasin’ Eight by Lorelai JamesEight Nights of Flirting by Hannah ReynoldsEight Seconds to Ride by Ashley JamesThe Hell’s Eight Series by Sarah McCartyNine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLeanTen Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord by Sarah MacLean Ten by Roxie Riveria Ten Hammers by Liz ArcherEleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke’s Heart by Sarah MacLeanTwelve Nights by Hope TarrA Duke a Dozen by Shana GalenCowboys by the Dozen by Tina LeonardTwenty Boy Summer by Sarah OcklerFifty Shades of Gray by EL James52 Reasons to Hate my Father by Jessica Brody99 Percent Mine by Sally ThorneTo One Hundred by Melissa Blue The 1001 Dark Nights Series3000 Reasons to Act by Jamie P Bradley10,000 Hours with a Rich Menace by Jahquel J.How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire by Kerrilyn SparksThe Blackout Billionaire Series by Naima SimoneInfinite by Corinne Michaels Love Times Infinity by Lane Clark An Infinite Love Story by Chanel CleetonSPONSORSHarpercollins, publishers of Laurie Gilmore’s Big Bad Wolf, available at Amazon, Barnes &amp; Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, or wherever you get your books.Orbit Books, publishers of Rachel Gillig’s The Knave and the Moon, available at Amazon, Barnes &amp; Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, or wherever you get your books.Little, Brown &amp; Company, publishers of Elin Hilderbrand &amp; Shelby Cunningham’s The Thoroughbreds, available at Amazon, Barnes &amp; Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, or wherever you get your books.Union Square &amp; Co., publishers of Morgan Elizabeth’s Meet Cute Magic, available in print, ebook or audiobook at Amazon, <a...

Nine seasons of talking about romance, and no signs of quitting! We’re starting a new season, full of much of our same old nonsense, now with more nonsense, because who needs tropes when you can talk about microtropes! Today, in honor of Season Nine, we’re talking about Cloud Nine — both the WNBA star and the feeling you get when you fall in love. We’ve got a whole lot of books featuring romance in the sky — pilots, astronauts, plane crashes, astronauts and mile-high-clubs…and all of them featuring romance that won’t quit.If you’d like to come over and talk about romances, both in the sky and on land, please join us on the Fated Mates Discord, where you’ll find a few thousand other listeners who love talking about these books we love. You also get one extra episode a month from us!Fated States, our democratic phonebanking initiative begins next week. Learn more and register to phone bank with us at fatedmates.net/fatedstates.BooksThe Vegas Top Gun Series by Katie PorterOn Broken Wings by Chanel CleetonWild Card by Elsie SilverBeyond the Limits by Katherine GarberaThe Last Man on Earth by Shae SandersPuck Me Secretly by Odette StoneCrash Landing by Annie McQuaidPregnant in the Italian's PalazzoTurbulence by Whitney G.The Skyland Series by Kennedy RyanThe Professional by Kresley ColeNotesFated States is back! We’ll be phonebanking every weekend on Saturdays starting September 19th, but the final weekend before the election, we’ll instead phonebank on Sunday Nov 1 to avoid Halloween.The way to find a book club is to read River Town by Peter Hessler and then go to your nearest local indie bookstore and let the bookclub reveal itself to you.Find out more about The Sunday Letter Project.Pilots have been hot since Top Gun, and not just because of the volleyball scene.Natasha Cloud is a baddie and she gave an irrelevant man the business for being transphobic, and Jen thinks she’s a literal hero.The Spanish Space Program, the Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial was created in the 1940s and was replaced by the Agencia Espacial Española in 2021. According to Wikipedia, as of 2026, there have been Four Spanish astronauts.SponsorsHarpercollins, publishers of AT Qureshi’s Rider of Dragons, available at Amazon, Barnes &amp; Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, or wherever you get your books.Rose Prendeville, author of The Unknown Birds, available in print, ebook or audiobook from Amazon, Barnes &amp; Noble, or with your monthly subscription to Kobo Plus. Use the code FATEDBIRDS at Rose’s website to get a signed print book and 30% off!Isabel Sterling, author of With All My Haunted Heart, available in print, ebook or audiobook, from Amazon, Barnes &amp; Noble, Apple Books, Kobo or your local bookstore.Orbit Books, publishers of Louisa Carmody’s The Shadows that Listen, available in print, ebook or audiobook at Barnes &amp; Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, your local bookstore, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.Blue Box Press, publishers of Ashley Eckstein &amp; Samantha Chase’s Lucky 22 and David Eckstein’s Just Enough, available in print, ebook or audiobook at Amazon, Barnes &amp; Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.The RestFor even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2026/9/6/s0901-cloud-nine-romance-in-the-sky 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...

Today we're revisiting a 2023 episode. It's a fun one. While the episode is unchanged, we did spend a full hour of our morning updating the Men in Fur Mood Board. (revA)The RestFor even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2023/11/14/s0610-men-in-fur-aliens-warlords-and-vikings 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 the end of Season 8 (what! how!), and we usually celebrate the end of the season with a read along of Sarah’s new book, but since there is no new book, we have no choice but to go back to the beginning of “The Casino Series,” which is what Sarah calls The Rules of Scoundrels. We’re reading A Rogue By Any Other Name, the first in the series focused on the rakish owners of The Fallen Angel, Sarah’s casino. We talk Bourne, turning around big ships, writing sexy stained glass windows, and what it means to look back on the early part of a career.Next week, we’re taking a little break, and then we’ll be back with Season Nine of Fated Mates. As ever, we’re so grateful to you for listening, reading and being a part of this community. We’re nothing without you.If you’d like to spend more time talking about romance novels, 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.NotesThe jellyfish thing is a myth, you don’t have to pee on a jellyfish sting.All about the amygdala, or Amy for short if you think of her as that messy friend who will definitely lead you astray.JB Pritzker talked about the colors of school folders, and it’s A MESS. Feel free to report back on your preferences for folder colors if you, like Sarah, are outraged.New York Times hosted a conversation with Tressie McMillam Cottom, Nadja Spiegelman, and Mary HK Choi called “Have We Turned Personality into a Diagnosis?” It’s worth the listen!Is it true that Gen Z is this puritanical (the Puriteens!), or are they just worried that everything is cringe?JK Rowling is a piece of shit.Gambling has always been bad, but it’s especially bad on your phone. Please talk to your kids about sports betting and make sure these apps are not on their phones.Crockfords moved a lot of money in the Regency.One of the big influences for Bourne &amp; Penelope was Alfred de Vigny’s poem Éloa, ou La sœur des anges about an angel who falls in love with a stranger who turns out to be Lucifer. English translations are tough to find, but here’s a website that has part of it in translation.When you think of the The Fallen Angel (the club), you might think of the famous painting by Alexandre Cabanel, but that’s from 1847!SponsorsMegan Frampton, author of Demons and Diplomacy, available at Amazon, Barnes &amp; Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, or wherever you get your books.Madison Score, author of Wild About You, available in print, ebook or audiobook at Amazon.Tracy MacNish, author of Of the Ashes, available in print or ebook, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.Hachette Books, publishers of Jennifer Givhan’s The Sleeping Sisters, available in print, ebook or audiobook at Amazon, Barnes &amp; Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, or wherever you get your books.The RestFor even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2026/8/25/s0849-a-rogue-by-any-other-name 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.

We are once again celebrating a wide swath of historical romances that are recently published and by authors we’ve not talked much about on the podcast! Saddle up, because we’re talking the Titanic, submissive heroes, heroines against the wall, bodily autonomy and even centaurs! If you’re a historical lover, you’re going to have a great time finding your next read in here, and if you’re not a historical lover, what are you waiting for? We're so excited to be your discoverabilibuddies on this one!Come talk about your favorite recent historical romances over on 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, next week, is Sarah’s A Rogue By Any Other Name, the first in her casino series. This is one we’ve gotten a bunch of requests for, and so, it will be our final read along of the season. Get it at Amazon, Barnes &amp; Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.BooksAcross the Living Infinite by Logan Sage AdamsTo Covet a Countess by Sapna BhogCentaur and Sensibility by Quenby OlsonThe Seduction of Mr Alfred Sainsbury by Lydia LloydThe Magnificent Earl of March by Cecilia ReneYou Had Me at Heist by Christina BrittonI Shall Never Fall in Love by Hari ConnerFavors From a Gentleman by Lauren HayworthMrs. Milner Gets a Kitchen by Jane Hadley His Awful Grace by Anne KnightEarl on Fire by FeNotesListen to our Long Live Historicals, Volume I here.Fill out more about the Romance Novel Collective and fill out their survey.There was a salt water pool on Titanic. The centaur in The Lion, The Witch &amp; the Wardrobe is not a centaur or a satyr, but a faun, and his name is Mr. Tumnus. Here’s a primer on the difference between satyrs and fauns. Apologies to the Greeks, Romans, and CS Lewis fans in the crowd. The OG Centaur books Sarah mentioned are also not centaurs, they are satyrs, but they are Holy Cannoli, Batman and by Elizabeth Amber. Proceed with caution.Some SFW and NSFW images about centaurs.The RestFor even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2026/8/17/s0848-the-new-historicals-volume-iii 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.

We’re talking tattoos and body art this week! You might not have a tattoo, but odds are you’ve read a few thousand of them, as romance novels love a main character with a message…right on their skin. We talk about some of our favorite tattoo romances, about what tattoos represent, why they’re so sexy, and why romance loves a tattoo artist. Every one of these books is a banger…enjoy filling your end of summer TBR with them.Come talk about your favorite romances with tattoos or about romance in general over on 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, in two weeks, is Sarah’s A Rogue By Any Other Name, the first in her casino series. This is one we’ve gotten a bunch of requests for, and so, it will be our final read along of the season. Get it at Amazon, Barnes &amp; Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.BooksThe Montgomery Ink series by Carrie Ann RyanThe Duke with the Dragon Tattoo by Kerrigan ByrneTo Desire a Devil by Elizabeth HoytThe Magpie Lord by KJ CharlesDaring and the Duke by Sarah MacLeanThese Summer Storms by Sarah MacLeanMerry Inkmas by Talia HibbertRepeat by Kylie ScottWritten on his Skin by Simone StarkThree Dirty Secrets by Nikki SloaneUnder Her Skin by Adriana AndersPermanent Ink by Avon Gale and Piper VaughnSin &amp; Ink by Naima SimoneReaper’s Legacy by Joanna WyldeHard as it Gets by Laura KayeNotesTattoos have a long history tangled up with colonization, which is why for a long time they were thought to be stigmatizing. They are definitely more mainstream now, which means tattoo culture is changing which has caused its own clashes, but they also aren’t thought of as class markers anymore.All about sextants.Merry Inkmas is actually Talia’s second book, her first was Bad for the Boss, which is no longer in print. Jen reviewed both of those for The Book Queen when they were released.Check out the secret tattoos collection on our website.SponsorsEllie Devine, author of The Survival Guide to Alexander McBryde, available in print or ebook, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.E. Kennedy, author of Thornbird, available at Amazon, Barnes &amp; Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, or wherever you get your books.Harpercollins, publishers of Spellfire by Agatha WIllow, available in print or ebook at Amazon, Barnes &amp; Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, or wherever you get your books.The RestFor even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2026/8/10/0847-romance-tattoo 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.

Why is photography so hot? We’re tackling this question this week, talking about why romance novels featuring photographers work so well and push so many sexy buttons. We’re talking about characters who notice, about characters who are patient, and about characters who carry sexy bags around the world. We’ve got storm chasers, nature photographers, CSI photographers, about darkrooms on boats and even historical nudes! You’re going to have a great time.If you want to talk more about your favorite romances that feature photographers, 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 Sarah’s A Rogue By Any Other Name, the first in her casino series. This is one we’ve gotten a bunch of requests for, and so, it will be our final read along of the season. Get it at Amazon, Barnes &amp; Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.BooksA Duke Worth Falling For by Sarah MacLeanBest of Luck by Kate ClaybornChase me if You Can by Heather FrancesLay it Down by Cara McKennaMy Dirty Duke by Joanna ShupeTo The Ends of the Earth by Elizabeth LowellTaming Teddy by Lucy LennoxFlight by Laura GriffinThree Dirty Secrets by Nikki SloanManaged by KristeNotesThe WNBA all star game was pretty fun, and Sky player Sydney Taylor is both very beautiful and very good at basketball.Wicker the movie trailer, and our Sentient Object episode.Jen had a throwaway line about how “AI has ruined everything” in photography, but just like with everything else, that’s a real concern. Up Close and Personal (1996) is a movie with Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer about television journalists.According to this timeline from Harvard about the history of photography, the first surviving permanent photograph dates back to the 1820s, but most people probably think of the daguerreotype, invented by Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre in 1839.Um, in case you need to know what a darkroom is.There is a chain of 7 barrier islands in Texas on the Gulf of Mexico, Padre is probably the most well-known.The RestFor even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2026/8/3/s0846-photographers-in-romance-books 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.

Show NotesRoy Kent screensaver videoDiamond Dogs Book ClubThe RestFor even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2021/12/30/s0417-roy-kent-redux#notes 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.

We’ve been talking about the end (almost end) of this one since we started the podcast, so it seemed high time we did a deep dive on it! Judith McNaught’s Perfect is the most 90s thing we’ve ever read, so gird your loins for both the best all-is-lost scene in romance, and also Zach, Julie, prison breaks, illiteracy, the Coors corporation, Romance Cashmere, and so so many references to Kevin Costner. It’s the most 90s thing we’ve ever read, without question.If you want to talk more about Perfect or Judith McNaught, 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 Sarah’s A Rogue By Any Other Name, the first in her casino series. This is one we’ve gotten a bunch of requests for, and so, it will be our final read along of the season. Get it at Amazon, Barnes &amp; Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.BooksPerfect by Judith McNaughtA Kingdom of Dreams by Judith McNaughtRemember When by Judith McNaughtDouble Standards by Judith McNaughtTender Triumph by Judith McNaughtNotesJen said Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead but she meant Adventures in Babysitting, which was a 1987 movie where suburban kids go on a terrifying adventure in the terrifying big city of Chicago.We did a deep dive of A Kingdom of Dreams in Season 2.Kelly Faircloth sent Sarah an ad for the book from People Magazine. In print versions of the book, there was a letter from Judith McNaught explaining the literacy plot in the book.Interestingly, the Coors literacy push was covered by the New York Times in 1992, discussing the push by big companies to adopt a cause and use it to burnish their image.Okay, apparently fleece also had a bellwether year in 1993, but let’s be honest, it was Old Navy who made performance fleece happen for most of us and that was 1998.In America, our access to Abortion is much worse than it was in 1993 and America still has a devastating epidemic of suicide among queer teenagers, as The Trevor Project explains “LGBTQ+ young people are not inherently prone to suicide risk because of their sexual orientation or gender identity but rather placed at higher risk because of how they are mistreated and stigmatized in society.”SponsorsFrayed Pages by Wattpad Books, publishers of EM Wilson’s Breakup for Two, available in print or ebook at Amazon, Barnes &amp; Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, or wherever you get your books.Meghan Quinn, author of Just for the Plot, available in print, ebook and audiobook, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.Kylie Scott, author of Runaway Rockstar, available in print or ebook at Amazon, Barnes &amp; Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, or your local independent bookstore.E.W. Andersen, author of the Midnights on the Square series. Available in print or ebook at at Amazon, Barnes &amp; Noble, Kobo, or wherever you get your books.The RestFor even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2026/7/28/0845-judith-mcnaughts-perfect-content-warning-the-90s 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.