You can’t throw a stone in romance in 2022 without hitting a fake dating story, so we figure it’s time to do an interstitial on it! We’re talking about when it works, why it works, how it works, and by whom it works, so get your library cards ready because this one will topple your TBR! While this one is, as always, for the readers, there’s lots of goal/motivation/conflict here for the writers, too. Thanks for listening!

This episode is sponsored by Isla Moore, author of The Jennifer Files, and BetterHelp Online Therapy.

Our next read along will feature some of Sarah’s favorite quick & dirty books by London Hale, the pen name of authors Ellis Leigh and Brighton Walsh. Their Temperance Falls series is full of kinks and tropes and HEAs and while we won’t be talking about all ten books, we’ll definitely be talking about a few of them, including Nanny With Benefits, Reunion, Daddy’s Best Friend and Sarah’s favorite, Talk Dirty to Me. The whole series is free in KU.

Show Notes

Hey, dating-advice.html">dating during the pandemic was, and still is, hard! 

Sarah suggest that there are 3 questions an author must address for each character in order to make the fake dating plot work: 

Why is this happening/why a fake relationship the only option?

Why this person and not some other person?

What happens if it all goes south?

In other words, what is the the stake, the thing the reader has to care about? In other words: goal, motivation, conflict. 

One of our very earliest interstitials was on Escort romances, and another was on fake engagement/marriage of convenience, tropes that has a lot in common with fake dating.

#RomanceClass is the name for a group of authors from the Phillipines writing in English. You can learn more about the romance class authors and their story, which is strongly influenced by the fact that divorce is illegal in the Phillipines.

Fuck Me Gently with a Chainsaw is something from a very dark 80s teen movie called Heathers.

There is a Canadian equivalent to the Navy SEALs, it's called Joint Task Force 2. The Mounties (which stands for Royal Canadian Mounted Police) definitely do not have that same vibe, but here is a nice video of a gentleman talking about his the training of the RCMP dogs.

Fake Dating Romance Novels

Hell Breaks Loose by Sophie Jordan

Hold by Claire Kent

Gigolo All the Way by JN Welsh

Fix Her Up by Tessa Bailey

Island Affair by Priscilla Oliveras

Totally Engaged by Mina Esguerra

Like Lovers do by Tracey Livesay

Luck of the Draw by Kate Clayborn

A Caribbean Heiress in Paris

Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur

Worked Up by Tessa Bailey

The Penalty Box by Odette Stone

Beauty and the Baller by Ilsa Madden-Mills

Fake Fiancee by Ilsa Madden Mills

Sponsors

This week’s episode of Fated Mates is sponsored by:

Better Help online therapy. Fated Mates listeners get 10% off their first month at betterhelp.com/fatedmates.

and

Isla Moore, author of The Jennifer Files, available free in KU.Visit Isla at islamoore.com, or follow her on Instagram at @islamoorebooks or Twitter at @islabooks.