This weekend, the world is celebrating the second most important romance holiday in February (see last week’s episode for the most important)—Valentine’s Day! To lean into the traditions of the day, we thought we’d offer you a dozen roses this week, in the form of books! We’re taking the topic broadly—from character names, to author names, to rose scented things, to roses on the page — historical, contemporary, mafia and more…there’s something in here for everyone. 🌹If you want more Fated Mates in your life, please join our Patreon, which comes with an extremely busy and f...
This weekend, the world is celebrating the second most important romance holiday in February (see last week’s episode for the most important)—Valentine’s Day! To lean into the traditions of the day, we thought we’d offer you a dozen roses this week, in the form of books! We’re taking the topic broadly—from character names, to author names, to rose scented things, to roses on the page — historical, contemporary, mafia and more…there’s something in here for everyone. 🌹
If you want more Fated Mates in your life, 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 (in March) is Sincerely, Your Inconvenient Wife by Julia Wolf. Find it in ebook or paperback, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
Notes
Ladyhawke is a 1985 movie starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Rutger Hauer, and Matthew Broderick.
Go see “Wuthering Heights” if you want! It has Jacob Elordi ( even though Heathcliff should be a man of color) and Margot Robbie, but mostly it’s about capturing a vibe.
Sinners was terrific, it stars Michael B Jordan playing twins, was nominated for a record-breaking 16 Oscars, and includes both an extraordinary sequence about the history of music and a hero who enjoys a meal.
Well, we actually talked about a bunch of rose adjacent stuff outside of our official dozen roses. Here they are:
- Rose DeWitt Bukater from Titanic
- Rose Nylund from The Golden Girls defending Minnesota
- The first book in Lorraine Heath’s Rogues and Roses series is A Duke of Her Own
- SJ Tilly (who we think is great) has an epistolary romance called Dear Rosie
- Orca is the official name of the killer whale
- We wouldn’t wish Hyperemesis gravidarum on anyone
- Please don’t fuck around with measles—get your kids vaccinated and your titers checked
- You should probably read The Red before you read The Rose
- The covers and/or stepbacks of Sarah’s Rules of Scoundrels series feature roses, and in One Good Earl Deserves a Lover, Pippa is breeding roses
- Lilah Rose is the name of the heroine in A Duke Worth Falling For
- We love author Stephanie Rose
- Here’s a list of romances with rose in the title, and another list of books with characters named Rose.
Jen will be at Babe’s Sports Bar on Thursday, Feb 12, 2026 to talk about Rooting Interest by Cat Disabato and at the White Oak Library in Romeoville at 10:30am on Saturday February 21, 2026.
On Saturday, March 7th, Sarah will be at the Ballrooms and Beyond Conference in Bristol, RI. The event is free, but registration is required. Also, there’s a (not free) cocktail party!
Sponsors- Blue Box Press, publishers of Jennifer L. Armentrout’s The Primal of Blood and Bone limited edition paperback, available in print, ebook or audiobook, at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or wherever you get your books.
- Harpercollins, publishers of AT Qureshi’s The Baby Dragon Bookshop, available in print, ebook and audiobook at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.
- Lyx Books, publishers of Brittany Cherry’s Eleanor & Grey, available in print, ebook and audiobook at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.
- Tarina Deaton, author of Day in the Knight, available in print, ebook and audiobook at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, your local indie, or wherever you get your audiobooks.
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.
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