S08.22: Chart Topping Songs and Their Perfect Romance Novel Pairings

Well, February. February. It's happening, whether we like it or not. You know, last year everybody was like, oh, this year's been a million years. No, like, for real, I feel like every day. Yeah. Just open my eyes and think. It surely is September. And in fact, it's February, everybody. We hope everybody had a great Valentine's Day. It's true. I was at the urgent care of like a weird skin rash. And so, you know, whatever. sorry I guess that's TMI but you know I don't know but you're fine now I'm fine now you know thank you the steroids and just knocked that chair right out of you um and yeah I had a you know when you have a middle schooler in your life it's everything's a real a roller coaster but Valentine's Day is a thing that they like she continues to sort of think is cool so we you know there was a lot of I must have chocolate to bring my friends on Friday. And then like you know on the day it was in fact she came in and she said mom I was going to buy you flowers but I didn't have any money in my Apple watch. So that was the you're like wow thank you for thinking of me. Thank you so much. You know it's fine. It's what it is. You know what in that case I was like you know what Are there any flowers? Thank you for thinking of me. Yeah, exactly. That is nice. I think that's nice. Yeah. Anyway, and what is happening? The world is, you know, the worlding. Yes. Today I got really deep into lore on a group of TikToks that have been made about an elderly community in, I think, it feels like they're all Midwestern, even though there is, I don't think they are in the Midwest. and there is like a big Mahjong problem. Like a real, like there's a cheater. Her name is Barbara. And somebody, bless them, has decided that like they are going to record all the like back channel whispers about Barbara. And I am very delighted by it. So that is where I'm at because it's just helping my brain be smoother. But also I'm very excited. And listen, everybody, we have big plans for an Olympics episode and I think we're still going to do it. It just probably won't be when the Olympics are. Listen, we didn't really have time for reading this week. And I've been watching the Olympics, and I'm sorry. I said this to Jen last night, and she was like, I think you maybe disagreed with me. But, like, nothing tops the Winter Olympics. There's, like, an 80% chance of death. That's science. In every sport. And I really think that that is what I need for sport. I needed to feel gladiatorial, if that's a word. I needed to feel like at any time a lion might just, you know, eat a person. There does seem to be quite a bit of, like, shenanigans. Drama. Yeah, I mean, the curlers were cursing each other out. And I was like, excuse me, one got mad at Canada? The sweets are very nice people. It's a shock going on there. And they were all like, da-da-da-da. And one guy's like, fuck you. And I was like, oh, excuse me, sir. Curlers? What? And then, of course, there's, like, the ice-skidding drama. There was, like, the whole French ice-dancing duo who really do seem like, you know, evil, like, evil, like, super villains from a cartoon. Like, not that they are in real life, but, like, there's just so much. First of all, they, like, really kind of look the part, but also, like, just sexy and super villainy. But then also, like, there's been all sorts of drama about them and their past and potential crime. And then there was the Norwegian skier who apologized publicly to his ex-girlfriend for cheating on her. And her response, which was, why am I in it? I mean, she's like, no, now you've made me famous in Norway for drama. She's like, I don't even know this man. Listen, I am having a great time. And you're not watching it because you're too busy. No, I'm sorry, everybody. I'm just. Well, why are you apologizing to everybody? I find it very easy to watch the Summer Olympics because I'm home. Right. And I can just like park my dumb ass in front of a TV and like watch people play sports all day. But in the winter, I mean, February in a school is like, I don't know, like December in retail. You know, it's just really not a good time. So I think I just come home and I just like, I don't know, I'm tired. Yeah, I'm just tired. So it'll get better soon with the turning of the clocks and the return of sunlight and hopefully some warmer weathers. It was actually yesterday. It was like in the 40s. And I don't know, everybody, if you are not from a place with cold weather, that makes you. That feels like you should put on shorts. I literally today out this morning saw many people in shorts. It was 42 degrees because it was minus 20. It's like no stretch warm. Comparatively speaking, it is. No, I said to Eric the other day, I was like, warmer is not warm. That's two different things. And yet for some of us, it is. And so, yeah, I mean, it just. And so anyway, we I a friend of mine and I are from work where we like walk down. Actually, this is really cool. We walked down to the Newberry Library, which is like a big research library in the city. And they were doing this. So apparently Frederick Douglass, like this is a good thing. You have heard of him. Black History Month moment. Two S's. Yes. Apparently chose February 14th as his birthday. And so every year they like celebrate Douglass Day in various ways. And this year, because they did it on the 13th because of what they were doing, is they had this transcribe-a-thon. And so they – I love this. Yeah, right. It's so nerdy, and I love it. It's so nerdy. And so it was like they had – and this actually was really cool. If you've ever done this before, transcribing old things for, like, research libraries or whatever can be, honestly, like, if it's old-timey cursive, you're just like, I do not know what that says. It's really hard to transcribe. It's really, really hard. But this, in this case, this Douglas Day, they were transcribing a bunch of like essentially newspaper reports from all over the country, I think, that had to do with the first like Afro-American leagues in Congress. And so you were just transcribing something that was literally like just it was already printed. Right. And so sometimes there's like, you know, at one point I was really like torn about what to do because it was clearly a N, but instead it looked like a U or vice versa. because, you know, they were setting type by hand. And it just got, like, reversed. But they are, like, printed and type exactly what you see. Exactly what it is. Do not make any changes, even if it's a misspelling. And so I was like, okay, but it's definitely. But Frederick Douglass would never. Right. And so in this case, like, so anyway, it was actually really cool. And they were using this really cool platform. I'll put all of this in show notes that I don't actually remember the name of. But they put all this stuff into a platform called Zooniverse. And essentially you can like log in and help people like do all sorts of things. So there's all these like science ones. Like there was one called like, I don't know, the Plankton Factory or whatever. And it was just like slides of like photographs. And you look at them and they teach you to say whether or not plankton are present or not. And then you can essentially be like helping scientists figure out how healthy the ocean is or whatever. And so, yeah. So if you're just like one of those people who's like, I actually want to learn. I actually want to do something so fun, like good and not evil. So there's like a dolphin spotting one where essentially you look and say if a dolphin is present or not. And then they teach you essentially how to like identify it. Now, I didn't do any of those. I was transcribing things about that. That was really fun and fun to do with young people. Yes, exactly. Like I was like, hey, fellow teachers. Yeah. Well, I had a thing that I told you about, but I'm going to share it here, too, for the fellow teachers that makes it that sort of made me feel similar. Like I feel like your Frederick Douglass experience is similar to this. I was I saw a video from a professor at a college who gave like a kind of over like January term or like interterm. He gave a class, and I think the class is called No Stupid Questions. And I will try to find this video, everybody, but it was one of those things where, like, I watched it and then it just disappeared. Like, I don't know that I'll be able to find it again. But essentially the premise was that you went to this class and you surrendered your digital devices at the beginning of the class into a box. and then he gave you a list of like totally researchable kind of stupid questions like how long is the tiger like how heavy is the moon like these kinds of things and then you had to use they were in the library and you had to use actual books to find them so like it was a research class in the sense of it sort of gave these young people who would never in a million years open an encyclopedia and search for moon, you know, a chance to sort of experience what that is like and also to, like, learn how these older texts work. And it was really delightful. And the kids had a great time. Yeah, that's really fun. They were like, oh, look, it's an index. I mean, that's real, right? You got to teach them. That is very real. So I recommended it to Jen because I actually thought that it would be a fun thing to do. with middle school class on like a day, like on a Friday when, you know, before a, before a, like a long weekend or a break or something. Yeah. So no, it was, it was really fun. And I think the, I just want to like, like say one more thing about the, so all of the transcription that was being done in this case was for the colored conventions. I'm sorry. I don't know if I'd like said that part of it. And they were really doing a couple of things that I thought were interesting. One is that they were one specific thing they were really looking for is like, is the snippet you like you have? Does it mention people's names? And in particular, is it mentioning women's names? So they were really trying to get. So there are like actually two groups you could just like transcribe or you could be like, look at this list of names. And so they're really trying to like essentially like do a lot of work around like how black people organized after slavery. Right. Right. Because that was the thing about like the colored conventions. It was like these were people who were like for a lot of them formerly enslaved. And I think the thing that was like pretty amazing and no one will be shocked by this who's ever I don't know, like taking a history class or paid attention in one. But, you know, a lot of the things that like there are times I was transcribing things and like speeches where somebody would say something. Right. Like here is, you know, a black person from, you know, hundreds of years ago, essentially saying things like there's one and I don't have the screenshot of it. I think it's on my work computer, though, because I was like, whoa, that was basically someone saying, like, here's what we're not going to do. You know, we're not going to be moving people from like unsafe states to safe states. What we want to do is make sure that everyone has the same rights everywhere they go. And it's just like, you know, listening to that and seeing what ICE is doing. And, you know, it explicitly said, again, in this speech, like, you know, we're not going to let people be like judged or like taken based on their appearance or the color of their skin. Oh, man, it was just really pretty powerful. So anyway, I think that work is still ongoing because like there are thousands and thousands of things they want transcribed. So this to me was like a very low hanging fruit, really fun. And you do have to register because I obviously I think somebody could get in there and just be an asshole. But I had a really I think it's really a cool project. And it really feels I don't know, like I'm sorry, I'm so nerdy, but like you just really feel close to history. So I love that. Yeah, it was awesome. I love it. And actually, it's making me feel like there's got to be there have to be a million things to do in New York that are similar. Yeah. Yeah. What a cool thing. Yeah. Well, we're going to do something a little less serious than that today. This week's episode of Fade of Mates is sponsored by M.A. Wardell, author of Peaches and Pucks. Okay, so this is a novella in M.A. Wardell's like really fun, like sort of like teacher universe. And in here we have Harry and Darius. They are both teachers. One is, Darius is a PE teacher. Harry is like a fifth grade teacher. And, you know, when Harry agreed to chaperone the boys hockey team, he really thought his biggest challenge being pretending to understand the rules, not being stuck in sharing a hotel room with Darius Hill. Darius is the hockey coach. He's a human whistle. And he is the man who has made Harry's Mondays miserable for years. But somewhere between the bus ride, the 10th semifinal, and one very small bed, Harry starts to realize that the worst part about Darius Hill might be how much he likes him. Oh, no. Meanwhile, Darius has been pretending for years that Harry doesn't get under his skin, and now all of a sudden he cannot hide it anymore. So this is a cozy, rivals-to-lover novella full of banter and heat, which you will expect if you, like me, enjoy M.A. Wardell's stories. Well, if you like heated rivalries in ice hockey, this feels like it might be perfect for you. You can get it right now in print, e-book, audio book, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited. If your podcasting app supports it, just click on the chapter title and it'll take you to buy the book. Thanks so much to M.A. Wardell for sponsoring this week's episode. But today's episode was suggested to us by our producer, Eric. you know, we were very happy to have the suggestion and complete the task at hand. Or at least, I guess we haven't completed it yet, but we are testing the waters. And his suggestion, Eric is a musician and he is very into music. And his suggestion was, and I should say, he's going to yell at me when he, now I'm sort of like, oh God, I'm going to say it all wrong, but whatever. You know what? At this point, if instead you hear Eric's voice being like, here, no, this is what I do. told them to do okay but he doesn't know that i'm going to say this so eric for i mean a long time i have you know i have found eric on a couch or in bed holding his ipad reading a column called the number ones oh yeah which is uh written by i i should do some research but i did not do the research before the recording so we're going to say we're going to put this column in the show notes it's on a website called Stereogum and the guy who does it is every he has been like writing the biographies essentially of the number one song every week forever and he goes forward and backward right so he does the number one song for the week I think this part is where I think I might be getting wrong he might not do the number one song of the current week but like he's been going back back back back back and he listens and then he like listens to the song he tells you the history of the band he tells you the history of the song he tells you what's interesting about the song there's usually like multiple videos like if it's a cover he like covers all the different versions of it he talks about the artist's like career outside of the song and these are like extensive like 10 15 000 word columns and so eric's always been really interested in this like number one concept and i think this is something that's translatable to publishing into like any any sort of art that is mass consumed yeah i think that's a good point yeah because one of the things that's really interesting is number one songs can be really like niche and like it was number one for like one week and nobody ever heard about it ever again it just like was a fluke and sometimes they're like a thing that is ingrained in the head of a person forever and ever like and it just like whole generations of people know that song and not necessarily because it's good sometimes it's just like that's the song yeah we all knew and so like there's this sort of question of like is the text is the text number one because it's good is it number one because of who made it is it number one because it just happened to like lightning rod its way into a like cultural moment right so eric's suggestion was what if you guys looked at the number one list the billboard top 100 number one songs of forever like the whole list from i don't know the 40s when it started and you picked songs and you merge them with a romance novel. And I thought this will be so easy. And then it was hard. Yeah. And then I literally he sent the list over and I opened it up and I was like, oh, shit, I don't know the names of any song. One last thing I should say, everybody, before we go on. Not all these songs were actual number ones, because what Eric made a really good point, which is like number ones all by themselves actually can be kind of hard, right? Like a number one song could be a one hit wonder that peaked once and was on the charts for one week. But some of these songs were like they never hit number one, but they were on the charts for 40 weeks. Right. And so like everybody knows them. And so what is on the list is actually not just the number ones. Essentially, they're just like songs that were on the charts in February. So don't go through and look through and be like, yes, but actually that was only number 17. We know. Well, and we just told him to do February. So, yeah, so what you're going to discover is, oh, but I want to talk about strategy. Oh, yeah, me too. Obviously, so I had a real problem with this because, so, first of all, I opened it up and I went, oh, my God. Yeah. I've never listened to a single song ever in my life. Sure. The top song, by the way, I feel like there's some things that are interesting here. The top song is on this list was Macarena. Yeah. Oh, right. And we asked him to sort by. Well, he, it was sorted by number of weeks. So the top line was Macarena, and I was like, okay, well. That feels like a trap. A trap. No, no. And also, aside from that, I was like, well, that's not one. Like, that's not one we'll talk about. Okay, meanwhile, though. All right. I'm not going to talk about it, but I did actually, like, Google it. Like, maybe there is a way I could talk about it. Did you know that that is a song about, like, a girl who, like, is involved in a love triangle? I didn't, but this goes to my next piece. I don't listen to the lyrics. I'm sorry, everybody. was hard for me oh that's really interesting because all i do is listen to you like i eric i mean this we are being married to a musician is very difficult to everybody and part of the reason why if you didn't know eric eric like makes all of our makes composes all of our uh our like intro music our outro music oh by the way everyone welcome to faded mates i'm sarah mcclain i read romance novels and i write them and i'm jennifer prokop a romance reader and editor and song listener yeah um and so you know being married to a musician is one of those things where like all he likes to say all the time like his biggest problem with like living in the world right now is everyone wants to talk about say taylor swift yeah taylor swift is like popular and nobody wants to talk about like the actual music they want to talk about like the lyrics and the like video and the you know but like yeah nobody's like and that chord change and like such and touchable taste chords i don't even literally know what those are and he's like i don't i don't know what to say to people because then they bring up music and he's like let me tell you all the nerdy things i feel and they're like i really liked the chorus yeah i mean i'm i'm sorry to report i know nothing yeah anyway so i'm a lyrics person and he's a music person and so never the twain show me also but my big thing is there are a lot of songs that are just like about love yeah and like i mean it's pop music it's about partying or fucking yeah or following them up yeah and that's all great i'm not saying like you can't have music about love but what ends up happening is you're like well this is just a song about love which is you know fine but it doesn't actually lead you down any sort of interesting like any romance novel would match this song about love well so i mean there is a song from 2020 that was number one by an artist named jane ako called pussy fairy so i mean i just feel like that listen i don't know i don't know that song everybody sorry just perked up yeah um so what i did was i went through i sort of scrolled you guys there are so many number one songs for for february in well because it's decades decades decades and decades i'm going to tell you how many songs are on this list it is it begins it's gotta be hundreds yep not uh february of 1959 it is there are 8 700 songs on this list we will link to this list so everybody can see the full list if you have your ideas you can share them in comments on our instagram account or on our blue sky account or in the discord um i was sort of looking for ways to get into the text without like i was like i i'm not just gonna pick a song that's like romantic i'm gonna try really hard to like match the song in some other way sure so that was how i picked what about you um well okay i'm gonna admit something which is like i was really afraid that i would be like i'm gonna just be like listing you know books from olden times and And so songs from olden times or books from olden times? Songs, you know. And so I was really outside of like, so I really tried to force myself to pick songs actually that are pretty recent. Like I really almost most of my songs are from like 2020 forward with a couple of exceptions because I really was like, you know what? I want it to be like sort of fun. And these are songs that I actually know and like. I mean, like, one of the things that's, like, really hard, I'm sure you know this, too, like, you mostly know about, like, pop music when you're driving around with your kids. You know what I mean? And so a lot of these songs are songs that, like, I was like, oh, I really like this song, you know? And, you know, my kid would be like, mom, you're such a loser. Yes. Correct. And then I was like, I don't care. I think that this is a great artist. And then I'd try and say their name and, you know, it was bad. But so these are. K-E dollar sign, huh? And I was like, sure, exactly. So I was really like, I'm just going to try and pick a couple of like, you know, like newer songs, songs I really like or artists I really like that are newer. And then, yeah, I was really like, OK, I guess I have to read these lyrics because sometimes I don't, you know, have to pay attention. Although I will admit that there are a couple that I was like, I'm just going on pure the title alone. Sure. Sure. This is a romance thing, and therefore. Sure. Right? Also, it should be said that Lady Gaga's bad romance is on this list, but we don't talk about romances we don't like. Exactly. So bad romance could potentially make it onto the playlist that Eric is going to build from this episode, but Jen and I, that part is redacted. Yes. From this episode. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I don't, I was like, I'm not going to necessarily try really hard to find, like, books I've never talked about before unless they double up pretty fast. So I can't imagine, like, you're going to, you know, hear about new books from me that you've never heard from before. And I just had to go with that. That's how I felt. I think that's fine. Yeah. All right. You should start. Where should we? You want me to start? Yes. I want you to start. Why don't I start with the oldest song on our list? Okay. I like that. All right. Which is a song that predates both of us. It is from February 6th, 1971. It is Gladys Knight and the Pips, If I Were Your Woman. Great. It is a great song. And it has a whole portion of it. One of the lyrics, or the lyrics, the lyrics that I always think of when I think of this song are, If I were your woman, and you were my man, you'd have no other woman. You'd be weak as a lamb. and it's the very beginning of the song uh and listen basically this is a song that is like pure unrequited love like this is a woman who has been through it because this man who she loves has another woman and he is it seems like kind of catting around on that woman but like gladys knight is like listen if i had you you would never need to look anywhere else because I would treat you perfectly. And this felt very Sherry Thomas Ravishing the Heiress coded to me. Nice. Because as many of you know, we did a deep dive on Ravishing the Heiress. We love Sherry Thomas here. But that book is really a book about unrequited love. The heroine of that book is so wildly in love with the hero of that book, and he is very in love with another woman. And they are married for reasons. The hero and heroine are married for reasons, but they've never had, they've never been in a sexual relationship. And the book sort of begins with the idea that, like, basically they had an agreement that they would be married for a set amount of time. And now the time is coming up and a divorce is going to be in play. But the heroine of this book wants a baby. and so she's like I'll give you your divorce but could you give me this like a child and she is so desperately in love with him and they are so perfect for each other and he I mean that this other woman is very present in this book um Sherry Thomas we have it on authority we of course Jen and I were basically like he's totally cheated on her oh yeah like he's totally been with this other woman Sherry Thomas came right in to tell us we were wrong I I'm sorry but like textually speaking Sherry, I still don't believe you. I don't know what book you were reading. I was like, you can say that all you want, Sherry, but we know the truth. But listen, it's very, like, oh, man, if Gladys Knight read Ravishing the Horus, she'd be like, I get it. I mean, yeah, I think that's, you guys, it's so romantic. And then when finally, when it all comes together and it's so clear that these two are, they're just so perfect for each other. And it is clear that, like, there will never be another person for that hero. Like, it is the heroine in no one else forever. Yeah. Perfect. That is Sherry Thomas' Ravishing the Heiress. This week's episode of Faded Mates is brought to you by Blue Box Press, publishers of the River's Wild series by Dylan Allen. So Dylan is great, and she's written a ton of books. But this series, the Rivers Wild series, is really, really special. It's a collection of standalone romances, all located in Houston, Texas, in a kind of specific enclave that's owned by the Rivers and the Wild families. It's incredibly valuable oil land. This is a series that's about old Texas money. In The Legacy, The Legend, and The Jezebel, you're going to find The Rivers Family and The Wild Family. These books have all the big, bold alpha heroes that you've come to expect from Dylan and from Blue Box. And also a really passionate, emotional through line on every one of these stories. The heroines are all just like big and bright and they can hold their own with these kind of impossible heroes. and you're going to have a great time reading this one. These books have already been published, but they're being republished and rejacketed by Blue Box. Yeah, so if you would like to check these out and your podcasting app supports it, you can click on the chapter title right now to be taken to buy the book. Thanks to Blue Box Press and Dylan Allen for sponsoring this week's episode. Okay, maybe I'm going to go in the opposite way and go with my most... Oh, yeah, we'll meet in the middle. Yeah, we'll meet in the middle. Although I think we'll cross over at some point. Okay. All right. So I – all right. I – okay. So if it like a recent song everybody like I said it like a song I really like So I doing that song by shabuzi called a bar song tipsy and what shocking about this song everybody is i i not really a country person but this song slaps it's really good and so i was really like thinking to myself like okay what would be like a uh like a boozy song basically right like a song that has essentially either like I was thinking like bar. So I was not thinking about the lyrics as much as this one as I was thinking maybe just about like where would the song be playing or where, you know. So I have two quick recommendations. One I haven't read in a really long time, but I remembered that Victoria Dahl had a series set in a brewery called Donovan Brothers Brewery or something. And the third book is called Real Men Will. And I went back and looked at this. And basically, it opens up with Beth. She works at a sex toy shop, or is the manager. And she is essentially thinking about this one-night stand she had with this really hot guy who's one of these brothers. I think his name is Jamie. and so she was just like you know we were just gonna have this one night stand and that oh no eric eric is i think jamie's one of the other brothers everybody sorry so anyway beth is like you know it was just supposed to be this like one night stand but like it was really hot and i can't forget it i can't get over it and so um i don't know it's just really funny like this is and then like we kind of switch over to eric who's like at the bar and like you know he's just like dealing with like this really funny like I reread the first chapter to kind of like jog my memory and there's this really funny scene where like one of his bartenders was really upset because like the woman he's dating her husband is there and like Eric's kind of like wait dude like she's married and he's like no it's an open marriage she's allowed to date me like and it just felt like messy the way that like I would sort of expect like a good like bar book to be messy um okay So that's A Real Men Will by Victoria Dahl. And then, of course, I was thinking about Empire of Seduction by Mila Finelli, which is the second book in her New York State of Mafia series where Maggie owns a winery. And this is like kind of a piece of shit winery in northern New York or like upstate New York. And like, you know, Vito comes along and he's constantly basically like this wine is terrible, but this lady is hot. And, you know, there's a lot of drama, you know, like they get together. He's in the mafia. he's like you know essentially her brother like loses the winery in a you know in a in a gambling you know a poker match or whatever and so i don't know like i just feel like to me a really good bar book has to be real fucking messy and that's what these books made me think of is that bar song a bar song i mean perfect i love that uh okay wait where's my list i've lost our i've lost our list Oh, no. Don't do it. Here we go. All right. 1973, February 3rd, Joni Mitchell's You Turn Me On, I'm a Radio, which I love it. I love Joni Mitchell. We almost need my child Joni. So she is a big fave here in this house. That's a very 70s coded name to me. Yeah, it is. Also, my grandmother's name was Joan. So I was like, oh, it's also like a family thing. But yeah, oh, it's a very 70s favorite encoded name. But also it's, you know, not the 70s anymore. So we were like, let's bring it back. And also Joni Mitchell, they're worse people than. Listen, there's a person who I don't think has ever been a garbage person. Hasn't come out, hasn't turned out to be a garbage person. And if she has, everybody, please don't tell me. I just, again, I can't live like that. Anyway, you turn me on, I'm a radio. I mean, first of all, what a great sentence. What a great metaphor. And it just works out great. But then I was like, and I saw it, and I was like, oh, I want to talk about Joni Mitchell. And then I was like, what radio romances have I read? Because there are some pretty great podcast romances, right? Like, I was sort of like, okay, there's Kate Claiborne's most recent, The Other Side of Disappearing. and like which is about a podcast like a true crime podcast there are a number of like podcast adjacent books out um and then i remembered lauren landish wrote a book called dirty talk um which is a straight up radio dj like he's a radio talk show host he his name is um anyway i can't remember it's gone but um okay so the premise here is the heart the hero uh is he goes by the name the love whisperer and um he has a like late night talk show where you can call in and he'll give you like sex and love advice we've all we all understand this as a concept um the hero the heroine is like a pretty sort of straight-laced coder who has been in a relationship for a long time and there that relationship is very sort of stayed and kind of and like just the same and she discovers over the course of you know scrolling on her boyfriend like scrolling instagram discovers um accidentally that her boyfriend has been like bully cheating on her like there's a like uh there's a kind of dick picky experience on instagram and she is panicking because she's basically like, I can't say we've seen this before, like this kind of I feel like I'm the problem. Actually, she's dating an absolute monster. Yeah. And so she calls in to the Love Whisperers show, tells her the story and they like talk for a little while. And then at the end, he's like he takes the call like off the air and he's basically like, I you have to call me back and tell me like how it all goes when you have this confrontation with him and she does and it's sort of this like slow tumble into them becoming like uh friendly but they are definitely hot for each other like from the jump and so they go from phone to text or like they go from the radio program to text to phone to meeting in person to dating to and it just sort of like goes on from there but it's this really lovely like there every moment it's very sexy obviously dirty talk is the title of the book so it's also like sexy in that way but it's also this like really fun you know slow ride to them falling for each other it's very physical and then like they realize that they've they've fallen for each other it's very cute i read it a long time ago when it came out um and so got in 2017. Yeah. Which feels like, you know, a lifetime ago. But that's my Radio DJ Dirty Talk book. What I would say, though, is that if you do know of a radio book, I'm interested. I know there was one, it was like radio, I can't remember the name, by Catherine, somebody maybe, radio? Yes. Radio. Yes. Somebody is yelling it right now. But like, there's gotta be an old yeah like um but there's got to be like in the in the harlequin like in presents or you know those kind of early like the blazes all of those they're radio teachers were so sexy when we were young oh yeah right listen there's a reason why we say things like he had a face for radio by the way but there's but like i remember growing up and like listening to the radio in in the evenings and like really having... Oh, yeah, like a relationship with these people. Feeling. Yeah. Yeah. So I bet there's a lot of radio romance. Oh, yeah, there's got to be. I also was thinking, I wonder if there are like romances where like someone's like a DJ in the club. There has to be. I just can't think of any off the top of my head. Right? Like because now DJing is like back in such a big way as like, you know what I mean? Like you can go see DJs, you know. It's interesting, right? Because that's a good example of like a story where like, where like, I can see how that would be a job where it would take over the story. Right. Right. Maybe. Maybe. Plus, it's a pretty solitary job. So like, what does a workplace romance look like for a DJ? Yeah. And like, they're all DJing. So you can't really get with them in the middle of the club anyway. But they could send you messages through the music. But then you're in sort of like, how do you do music in a book? It's complicated. okay um all right let me talk about a song that i have called 30 for 30 by uh siza and kendrick lamar this is from 2025 i knew you were gonna put kendrick on here uh yeah well and i knew it i love and i was hope and i've skipped him i was like i'll skip those jett'll put somebody on well you know what i okay i'm gonna say this is not one i know as well i like other songs by siza i really like in other songs by Kendrick I like but 30 for 30 I feel like there are so many romances where it's like she's like it's my 30th birthday and I'm a virgin 30 30 yeah and I have to I have to lose it including a book by you Sarah called Brazen and the Beast right oh yeah she is turning 30 she is turning 30 and so what in Brazen and the Beast right the an ancient age by the way for historical I mean, sure. Obviously. Embracing the Beast. Hattie is about to turn 30. She has decided that she has to lose her pesky virginity. And so she is going to essentially, she's going to have like the year of Hattie, right? Or is it her 20? It's her 30th year, right? 29. It's the year leading into her 30. Yeah, and so... But 30 is the year. Yeah, right. She's like, oh, I gotta do this for 30. I gotta do something. And so she essentially is gonna, like, hire a you know, a sex worker to take care of this for her. But then instead there is a... A lady with a plan. A brooding, handsome, huge man. Tied up in her carriage. And he is like, that seems like a bad idea. Why don't you let me take care of that instead? Not immediately, but in the course of this book. And she does. Wow. Right? Suddenly You by Lisa Kleypas has the same plot. Only in that one, she thinks it's the sex worker who she has hired to show up at her house. And it's actually her boss. Her boss. He's a publisher. And you know how that goes. So I do like these books. Again, I don't think that song really has anything to do with this plot. No, but it brought this. version of this world to me. And I was like, and you know what? It's not even only in, it's funny, I tried to, no one has made this list easy for me to find on the internet anywhere. But I feel like I have read this like several times, right? You know, just like, I'm about to turn 30, there's this big birthday coming up. You know who has to make that list, Jen? Me, apparently. Us. We have to do an episode. Okay, well. Have we never done like help I help I'm turning 30? Help I'm getting old? At the beginning of every episode, according to Eric. Okay. So that is, like I said, I'm not sure the lyrics really support this read, but when I saw 30 for 30, I really did laugh. And I thought, oh, wait, that, like, immediately brought a whole set of books to my head. Amazing. Okay. Let me see. Wait, I have to go back because I have one from the 60s on here. Okay. I want to talk about the Marvelettes. please Mr. Postman amazing which was a number one and was on the charts for 23 weeks and we all know this one you know this one is there a letter in your bag for me anyway so the Marvelettes are a very fun this is a very fun group from the 60s so wait a minute Mr. Postman also there's a cover from the Beatles I didn't know that Oh, I'm sure that everybody's remade the song. It has to be, right? Yeah. The Beatles did a lot of covers in those early, early days. And so, but this story is, this is like, it's the 60s. It's about, like, getting letters from, like, the sort of inferences that there is somebody far away who is sending, like, is it a soldier? Is it somebody who is going, who wants to come home? Who's like, the hope is that you'll hear from them and that they'll be saying that they're coming home. um and so what's interesting about this is it can be a very i have not heard the beatles cover i have not heard many like i haven't really paid very much attention honestly um but the original version of this song is like very sort of like yep like very upbeat and like 1960s yeah the reality is like this is pretty sad like here's a woman who has been waiting a long time to be to hear from the man that she loves. So this felt obviously, I saw this on the list and I was like, well, I got to do an epistolary romance. Yeah, of course. You're perfect. My favorite. So I am going to talk about, you just talked about Lisa, but I am going to talk about Lisa Kleypas' Love in the Afternoon, which is in Jen's Vault. It is in the vault. It is a Hathaway novel. it's Beatrice Hathaway's novel where she it's essentially a it's a Cyrano book where Christopher Phelan Captain Christopher Phelan is home in their like tiny little town and he has a crush on this very beautiful young woman in the town who like dances with him at a town ball at a country ball on the eve of him being sent to war and he's basically like stars in his eyes for this woman and she says oh yeah i'll marry you when you come back and then he goes off to war and he sees terrible things and he writes to her because like he's on the front lines of a war and she is a beautiful thing that like he holds in his mind and the letter arrives and she gets it and beatrix hathaway is there and uh this woman is like oh la he's so depressing and so and she's like i'm not gonna write him back like i'm bored now and beatrix is like you have to write this man back like he is he is on the front lines of a war like and he is thinking of you you must yeah do this and so beatrix writes her back as writes him back as this other woman and they start to exchange these like long beautiful personal letters that are so emotional and like they're both desperate to hear from each other the whole time. And then when he gets back from war, like halfway through the book, he's like, I got to get to her. I got to get to this. I don't remember the woman's name because who cares about that bitch? He's like, I got to get to her. And he goes to her and she's like, oh, la. We're in our letters just so silly. And he instantly is like, what the fuck? Yeah. like who did like who was it he was writing to me yeah and he and Beatrix is like oh fuck I'm in big big trouble and like and then the second half of this book the tone just shifts so much because then it's like he's returned from war he's obviously like riddled with PTSD from what he's seen. And he's also like, I'm crazy about this, about you, about the person who is writing me letters, but you're also not the person, like you lied to me. And it is, you know, emotionally fraught in only the way Lisa Kleypas could do that job. So that is Love in the Afternoon. And please, Mr. Postman by the Marvelettes. I love it. The Marvelettes, the Marvelettes. Oh, and Epistolary. You love it. I do love it. This week's episode of Faded Mates is brought to you by the Romanticy Letters, an interactive reading experience, magic in your mailbox. So this is so cool. This is exactly what I want from my romance experience. This is breathtaking Romanticy by Mail. You get 24 letters over the course of the year with each letter coming with keepsakes and engaging items that take you deeper into a very particular Romanticy story and universe. And this includes stickers, art, codices, sigils, journal entries, coded messages, letters. Every package that you receive from Romanticist Letters is designed to be saved and returned to. And each one will have sort of messages that come through later in the story. The Romanticist Team uses absolutely no AI. Everything is human made. And they're currently telling the story of A Treaty of Hearts, which is about a mortal king and a fae star weaver bound by a blood treaty. This is enemies to lovers in the extreme. They have to work together to save the world and fall into a dangerous, slow burn passion that throws everything under threat. oh so if you sign up now you will receive two letters each month and these are beautifully crafted letters that let you not just experience the love story but actually touch it so um if your podcasting app supports it you can click on the chapter title right now to be taken to buy the book and if you are interested in checking out romanticyletters.com you can use the code faded for 20% off your year subscription. Thanks to the Romanticy Letters for sponsoring this week's episode. Okay, I am going to talk about Pink Pony Club by Chappell Rohn. It was on the charts for like 30 weeks, but it was only ever like 26 or whatever. Now, okay, this, everybody, it's like the story of the song is that like she leaves her small town in like Tennessee And she ends up like dancing, you know, essentially being a stripper at a bar, I think, in L.A., the Pink Pony Club. Now, I, however, I'm going to talk about a WNBA romance. And here's why. If you will remember, maybe you won't, everybody, last summer during All-Star Weekend, these two players, Courtney Williams and Natisha Heidemann, called their like everybody calls them the stud buds. they did a live stream of the essentially the entire all-star weekend and it was like honestly like the craziest thing i've ever seen just like non-stop wmba content but like from a player's point of view and you could tell like they were at parties i mean it was wild i just was like how is this happening because it was honestly the craziest thing but at one point at one point I think it's Courtney, like, was talking about how much she loves this song, Pink Pony Club. And she is just, like, kind of, like, singing it to herself. Like, just, like, you know what I mean? Like, just, like, vibing out with this song. And I think then after that, it became sort of a WNBA anthem. And so I am going to talk about a WNBA lesbian romance called Rooting Interest. Not because they ever go to a club or anything like that, but just because of, like, the vibes of, like, this song. And so in Rooting Interest, and this I actually did a book event this week with Kat, who's the author. And it was actually really fun. It was at a women's only sports bar up on the north side called Babes. And so I and this was a place like I'd wanted to check out, but it was like the first time I had ever been there. And so I was like, oh, this is like really perfect. And it ended up being so fun. And I think part of it was because, you know, you're just used to sort of like sitting in the bookstore. And so like, there are all the people who came for the reading, like essentially like in the back, like, and I, you know, we had mics and I'm asking her about the book or whatever. And then there's just like all the patrons of the bar up in the front who like started drifting to the back or whatever. It was awesome. It was really fun. So anyway, in this book, Jennifer Felix is a sports reporter. She covers the NFL. She's openly lesbian, but she also, like, when she's kind of at work, really keeps it pretty tight. Like, she doesn't, like, wear her hair a certain way. She just doesn't want anyone to judge her, essentially, for her sexuality when she's covering the NFL, which is, like, you know, so hyper-masculine. And, you know, and then what happens is she gets reassigned to the WNBA beat kind of temporarily. And it's kind of shitty. Like, she's aware that the only reason they've assigned her to the WNBA is because she's a queer woman. And she's kind of like, I don't even know anything about basketball. You're fucking kidding me. So what she's covering is the return of Natalie Zapski, who is like a player who's been out with an ACL injury. She's coming back and she's like just sort of just made it back. So this is her first All-Star Weekend back. This is the other thing. It was like an All-Star Weekend book. So the Pink Pony Club thing is perfect here. And these two kind of meet and have like a lot of great chemistry. But Felix is like, I'm not going to obviously I can't date someone who I'm covering. That can't happen. And so, you know, and it's smart. Like she gets reassigned back to the NFL and then it's like things are OK for her and Natalie to date. And so anyway, this is like a really fun WNBA romance, but also like just like a real, you know, the other thing is like Pink Pony Club is about this like journey, right, from like small town to big city. And here's Felix is is a like professional sports reporter in Los Angeles. And yet, like somehow covering the WNBA, like allows her to like kind of move forward in her journey herself as like a queer woman and like how she wants to present in the world. So anyway, it's great. I loved it. And so, yeah, Pink Pony Club and Rooting Interest by Kat DiSabato. Love it. What a good choice. It was perfect. All right. I want to talk about my favorite Prince song because it's a weird one. Nobody else has this song as their favorite. But my favorite Prince song is Seven by Prince and the New Power Generation. And this was when he was not a prince. He was a symbol. Like a symbol. Sure. um and i love it so much and i play it all the time and i have been playing it a real lot recently because it's all about like how revolution will like if like love will topple everything um it's great it's very fun if you have not if you don't know this song or you are have not you don't remember this song go listen to it now it's very fun um but one of the things that one of the lyrics in this song is um all seven and we'll watch them fall and then at the end he says i am yours now and you are mine and together we will love through all of space and time so i was like all right this has to be one of those books where like people find each other over across time and so i want to talk about uh tia williams's a love song for ricky wild which is so delicious so now Now, if you've read any Tia books, you know that like Tia likes to sort of bend, refract a romance novel through magical realism. Like there is always a little sort of blend of something that is curious outside of the romance itself, like just a sort of tweak on time. And Seven Days in June did this. And now A Love Song for Ricky Wilde does this also where like there is a past. The hero is set in the Harlem Renaissance, and the heroine, Ricky, is set in present-day New York. And it's all around leap year. It's February. It's February. Oh, look at us. Look at this. I didn't actually even think about that until this exact moment. It's leap year and there was this sort of magical time on February 29th when like there's this idea that like everything gets thin and like magic can happen. And so we have our like incredibly sexy like hero from the Harlem Renaissance who is a musician and like trying to like make his way in the world, like having pulled himself up by his bootstraps and like gotten himself to Harlem where he is finding his way. And then we have Ricky, who is also trying to find her way on her own. She has a sort of overbearing family and she's decided that she's going to leave this like Southern family and come to New York and like open a flower shop and like try to actually like make space for herself on her own outside of the, you know, heavy weight of her family expectations. and they meet in these like beautiful it's february in new york and it's very cold and they meet in this city like a a lot a garden like a community garden space that even though it's february feels like it like smells of jasmine and like feels like there's something magical about this space and they meet like the first time they meet there it's like night time and she's like here's this like magical man and she and the whole book is about like how they find each other and make love happen with one of them living in the harlem renaissance and one of them living here now yeah and like it's sort of it's i mean gosh tia just does such a good job of like pulling the story through to make you feel like how is she going to pull this off and like what is going to happen and what is happening like what is this magic and it just feels this is a book that feels like humid if that makes sense yeah you just you just want these two to bang but like respectfully so that is a love song for rookie wild and a perfect perfect read for february exactly see how this works see see everybody i know and that song by prince oh perfect okay um all right i have another i have another scissor song sorry i really like her it's called nobody gets me and the lyrics of like nobody gets me are basically like you know like essentially come back right come back because you know nobody gets me like you do right and so you know she I think in the the the song like she's like a musician who's like out on the road and she's basically like there's this long right like if I was you I wouldn't take me back I pretend when I'm I'm when I'm with a man it's you right so you know I don't want to see with anyone but me nobody gets me like you do so how am i supposed to let you go and i am going to talk about one of my this really of course hits like my favorite which is you know like she's she's gonna bounce and he's like yeah but you have to come back nobody gets me and so i'm gonna talk about run posy run which is like one of my favorite nobody gets me right like he this dumbass at the beginning um dario uh essentially is like sort of tricked into believing that posy has cheated on on him with like video evidence that has been doctored and he like throws her out of the house and you know takes her money takes her you know like cancels her credit cards and like all she has is like this one suitcase and um she's you know he he's and ray who is the driver um who's charged with sort of taking her into the city and dropping her off somewhere. Kind of is like, you know, this is like a mafia romance. It's like, Posey, you're in real trouble. Like, you know, the bad mafia guy is going to come after you. You're a loose string now. And so she is like, oh shit, you're right. And so she is a smart cookie though. And so she does everything she can to disappear. And within like a half and, right, like she dumps her phone and her debit cards into a garbage can. So she tries to get money. She knows she can't check in she realizes that like the hotel where ray drawcroft is above like a subway station so she like just basically like disappears and within like 30 minutes dario is like get her back and because he's a dummy because he is a dummy and she is like gone baby gone and i it's great and so the whole idea of basically like the song it being you know like how you know how much Nobody gets me like you do is literally true because nobody does get Dario like Posey does And so it a great book i think that it really plays around with i don know like i think it i think it very honest about sort of like the mafia world i think posy is a very like clear-eyed uh like heroine who understands the limits of like the life she can have because of how she was raised but also like really does love daario and so um She does go back and she like whips his ass into shape and it's fucking terrific. So that would be Run Posey Run. Perfect. I love it. Where am I now? Let's see. Oh, I'm in 1995. I'm in high school. And Boyz II Men has a 26-week run on the charts with I'll Make Love to You. All through the day and night. like you want me to. Amazing. And so obviously, you know, I got to talk about escort romances here. Sure. Because if you are going to make love to me the way I want you to, then you're going to have to do it exactly the way I want you to. So, and then I realized it has been a long time since we have talked about the Kiss Quotient. Oh, okay. And Helen Hoang has a new book coming out. It sounds like she posted on, she sort of resurrected her Instagram account recently. She's been very, very quiet for a long time. And she said she had turned in a manuscript to her editor. So that's very exciting. For people who did not read the Chris Quotient back in the day when it sort of really. You should. It was huge. It is so sexy and so delicious. the heroine of and really kind of broke some boundaries in interesting ways like it Stella the heroine is an incredibly successful mathematician she is autistic but she doesn't disclose that to anybody at work and but the problem is is that it has made for she feels that her autism has made it very difficult for her to date and to like have us have sexual encounters that like she feels comfortable with because like part of her her identity is very much wrapped up in like her needing to understand every step of the way right that's why she's such an excellent mathematician so she hires michael um like an incredibly sexy uh escort to teach her how to be better in bed and how to do bed and they and so when so he turns up for this kind of like okay i you've hired me to do this and he thinks like we're they both think like this is going to be as it's sort of very perfunctory and Stella especially is like this is gonna be very perfunctory this is how it's gonna go you're going to make love to me the way I want you to and he's like what if I made love to you the way you want me to but you don't even know how you want me to yeah you know like let me be in charge Michael's like listen you're a statistician that's great but I this why don't you let the professionals work here and then what happens is it's like he's really drawn to her and he understands her in a way that a lot of people don't and he really sees parts of her that um she has she hides from other people and then it becomes a kind of like well could you also help me kind of wrap my head around how relationships work and how dating works and it becomes a fake relationship of sorts um michael has a really beautiful family and like there's a there's a a lot of sort of conflict and and like love that comes from michael's family and um basically the this is it's just it's a great romance novel when it came out god when did it come out 2019 maybe 2018 i think 2018 i want to say a million trillion years ago and when i can't stress enough that like when this book came out it it just rioted through yeah oh yeah It felt like we had all seen something that we had never seen before. So that is Boys to Men. That's amazing. Thank you very much. I was pretty proud of that one. You really should be. Terrific work, everybody. Terrific work. This week's episode of Fade of Mates is sponsored by Jennifer Iacopelli, author of Game, Set, Match. So this is a tennis romance, which is so fun. So all of Penny Harrison's, I know it's 40 months. So all of Penny Harrison's hard work is finally bang off. At 21 years old, she's a tennis icon in the making. Massive sponsorship deals, legendary status on the horizon. All she has to do is nail the upcoming Grand Slam in Paris. Until then, no room for mistakes. But when she returns to her sort of home tennis club in the Outer Banks to train, she comes face to face with the biggest mistake she's ever made, Alex Russell. Oh, boy. He is the bad boy tennis player and the only guy who has ever broken Penny's heart. So, Teeber head in the game and her mind off Alex. Penny leans on two of her friends. They have their own exploding careers and off-the-court romances. and she's hoping like that drama is enough to keep Penny distracted. But as the days tick down to Paris, Penny can't seem to always find herself like she's always somehow in Alex's orbit. So winning means laser focus. So why can't she stay away from the one guy who ruins everything? Penny, head in the game, girl. You can get games that match right now in print, e-book or audio book. and if your podcasting app supports it, you can click on the chapter title to be taken to buy the book. Also, as a special treat for Fata Mates listeners, if you stay tuned after the episode, you'll have a sneak peek of the audiobook of Game, Set, Match and we are very excited to share it with you. Thanks to Jennifer Iacopelli for sponsoring this week's episode. Okay. All right. I am going to go. I'm like, I have things on my list that I'm like sort of skipping because I realized I just really liked the title, but then I couldn't figure out what song I was going to do, but I was convinced I would come up with it. So, for example, Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored by Ariana Grande. That would be amazing. Right? I was like, what book is that? So, anyway, I'll just. Oh, that's funny. You know, anyway, that is funny. Okay. So, I am going to talk about the way life goes by, I feel real white saying this, everybody, Lil Uzi Vert, which is like a song. I actually really, really love. Like, this is, like, one of those songs where you're, like, you're driving around with your kid, and you're like, wow, I love this song, right? I just love it. And so the thing is, is if you don't know the song, it's from, like, I guess it's from 2018, I think, Nicki Minaj back before, you know, Nicki Minaj was, you know, a trumper or whatever was on it. But so one of the things about this, this the chorus of this song, right, is I know it hurts sometimes, but you'll get over it. You'll find another life to live. I swear that you'll get over it. I know you're sad and tired. You've got nothing left to give. You'll find another life to live. I know you'll get over it. And I just think it's like a really like I don't know. I love this song. It's like one of those songs where I'm just like I like lock in as if it comes on my playlist. I'm always really happy to hear it. So anyway, I was going to talk about A Girl Like Her by Talia Hibbert, which is being re-released. So this is a book that was like probably one of her first, this is probably one of her first books, this first Ravenswood series books. And so this is like also probably back in, my guess is 2018 or 2019. And I just realized that they are, They rejacketed it and it's coming out again in March in trade, which is in a trade paperback size, which is really nice. But in this book, Ruth is our heroine and she is like found a way to like make her life the way she wants it. And she is she does like web comics and drawing. she's like kind of on her own because she essentially and she's um she's very close with her sister and she however is like a an outcast in their town and she essentially like kind of like when she meets evan her new like super hot ex-military next-door neighbor guy um is like you know, I'm autistic and people don't like how I am. And I'm just too, you know, I'm not playing by the their rules, like the rules of everybody in the town. And it turns out that like, she essentially was like, really treated very badly by a boyfriend who, like kept her a secret. And he was like, you know, like real classic, like rich kid, you know, kind of taking advantage of her. You know, I think he's white and she's and her, you know, her family's black. She lives on this poor side of town, you know, and so she is really like almost at a loss for how to understand like how she was kind of targeted and and and then isolated like she was. And so she's just like kind of made this life for herself. And then here's Evan, who all of a sudden is like. Not anything like anyone she's ever met before. And so, you know, it really is like this sort of question about like, can she feel safe again? Can she get over it? Right. Like these people made her life miserable and the power they you know, I like a I like a small town or small like a neighborhood story where like the power dynamics are really like honestly like, hey, the rich people in town are terrible and this is what they're doing, you know. so i think that there is like she really is truly recovering from an abusive relationship and i think that it is like a really good match for like a story that a song right this song um right called the way life goes about like just like if this these bad things did happen but you you will get over it and and so i don't know i think like it it's really powerful obviously we talk a lot about like main characters in romance have like wounds right things are getting over but like ruth's wounds are very real at very deep and and you know have had years to sort of calcify and harden into her just being a real loner and so to have all of a sudden someone appear who's just like ready to bring her back into the light so it is coming out it's being republished but maybe you have one in the dregs of your you know e-reader and you should check it out so that's a girl like her i love it yeah what you're gonna do with all that junk jen i also saw this go by and was like what somebody's gets like a what's it called a bbl all that junk inside your trunk i'ma get get get Get you drunk. Get you love drunk. Off my hump. It's too much, Sarah. It's poetry is what it is, Jennifer. Okay. My humps by the black-eyed peas. Amazing. Now listen, I'm a curvy girl who likes curvy girl romance. I like this song because, listen. Sure. I like this song. I'm not ashamed. A little bit. I'm a little bit ashamed. You sound a little ashamed, yeah. I'm a little bit ashamed. But here's what I'll say. You deserve nice things, and you deserve a romance novel where the curvy girl gets the hot man who just cannot, he is just cannot get over how much he loves her body. And so I have two for this one. uh first is bella andre's take me which is an oldie but a goodie where and this one and i'm giving you two because obviously obviously what you're going to do with all that junk this is a woman who knows exactly what she has and is not afraid to use it um but in there are two like there are two schools of thought on curvy romance some women really like the curvy romance where So, like, there's a certain level of, like, insecurity about your body that then, like, becomes, you, like, end up discovering that your body is to be loved by virtue of, like, meeting somebody who loves you so desperately. And that is this one, Take Me by Bella Andre, who has, Bella, the main character of this book, is best friends with, like, grew up with a set of very handsome romance twins, is best friends with one of them. and like absolutely gone for the other one, even though he is like grumpy and kind of mean and he's never very nice to her, but she just like cannot. He's so handsome and he's so perfect and she just cannot, she wants to hate him, but she can't. And he is, it comes out, of course, that like part of the reason why he's so difficult with her is because like he has wanted her forever and he's jealous of his brother, who is her best friend. and he ends up this is a whirlwind kind of a whirlwind romance where they they end up in in italy because she's an interior decorator and he's an architect and they're like working on a project and it's very sexy and he just like wants her so badly and um she is very like insecure about her body but like comes to be very like proud of it and it's i think very it's great And if you would prefer a heroine who just like is just looks great and knows she looks great and knows what she has and just wants a man to to who deserves her, who deserves to love her. Then your book is Curvy Girl Summer by Danielle Allen. Oh, yeah. I love this one. Well, and so I'm going to give you both because this book is I mean, I feel like Curvy Girl Summer also sort of broke romance. when it came out because people were just so delighted by it. It's incredibly hot. This is another 30th birthday book. Oh, see? There you go. Yeah. So she decides she is going to find a boyfriend before her 30th birthday. She starts dating, like online dating. It's a mess. She ends up on a failed, like she goes on a blind date. It's a total disaster. And she there's this like very sexy bartender who actually suggests this is so the bartender actually says, like, what about online dating? And then she and then he they what's cool about this book is that so she's sort of like, oh, online dating, like the dates are just terrible. And he's they do not know each other at the beginning of this book, but he becomes like her friend. first like it's very clear that like he's into her and she's a little bit into him but like at first this is really them like becoming friends and then becoming lovers um and it's just like sexy and fun and she knows i mean this woman knows alia knows what she looks like and she knows she looks great and um and so like there is a certain amount of like the realities of dating as a big girl in here, but she's also like, I look great. And there is something very, you know, she's going to get you drunk. Love drunk. Love drunk. Amazing. So that is Curvy Girl Summer by Danielle Allen. I love it. Okay. All right. I'm going to do Young, Dumb, and Broke by Khalid. Because, listen, I feel like the truth is there are so many, like, new age romances out there right now that, you know, are, like, really, like, sort of, like, you're right on the verge of, you know, graduating from college and we're, you know, we're going to be out there and one day we'll have money. But right now we're just, like, young, dumb, and broke. And so one of my favorite of these books is, and I know, listen, this is like an older book. I don't care. The Inn, like, I don't care. I don't care. I don't care. All right. So we talk a lot about L. Kennedy's The Deal, right? Which is, like, really, I think was one of the, and this is from, I think, this is like 10 years ago. It was like kind of one of the first times I was like, oh, I see how these books, right, could be really great for like, right? Just you're in college, you're about to graduate, you're like right 22 or 23. But one of my favorite actually of this series is The Mistake, which is the second book. And in the second book, what happens is, and so it's like if you've never read this one, it just really makes me laugh. Because it really, to me, captured like just like kind of a way that like college works that nowhere else works, which is Grace is a like actually I think she's a freshman. And the like hero of the book is like one of the most popular hockey players on campus. And his real name is I think his real name is like John Logan. right but everybody calls him logan and because of course he's like hockey bro right and i think he like knocks on her door thinking it's someone else's and it's not who he was looking for but they end up hanging out all night and then they end up like watching a movie and like fooling around it's kind of like how does this happen right but and then the part that is really funny is he he gets off but he doesn't get her off and she's kind of like well that was a little disappointing but i also know that this was like i he's that was just like a that was like a shooting star of an interaction like i'm never like that wasn't real like right like i and she's smart enough i think one of the things i like about the book is she's not like oh this is we're dating now like she understands that like she just hooked up with this guy and that's that so that this like really makes me laugh he like wakes up the next morning like they've been drinking or whatever and was kind of like horrified like I didn't get this girl off so he like goes back to her dorm and like knocks on the door and she's like what are you doing here and he's like did you come last night and she's like no he's like all right well give me a second chance and she's like okay so and in my memory she's just like literally like in a robe and she's just like and he just like goes down on her and that's that perfect so i have a meal yeah exactly and i felt like that's the part that really it was just like it really captured for me like sometimes i just find the like oh he's the 20 year old master of the universe like just like really hard to believe right and that's a little bit about what's happening in the first book like garrett is like the star of the hockey team and he's just like right he's like so self-assured and he knows he's going to be going to NHL and he's going to be famous and all of that. And Logan is a fucking wreck. And I think that in that sense, I found the story like way more in the vibe of like young, dumb and broke, right? Like, just like, who knows what we're doing? We're just, you know, drinking and partying, having a good time. Cause we're just like a bunch of stupid kids. And honestly, that's kind of how that book was to me, but in the best possible way. So that was the mistake by L. Kennedy. I love it. Let's talk about Harry Styles. Oh, let's. Harry Styles, who has been rediscovered in my home by my 12-year-old. All right. And has a new album coming out soon, I'm told. So I want to talk about As It Was, which came out in 2023, sat on the charts for like a year. Yeah. Literally 43 weeks. Yeah. 43 weeks. Yeah. And it's like, it's very fun. And I want to talk about Ava Wilder's first book, How to Fake It in Hollywood. So this book, so in this, in the text of the song, you know, as it was, is referenced to like, I know it's not the same as it was. Right. And then throughout the song, through the song, Harry talks about like there's a line where he talks about like being on the phone late at night and somebody says, what kind of pills are you on, Harry? Right. Like it's a real song about like struggle, like struggling through, you know, coming coming through life challenge and like talking to somebody who maybe it's not going to work out with. um in ava wilder's how to fake it in hollywood the hero is a is a very very very famous actor who fell apart um when his very very very very famous like acting best friend died in a kind of very tragic situation and he the hero sort of stopped acting like stopped and and became a real like tabloid name um he fell deep into drugs like and and it his his marriage broke up um it was really messy and the heroine is essentially an actress who uh was on a television show that was incredibly popular for eight or ten years and then like couldn't just couldn't quite find the next thing and now she's like stuck just being like the woman who once played that one character that everybody loved and so it's a classic hollywood like kind of acting setup where these two are sort of forced by their managers or publicists to like know each other like and the idea being maybe we can resurrect both their careers if they'll like go out and be seen together it works right and they really like each other like they they are they they fall for each other and they fall for each other hard it's very romantic but ava wilda doesn't let up she's aware of the fact that like drugs were like you can see her as a writer especially you know i love a debut jen like this is her first book and you can see her really negotiating the like the challenge of writing a character who has a has had in the past problems with drugs who has had in the past these sort of like deep traumatic experiences personally and like whether or not he is ready to love again. Like, is he the same as it was? Listen, I read the content warnings on this book. You know, make sure if you think drug addiction is is a challenge for you. This might not be the right book for you, but I think it's a good example. I know you you really love David's last book. I didn't read it yet. But I just, you know, I love a first book because I think it shows kind of, right, what might be coming. And I think she's an incredibly talented writer. Yeah. Fun. Okay. I am going to talk about We Belong Together by Mariah Carey, which is probably one of my favorite. I mean, I just really love this song. And so this is from The Emancipation of Mimi, if you remember that album. I do. Like, this is like one of these songs, like, again, same thing. When it comes up on my playlist, I'm always like, oh, my God, I love this song. All right. So in this one, essentially, like, this is a comeback story, right? Like, come back, baby, please, because we belong together, right? So who am I going to lean on when times get rough, right? Who am I going to talk to on the phone until the sun comes up? Like, those are the lyrics. And for this one, I have selected a book called Beast to Business by Alona Andrews. And the reason is because it's basically like in classic Alona Andrews hidden legacy style. Essentially, like in the first book, they aren't really together at the end. And so I'm like, I am like, please, how long must I wait? Now, I will tell you, this book came out of nowhere for me. Like it was released like a couple weeks ago. And it's a novella, January 29th. And I literally, luckily. I didn't know they put something out. Well, they put out, they are very prolific, but they haven't put out anything in the Hidden Legacy series for a long time. And so this is a novella with two of the Hidden Legacy characters. And I maybe found out about it like the day before it came out. And I was like, this is perfect for me. So I didn't have to be anxious. I'm waiting for it. But now I'm anxious. I'm waiting for it. And so if you have read the Hidden Legacy series, it is about Augustine Montgomery, who is an illusion crime. and he essentially agrees to help out Diana Harrison and she is Cornelius's sister and they're going to essentially like they're on a like a case together she needs she he's a like a magical private investigator and she's hired him and so they are going to go out on this case together to try and like find this like magical creature that belongs to her family uh-huh augustine in the books like really everything's really like close with him you don't know who he's interested in there weren't any hints at all that he would end up with diana and so i was literally like wait what and i then and you guys know i read really fast but i would literally read like a chapter and then i'd put it down and wander around because it's a novella it's only 200 pages you gotta say and i was like i need to make this last as long as possible which means I've made a last 12 hours instead of two, but fine, whatever. And so anyway, they go out on their big adventure, and at the end of the book, we essentially get this scenario where they've solved this mystery, but they're both thinking about each other. And so you know that either, and I don't know, it was just like, I love the hidden legacy world so much that like to get a new, any kind of new story in that world just felt like such a gift. But also it really is perfect for these like Mariah, this Mariah song because you're literally like, they do belong together so get them together for good and like put me out of my misery just like the way that Mariah is in misery because she is not with her man. So that is it's called Beast Business. That's great. uh let's do too sweet by hosier uh a favorite in this house 42 weeks yeah i mean at number one or not at number one but 42 weeks on the list yeah um i this is one of the songs that when it comes out you know our kids are very different in age and so uh when this and also you know yeah and so uh when this when this song comes on like the everybody sings along oh yeah i mean the bit where he says like you know while in this world i think i'll take my whiskey neat oh yeah my coffee in you know it's a great great i mean yeah yeah yeah my coffee black in my bed at three yeah he's like the opposite of her in so many ways right um but i keep i kept coming back to that i had a lot of books where i was like oh it could be that could be that could be that but i kept coming back to that whiskey neat um and i was like well i gotta talk about a Caribbean nurse in Paris perfect um and i think and so listen probably my favorite Adriana Herrera book. I love it so much. It's historical. It's set in 1890s in Paris. I'm not going to talk too much about it because we talk about it so much on the podcast and we love her so much and you all should have read it by now. But what I would say is the hero of this book is Scottish. He's a Scottish Earl. He has a whiskey distillery up in the Highlands and he meets the heroine at the World's Fair in Paris. She is a Dominican heiress who has basically decided to prove herself to her family. She's going to go to the World's Fair. She's going to exhibit her special herbal tinctures that get added to drinks Like they are she has this like really innovative spirit that she is spirit that you drink, not spirit, like, that you drink, spirit that she's sort of showcasing at the World's Fair. Men across the world are also at the World's Fair showcasing their alcoholic wares, and they all, like, just fully underestimate her as a human. And so they meet because, I mean, this man is down bad for her from the jump. Like, he's just like, I must have her. I must. And he has everything that you want in a romance hero. Like, thigh is the size of tree trunks. And he has this, you know, whiskey distillery that really matters to him. And, like, it matters to him for a million different reasons, both emotionally and financially. and ultimately what ends up happening is these two have to have a kind of marriage of convenience this is a a situation where like a marriage for a prescribed amount of time will solve a number of problems for both of them um it will not solve the problem that these two are just like destined for each other and absolutely and she absolutely refuses to acknowledge it um god it's so sexy He, like, they basically, he, like, he finger bangs around the Eiffel Tower. I don't know what else you need to know about this book. I feel like that's really all you know. But it also has this, like, really fun, like, rollicking plot that, like, has big explosions, literal and figurative, coming through it. And there's, like, a kind of bad, like, a decent hero. Not a decent hero, but, like, a hero who, like, is a real hero. and a villain who is a real villain. And, oh, God, it's just such a fun book. And it has all the hallmarks of historical. You know, Adriana always says, like, historical is the Broadway of romance. And, like, man, you can see that she really feels that way in this one. Yeah. That is historical is the Broadway of romance. It's great. Yeah. Hosier's Too Sweet and Adriana Herrera's The Caribbean Harrison Paris. Perfect. Okay, so my last one is also a Prince song, which is I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man, which is a song from, not like, again, like not one of his biggest hits. It was on the chart for 13 weeks. It only got to number 10. This was back in 1987. But I feel truly that this if it's like a if it's like a romance with if it's like a male female romance like for sure like basically it i love it it probably has like this guy's like the narrator like right like this the lyrics of this right so basically it starts off with prince is like you know her old man ran away like you know she knew that you know that he wasn't gonna come back right and so they meet up at the bar because she's like out for the night and the lyrics are right i said baby don't waste your time I know it's on your mind I may be qualified for a one night stand but I could never take the place of your man and then of course by the end of the book he's going to be like in fact I am going to take the place of this man because I am going to like rise to the occasion and realize I am you know better than I thought right um and so I really love a book like that where like essentially like uh like right the hero is basically like I am a human garbage dump I don't deserve you. Cracked. You don't. So I have a couple that and I also think that because of the like your man business, I feel like it really like skews more towards like the you know, I don't like mafia dark romance like vibes because like in real life people don't talk like that. This is my man. I don't know. Maybe they do. Right. Okay. So I have a couple and again, I've talked about some of these before because I love them. One is Wait For It by Molly O'Keefe in this one. right Tiffany has been like left with a kid she had an abusive husband and this guy the abusive husband happens to be Blake's brother and they're really on the outs and he has done some he has also done bad to Tiffany because he assumed she was like a gold digger in a previous book and so he has never let her know that like their mom is still around that the kids have grand a grandmother And so when he like, you know, comes when he finally like sort of realizes like that she's like truly in dire straits again and that like Phil has left her like once again in this situation, he's like, OK, well, I guess I better, you know, get it together and like step up and be the man she deserves. I would also like to say that, like, I think of a lot of, like, IAD heroes, like, when I think of this right again, like, I'm just, I'm not qualified for this. I'm just like a, you know, I'm just a, I'm just a, you know, Vampire Prince Lothair, but I don't deserve you. And, you know, but also another one I was thinking of is there's a really good, Joanna Wilde wrote like some of the first Motorcycle Club romances. I wrote down the title somewhere. And, oh, and in, sorry, Reaper's Legacy, again, it's very similar. she was with his brother and um he comes back and you know basically he she is now like a single mom the brother is long gone and has like left her alone and he is you know like kind of like let me help you and she's like no i don't want anything from you or your stupid fucking family and right so sophie essentially was like i mean like basically barely out of her teens when she had her son and so you know the um so in this book then ruger is the hero like comes along and essentially is you know now she has a little boy and he realizes just how much of a deadbeat his brother is and he's like determined to like come along and like like help her and through doing this realizes that he in fact like i said can take the place of her man especially when this man is his shitty brother. So I do love that. I don't know. It's interesting that they both had the bad brother being the one I liked but the bad one. I'm not surprised by that at all. Yeah, right? Is that kind of perfect? Yeah. So yeah, and I just love that. Prince, right? I'm just good for a one-night stand. No, Prince. You're Prince. Prince, nobody wants a one-night stand with you. We want forever. Yeah. Amazing. Yeah. Well, I have others that are sort of more quick. I had one for Umbrella, which was Kayla Gross' Whirlwind, because you can stand under my umbrella, but they're storm chasers. Sure. Perfect. See what you're doing here? Listen, you guys. I've talked about this before, but that one, there's storm chasers and there's a tornado and they can't escape the tornado, so they get out of their truck and they get into like a ditch and then they're on top of each other. and then it's just like, well, what else are we going to do in here? Yeah, right. While there's a tornado. We might as well bang in here. You can stand under my umbrella or lay down with me in this ditch. Amazing. Yeah, and then I had the Shoop Shoop song, It's in His Kiss, which is a very old school, like, it's a very old school, another one from the 60s, but it's that, do you remember the movie Mermaids when we were young? Oh, yeah, right. Oh, yeah. And Cher did a reissue of it, but really all I want to say about that is It's In His Kiss is obviously a Sweet Ruin reference. I really was like, is there one where someone can talk about they're ripping out his heart or whatever? Wait, is poison not on this list? It has to be. Not for February necessarily. Not for February. We had a very narrow list to work with. Otherwise it would be all of music. No, and then what would we do? And then there was a song, and it reminded me of this book. Anyway, well, we all know that the Sweet Room theme song for real is Poison, but I will accept it's in his kiss from February. Sure. And that's that. Everybody, another goofy episode. It's all we can do. It's all we can do this time of year. We hope you're enjoying our goofy episodes. I think we did. I think we did Roses. Roses was really fun. That was fun. Now, we are sort of niche, though, now. But welcome. If you like niche book talk, then we have it here for you. Anything to say? Oh, one more. You still have a chance, if you are in or around Rhode Island, you still have a chance to join me, Adriana Herrera, Joanna Shoup, Caroline Linden, Elizabeth Everett, and Kate Canterbury at Linden Place on March 7th for a historical romance bonanza. It is free and open to the public, but you do have to register to attend. There are tons of sessions. There are panels. We're playing a game. We're playing Price is Right. No, not Price is Right. What's the one with the family feud? Ooh, fun. With romance facts. Nice. And other things. There is a lunch. There is a cocktail party where you can come and hang out with us. You do have to pay for the lunch or the cocktail party, but the rest of it is free, and we hope you'll join us. Links, as always, in show notes, and we hope we'll see you there. That is March 7th. You have anything going on, Jen? Yes. This weekend at the Lockport, there's a Lockport branch of the Romeoville, like, sort of public libraries, and I will be there on Saturday morning talking about romance. I think it starts at, like, 1030. It'll be like an hour. So that might be really fun. If you are out in the western suburbs. That's of Chicago. The only suburbs that matter. No, I don't know. Yes, everybody. I live in Chicago. Yes. So that's it. I'm Sarah McLean. I'm here with my friend, Jen Prokop. We are Faded Mates. You can listen to us every Wednesday, wherever you get your podcasts or online at FadedMates.net. We've been doing this for eight years. So there's lots of other episodes for you to listen to. You can find all of those at FatedMates.net also. Just click on episodes and you can see show notes where every book we talked about today will be listed in the episode notes for today, including all the other little things that we said, you know, oh, check show notes for that. Check show notes for that. Also, maybe we'll link to all of these songs. That feels like a thing Eric would probably want to do. There will also be a playlist somewhere. There will be links and show notes to all of that so you can play along with us. If you have a good idea for a number one song that you or a chart topping song that you think you've got a romance novel that really connects with it, please let us know at Instagram or on threads at Fade of Mates pod or on Blue Sky at Fade of Mates. or you can join the Patreon which gives you access to the Discord where there is even a music channel where people talk about music all the time head over to the Discord you can find the Patreon at ThetaMates.net slash Patreon you can head over to the Discord and join there, talk to other romance lovers you get one extra episode a month if you do that and we would love to have you there other than that we hope you're doing okay everyone We know it's rough out here, which is why we're doing some goofy romance episodes this month. But we're thinking of you. We love you. Don't forget that Minnesota remains under siege and you can crowdsource their crowdsourcing funds. And you can find places to give your money to help at standwithminnesota.com. Again, links to show notes will be, that link will be in show notes as well. We're thinking of you, Minnesota, and everywhere that is under siege. We love you. And, yeah, until next week. the rise of it as his other fingers left imprints that would bruise in the next few days down her thigh. His mouth at her breast, the scratch of his stubble on her skin, his hips driving into hers, then the nip of his teeth against the sensitive line of her neck, his body long and firm above her, thick and heavy inside her, strokes dragging, deep and deliberate to hit the spot he found that made stars explode behind her eyes. She rose to meet him over and over, rocking into a punishing rhythm of their sweat-soaked skin and his raspy groans and filthy words, and a note, high and desperate, from the back of her throat that pulled her soul from her body while she shook beneath him, and he talked her through it. That's right, love. Take me with you. You're so fucking perfect. Finish me off. Her only answer was a jumbled mess of incoherence, and distantly she heard his voice catch on one final word before his arms gave out and he fell into his own release, collapsing down into her, his weight a satisfying, crushing thing. Penny. And then? Consciousness. A beam of sunlight shining through her window warmed her cheek, and she pressed her nose into the cotton sheets. not silk, and inhaled. The fresh, clean scent of the laundry detergent that her mother used, not sweat and sex and a hint of warm spiced cologne that led to so many bad decisions, was a reminder that, for the first time in four months, she was home. That was a dream. Just a dream. But a vivid one, like she was back there. Back with him. Penny! Her brother Jack's call carried up the stairs and into her bedroom, a repeat of the sound that pulled her from her sleep and a very different voice that said it. Delivery for you! Groaning, she rolled out of bed, banishing the last fleeting images of burning blue eyes and the sound of his voice when he called her name. That dream had turned into a nightmare in real life, and she no longer had time for it. She had work to do. When she got downstairs, both her brothers were in the kitchen. Jack, five years older than her, who pulled double duty as her big brother and her agent, was digging through the fridge. Her twin, Teddy, was sitting atop the central island, shoveling a spoonful of cereal into his mouth. Beside him was a long white box wrapped with a bright blue ribbon. You want some? Teddy asked, his mouth full of the sugary crap he called breakfast. But honestly, she was just impressed he was up this early. Normally, you wouldn't see him out of bed before noon on summer break. No thanks. Penny pulled the ribbon free of its bow and folded it neatly, setting it aside. She lifted the lid to reveal a dozen long stem roses. There was a note tucked inside the sea of petals. Too many more victories. Your friends at Nike. She breathed in the aroma of the fresh-cut flowers. Nike was upping their game. They'd been dangling a sponsorship deal since she'd won a few lower-level tournaments during her first year on tour. But they'd backed off slightly after she'd lost in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. Penny wrinkled her nose. Lost was a bit of an understatement. She'd been eviscerated. A total embarrassment. and something she'd never let happen again. The flowers are a nice touch, Jack said, pouring himself a glass of orange juice. A car would have been a nicer one, Teddy quipped. I already have a car, Penny said, tucking the note back inside the box, and then pushing his legs out of the way to find a vase under the island. Teddy smiled, his dimples appearing, making him seem far more innocent than he'd ever been. Yeah, this new one could be for me. Spending too much of that NIL money on beer, man, Jack said. Teddy's name, image, and likeness deal with Duke had netted him a decent amount of money over the years, particularly after Penny had started making waves on tour. But it definitely wasn't enough for a car. Speaking of cars, though, can I borrow yours real quick? he asked, ignoring their brother and turning to Penny. Nope, I'm going to OBX, she said. You could come with me. Wait, why are you going in today? I have to train. The French Open is in less than a month. I can't just walk into Roland Garros unprepared. Yeah, and you just won a million dollars in Madrid. You're not going to take a day to enjoy that? I did, Penny said. When Jack and I stopped over in New York to talk to potential sponsors, I took the whole afternoon off and went shopping. Oh, you're a real wild woman. I tried. Come on, please. I don't have time to wait for you to finish training to drive home. And I've already walked back once today. What do you mean? Jack asked. Teddy smirked. I stayed over at OBX last night, and I left my phone by accident. I just need to pick it up. A new girl? Jack's eyes narrowed. You just got home. Teddy went to Duke and had wrapped up his junior year a couple of weeks before. Who was it this time? Katie Nelson. Katie's sweet, Penny said, looking up from arranging her flowers. She deserves better. She doesn't think so. In fact, don't finish that sentence, Penny said, reaching for the bowl of car keys on the counter. Take my car. I'll hitch a ride with this one, she motioned toward Jack. You're the best. Teddy jumped down and took the keys from her, then strode out of the kitchen toward the front door. So... Nike, Jack said, taking the card from the box. Looks like your win in Madrid made them rethink things. Penny wiped some of the last sleep from her eyes. Looks like it. You know, this isn't just an outfitting deal. They want you to be the new face of their tennis brand. You can't go into a major tournament and bomb out again. Things have to be different in Paris. I know that, she said, crossing her arms over her chest. They'd had this conversation a million times since January. I'll be ready. Jack slung an arm over her shoulder and squeezed. I know, but I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't remind you. Rolling her eyes, Penny said, What was I thinking hiring my brother as my agent? You were thinking that your big brother is brilliant, and that he'd always do what's best for you, even when that means kicking you in the ass. Now go get dressed. She stood tall and saluted him. Sir, yes, sir. Brett. Twenty minutes later, they sped down Ocean Trail toward OBX. Windows open, the morning sun sparkling against the water, salt air crisp against her skin. Pulling into the parking lot, Jack navigated into her designated spot. Reserved for Penelope Harrison, World No. 33 The sign had been updated after her run at the Aussie, as well as some decent finishes in a few other tournaments. Now, after last week, she'd popped into the top 20 for the first time in her career. They'd have to update it again. Rankings were determined by a point system that reflected the results, good and bad, of each player at every tournament. Some tournaments were worth more than others, and Grand Slams were worth the most. When Dom recruited her, convincing her parents to move their family from Chicago to this tiny town on the North Carolina coast, he promised she would someday be a top-20 player. Now, here they were, a few weeks away from the French Open, where she could hopefully push into the top-10. Penny grinned, thinking about that last match in Madrid. She'd worked for that win for a very long time. A breakthrough. A crucial step that brought her closer to winning her first Grand Slam. As she stepped out of the car, the sounds of the game she loved filled her ears from over the high fences surrounding the 45-court complex. The solid thwack of balls hitting racket strings. Sharp instruction from coaches. The pounding of feet on the hard courts. Jack went to the trunk to grab his bag, but Penny headed straight in. She and Jack managed only a few steps into the main building, which housed the offices, a few indoor courts, and the training rooms, when Roy Whitfield caught sight of her. Penny Harrison. Hey, Roy. The old security guard was at his usual post in the atrium, his stack of daily newspapers ready, the collar of his navy blue polo shirt starched, and his ever-present walkie-talkie on his hip. He greeted her with a bright smile, just like he always did when she arrived home from tour. As usual, not much had changed in her absence. The air smelled the same. Rubber from the soles of all the sneakers, the distinct aroma that popped out of every newly opened can of tennis balls, and the sharp scent of the floor cleaner. This was home, too. OBX was the place that made her dreams a reality. Coach asked to see you as soon as you got in, Roy said, nodding up at her coach's office. I'm not in trouble, am I? She asked as she walked to the stairs. I wouldn't call it trouble, Roy said, his cheeks wrinkling as he smiled. I'm gonna head out there, Penn. I'll see you later, Roy, Jack said, walking off toward the back exit. After playing tennis at Harvard, Jack had sometimes helped with the coaching when he was back at OBX between law school terms. And even once he'd graduated and started representing Penny, he kept at it. He insisted he did it to keep himself in shape, but Penny figured he must miss playing. She couldn't imagine giving tennis up cold turkey. She took the stairs, two at a time, up to Dom's office, and found him standing at his window, which overlooked the rest of the facility, and in the distance, the coast, with tiny umbrellas dotting the shoreline in various shades of the rainbow. Hey, she said, tossing herself into the seat across from his desk. Dom turned and moved around his desk. P, welcome back. You ready to go? Yep, Roy said you wanted to see me. What's up? I wanted to talk through our training plan. Penny pursed her lips and waited for him to continue. As nice as it was to be home, there were two tournaments between now and the French Open she could be playing in, both of which Zina Lutrava was headlining. It had been Dom's idea to skip those tournaments in favor of coming back to train. I've brought in an old friend of mine to be your hitting partner. He's just getting back into full-time training himself, so it'll be the perfect fit for the next few weeks. Penny raised an eyebrow. Yeah? Huh? Dom nodded. Yeah. I want you to focus on your defensive game, building up your endurance. You saw what it was like in Australia this year. Two weeks of tennis is no joke. You can't fade at the beginning of the second week. You need to be peaking for the semis and finals, not for the round of 16. Right, Penny said, clenching her teeth. She wanted to tell him that endurance, or lack thereof, had nothing to do with the end of her run at the Australian Open. It was the only time her mental focus had slipped. At the highest levels, the mental game was even more important than the physical. I am still the world's number one. Zina's Russian accent reverberated through Dom's office. Penny's head snapped to the video screen in the corner, and everything else flew straight out of her head. It was an interview from the tournament in Rome, where Zena was playing this week. Edison played a good match, but I did not play my best. It was a fluke, the young superstar said from the press conference desk. Dom paused the video as the interview ended. Penny focused on the smirk Lutrava managed to wear, even while discussing a decisive loss, at the hands of a player she was claiming to be better than. That expression alone was enough to make Penny want to grab a racket, fly to Rome, and take Lutrava's ego down a notch or fifty again. These next weeks are critical. Xena will be gunning for you in Paris. You're going to face her down, and you're going to win, Dom said. I'll be ready. Good. I'll go. I'll be on the few. I've got to pull together the classic rankings by this afternoon. A wave of nostalgia hit her. For the first time since she'd arrived at OBX, Penny wouldn't be competing in the Classic, a tournament Dom arranged every year for the best up-and-coming young stars tennis had to offer. Since it was his tournament, the player rankings were up to his sole discretion. Penny had never not been ranked number one. And she'd never not come out on top. It's that time of year again, huh? Feels like yesterday I won my first one. Yeah, well, three in a row was a good run. Well, it looks like we'll have to find a new champ this year. Penny was halfway to her practice court, one of the very few clay courts on campus, before she realized she hadn't asked Dom who her new hitting partner was. He'd said it was an old friend, but Dom had been in the tennis world for nearly 30 years. That didn't exactly narrow down the field. Whoever it was, they were sure to be damn good. Her coach would only let her train with the best. She opened the gate and dropped her bag against the fence, before tilting her head in confusion. There was a man sprawled across the court, eyes closed, face to the sun, completely relaxed, except for his hands, which were firing through the air, drumming along with the music she could hear buzzing through his headphones, even from the other side of the court. Excuse me, Penny said sharply. This court is reserved. The man didn't move. He was tall and broad, making the large playing surface seem much smaller than it actually was. Excuse me, she repeated, when he didn't so much as twitch in response. This court is- Frowning down at the court squatter, she immediately recognized him. Especially since the last time she'd seen him, he'd been in a similar state. Totally relaxed, eyes closed. though he'd been wearing much less clothing. Alex Russell, the best men's player in the world, or at least he used to be, and the guy she'd been dreaming about, remembering, really, just this morning. Seven years before, when he was only 17, Alex Russell was the first English man to win Wimbledon since 1936, and the youngest man ever to do it, breaking a record from 1985. By age 20, he'd added French, U.S., and Australian Open trophies to his mantle, completing the career grand slam. Then, in the handful of years since, his game had gone to hell. Too much partying and not nearly enough training sent his ranking free-falling from number one in the world down into the mid-twenties, and only that high because of his insane natural talent. he also held the distinction of being the only thing to distract Penny Harrison from tennis and the last person she ever wanted to see again