Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People · Fated Mates

S08.28: Spring 2026 Preview

March 31, 2026·1 hr 38 min·8 clips

A woman at a lake house shouts 'you're the reason why women choose the bear, Neil' — and the nearby bear shifter walks out of the woods to scare the man away, then falls in love with her.

1. Fated Mates hosts Sarah McLean and Jennifer Prokop present their Spring 2026 quarterly romance book preview, covering April, May, and June releases. 2. Sarah McLean is a romance reader and novelist; Jennifer Prokop is a romance reader and editor; both are co-hosts of the Fated Mates podcast. 3. The episode's purpose is discoverability — surfacing romance preorders the hosts find interesting and believe listeners might miss, with particular focus on authors who don't already have massive marketing infrastructure behind them. 4. All books discussed are preorders; none have been read yet; the full organized list by month is available at fatedmates.net under the episodes tab. 5. Sarah opens the April section with The Long-Awaited Paris Match by Kate Claiborne (April 7th): a divorced heroine must attend her ex-husband's sister's destination wedding in Paris, where she meets a gruff and scarred best man named Griffin. 6. Jennifer pitches The Art of Loving You by Natasha Bishop: a model-turned-influencer named Dani is sent on a scavenger hunt road trip by her deceased mentor, forcing her to reunite with ex-boyfriend and artist Micah Wright. 7. Sarah recommends Can't Get Enough of the Duke by Lenora Bell (April 7th), finishing the Thunderbolt Club series: war hero and Duke Deckard Payne discovers his orphaned ward Annalise is now a woman of marriageable age and must enter a marriage of convenience. 8. Jennifer pitches Married to the Mafia by Lucy Smoke: waitress Daisy Turner takes a high-paying job at a private event, arrives to find the bride dead at an arranged marriage between two crime families, is caught escaping, and is given an ultimatum to marry groom Julio La Rosa. 9. Sarah describes Isle of Wrath by Claire Contreras, the first book in the Cursed Realm series: set in a hidden world called Lunaris where residents trade their memories for asylum, healer Ada Acevedo breaks the rules to save her brother and ends up soul-bound to warrior Malachi Bane. 10. Jennifer recommends The Duke's Got Mail by Samara Parrish: compositor Eleanor Wright, threatened by a new printing machine, exchanges letters with a mysterious pen pal who turns out to be Peter Montgomery, the duke who invented the machine putting her out of work. 11. Sarah pitches La Dolce Veto by Caitlin Alice Gilbert (debut author): a U.S. congresswoman named Isabella Rhodes flees a political scandal to an Umbrian village where she shares a villa with Benito, a newly elected mayor determined to save his town from a controversial hotel development. 12. Jennifer describes Love at First Bite by Katherine Dyson: reporter Lucy Partridge covers a goth weekend in a seaside town, ends up sharing a one-bed hotel room with bar owner Liam Bramwell who reveals he is a living vampire; tagline is 'he's a pain in the neck.' 13. Sarah pitches I Choose the Bear by Shiloh Walker: bear shifter Jonah, hours from becoming alpha of his clan, walks out in bear form to frighten a man named Neil who won't accept Ivy's 'no' at a lake house, after hearing Ivy shout 'you're the reason why women choose the bear, Neil' — and then falls in love with her. 14. Jennifer recommends Unbound by Peyton Corrine: a second book in a series featuring goalie Bennett Reiner (neurodivergent, with OCD) who can see through the walls of antagonistic heroine Paloma Blake; a second-chance romance with a dual timeline. 15. Sarah presents Mothman is My Boyfriend by Michaela Coyle: a collection of 10 short stories set in Cryptid Creek, an invitation-only secret town where humans fall in love with cryptids, with every story featuring LGBTQIA+ representation including late-in-life lesbians, non-binary characters, and a masc-presenting sasquatch. 16. Jennifer describes There's Something Fishy About My Boyfriend by Gloria Duke (Jersey Shore Merman Romance series): Hannah runs a bed and breakfast on the Jersey Shore and takes in a mysteriously attractive man named Xander who washes ashore, fixes things around the property, and reveals he is a merman — who also ghosted her a decade ago. 17. Sarah recommends Soon By You by Dahlia Adler: a rom-com set in the modern Orthodox Jewish community of New York City, where frequent bridesmaid Arielle Becker repeatedly clashes with wedding singer Judah Klein, described as a '27 Dresses' setup. 18. The conversation is upbeat and fast-moving, with both hosts frequently reacting to each other's pitches with immediate enthusiasm or comparisons to established tropes they love. 19. Romance readers who regularly struggle to find out about upcoming releases from newer authors or smaller imprints before they drop will get the most direct value from this episode. 20. Listeners who prefer deep analysis of books they've already read will find this episode less satisfying, as none of the books have been read by either host.

As heard by us

A brisk spring quarterly that shifts from playful banter to two lively book pitches.

The episode starts in a brisk spring quarterly mode, moving quickly through discoverability and a small stack of upcoming romance picks while Sarah and Jen keep the banter lively.

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Why you'd press play

Press play for spring book picks with actual personality.

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