The end of the year is nigh, and it's our holiday romance novel episode! We're talking about a collection of romances that are entirely new to us (except for the one moment where Sarah talks about that old McNaught short story that installed all her cold-weather romance buttons). We've got Austen retellings, Regency cats, characters playing with holiday toys, CIA agents and, of course, some sexy Santas. You deserve nice things.

Don't forget--you can buy the Fated Mates Best of 2025 Book Pack from our friends at Pocket Books Shop in Lancaster, PA, and get eight of the books on the list! Scoundrel Take Me Away and Lazarus, Home from War (independently published) are not in the box. As always, you can add additional romances, or one of Sarah's books to your box.

If you want other people to discuss holiday (or other) romances, maybe you want to join our Patreon? You get an extra monthly episode from us and access to the incredible readers and brilliant people on the Fated Mates Discord! Support us and learn more at fatedmates.net/patreon.

Our next read along will be KJ Charles's The Magpie Lord. Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.

Notes

• There are several accounts as to where Irving Berlin wrote White Christmas. Sarah stayed at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel, which claims it inspired the song (by being the opposite of snowy), but there's also an account that he wrote it in La Quinta, CA at the La Quinta Hotel (not to be confused with just any LaQuinta).
• Check out our prior holiday romance episodes:
• 2024, including Sara Raasch, Vivian Mae, Evie Rose, Timothy Janovsky & more
• 2023, including Holly June Smith, Oona Grace, Kayla Grosse, Tracey Livesay & more
• 2022: Here Comes Santa Claus
• 2021: Short & Sexy Christmas Recs
• 2019, including Adriana Herrera, Delilah Peters, and several anthologies
• 2018, including Therese Beharrie, a Chanukah anthology, Cecilia Grant, Tiffany Reisz & more

Books

• Anne of Avenue A by Audrey Bellezza and Emily Harding
• Christmas in Coconut Creek by Karissa Kinword
• Mistletoe and Mishigas by MA Wardell
• Yours for the Season by Uzma Jalaluddin
• The Holiday Hookup List by Alexis Daria
• Make My Wish Come True by Caroline Linden
• Claiming His Christmas Wife by Dani Collins
• An Heir for Christmas by Caitlin Crews
• The Rescue by Julie Weaver
• Christmas in Spite of You by KC Mills
• Saint and the Queen by Desiree
• Date Night in December by Jaqueline Snowe
• Santa’s Baby by Lacey Hawthorne

Sponsors

• Jenny Alexandra, authors of Santa Cutie, available in print, ebook or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
• LaQuette, author of The King's Pregnancy Proposition, available in print, ebook and audio at Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.
• Ginny B Moore, author of How the Rogue Stole Christmas, available in print, ebook or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
• William Morrow Books, publishers of Olivia Dade's Second Chance Romance, available in print, ebook and audio at Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.

The Rest

• For even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2025/11/23/0811-holiday-romances
• If you wish you had six more days in a week of people talking about romance, may we suggest joining our Patreon? Aside from an additional episode every month you get access to our Discord, where other romance readers are talking about books they love (and many other things!) all the time. It’s so fun! Learn more about the Patreon and go join those cool people who love romance as much as you do at patreon.com/fatedmates.
• Beyond your favorite podcast app, you can find us on Instagram, Threads, Blue Sky, Tumblr, and probably some other places, too, if you look hard enough.
• If you've never listened to our Stop Book Banning episode, there's no better time than now.