Why is photography so hot? We’re tackling this question this week, talking about why romance novels featuring photographers work so well and push so many sexy buttons. We’re talking about characters who notice, about characters who are patient, and about characters who carry sexy bags around the world. We’ve got storm chasers, nature photographers, CSI photographers, about darkrooms on boats and even historical nudes! You’re going to have a great time.

If you want to talk more about your favorite romances that feature photographers, or about romance in general, come join our Patreon! You’ll get an extra monthly episode from us and access to the incredible readers and brilliant people on the Fated Mates Discord. Learn more at fatedmates.net/patreon.

Our next read along is Sarah’s A Rogue By Any Other Name, the first in her casino series. This is one we’ve gotten a bunch of requests for, and so, it will be our final read along of the season. Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.

Books

• A Duke Worth Falling For by Sarah MacLean
• Best of Luck by Kate Clayborn
• Chase me if You Can by Heather Frances
• Lay it Down by Cara McKenna
• My Dirty Duke by Joanna Shupe
• To The Ends of the Earth by Elizabeth Lowell
• Taming Teddy by Lucy Lennox
• Flight by Laura Griffin
• Three Dirty Secrets by Nikki Sloan
• Managed by Kriste

Notes

• The WNBA all star game was pretty fun, and Sky player Sydney Taylor is both very beautiful and very good at basketball.
• Wicker the movie trailer, and our Sentient Object episode.
• Jen had a throwaway line about how “AI has ruined everything” in photography, but just like with everything else, that’s a real concern.
• Up Close and Personal (1996) is a movie with Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer about television journalists.
• According to this timeline from Harvard about the history of photography, the first surviving permanent photograph dates back to the 1820s, but most people probably think of the daguerreotype, invented by Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre in 1839.
• Um, in case you need to know what a darkroom is.
• There is a chain of 7 barrier islands in Texas on the Gulf of Mexico, Padre is probably the most well-known.

The Rest

• For even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2026/8/3/s0846-photographers-in-romance-books
• 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.