This week, we’re talking about one of our favorite historical romances, Jeannie Lin’s Butterfly Swords. This is one we’ve mentioned on previous episodes, and discussed at length during Jeannie’s Trailblazer episode, as it is the first own voices Asian-set historical romance.

Aside from setting the standard for adventure romance, it’s also a near-perfect road trip romance with one of the hottest slow burns you’ll ever read. We talk about all of it, including the absolutely devastating first kiss—one that should go down in romance history. TL;DR: We love this book hard.

Thanks to Charlotte Howard, author of Secret Verses, and Mila Finelli, author of Mafia Mistress, for sponsoring the episode. Stay tuned after the episode to hear the first chapter of Mafia Mistress in audio!

Our next read along is Virginia Henley’s The Dragon and the Jewel, a deep cut from Sarah’s childhood. Check your content warnings and remember this one is from 1991, so we don’t even know, honestly. We’re flying without a net here. Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Kobo or your local indie.

Show Notes

• This week, we’re reading the debut novel Butterfly Swords by romance trailblazer Jeannie Lin. This is the first book in her Tang Dynasty series.
• It’s not too late to see Sarah with Christina and Lauren in Connecticut on May 18th, 2022, or Jen with Christina, Lauren, and Sonali Dev in Naperville on May 19th, 2022.
• We’re looking for an artist to draw us a magnificent firebird. Maybe it’s you?
• So, it’s classic Jen to get titles wrong. Farewell, my Concubine is a movie, and the third book in the Tang Dynasty series is called My Fair Concubine. But, that’s not Li Tao’s book, either–it’s The Dragon and the Pearl.
• We talked about Road Trip romance back in season 1.
• Time for an interlude from The Princess Bride.
• Our next read along is The Dragon and the Jewel by Virginia Henley, first published in 1991.

The Rest

• For even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2022/5/15/s0435-butterfly-swords-by-jeannie-lin
• 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.
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• If you've never listened to our Stop Book Banning episode, there's no better time than now.