S09.05: Sweet Treats: Bakeries and Patisseries in Romance

We’re talking about romance with baking and sweet treats today! This is one of romance’s most common Romance Jobs, and we’re getting to the bottom of the appeal of the bakery in romance. Why do we love it when one character makes masterful desserts? What is so compelling about characters who know their way around the oven? We’ve got historicals, reality tv competitions, magic baking and menage — a little something for everyone this week!

Stay tuned at the end of the episode for a chat with Leah Greenberg, the co-Founder and co-Executive Director of Indivisible, our Fated States phonebanking partner! Fated States, our democratic phonebanking initiative continues this week! We’ll be calling Georgia to get out the vote for Jon Ossoff, Keisha Lance Bottoms, and democrats up and down the ticket! There will be games, prizes and special guests! Learn more and register to phone bank with us at fatedmates.net/fatedstates.

If you’d like to come over and talk about your favorite romance bakers, please join us on the Fated Mates Discord, where you’ll find a few thousand other listeners who love talking about these books we love. Join the Fated Mates patreon to get access, and You also get one extra episode a month from us!

BooksMarrying Winterborne by Lisa KleypasHow the Dukes Stole ChristmasLike Water for Chocolate by Laura EsquivelThe Glass Kitchen by Linda Francis LeeFake It Til You Bake It by Jamie Wesley A Legend in the Baking by Jamie WesleyBattle Royale by Lucy ParkerSweethand by NG PeltierLips Like Sugar by Jess HardyCraving It All by Kati WildeTart by Lauren DaneThe Remaking of Corbin Wale by Roan ParrishDelectable Desire by Farrah RochonDelicious Destiny by Yarrah St. John

NotesWe’re discussing slang this week: a hilarious explanation of BDE at wikihow, check out urban dictionary for DTF, a fun new online site I just discovered called GenZ decoded turnt, and although the WNBA’s Washington Mystics Young Heaux nickname was covered in the New York Times, by far the funniest official usage of it was during the televised broadcast of a Mystics v. Storm game.The Cupcake Guys is a bakery owned by former football players, and it was also a reality TV show.We’ve mentioned them a million times, so they aren’t in the photo array, but the two books with baristas that Jen mentioned are Lick by Kylie Scott and Nero by SJ Tilly. The book with a femdomme is Candy by Torrance Sené.Learn more about Indivisible and find a local Indivisible chapter to help at Indivisible.org. J