As they say on the Discord, this year’s theme is…Themes! This week, we’re talking about hammers, nails, drills, pipes and more — literal characters who are wielding literal (and metaphorical) tools! We’re hopping in the wayback machine to talk about books from the 00s and early 10s, on a continuum of content from “oh this has a whole plot” to “here’s a great one-handed read.” We’ve got plumbers, blacksmiths, contractors and a sentient screwdriver…there is literally something here for everyone.

If you’d like to come over and talk about romances, with or without tools (jk, they all have tools), 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. You also get one extra episode a month from us!

Fated States, our democratic phonebanking initiative begins this week! We’ll be calling Texas to get out the vote for James Talarico and Gina Hinojosa! There will be games, prizes and special guests! Learn more and register to phone bank with us at fatedmates.net/fatedstates.

Books


Notes


Sponsors


The Rest

  • For even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2026/9/21/s0903-carpenters-plumbers-and-other-metaphorical-romance-jobs
  • 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.


00:00 Bantr

07:25 People with Tools

15:47 AD: THE STOLEN CROWN

17:30 Organizing Principles

20:44 Roller Girl

27:38 The Scoundrel Falls Hard

32:05 AD: FIRST BORN

33:58 Under Construction

48:14 AD: RIDER OF DRAGONS

49:49 The Carpenter

55:43 Entwined

1:01:51 AD: THE DEAD GUY NEXT DOOR

1:03:58 Caulky

1:12:12 Hard Time

1:19:47 Kate’s Crew

1:27:17 Blue Collar Bad Boys

1:34:23 Screwed

1:42:11 Wrapping Up

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