Well, Sarah, look, this is the first time we're recording an episode in my new office.

You know it's nice?

Tell me.

I like having a little something different to look at.

It's so pink back there. You don't have to look at my

bed my bedroom. I wasn't getting involved in that. I was just saying the pink is nice. I

recently changed my desk and imagine that you were like look there's something

interesting all those maps on your

walls it's the map room it is my wall matches your sweater it does anyway but I

also have there is a play date going on in my house right now so if you hear you know shouting or

screaming we need to stop and then you know get back at it. But, hi everyone, I'm Sarah McClain, I read romance novels and I write them.

And I'm Jennifer Procop, a romance reader and editor. And you're with us for this edition of Fated Mates.

We are ready you guys to tackle the Trob everyone is, I don't I don't I don't

obsessive about I mean it's an obsession at this point

and it's fake dating everybody like let's just get it off the table right the thing that's amazing to me though is like how what this is what amazes me about about genre yeah and of course I think so much about Jane Ancrens talking about like genre writes the myth and I'm kind of like why is it then that right now of all things fake dating is like everywhere?

Because it seems like is like it's a fucking

it's a fucking nightmare out there.

It seems like a hellscape out there.

And here's why, look, I haven't gone on a date in a long time. It's sad but you know I think that when you read when you see I see my my friends who are dating who are trying to date and it's also

You know clinical right? It's like oh I looked at the picture and I liked the picture, so I swiped the thing and then we text it for, you know, a day and then he ghosted me before we could meet.

Or, and then we met and it was you know weird because you know it was weird and the

breathlessness of like a first meeting,

...