We’ve talked about this week’s read along so much it’s kind of impossible to imagine that we haven’t read it with y’all, yet! But here we are, finally cracking open Claire Kent’s brilliant novella, Hold. Set on a prison planet, this one dials forced proximity up to 11, and does the excellent job of answering just how horrifying a world can you write a romance in? The answer is very. Very horrifying. We talk about sex and consent and strength and humanity and how love blooms in even the darkest of places. Is it possible we needed this book this week? It sure is.Content warnings for the book and headphones in for the episode, magnificent firebirds!Get Hold at Amazon, free in Kindle Unlimited.Thanks to the Meet Cute Bookshop in San Diego, CA and Lumi Labs, creators of Microdose Gummies, for sponsoring the episode. Visit the Meet Cute website to browse their Space Romance list, and use the code FATEDMATES for 30% your order at Microdose.comShow NotesIf you like astrology, check out the CoStar app.Claire Kent also writes as Noelle Adams. Hold was released in 2015 and is the first book in a series, the next books in the series are Release, Fall, and Rise. It doesn’t take much digging to find out about the inhumanity and injustice of the American Justice System. It is absolutely unjust and racist to the core.Alcatraz and Ellis Island are tourist destinations worth seeing, but also…who the fuck invented Alcatraz. Emma on TikTok and abolitionism and romance. Also here. Just follow her!