This Bookstore Trip Report is from Elizabeth! Although Elizabeth learned the joys of escaping into books in grammar school, she is only a recent convert to the romance genre, mostly thanks to SB Amanda’s introductions to Alice Clayton, Katee Robert, Sierra Simone, and the like. She delights in watching seemingly impossible conflicts resolve themselves into happily ever after endings, especially if there’s no deus ex machina required. It’s literally a dream come true for her to contribute to the Smart Bitches site. Elizabeth can be found on Instagram at fuchsia.book.dragon.
NB: All photos courtesy of Elizabeth – thank you!
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My home state of Connecticut is mighty little state in the south of New England, a loose association of six states on the northeast Atlantic coast of the United States. We’re about 70 miles (113 kilometers) by 110 miles (177 kilometers) in size, and yet we currently boast almost two dozen independent bookstores participating in our annual springtime book independent trail. And that’s not including several additional important bookstores across the state that choose not to participate in the formal state book trail.
I’ve been involved in the Connecticut independent bookstore scene for almost as long as I can remember. One of my most anticipated Christmas presents growing up was the annual gift certificate from my father’s business partner to Atticus Books outside the Yale University campus in New Haven.
It was usually just enough money to buy one book, but it meant that my father would take a weekend day off from work and whisk me away from my siblings. We would always go for lunch at Claire’s Corner Copia, a small vegan spot close by, before spending hours in the stacks at Atticus. I’d ultimately chose something obscure from their basement history section that was way above my reading level – I scored The Discoverers by Daniel Boorstin one year and A Distant Mirror by Barbara Tuchman another. But the best part of the adventure was always having one on one time with my father in such a special and unique place.
Decades later, when I returned to Connecticut after college, military service, and graduate school, I was pleased to learn not only that Atticus was still thriving in New Haven but also that a fairly large independent bookstore had established a second location in a prominent location on my town’s Main Street, not far from Wesleyan University.
By then, repeated exposure to the rude realities of life had redirected my reading tastes from the grit of international politics and world history to the softness of romance books with their guaranteed happily ever after endings. However, serving predominantly university communities, these two independents had to accommodate such a diverse set of community interest that their romance sections were limited to just one bookshelf of milquetoast bestsellers. While my local indie would happily special order whatever I wanted, I had to resort to a sterile big chain bookstore if I wanted to immerse myself in a more diverse romance section.
Montgomery & Taggert burst into this landscape in fall 2024, starting first with a kickstarter campaign and then opening their brick and mortar location in a former herbalist shop at the edge of a small village on the Connecticut River.
Chester is approximately ten miles up the Connecticut River from the Long Island Sound and boasts a small downtown with restaurants, artsy shops, a gourmet ice cream shop, and even a small brewery. Because of this location, Montgomery & Taggert bills themselves as a “small town romance bookstore,” but they are really a rainbow of happiness and hope on Connecticut’s independent bookstore scene.
My most recent trip to Montgomery & Taggert was for their February 2026 First Friday event, during which they stayed open late, served wine, and donated ten-percent of their book sales to a charity fund that covers the cost of books for young people, families, public school classrooms, and allied organizations in the New Haven area. Just driving up to the shop on a cold winter night filled me with joy as a warm glow emanated from their main window into the adjacent public parking lot.
Entering Montgomery & Taggert is like entering a cozy little cottage. The entry room is dominated by their new releases table, which is in front of their wall of historical romances. As one walks deeper into the second room of the shop, there’s a wall of romantasy books and separate wall of LGBTQ contemporary romances. The third room of the cottage is brimming over with contemporary romance.
There’s even a shelf of positive attitude children’s books right near the checkout register:
Sprinkled throughout the displays and shelves is bookish merchandise. Scented candles with super cute names and fantastic smells. Stickers and book plushies representing all subgenres. Sparkly unique handmade bookmarks, book holders, buildable 3D book nooks and other randomness.
The friendliness of the people at Montgomery & Taggert make the atmosphere even more welcoming. I’ve never visited without Sarah and/or Elizabeth (the owners) offering to help me find something, pull something from their back room, or special order for me.
The other customers are also fabulous; the overall warm environment of the shop encourages patrons to chat with each other as we scoot past each other in the tight spaces and touch the books on the tables and shelves.
Roughly thirty miles to the east of Montgomery & Taggert, The Spice Cabinet opened their brick and mortar store in central Connecticut strip mall in summer 2025.
Even though it is located on a main road about a mile off the Wallingford exit of the Merritt Parkway, it is a little difficult to find because the signage isn’t great. A Chinese restaurant, Filipino grocery store, pizza parlor, and liquor store are pretty obvious in the front of the whitewashed strip mall; however, The Spice Cabinet is tucked into the side wing sandwiched between a professional dog groomer (The Muddy Puppy) and an animal hospital.
Entering The Spice Cabinet is a bit overwhelming. It’s brightly lit by overhead fluorescent lights with an open floor plan. While there are a few cozy looking lavender velvet chairs to read in, there aren’t any quiet nooks to hide in. There are a series of bookshelves lining the left wall, a bunch of cubbies lining the right wall, and tables of books on the floor in between. There are also two interesting spaces for author signings and fun bookish activities, like book bedazzling.
The books on the left wall are arranged by author in alphabetical order, with all the subgenres mixed up with each other. But there were multiple copies of several of the books. Underneath the shelves are baskets of random used books acquired through the store’s book buyback program. They were all in good condition and very affordable. I paid $5 for a paperback copy of Wallbanger by Alice Clayton to send to a friend for St. Valentine’s Day.
The center tables included a 20-percent off table with good authors and with blind date bags leftover from the winter holidays. There is also a table of signed books and a section for the special editions. So many gorgeous sprayed edges!!! Their blind book dates are a bit hidden and very cleverly packaged. The variety of romance related apparel on the back wall included t-shirts, sweatshirts, and ball caps – and a mirror to check yourself in!
On the wall of cubbies, there were a few closed cabinets (specially labeled as 18 years plus only) containing “sexual health” items, including lubricants and toys (like a banana emoji shaped vibrator), as well as colorful bookmarks shaped like male anatomy. Open cubbies contain fun romance related items, such as journals, games, magnetic poetry boxes, book sleeves, headbands, rainbow highlighters, and other stationery goods.
There’s even a special section of spices from a Kentucky company with names evoking romance tropes like “Golden Retriever Vibes” and “Cowboy Daddy.” I walked away with two different spice jars as St. Valentine’s Day gifts for another friend – and a Smutty Poet magnetic poetry kit.
Roughly twenty miles southeast of The Spice Cabinet is the Blush Book Lounge, which was opened in fall 2025 in the Housatonic River Valley by the owner of the nearby Blush Beauty Lounge.
My first trip there was from a local relative’s house on Valentine’s Day. It turned into a bit of an adventure because I can’t tell my left from my right; however, it was pretty obvious once I got over that hurdle. The bookstore sits just over the bridge from downtown Derby near a corner of the main road in Shelton. There is plentiful parking a short block away in the free public parking lot that also serves the local post office.
Entering the Blush Book Lounge is exactly what one would expect of a romance bookstore. It was very welcoming, painted a soft pinkish eggshell and a baby blue rather than sweetheart pink. I received a very friendly greeting from behind the register as soon as I walked in.
The store is fairly narrow, with a long hallway from the front room that branches into three subgenre rooms…
…before ending in a ladies’ room at the very back of the shop.
The vibrant wall paintings throughout the store create a very cheerful vibe, which is reinforced by the shop’s music selection.
The front room was laden with bookish merchandise, such as mugs, t-shirts, sweatshirts, and candles. There was even a kindle cover decorating station (with an amazing variety of stickers) and some small bouquets for Valentine’s Day. New releases, staff picks, and seasonal books were prominently displayed near the register. I was intrigued that the staff picks weren’t exclusively romance books but also included romance adjacent books, like The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.
There was a great choice of beautifully packaged and reasonably priced blind book dates, with one sentence blurbs on the back. I was intrigued by one that was billed as an enemies to lovers between an architect and interior designer that involved a spite house. I guessed that it was one of Ashley Herring Blake’s Bright Falls books; the ladies were able to tell me I was wrong without disclosing the title.
Each of the three subgenre rooms – Enchanted Realm, Honeymoon Avenue, Sweetheart’s Saloon – featured bookish merchandise, a reading nook, and lots of books. The labels of the subgenre rooms were not one-hundred percent accurate. For example, the Enchanted Realm room housed romantasy and paranormal – as would be expected – as well as dark romance and thrillers.
The thriller section contained romance- adjacent authors, such as Alice Feeney and Lucy Foley, rather than romantic thrillers. Honeymoon Avenue was predominantly contemporary romance, including authors and titles that I had never heard of, like Jessa Hastings.
The historical section and literary fiction section also included romance- adjacent authors like Kristin Hannah. For February, there was even a section honoring Black history month.
As expected, the Sweethearts Saloon was dominated by cowboy romance, with lots of Elsie Silver, Paisley Hope, and Lyla Sage. There were even some genre related mass market paperbacks.
The three rooms of the store were packed with books. Not only was there a wide selection of titles and authors, but also there were multiple copies of most titles. Some of the shelves were too tall for me to safely reach, especially since I didn’t see any step stools. But the staff was so engaging and friendly that I’m sure they would have pulled whatever I wanted had I asked.
Curiously enough, none of these three romance bookstores had any shelf talkers. These are totally my jam, especially if they are written in crammed serial killer handwriting. I do love to know why certain books resonate with certain people. And there’s something about having to put pen to paper that clarifies your thoughts.
At Montgomery & Taggert, the willingness of the owners, staff, and other customers to talk about any book in the shop more than makes up for the missing shelf talkers. Blush Book Lounge was very similar. The staff was delighted to talk with me about the Sarah Cate book I was interested in purchasing, even doing a bit of bookish research to determine whether it could be read as a standalone or whether the series had to be read in order.
All three bookstores are active on social media, so romance book lovers across the world can vicariously experience their positive vibes. Montgomery & Taggert is so deeply embedded in their small town that their accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads also share community events to encourage visitors to patronize other local small businesses. Montgomery & Taggert offers online ordering, including special orders, with in store pick up to further encourage visitors to experience Chester, but they don’t ship.
The Spice Cabinet uses its Facebook and Instagram accounts to publicize its sales and local events. In addition to its social media presence, The Spice Cabinet offers online ordering and shipping throughout the United States.
Blush Book Lounge is probably the most active of the stores on Instagram, also frequently posting their sales and events. Unfortunately, they don’t yet have a website.
After months of stalking these three bookstores on social media, I was very grateful to have motivated outside my introverted groove to experience them in real life. Happily each one of them far exceeded the expectations set by their online presence. Just being surrounded by romance novels was a treat. Montgomery & Taggert was even cozier and friendlier than its photos, which I didn’t think was possible. The Spice Cabinet had a more interesting variety of used books and romance adjacent merchandise than I expected. And Blush Book Lounge was prettier with a more expansive stock of books than I would have thought for such a quaint storefront.
Even though I do dearly love my downtown independent bookstore, these new venues were well worth the adventures down the different Connecticut scenic highways. Return visits are definitely in my future; most likely when the weather gets nice enough to take advantage of hiking trails and other amenities in those areas.
In fact, I have already committed to return to Montgomery & Taggert for their upcoming Foam & Fables book discussion and am constantly monitoring the event calendars for The Spice Cabinet and Blush Book Lounge for something fun that will fit my crammed schedule.
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Thank you for the EPIC trip report, Elizabeth! Have you been to Montgomery & Taggert, The Spice Cabinet, or the Blush Book Lounge?
If you’d like to write a trip report about your visit to a romance-focused bookstore, I would LOVE to hear from you.
English (US) · 