The Newest Romance Bookstores Around the World

The Ripped Bodice opened its doors in Southern California in 2016, kicking off a wave of romance-centric bookstore openings around the globe. Prior to that, I’d been to stores that specialized in other genre fiction, like The Mysterious Bookshop in New York and Borderlands in San Francisco. But in the past ten years, booksellers have begun cashing in on what the publishing industry has known for decades: romance sells.

Not that I think any of these ventures are unscrupulous cash grabs! Quite the opposite. In my experience, romance bookstores foster community spectacularly. Romance readers are voracious and enjoy discussing books with fellow readers. We love book clubs, we love meeting authors, and we love supporting authors and small businesses.

Have you been to a romance book store yet? Increasingly, there’s a decent chance you live close to one if you’re in an Anglophone country. As someone who keeps up on where these stores are for professional reasons, I was delighted to find how many have opened in the past few years. I can’t promise this list is exhaustive, but there are a lot of stores here! Which of these are on your list?

New Romance Bookstores in Australia

• Books Ever After is a romance bookstore in Sydney, Australia. The owner and founder is an author herself, Kat T. Masen.

• Romancing the Novel is another romance bookstore in Sydney, Australia. Lucky Sydney! Author Scarlett Hopper is the founder of this shop.

New Romance Bookstores in Europe

• The Book Lovers Bookshop is the UK’s first romance bookstore, located in Edinburgh, Scotland. Along with radical bookshop Lighthouse Books (which has a nice romance section of their own!), they host the First Date Festival.

• Saucy Books is bringing romance to London’s Notting Hill neighborhood. They recently held a pajama party in store.

• Dear Reader is a romance bookstore in Gera, Germany. If I were in Germany, I would love to go to one of their bookbinding workshops or silent reading parties.

• Book Lovers sells romance books in beautiful Bordeaux, France. They stock books both in French and English.

New Romance Bookstores in Canada

• Pages of Passion is Saskatoon, Saskatchewan’s romance bookstore. They allow shoppers to maintain a wishlist with them so loved ones know what books to buy as gifts.

• The Book Boudoir recently opened in Edmonton, Alberta. They host “sip ‘n stroke nights” (ahem) during which customers can paint the edges of books and drink cocktails and mocktails.

• Perfect Match recently opened in Vancouver, British Columbia. They already have book clubs, preorder campaigns, and author events on the calendar.

New Romance Bookstores in the United States (alphabetical by state)

• Beauty and the Book opened a little over a year ago in Anchorage, Alaska. Alongside selling romance books, they host pop-up shops for other small businesses in the area.

• Knotty Novels is the place to get romance in Sacramento, California. They hosted their first romance convention, Knotty Con, this year and are already planning another event for 2026.

• The Fleuria is a romance book truck you can find around Southern California. In addition to pop-up shopping, they have a shelf you can shop from at Cool Beans.

• Smitten is Ventura, California’s romance bookstore. Purchases of $30 or more come with a custom Smitten tarot card, so you can collect a whole deck.

• Meet Cute Bookshop, started in 2021, is the romance store for the San Diego area. Their website has wonderfully curated lists and top-tier staff picks.

• Heartbound is a new romance bookstore in Anaheim, California, so this is the store to stop in during your Disneyland vacation. Plus, they host movie nights at their shop.

• Spicy Librarian opened in Denver, Colorado in 2025. Five percent of their profits go to the Purple Leash Project, which helps survivors of domestic abuse find pet-friendly shelters.

• The New Romantics, located in Orlando, Florida, is the perfect bookstore to include in your Disney World vacation. You can subscribe to their monthly book box, which comes with signed bookplates from the authors themselves.

• All the Tropes is Atlanta Georgia’s romance bookstore. Their semi-silent book club meets at a Tex-Mex restaurant called Tropes & Tacos, and I want to go.

• It’s A Love Story is a bookstore cafe in Hayden, Idaho. Their bookclub boxes for contemporary romance, dark romance, and romantasy include in-person and virtual meetings.

• The Last Chapter is a romance store in Chicago, Illinois. Among the interesting events they hold is a mixer for local authors to network.

• HEA Book Boutique in Marion, Iowa started as a pop-up shop and quickly became a brick-and-mortar store. A unique event of theirs is called Spill the Tea, during which customers get information about forthcoming books and receive discounts for preordering.

• A Novel Romance is Kentucky’s first romance book store, located in Louisville. They have lots of fantastic events and also a very cute shop cat.
• Grump & Sunshine is the spot for romance books in Belfast, Maine. If you’re not close to a romance bookstore, this shop offers a virtual bookclub with its own Discord server.

• Lovestruck Books opened in January 2025 in Cambridge, Massachusetts’ Harvard Square (what, like it’s hard?). With a café and wine bar, this bookstore has some of the most extensive hours you’ll find among independent bookstores—and their selection is amazing.

• Read My Lips is a pop-up romance shop based in Boston, Massachusetts. They highlight authors and main characters who identify as BIPOC, persons with disabilities, LGBTQIA, and more.

• Tropes & Trifles, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, sells romances to Twin Cities residents. I wish I lived close enough to join their Bonkers Book Club and their Cozy + Coloring Book Club.

• Hey Darling recently opened in Austin, Minnesota. In addition to selling the newest romances, they also offer some secondhand books. They also host plenty of clubs and events.

• Open Door Romance is the romance offshoot of St. Louis, Missouri’s The Novel Neighbor. Even if you don’t live close to St. Louis, you should be following this store on social media for their excellent and enthusiastic recommendations.

• Under the Cover is Kansas City, Missouri’s romance bookstore. If you’re a Sierra Simone fan (and you should be), you can catch her in conversation with many authors at this store’s events.
• Good Girls Bookshop is a new romance bookstore in Kalispell, Montana. Their used book program is a great way to trade books for store credit.

• Charmed and Bound Books is a forthcoming bookstore in Northern New Jersey. For now, you can subscribe to their monthly book boxes and catch them at events in the area.

• Kiss & Tale bookshop in Collingswood, New Jersey sells romance books, hosts events, and has lots of preorder campaigns going. One fun thing on their social media is their own shop’s bestseller list.

• Trope Bookshop is the romance bookstore for Charlotte, North Carolina. They also host a weekly podcast called The Story Is.

• Grand Gesture Books is Portland, Oregon’s romance bookstore. In addition to book clubs and author events, they host community book swaps and crafting events.
• Cupid’s Bookshop, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the first romance bookstore in the City of Brotherly Love. They have a really cool rewards point system for regular shoppers.

• Good Girl Books is both a book truck and a brick-and-mortar store in Knoxville, Tennessee. When not out at an event, you can shop from the book truck inside the store. How cute is that?
• Romance on Board is a mobile book store based in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. We love a romance bookstore that can roll right up to a Pride celebration.

• Flutter Romance is Austin, Texas’ romance bookstore. Owned by author Laurelin Paige, you can take romance writing classes through this store.

• Blush Bookstore has locations in Dallas, Texas and Witchita, Kansas. You can find author events and book release parties at both shops.

• Love Affair, located in Midland, is bringing romance to West Texas. They are also the hosts of the Book Boyfriend Bash event.

• The Lovebound Library is Utah’s first romance bookstore in Salt Lake City. They recently hosted a kitten adoption event at their shop!
• Friends to Lovers is where DC-area readers can find books in Alexandria, Virginia. You may have have seen them featured on the Kelly Clarkson Show.

• The Romance Era Bookshop no longer has a physical location in Vancouver, Washington, but they operate on a pop-up basis with a book truck. They also host events, including an audiobook walking club.

• Hardcovers in Mill Creek, Washington, claims the title of largest romance bookstore in the Pacific Northwest. For Bookstore Romance Day, they went all out and held a mini con at their shop.

• Eternal Endings opened July 1 in Snohomish, Washington. In addition to books, they sell other goods like candles, handmade journals, and tarot decks.

• The Well Red Damsel, who call themselves “your local smut dealer,” is Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s romance bookstore. Along with book clubs and author events, they host swaps and other events, like book edge painting.

These lovely romance bookstores are just the newest ones to open their doors. Make sure to check out all of these established romance bookshops, too!