Something magical has been happening on the high streets of America. Romance novels, once dismissed, shelved in the back corner, and sold under covers featuring windswept heroes, have taken over. And with them has come an entirely new kind of bookshop: stores devoted exclusively to the happily ever after.
Romance print sales were up 24% in the first five months of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, and the volume of romance books has more than doubled since 2021. BookTok, TV adaptations, and a generation of unapologetically proud romance readers have fuelled a remarkable boom. The result? Over 100 romance-only bookstores now exist across North America, with new ones opening almost every month.
Here’s a state-by-state look at some of the best.
California Romance Bookshops
- The Ripped Bodice — Culver City (and Brooklyn, NY): The mothership. Opened in 2016 by sisters Leah and Bea Koch, The Ripped Bodice is widely credited as the first romance-only bookstore in the Northern Hemisphere. Proudly woman and queer-owned, it publishes an annual State of Racial Diversity in Romance Report and remains the gold standard for what a romance bookshop can be. A second location opened in Brooklyn in 2023.
- Meet Cute Romance Bookshop — San Diego: A queer-owned, feminist bookshop named after one of romance’s most beloved tropes, with a strong focus on community events and author appearances.
- Smitten — Ventura: A coastal gem offering themed book clubs and romance trivia nights. Spend $30 or more and you’ll leave with a custom Smitten tarot card to add to your collection.
- Knotty Novels — Sacramento: Already hosting its own romance convention — Knotty Con — with another planned for 2026. A sign of just how seriously Sacramento takes its romance.
- Heartbound — Anaheim: Romance readers making a Disneyland trip now have a very good reason to slip away from the park.
Colorado Romance Bookshops
- Spicy Librarian — Denver: Opened in 2025 and already generating buzz among readers who like their romance on the hotter end of the spice scale.
Florida Romance Bookshops
- Steamy Lit Bookstore — Deerfield Beach & Tampa: Originally an online book box subscription service, Steamy Lit opened physical stores in 2024. Romance books with a whole lot of spice.
Georgia Romance Bookshops
- All the Tropes — Atlanta: Atlanta’s only bookstore dedicated entirely to the romance genre, offering a welcoming space for romantics of every subgenre persuasion.
Kansas Romance Bookshops
- Blush Bookstore — Wichita: Opened in a charming cottage in April 2023, proving that love stories belong absolutely everywhere.
Maine Romance Bookshops
- Grump & Sunshine Bookshop — Maine: Named after one of romance’s most popular tropes and housed in a beautiful historic building. It opened its pink-painted doors in 2022.
Maryland Romance Bookshops
- Romance-Landia — Centerville: Maryland’s first romance-only bookstore, with a deep commitment to supporting indie and self-published authors.
Massachusetts Romance Bookshops
- Lovestruck Books — Cambridge: Opened in January 2025 in Harvard Square, complete with a café and wine bar. Some of the most extensive opening hours you’ll find at any independent bookstore.
Minnesota Romance Bookshops
- Tropes & Trifles — Minneapolis: Selling romance to Twin Cities residents alongside a Bonkers Book Club and a Cozy + Coloring Book Club that sounds frankly ideal.
Missouri Romance Bookshops
- Under the Cover — Kansas City: Kansas City’s first romance bookshop, located in the stunning historic House of Flowers building in the Union Hill neighbourhood.
New York Romance Bookshops
- The Ripped Bodice Brooklyn — Brooklyn: The east coast outpost of the original Culver City store. Everything you love about the mothership, now with a New York subway ride.
- Burn Bright Books — Rochester: The only romance-specific bookstore in upstate New York, championing diverse and indie-published love stories.
North Carolina Romance Bookshops
- Trope Bookshop — Charlotte: Charlotte’s romance destination, which also hosts a weekly podcast called The Story Is for readers who can’t get enough.
Oregon Romance Bookshops
- Grand Gesture Books — Portland: Oregon’s first romance-only bookstore, which drew over 400 people to its grand opening in October 2024. It runs community book swaps and crafting events alongside its regular author programme.
Pennsylvania Romance Bookshops
- Cupid’s Bookshop — Philadelphia: The first romance bookstore in the City of Brotherly Love, with a rewards point system that keeps regular readers coming back.
- Passionate Pages — Pittsburgh, Lawrenceville: One of two romance bookstores to open in Pittsburgh in early 2026 — proof that the city’s romance readers had been waiting a long time.
- The Shelf Love Society — Pittsburgh, Lawrenceville: The second of Pittsburgh’s new romance arrivals, opening in April 2026 just streets away from Passionate Pages.
Tennessee Romance Bookshops
- Good Girl Books — Knoxville: Both a book truck and a brick-and-mortar store. When the truck isn’t out at an event, it parks inside the shop itself, which is extremely charming.
Texas Romance Bookshops
- Flutter Romance — Austin: Owned by romance author Laurelin Paige, Flutter brings a deeply genre-literate perspective to its shelves and events.
- The Chapter Co. — New Braunfels
- The Cookie Plot Romance Bookstore & Bakery — Corpus Christi: Books and baked goods. The romance community truly has everything.
Utah Romance Bookshops
- Lovebound Library— Salt Lake City: Utah’s only romance bookstore, opened in 2024 and inspired directly by the success of The Ripped Bodice.
Virginia Romance Bookshops
- Friends to Lovers Bookstore — Alexandria: Named after one of the genre’s most beloved tropes, with a focus on romance novels built around deep emotional connection and hard-won happy endings.
And That’s Just the Beginning
This list barely scratches the surface. There are also wonderful online-only stores, pop-up shops, and book trucks carrying the romance flag into towns not yet served by a permanent shop.
If you’re a romance reader in the US, the chances are there’s now a store either in your city or within easy driving distance that was built entirely for you. And if you’re an indie author looking to get your books in front of passionate, knowledgeable readers, these shops are exactly where you want to be.
Looking to add your bookshop to the list? Get in touch with me here.
