Updated June 2025: Definitive List of Romance Bookstores
The Ripped Bodice in Brooklyn is at the top of my list of 60+ romance bookstores in North America. Vi Keeland (left) and I had a fantastic event there in 2024.
Current Count: 60+ romance bookstores stores and growing!I keep a document on my computer of all the romance bookstores that have sprung up in North America. It’s a kind of bucket list—I’d like to visit them all.
Then I suddenly realized… why keep this great bounty to myself? Surely the rest of you would love to know about all these shops. Many of them opened within the last year.
Note: Did I miss one? Please write us at admin @ sarinabowen.com and we’ll add it!
Lovestruck Books in Cambridge is also at the tippy top of my list! Attending their opening night party was the highlight of my January. Pictured: Rachel Kanter, owner extraordinaire.
East Coast & Southeast
The Ripped Bodice Brooklyn - Brooklyn, NY - The east coast edition of the O.G. romance bookstore! I love this store with all my heart.
Lovestruck Books - Cambridge, MA - Geographically this one is closest to me. And it’s so beautiful! I love visiting Lovestruck.
Grump and Sunshine - Belfast, ME - I haven’t been able to visit yet, but this lovely store helped with the preorder campaign for Good Boy in 2024. Thank you!
Burn Bright Books - Rochester, NY
Afterglow - Buffalo, NY
Hopeless Romantic Books - Toronto, CA
Montgomery & Taggert - Chester, CT
Kiss and Tale - Collingswood, NJ
Cupid's Bookshop - Philadelphia, PA
The New Romantics - Orlando, FL
Wanderlust Book Boutique - Fort Pierce, FL
Steamy Lit Bookstore - Deerfield Beach, FL
Trope Bookshop - Charlotte, NC
Sweeter than Fiction - Charleston, SC
Novel Grounds - Chesapeake, VA
Romance Landia - Centreville, MD
Good Girl Books - Knoxville, TN
Shelf Love - Austell, GA
Friends to Lovers - Washington, DC
All the Tropes - Atlanta, GA
Under the Cover - Sumter, SC
Roaming Romance Books - Ronkonkoma, NY
Beach Read Books - Wilmington, NC
Sincerely Yours - Smyrna, GA
West Coast & Mountain States
The Ripped Bodice CA - Culver City, CA - This is the mothership of romance bookstores. I hope to visit someday!
Meet Cute Bookshop - San Diego, CA
Smitten - Ventura, CA
Knotty Novels - Sacramento, CA
Heartbound Book Shop - Anaheim, CA
In Bloom Bookery - Temecula, CA
Hardcovers Romance Bookstore - Mill Creek, WA
The Romance Era Bookshop - Vancouver, WA
It's a Love Story - Hayden, ID
Lovebound Library - Salt Lake City, NV
Beauty and the Book - Anchorage, AK
The Ivy Bookshop - Fairbanks, AK
Lagg - Lehi, UT
Spicy Librarian - Denver, CO
The Bookish Shop - Gilbert, AZ
Grand Gesture Books - Portland, OR
Good Girls Bookshop - Kalispell, MT
Midwest & Central States
Flutter - Austin, TX - Owned by romance author and friend Laurelin Paige! I hope to visit soon!
The Plot Twist - Denton, TX
Love's Sweet Arrow - Tinley Park, IL
The Last Chapter Book Shop - Chicago, IL
Under the Cover - Kansas City, MO
Blush Bookstore - Wichita, KS
Pages and Grapes - Wyoming, MI
Love and Other Books - Ferndale, MI
Alpine Pages & Peonies - Grand Rapids, MI
Mon Couer - Canton, MI
Read My Lips - Marquette, MI
Tropes and Trifles - Minneapolis, MN
The Well Red Damsel - Wauwatosa, WI
Thirst Books - Milwaukee, WI
Slow Burn Books - Garrett, IN
The Rose Romance Bookstore - Mooresville, IN
A Novel Romance - Louisville, KY
HEA book boutique - Marion, IA
Bedpost Books - Republic, MO
Open Door - St Louis, MO
Love Stories - Warr Acres, OK
Flame and Fable - Lakewood, OH
United Kingdom
Book Lovers Bookshop - Edinburgh UK
Online
Eden Books - Ebooks and Print
