“It is the era of romance books,” says Megan Gallt, owner of Novel Grounds, a romance-only bookstore in Chesapeake. Culture-shaking new releases like Fourth Wing, the fairy-filled romantasies (romantic fantasies, for newbies to the genre) of Sarah J. Maas, and tropes like the hockey heartthrob romance have ushered in a renaissance for the genre on social media and, now, in romance-centered brick-and-mortar bookstores. The New York Times declares the dozens of stores recently popping up across the country a “boom.”
The draw to the genre is, in part, because of the escapism romance novels provide. “Life is crazy, and sometimes we just need that prince with wings to whisk us off our feet and take us away from real life,” Gallt says. And romance literature has expanded so much that it’s sparked subgenres of subgenres, from swoony small towns to swashbuckling sword fighters.
Another crucial part of what’s made it possible for romance-specific bookshops to thrive is the community around the books. Gallt says it’s easy to start a conversation about the latest Colleen Hoover drop or hidden-gem romance read from an indie author with other moms waiting around at their kids’ soccer practice, for example. Novel Grounds puts community at its core, hosting book release parties, author talks, and book clubs, with readers from as far as Tennessee journeying to the store.
Though romance was once delegated to dusty bookstore shelves or hastily labeled as silly and discarded, Gallt says she’s happy to report that customers are enthusiastically embracing the genre without shame these days. “Who cares what people think about what we’re reading?” she says. “I grew up on love stories. I love love.” NovelGrounds.com
Novel Grounds owner Megan Gallt. Photos by Novel Grounds
This article originally appeared in the February 2025 issue.
