These bookstores exclusively sell romance novels in Toronto

A new breed of bookstore is emerging in Toronto, with only one genre for sale: romance.

Romance reads have been bubbling in popularity lately, and you can scroll through video after video on social media under hashtags like #romancebooktok, #romantasybooks and #spicyreads. When searching for many of the most popular #bookrecs on Amazon, many of them are sold out or only available in audiobook format.

Thirsty romance book fans still have one reliable resource they can turn to: local physical vendors. The romance genre is experiencing such a boom, some stores are surviving selling only that genre. Two such booksellers in Toronto are Hopeless Romantic and Meet Cute.

Hopeless Romantic was opened by sisters Kearston and Serena in 2024, only about a month and a half after they originally had the idea to start up a bookstore with no experience in the field. Serena has professional experience in municipal government and public service, and Kearston has been a midwife for six years and is currently working on her Master’s in Public Health.

“There has been a lot of learning on the job, but that being said, we’ve definitely felt there are transferable skills that have helped us,” Kearston tells YourCityWithIN.com. “We couldn’t do it without our awesome, supportive partners and our passionate employees.”

Armed only with a personal passion for romance books, the sisters officially opened Hopeless Romantic on Sept. 5, 2024, and are now operating out of Stackt Market in Toronto.

“Romance is both of our favourite genres and something we’ve always enjoyed together, reading the same books and talking about them. It is almost exclusively what we read,” says Kearston.

“It is becoming more and more apparent with the rise of social media and BookTok that we are not the only ones, there is a huge community of romance lovers out there who are eager to connect with each other. We saw an opportunity to share our love for romance books and meet an underserved community.”

Meet Cute is another romance book vendor that started out a little earlier than Hopeless Romantic in 2023, but is still searching for more of a rooted physical home, currently operating pop-ups out of Ampersand Bakehouse and Body Blitz. Similar to Kearston and Serena, Meet Cute operator Alanna Homer worked at IKEA and a spa and also felt those jobs helped her develop transferable skills to start a business.

“I always loved romance books, I think they’re the perfect escape when you need something light, or they can be so nuanced and real you can see yourself in the stories,” Homer tells YourCityWithIN.com. “There’s nothing like feeling as though you’ve had a singular experience, and then you read it and it’s like, you feel seen.”

In addition to the pop-ups, Homer also brings Meet Cute to markets and runs a pilates book club.

“I hope combining all of those gets Meet Cute’s name out there so when I open a storefront, I’ll have built my community,” says Homer.

“Opening and sustaining any small business financially, particularly in such an unstable economy, is difficult and we are no exception,” says Kearston.

“In today’s age with social media there is a huge learning curve and additional duties relating to content creation that we have had to take on that we didn’t really realize was going to be such a big part of business owning. While we are so fortunate to have staff who are amazing at creating content and assisting, it is still something we have to actively work on everyday.”

Despite the challenges that both Meet Cute and Hopeless Romantic have faced getting the businesses up and running, the response to what they’ve been doing shows demand is there for purveyors of romance novels.

“From people telling us they made a special trip to the market or city just to check out our store, or the following we’re gaining on social media, you can definitely see that people are responding well to our brand and community,” says Kearston.

“Our pilates book club has had a great response. We have an 80 per cent return rate, meaning all of the folks who joined last year have been long time members and are getting to know each other,” says Homer.

“We chat books, but also life. Our hope was always to create a space when people can come and share our interest of books and movement but stay to build relationships with new people they meet.”

So why does it feel like there’s an increase in demand for romance books? Alanna attributes the success of the genre to its inherent world-building capabilities, and Kearston feels it’s a demand that’s been there all along and stigmas surrounding reading romance are lifting.

“The trend of multi-series books where you’re getting to know multiple characters and they each get their own book,” says Homer. “I think it’s a great way to explore different relationships and tropes while building a world. I will say it can feel like a cash grab as the stories can lack depth, but they’re usually fun reads.”

“I believe there has always been a large interest and fan base for romance books, it just wasn’t always apparent,” says Kearston.

“I think it can appear to be surging or trending right now because of the current popularity of BookTok or BookStagram. There is a stigma to romance books that I believe and hope is lifting and more people are becoming comfortable and open about reading romance.”

Whether it’s a trend or something bigger, as the demand for romance books continues to grow, so do Meet Cute and Hopeless Romantic. Meet Cute is hoping to open a storefront where they can grow their clubs and host events, and Hopeless Romantic is hoping to grow into a larger space by next spring.

“We want to continue listening to our community and do our best to meet their needs,” says Kearston.