Romance Bookstore Update: May 2025

There are now 108 physical romance bookstores around the world, 82 (or 76%) of which are in the United States.

Jun 05, 2025

There continues to be a steady stream of new stores and updates since I launched the Romance Bookstore Directory, so I’ve decided to write monthly updates to keep y’all informed!

This first update is free for all subscribers, but moving forward these detailed updates will be a benefit for paid subscribers (only US$5/month or US$50/year).

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Overview

According to my research, there are now 108 physical romance bookstores in nine countries around the world, 82 (or 76%) of which are in the United States.

If we also include online and pop-up romance bookstores, the total number of stores grows to 178.

Romance Bookstore Directory

There are a total of 189 bookstores in the directory—20 have been added since my April update.

The following is a breakdown of bookstores by type: Physical, Pop-up, Online, and Coming Soon along with lists of the recently added stores in each category!

📌 Please note that these categories overlap—a store can categorized as multiple types. For example, a bookstore can be online and have pop-ups, with a physical location coming soon.

Physical Stores

Romance bookstores with a physical/bricks-and-mortar location

🌎 TOTAL WORLDWIDE: 108
(Net ↑ of 5 from April: 7 added, 2 closed)

Breakdown by Country:

🇺🇸 United States: 82 (↑ 7 from April)
🇦🇺 Australia: 13 (↓ 1 from April)
🇨🇦 Canada: 5
🇳🇿 New Zealand: 2 (↓ 1 from April)
🇫🇷 France: 2
🇧🇪 Belgium: 1
🇩🇪 Germany: 1
🇳🇱 Netherlands: 1
🇬🇧 United Kingdom: 1

🇺🇸 US Stores by Region (82):

Northeast: 9 (11%)
Midwest: 19 (23%)
South: 32 (39%)
West: 20 (24%)
Territory: 2 (3%)

Growth of Physical Stores

By the end of 2024, there were 82 physical romance bookstores worldwide—up 925% from 8 physical bookstores in 2022. So far there has been a net increase of 26 physical romance bookstores in 2025 (28 have opened, 2 have closed).

When we look specifically at the United States, the growth has been even more dramatic. Over the same two-year period from 2022 to 2024, the number of romance bookstores in the US increased 1400% from 4 to 60. So far another 22 new romance bookstores have opened in the US this year.

RECENTLY ADDED
📚 Physical Bookstores

📚 Love Stories Romance Bookstore

Location: Warr Acres, Oklahoma 🇺🇸
Type: Physical
Opened: September 14, 2024 (only recently found this one!)

lovestoriesokc

A post shared by @lovestoriesokc

📚 The Broken Spine

Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 🇺🇸
Type: Physical, Online
Opened: March 1, 2025

shopbrokenspine

A post shared by @shopbrokenspine

📚 Cupid’s Bookshop

Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 🇺🇸
Type: Physical
Opened: April 24, 2025

thecupidbookshop

A post shared by @thecupidbookshop

📚 Shelf Love (Atlanta)

Location: Austell, Georgia 🇺🇸
Type: Physical, Online
Opened: May 10, 2025

verabellauthor

A post shared by @verabellauthor

📚 Mon Coeur Books

Location: Canton Township, Michigan 🇺🇸
Type: Physical
Opened: May 20, 2025

moncoeurbooks

A post shared by @moncoeurbooks

📚 Thirst Books

Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin 🇺🇸
Type: Physical
Opened: May 24, 2025

thirstbooks

A post shared by @thirstbooks

📚 Pink Couch Books

Location: Wilmette, Illinois 🇺🇸
Type: Physical
Opened: May 31, 2025

pink.couch.books

A post shared by @pink.couch.books

🛑 CLOSED / CLOSING
Physical Bookstores

🛑 CLOSED: Shelf Lovers
Location: Wooloowin, Queensland 🇦🇺
Change: Physical location closed April 20, 2025. Currently deciding next steps.

🛑 CLOSED: Mystique Bookstore (Removed from directory)
Location: Waimate, Canterbury 🇳🇿
Change: Both physical and online store closed as of May 31, 2025.

🛑 CLOSING: The Romance Era Bookshop
Location: Vancouver, Washington 🇺🇸
Change: Physical location closing June 30, 2025. Online store will stay open, with Book Mobile coming Spring 2026.