Brand new Lovestruck Books, the area’s first permanent store of its kind, is part of a national trend in publishing
By Meredith Goldstein Globe Staff,Updated December 20, 2024, 2:00 a.m.
The Brattle Theatre was packed for a screening of the 1998 film “Practical Magic” a few months ago.
I was there, like a sardine in the crush of people waiting to get good seats. The crowd was mostly women wearing witchy outfits, who had also purchased the Alice Hoffman book on which the movie was based.
Local author Hoffman would introduce the film and tell the audience how her famous book about sisters — and their love lives — became such a hit.
Harvard Square’s new romance bookstore, Lovestruck Books, had organized it all — the first of many events on its calendar. The feat of the night, to me, was that Lovestruck had sold out the event — even though the store itself hadn’t opened yet.
“We were totally surprised at the influx of interest,” said Lovestruck owner Rachel Kanter. “Part of it was that Alice posted it on her social media channels, but I think it was also that people were excited to support us.”
Ever since Kanter, 38, started spreading the word that she’d be opening a romance bookstore, there’s been excitement. Anticipation. A thrilling tension.
Basically, people are hot for it.
“It just felt like the fates were aligned for this to happen,” said Kanter, who opened Lovestruck’s doors for a soft launch on Wednesday.
The store, in the former Ann Taylor space on Brattle Street, is more than 5,000 square feet devoted to swoony stories from all romance sub-genres. There are about 10 shelves of other titles, fiction and non — some Sally Rooney, Dennis Lehane, and other big sellers — but 75 percent of Lovestruck’s stock is romance, defined as stories where romance is the main plot, and central characters are guaranteed their happily-ever-after.
I moderated a discussion for Lovestruck last month, and then days before the store’s opening, Kanter gave me a tour. She pointed out some of the extra features — including the children’s book area, where a grown-up can drop a younger reader before moving on to browse. Kanter has stocked that area with confidence-building titles.
There’s also the spot she expects to be a big draw — the George Howell coffee spot and wine bar, set to open by the end of January.
Kanter, who’s from Keene, N.H., comes to the indie book world from education; she’s taught in public, charter, and private schools, from grades 1 to 11.
“The through line for me was always literature — getting kids excited about reading and exposing them to new writers, ideas, genres that they hadn’t experienced before.”
When she and her husband moved back to the Boston area after 10 years in Washington, D.C., she grieved the closing of the Curious George Store, among other Harvard Square staples. That’s when she got serious about her dream to open a bookstore.
“Ten years later, things looked a little different, a little less funky, a little less independent. So I was really excited about this idea of of being part of this literary community, maybe bringing a bookstore to life.”
But a romance book shop? Is that a good business model, you ask?
Well, yes. Let me — a romance reader who watches both love and publishing — explain.
In 2019 I wrote about how many Boston-area independent bookstores had finally added romance shelves to their retail spaces. They realized they were missing out on customers. Romance sells well and has a wide range of sub-genres, from paranormal to hockey romance. Some of the biggest movies of 2024 were adaptations of wildly popular romance novels. Also, think of Netflix’s “Bridgerton” series, based on the books by Julia Quinn. In October, Publisher’s Weekly reported that romance titles represented seven of the top 10 books of the year so far.
Local retailers told me five years ago that it helped that the covers of these books had changed — far fewer naked torsos and six-pack abs. Most covers these days are ambiguous or tame, even if a book is not. Many titles at Lovestruck have cute rom-com illustrations, a picture of a sword or crown (for fantasy romances), or flowers.
But beyond the subtler covers, bookstores started to recognize the belittling and exclusion of romance as simple misogyny. Sure, there are bad romance novels, but there are also excellent ones. There is also bad literary fiction. There are bad mysteries and bad horror books. Isn’t it interesting that only romance — a category that tends to prioritize the happiness of women — became the butt of jokes? But I digress.
The Ripped Bodice in Los Angeles, a store devoted to romance novels, opened in 2016 and has been an active gathering space for fans and authors. Last year, it opened a second location in Brooklyn.
Kanter says The Ripped Bodice’s second location helped her feel confident about Lovestruck.
“Clearly, there is a demand for romance. This is not a fluke. This is not going anywhere.”
As Kanter, who had the resources to open the store without business loans, dove into learning about running a bookstore, other area indies were supportive, instead of seeing her as competition. “Dina [Mardell] and and David [Sandberg] from Porter Square offered to let me tour with them,” she said, adding that she also shadowed staff at Brookline Booksmith and talked to owners at Belmont Books and other local shops.
Denise Jillson, executive director of the Harvard Square Business Association, said it’s felt celebratory over by Brattle Street, which she’s now billing as the “most romantic corner of the square.”
“The fact that we’re closing banks and opening bookstores is a really good sign,” Jillson said.
Sarah Wendell, cofounder of the blog Smart Bitchy Trashy Books, which celebrates its 20th anniversary in January, keeps a list of romance and romance-friendly bookstores popping up around North America; it includes Pages of Passion in Canada, and Smitten in California. In Boston, there is also a Boston-area romance popup called Read My Lips, which launched in February, but Lovestruck is Boston’s first permanent store of its kind. (Kanter said she hopes to work with Read My Lips by having them curate a shelf.)
Wendell said the Ripped Bodice— and now other shops — understand their mission isn’t just to supply readers with books.
“Readers are looking to gather in real spaces, not just online,” she said.
Kanter has packed her official opening weekend — which starts Jan. 17 — with activities like a Polaroid station, and appearances by authors including Jasmine Guillory and Chloe Gong.
Lovestruck manager Kayla Januchowski, who prepped for this week’ssoft opening, said she expects business to be busy.
“Nowadays,” she said, “people just need a happily ever after.”
