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ST. LOUIS — Even if you don’t think you’re a romance book reader, you probably are given the fact that there’s something in the genre for everyone, local booksellers say.

The romance genre has exploded as readers look for comfort in love stories after tumultuous pandemic years. And while overall book sales are trending downward, the romance genre is seeing an increase in consumers.

“Not only is it outselling everything, it also does an incredible job of championing diverse voices, people of color, disabled voices, queer voices … and you can see that that is something people are craving, that is something people are looking for,� said Kassie King, social media and marketing director for The Novel Neighbor in Webster Groves.

A few years ago, only one or two bookshops around the country focused on romance. Today, there are more than a dozen in major cities. St. Louis, despite having no shortage of independent book stores, has been without a romance genre retail option until now.

The Novel Neighbor is gearing up to open a romance-specific room in its existing store, dubbed Open Door Romance, next month. They’re encouraged by the success of places like the country’s first romance-only bookstore, The Ripped Bodice, in Los Angeles, and Love’s Sweet Arrow in suburban Chicago.

Marissa Backlin, and her mother RoseAnn, opened Love’s Sweet Arrow in 2016 because she was unable to find her favorite romance authors and series at Barnes and Noble. Since then, the store has garnered a local following and sees readers from all over the Midwest.

“It was frustrating,� Backlin said. “It shouldn’t be this hard to find a wider variety of romance.�

Owning it

About 45% of Rose’s Bookhouse’s inventory in O’Fallon, Missouri, is romance novels — and it’s no longer bodice rippers, Harlequin paperbacks or “Fifty Shades of Grey“ leading the charge, said employee Dawn Jones.

Now, new adult and contemporary romance novels are all the rage. The genre features characters in their late teens and 20s — kids who aren’t kids anymore, but not yet in their 30s, Jones said. Readers of all ages come into the shop seeking popular contemporary authors such as Colleen Hoover, Ali Hazelwood and Emily Henry, all of whom have spent weeks on the New York Times best sellers list.

These books typically sport colorful pastel covers and have the final chapters full of feel-good moments and cozy endings.

“It’s happy and people want to get out of the real world,� Jones said. “People are just tired of what’s in the real world and want to escape.�

Rose’s Bookhouse began seeing a demand for new adult romance books last year, Jones said. Books like Sarah J. Maas’s “romantasy� (romantic fantasy) series are impossible to keep stocked at the shop, 8935 Veterans Memorial Pkwy.

“People want to believe that that man is still out there, that that woman is still out there, that their happily-ever-after is there,� she said. “Romance is always going to be there because it’s a baseline. Even in your sci-fi, you have romance.�

Across the state, Carley Morton, owner of Kansas City’s lone romance-only bookstore Under the Cover, credits social media and places like BookTok, a subcommunity of TikTok, with helping grow the genre.

But mostly, Morton said, women are sick of being belittled for enjoying romance novels and no longer feel ashamed for reading the genre.

“ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ want to read what the hell they want,â€� she said. “They’ve been reading it. Now they can just own it. There’s no reason for anyone to be shamed for reading books.

“[Romance] is looked down upon in publishing but it’s not just crap, a lot of it is a well-written story,� Morton said.

Today, Under the Cover is constantly busy. The store sees book clubs, bachelorette parties, readers from out of town and dedicated return customers.

“The response has been overwhelming,� Morton said. “People say, ‘We needed one of these.’�

And business is so good that Morton has plans to expand Under the Cover from its current 800 square feet to 1900 square feet, at the end of October, less than a year after opening.

“It’s been wild,� she said. “We ask customers for [inventory] suggestions and we can’t keep up. We don’t have the room for anything else.�

And demand doesn’t look like it’s slowing down.

According to from market research firm Circana, print sales of books in the romance category rose 52% from May 2022 to May 2023. This includes both new authors and longtime-favorites like Nicolas Sparks, Julia Quinn and Nora Roberts.

Book sales change depending on the season, but Backlin, of Love’s Sweet Arrow near Chicago, has been encouraged by the increase of younger readers frequenting the store.

“To stay alive a genre has to keep bringing in new readers,� she said. “[Younger readers] come in and grab a book they’ve seen on TikTok and we can point them in the direction of similar self-published or indie-published books.�

Opening doors

Open Door Romance in Webster Groves will begin welcoming customers on Aug. 17, which is Bookstore Romance Day. The space is located next to The Novel Neighbor, at 7905 Big Bend Boulevard.

Stephanie Skees, events and curated collections director at The Novel Neighbor, said because the area has a rich independent bookstore scene, St. Louis’ book community is often on trend with the coasts in a different way than with other trends.

Encouraged by the vibrant the local romance community, Skees began organizing a romance book club and inviting romance authors to events a few years ago. She said the response has been overwhelming. Romance novels make up about 10% of all sales at The Novel Neighbor.

“We can’t keep up,� Skees said.

The idea for a romance room came to The Novel Neighbor team last year as they began to see romance bookstores enter the market. They transformed a room used for events, spending about $22,000.

“Romance is this space where you can feel like people want something a little different,� said King, of The Novel Neighbor. “There are so many niches within it that we want to be able to speak to with table displays and curation of collections and that can only happen when we have more space.�

Open Door Romance will feature walls of long bookshelves, an interactive photo mural, a reading nook and genre-specific merchandise — a large upgrade from the three bookshelves the genre currently takes up in the store.

It will still be under The Novel Neighbor business umbrella, but the expansion allows the store’s inventory to grow, Skees said.

However, Jones of Rose’s Bookhouse called romance-only bookstores unsustainable. She said Rose’s Bookhouse and others work because they can lean on other genres when the demand for romance ebbs and flows.

Yet, King is adamant that romance-only bookstores will not go away. The desire for romance novels has always been high and stores are finally catering to its audiences, she said.

“We are now fostering those relationships and building those communities in a way that we haven’t before and I think that folks are gonna see long term payoff,� King said.