A longtime lover of romance novels, Rachel Kanter saw what had always felt like her “guilty secret” explode during the pandemic as the romance genre’s popularity soared. Now, she’s opening her own Lovestruck Books, a romance bookstore coming to Harvard Square this fall.
The bulk of the 5,200-square-foot store, at 44 Brattle St. in the space Ann Taylor left behind when it closed in 2020, will be dedicated to romance, although there will be a general section with selected books outside the genre.
“A lot of romance readers have partners that don’t necessarily read romance,” Kanter said.
There will also be a small children’s section angled toward love and books about family, acceptance, inclusion and building self-esteem, plus a selection of nonbook gift items.
Gathering place
A cafe and wine bar will take up about a third of the space, serving coffee and beverages along with breakfast and lunch offerings during the day, then shifting toward wine and light bites in the evening.
“We’re thinking a charcuterie board, some desserts,” Kanter said. “The idea is that Lovestruck, beyond its books, can become a great place for a drink with a friend or even a date-night spot.”
The store will open at 8 a.m. and close at 9 p.m., with a later 10 p.m. close time on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. The store’s liquor license was approved by the Board of License Commissioners at a hearing Monday and is now with the state’s Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission.
The cafe partner has yet to be announced, but Kanter said it is a “local coffee roaster that has a few different cafes around the Boston area,” in line with her vision for Lovestruck to make space for and support the local community it’s joining. She plans to host author events, especially with local authors, and book clubs based on subgenres such as romantacy and enemies to lovers. The space will be available for people to host their own events and Kanter hopes to collaborate with other businesses often.
Kanter also plans to bring in local writing teachers to host writing classes, with a long-term dream of having an incubator arm at Lovestruck that would help people write novels and get them published.
“I would love to eventually have our own Lovestruck imprint down the road,” Kanter said.
Romance popularity has soared
Romance books have made a strikingly rapid move from embarrassing to all the rage. Once relegated to small sections at the back of bookstores, there are now several devoted bookstores for the romance genre.
The recent meteoric rise in popularity is likely at least partially attributable to the inclusivity of the genre.
“We’ve seen a real increase in the number of books with stories about people of color, people with disabilities, people who are queer; basically anyone who has been traditionally marginalized,” Kanter said. “I think there’s a genuine interest in the genre’s effort to include stories about different kinds of people.”
There’s a hyperspecificity to romance, too, that’s hard to find elsewhere.
“If you’re looking for a queer novel about pirates that takes place in space and is part of a series, it probably exists,” Kanter said.
Plus, there’s a corner of TikTok dedicated to books, authors and reading (“BookTok,” as its known on the platform), which has had a colossal influence on reading trends.
“That’s how so many romance authors either got discovered or rediscovered,” Kanter said, referring to Ali Hazelwood, a doctoral student who wrote fanfiction before exploding on TikTok and becoming a full-time romance author, and Colleen Hoover, who started her career self-publishing books on Amazon. Now, largely because of social media, they have sold more than 20 million copies.
Hoover rules the bestseller lists: On PublishersWeekly’s top 25 print bestsellers list from 2022, four of the top five spots went to her books: “It Ends with Us,” “Verity,” “It Starts with Us” and “Ugly Love.” “It Ends with Us,” and its sequel “It Starts with Us,” are also numbers two and three on the New York Times print and e-book fiction list. And they’re not the only romance books on the list. The top spot goes to “Daydream,” the third book in the Maple Hills romance series by Hannah Grace. There are also three romantacies: “A Court of Thorns and Roses” and its sequel “A Court of Mist and Fury” by Sarah J. Maas and “Iron Flame” by Rebecca Yarros.
Bookstore community
With romance books have come romance bookstores. In the past two years, the number of romance bookstores across the country has risen from two – The Ripped Bodice in Culver City and Love’s Sweet Arrow in Chicago – to more than 20.
“The Ripped Bodice announced they were opening a second location in Brooklyn, and I took that as market information that romance bookstores were working,” said Kanter, who first considered opening a cafe-bookstore last summer.
Since then, she has dived headfirst into planning for Lovestruck Books. She visited the romance bookstore Grump and Sunshine in Belfast, Maine, and met with Leah Koch, co-owner of the Ripped Bodice, before completing an independent bookstore bootcamp training camp. She also spent a few days shadowing Brookline Booksmith co-owners Lisa Gozashti and Peter Win to see the inner workings of their local store.
“This bookstore community has been so welcoming,” Kanter said. “I’ve never experienced that outside of this industry.”
Kanter, a former Cantabrigian during her time at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, spent her career working as a teacher and in education nonprofits before returning to Cambridge last year with her family. Since then, it’s been full steam ahead on Lovestruck.
“I’ve basically just manifested a place that has all of the things I want – romance novels, delicious treats and a wine bar – and I’m going for it,” Kanter said.
Harvard history
Though at one point there were upward of 20 bookstores in Harvard Square alone, said Harvard Square Business Association executive director Denise Jillson, Cambridge remains a relatively bookstore-heavy town. In Harvard Square already, there’s the Harvard Book Store as well as Grolier Poetry Book Shop, around since 1927 and dedicated to poetry, The Coop and Rodney’s Bookstore, selling used and rare books again after it closed its Central Square store in 2020.
“When Rachel reached out to us and first told us about the concept, we were delighted to hear the news of a new bookstore coming to Harvard Square,” Jillson said, noting it was especially exciting because Lovestruck is an “unusual” kind of bookstore, and unusual bookstores are usually well-received.
“Here in Cambridge, we have a history of bookstores that are singular in their focus,” Jillson said.
That history continues with Lovestruck as well as other recent openings in the area, such as the fantasy-themed Side Quest Books & Games in Bow Market and the women and writers of color-focused Narrative in Davis Square.
But, they don’t always last, said Jillson, who pointed to the former Kate’s Mystery Books and Curious George & Friends, which met a demise in 2021 and was replaced by a Starbucks. To keep unique, independent bookstores such as this around, Jillson said, there needs to be strong community support.
“People have to understand that yes, you can get books less expensively on Amazon, but if you want to have a bookstore in your town, you have to buy books from that bookstore,” Jillson said.
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