Delicate florals in pink, red and blue hues trail the overhang of Lovestruck Books like vines covering Sleeping Beauty’s castle. The charming romance bookstore sits on Brattle Street filled with titles of all subgenres.
Owner Rachel Kanter welcomed Bookstagramers and other romance enthusiasts to celebrate the store on the eve of its grand opening festivities. Guests raised glasses of sparkling pink prosecco.
“I’m so grateful to you all for being here, for sharing this experience with me, and I hope you find lots of enjoyable smut to read,” said Kanter, followed by laughs and cheers.
The shop is a romance reader haven with nearly 12,000 books from dark to sports romance. Bookish items like candles, tea and stationery sit on circular tables. And a connected George Howell Coffee shop has eventual plans to transform into an evening wine bar.
The store also includes general fiction and a children’s section.
Lovestruck was just a dream less than two years ago for Kanter. Now, it’s a love letter to her younger self who discovered Anne Bishop’s “The Black Jewels: Trilogy” way too young.
“I was probably 12. It’s basically like a sexy retelling of the fall of Lucifer,” she said. “It’s probably 600 pages, so my parents were just like, ‘Eh, she’s reading,’ and it had some very explicit content, and I was hooked.”
Kanter said Lovestruck stands out in Cambridge.
“I actually really love the juxtaposition of a romance bookstore right in the heart of Harvard Square,” she said. “Harvard is this elite university, and I think that it’s a great reminder that you can be really smart and really professionally successful or academically successful and still enjoy like a trashy, smutty rom com.”
Kanter said she is happy to make a splash in the academic space as an alumna of the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
There’s a reason a romance-themed brick-and-mortar is possible in a chronically online world. Since 2016, more than 20 romance book stores have opened across the US. People are hungry for optimistic storylines.
“Bad stuff happens in the world, so people are always desperate for that guaranteed happy ending that romance gives people,” said Leslie Murphy who runs a romance books website and podcast.
The romance genre represents a wide range of love stories like the people who read them.
“There’s also become more diversity and inclusivity in romance books, so people can really see themselves in the characters, which I think has helped its growth among readers,” said Murphy.
Reading romance used to be stigmatized as frivolous or taboo. More readers are embracing their love of the genre and looking for other readers to connect with.
“We’re going to do book clubs and a writing class, that sort of thing,” said Kanter. “So we’re hoping to use this first year as kind of an experiment, like learn what it is that the community really is looking for.”
Lead bookseller Ashley O’Regan says Lovestruck is a crucial place for romance reader connection in Massachusetts.
“We’re all wanting to be loved in some way. And romance in the last like decade has become this thing where even if you’re not the standard sort of romance, you find this love for it, and you can be seen in any way and be loved in any way,” she added.
Kanter intends to make Lovestruck a place for all those readers. In choosing titles, she aims to highlight books by women, writers of color and LGBTQIA+ authors.
“I want the store to be a place where everyone feels welcome, everyone can see themselves in a story,” she said.
Kanter has future dreams of creating a writer incubator program and even a Lovestruck imprint. In romance novels, anything is possible, and for Kanter that seems to be true.
This segment aired on January 23, 2025.
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