Bookstore Romance Day is a national indie bookstore celebration of all things ROMANCE: romance authors, romance tropes, and romance readers. We wanted to walk through romance as a genre and the ways it shapes us, both as readers and as people.
Spice Up Your Life
The romance genre centers on love and love stories, offering various subgenres to suit different reader preferences. If you’re a fan of historical fiction, there are romances set in specific periods like the Regency era or other past times, and contemporary romance if you prefer modern settings. “Spice” levels, or levels of explicit content, range throughout the genre, from clean or “closed door” romance with minimal to no explicit content to “spicy” romance, often featuring intimate or explicit content on the page.
As we all know, love is for everyone, which is why there are many romances featuring LGBTQIA+ characters and their stories, as well as interracial/multicultural romances with romantic relationships across different races, ethnicities, and cultures.
“I love a contemporary romance, magical realism, and a good fantasy romance. Contemporary romance gives us stories of real people facing real life challenges while also navigating love, and we need to see more stories like this! Fantasy romance is nice to escape from the horrors of our world and jump into the horrors of another for a little bit.” - Jasmine, Bookseller & Romance Book Club Co-Host
Tropes and Trends
Romance is also known for its tropes, common devices that move the relationship along in a romance novel. Some of the more popular tropes are forced proximity, which requires the characters to spend continuous time together without leaving (also often used in workplace romances and the “only one bed” trope), enemies-to-lovers or friends-to-lovers, which indicates how the relationship between the two characters changes throughout the book, and grumpy x sunshine, where a surly, cynical character falls for a bubbly, optimistic partner, kind of like opposites attract.
This genre tends to be written off as “for women” or the belief that “we can’t learn anything from romance,” which is entirely false. Joss Richard expands on this in a recent interview, in which she shares that reading these stories helps her see what healthy conversations look like and learn more about herself.
Romance also brings people together, whether it’s shared favorite authors, characters, or a romance book club. Storyline’s Romance Book Club is a great way to connect with other readers with a shared love for the variety of love stories we read and experience every day.
“I love romance book club so much! It’s a place where we can leave behind whatever’s happening in our lives for an hour, explore what these stories mean to us, and be silly and giddy together. I hope it’s a joyful and welcoming space for all who want to join!” - Jasmine, Bookseller & Romance Book Club Co-Host
Bookstore Romance Day at Storyline
Together, we want to celebrate our favorite love stories and the romance genre with you! On Saturday, August 15th, we’ll be celebrating Bookstore Romance Day all day long (8 am to 8 pm) with themed blind dates with a book, sweet treats, and some freebies and giveaways! If you’re a romance lover, you won’t want to miss this.
The fun doesn’t stop there! Join us for a conversation between two romance authors, Joss Richard and Victoria Lavine, on Sunday, August 16th at the Upper Arlington Community Center at 2 pm! Tickets are still available and come with a signed copy of Joss’ new book, Let’s Kiss and Tell.
That’s all for now. We truly appreciate your support and can’t wait to welcome you back to the bookshop again soon. In the meantime, be sure to follow us on Instagram (@StorylineBookshop ) for book club updates and more announcements.
Until next time,
Janine + The Storyline Bookshop Team
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