Bookstore Owners
Who amongst us, devoted readers, hasn’t at one point fantasized about owning a bookstore? Despite the gutting pattern of bookstores all over the world struggling or closing in the face of megacorps like Amazon (RIP Borders, I’ll never forget you), there’s something extremely romantic (platonic) about getting to spend your days amongst the stacks, reading behind the register, and decorating a welcoming literary space to exactly your taste. Since it’s likely to stay a fantasy for most of us, why not live vicariously through these three heroines? Who are all, to some degree, being dipped in their covers, weird coincidence. I guess I would also swoon if I got to run a financially viable book paradise?
The Earl Takes a Fancy by Lorraine Heath. This book is deep enough into a series about a family of bastards raised by one poor but loving mother that it’s worth reading the ones that came before first. But it’ll be worth it- the whole Sins For All Seasons series is excellent and heart wrenching and will probably be featured again in your favorite romance newsletter Forced Proximity.
This is the only book from that series with mama Trewlove’s (gotta love Lorraine Heath’s Romance Last Names) natural born child, though, who she named Fancy in the hopes her daughter, despite her humble and frowned upon origins, will find a better life.
And even before her happy ever after, Fancy’s elder siblings (several of whom are the bastards of extremely powerful men) have got her set up with her very own bookstore. They’re also doing their best, with their society wives, to launch her into richer circles, because her mother’s greatest dream is for her daughter to marry a titled man. But Fancy’s torn when a handsome, charming commoner starts wandering through her stacks on the regular.
Good thing it turns out eventually that he’s an Earl. And a widowed one at that! What follows is classic Lorraine Heath- tons of angst, tight-knit families, overprotective older brothers, sturdy heroines who won’t be pushed around, and a romance for the ages. And you know I love an entrepreneurial heroine, especially in a historical! Not to overuse this GIF in this newsletter, but when it fits….
Rating: 4.5/5
How hot? 🔥🔥🔥
The Fiancée Farce by Alexandria Bellefleur. In an almost Cinderella-esque setup, we start our story with Tansy, who runs her beloved family bookstore that was passed down by her late father but is ultimately owned by her stepmother. Her stepfamily seems to mostly mean well, at least, though they’re constantly on her case about her love life (especially since she’s always reading those romance novels!). In an attempt to get them to chill, she invents a fake girlfriend named Gemma, after the gorgeous cover model of some of her favorite novels. Color her surprised when, Romance Twist, she runs into the real life Gemma at a wedding and her lie is revealed.
Except… Gemma is quick to the uptake, and lucky for Tansy, she also has need of a fake love story. Hers is a little higher-stakes, though, involving an inheritance plot and an actual marriage, so the two women strike a deal. Tansy will get the money to buy her bookstore from her stepmom outright, and Gemma will inherit her family’s publishing empire as a result of fulfilling her grandfather’s marriage stipulation.
It will not surprise you what happens next. Real feelings followed by terror followed by even deeper real feelings, thwarted temporarily by family drama on both sides, the expectations of the world and themselves, etc etc.
I will be honest, the name Tansy for one of our protagonists was a hurdle, and occasionally both heroines were more frustrating than understandable in certain thought spirals and choices, but overall I really enjoyed this sapphic shenanigans fake engagement/modern marriage of convenience story.
Rating: 4/5
How hot? 🔥🔥🔥🔥
The Wrong Mr. Right by Stephanie Archer. While heroines owning bookstores is obviously a central B-plot to all three books in this roundup, I think this one does the most interesting thing with that detail.
Hannah is desperately close to thirty and starting to worry that life is passing her by, especially in the romance department. She’s also concerned about her family bookstore, which she runs but her father ultimately owns, which isn’t doing so hot. Her theory is that her father’s resistance to making any changes, opting to maintain the exact version of the store as it was when his wife, her mother, was still alive, is what’s holding it back. But he won’t hear of changing anything, be it stock, carpet, paint, or anything else. And perennially passive Hannah, despite being brimming with ideas, quietly accepts it.
When her father goes out of town, though, there’s one thing Hannah doesn’t have to accept, and that’s a completely loveless future. So she enlists local hot shot Wyatt (surfer bro, brother of the protagonist of book 1 in this series which I reviewed a couple weeks back) to teach her the art of adventure and seduction. Not quite a sex lessons set up, but you won’t be surprised that it turns into that fairly quickly.
For his part, Wyatt would love to surf professionally, and has the chops, but what he doesn’t have is a social media presence that will attract the sponsors he needs. So Hannah offers to run it for him in exchange for their lessons, and he agrees. There’s no chance of them going any further than platonic buds with lots of surprise chemistry because he’s absolutely wrong for her (lol).
What I liked about this book’s bookstore B-plot was that it involved more than just “having one” or “wanting to own it outright” but actually dealt with the unique pressures of owning a small town indie bookstore, her strategies for revival on an aesthetic and business level, and having to fight her father’s grief (and her own) to save the thing they both care about, just with different ideas for how.
Rating: 4.5/5
How hot? 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Next week, I’ll be recommending boss/assistant romances! Problematic IRL, but positively perfect on page.
What should I be reading next? Let me know in the comments!