Romance books are no longer a little hobby that women enjoy in the corner, says Kerrie Berg, owner of Milwaukee’s Thirst Books. Bookstores dedicated to the genre have been popping up across the country since Los Angeles’ The Ripped Bodice opened in 2016.
Now, not one but two shops carrying tomes dedicated to amore have recently opened, only a few minutes’ drive from each other: Thirst (5209 W. North Ave.) and The Well Red Damsel (6429 W. North Ave., Wauwatosa).
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“Women are buying,” Berg says. “They’re putting their dollars into it, and it’s powerful.”
Take the line down the street on Thirst Books’ opening day, for example. Or the successful pop-ups and events hosted by The Well Red Damsel before opening its brick-and-mortar to a similarly lengthy line in June. Romance is consistently the top genre for fiction book sales in the U.S.
“Romance has always been there, but I think there was such a stigma about it,” says Natasha Meyer, owner of The Well Red Damsel.
Each decorated in its own shade of pink, the stores stock a wide variety of books within the genre, including LGBTQ+ and romantasy (a hybrid term for romantic fantasy). They plan to host author events, book clubs and more. “There’s no judgment here,” Meyer says. “What you like is what you like, and that’s fully embraced.”
