Readers can capitalize on a rising national trend in the romance genre and find their own safe haven for happily-ever-afters on the shelves of San Diego’s own Meet Cute Romance Bookshop.
Visitors to this queer-owned, feminist bookstore in North Park are welcomed by a “Romancelandia” mural and book pages dangling from the ceiling.
Meet Cute claims the title of being the “first and only romance-centered bookstore in San Diego,” stocking thousands of books dedicated to the genre, including sub-genres ranging from dark romance to young adult fantasy. Since its opening in 2022, Meet Cute has joined the rise of romance bookstores across the country.
Becca Title, owner of Meet Cute, says the genre is seeing a new era online where people are openly talking about the things they love and not feeling embarrassed by them.
In recent years, romance novels have increasingly provided readers with a sense of comfort and escapism from the hardships of the real world. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of romance bookstores across the U.S. has grown to more than 20.
“I think the one thing that (the genre) fundamentally offers is the promise of a happy ending and a lot of the times when I’m reading, if I’m going to commit to 400 pages, I want to know how I’m going to be feeling at the end,” Title said. “There’s many genres, many kinds of books — nonfiction or fiction — and there’s a time and place for all of them. But there’s certainly a time and place when the world can be dark, life can be hard and sometimes when you’re reading for fun, you just want to know there’s a happy ending, and romance is the perfect genre for that.”
Meet Cute hosts three book clubs every month with different focuses for different readers: Everything Romance Book Club, Queer Romance Book Club and Best-Sellers Romance Book Club. Through regular book clubs and author meet-ups, Title said the bookshop is a place that values diverse stories and uses its selection to uplift underrepresented authors.
Portland resident Ali Tucker traveled to Meet Cute in San Diego on July 20 to meet one of her favorite authors, Jessica Joyce, who was debuting the release of her sophomore novel, “The Ex Vows.”
“After finding and loving [Joyce’s] books so deeply, and chatting with one another online for so long, getting to meet each other in person was truly so special to me,” Tucker said. “I am still grinning about it and how happy the whole experience at Meet Cute made me, and I will be doing so for a long, long time.”
As an avid romance reader, she’s been part of the “bookstagram” community – readers who post their favorite books on Instagram – for three years sharing her latest reads and documenting her travels to annual literary events.
“As a romance reader, it feels so cool to be able to walk into a shop and know that the entire shop is dedicated to the genre, and its wide variety as oftentimes more generalized bookstores only have a small selection,” Tucker said.
As a reader, Joyce said she grew up with the genre “in her blood,” surrounded by her mother’s love of romance books and now, as a writer, says the genre allows her readers to feel seen by celebrating different types of love stories.
“Romance is that genre where you know the characters are going to get their happily-ever-after even though you don’t know how it’s going to happen. The path is always different, but the end result is always the same,” said Joyce. “I think there’s so much comfort and joy in that and people are seeking that out now more than ever.”
Meet Cute Romance Bookshop is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays at 4048 30th St., San Diego. Visit meetcutebookshop.com for more.
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