Tucked into a quiet corner of the Meadows lies something not-so-quiet: Book Lovers Bookshop, the United Kingdom’s first brick-and-mortar romance-only bookshop. Step inside, and the stillness of its surroundings dissolves into something far more vibrant—a space that hums with colour and an unapologetic celebration of a genre that has long existed on the margins.
In just a year and a half since opening, the shop has already garnered national recognition. Named RNA Champion of the Year in 2025, it was most recently awarded Scotland’s Best Independent Bookstore at the British Book Awards. Yet for founder and owner Caden Armstrong, the recognition remains slightly unreal. The longlist alone, she reflects, was “so incredible” that being included felt like “such an honour.” Now shortlisted for the UK-wide title, she speaks less of competition than of collective celebration — of representing not only Scotland, but a genre-specific bookshop, and, more significantly, romance itself, “which for so much of its history has not been represented.”
That emphasis on collectivity is not incidental; it sits at the heart of what Book Lovers is. The award, Armstrong insists, does not belong to her alone. It is shared with her team, with the authors and publishers they collaborate with, and, crucially, with the readers who have sustained the shop from the very beginning. “We would not be here without the readers,” she says simply.
The origins of Book Lovers lie, in many ways, in absence. Having grown up in Los Angeles—home to The Ripped Bodice, the first romance-only bookshop—Armstrong was immersed in romance fiction from an early age. But after moving abroad, first to Paris and then to Scotland, she encountered something striking: not the absence of romance readers, but the absence of a visible space for them. “It was not a matter of if the community was here,” she explains, “it was that the community had no space for itself—so it was not being seen.” That invisibility, she notes, is compounded by a persistent stigma, one that continues to frame romance readers as somehow lesser, often “shamed for what they read.”
Book Lovers emerges as a direct response to that dynamic. It is not simply a bookshop, but a reclamation of space—a place where readers can walk in and ask, without hesitation or embarrassment, for the “poly-monster romance” they saw on BookTok, or strike up conversations about enemies-to-lovers arcs, dark romance, or the ever-present figure of the “shadow daddy.” In doing so, the shop challenges the idea of romance as a fleeting trend. As Armstrong emphasises, it is a genre that has been a “billion-dollar industry for decades,” one that has long thrived, even if it has not always been afforded the same cultural legitimacy.
What perhaps surprised Armstrong most, however, was the scale and immediacy of the response. From its opening, Book Lovers was met with an outpouring of enthusiasm—through sold-out events, preorders, and a steady stream of readers eager for a space that felt like theirs. It is here that the specificity of independent bookselling becomes most apparent. “What is so beautiful about indie bookshops,” she reflects, “is that we are so incredibly connected to our communities.” That connection extends far beyond the physical space of the shop. Through social media, Book Lovers has cultivated a global readership, one that Armstrong describes as “life-changing.” Rather than treating digital platforms as mere marketing tools, she sees them as an extension of the community itself—a way of ensuring that readers, wherever they are, remain part of the conversation.
At the same time, Book Lovers is shaped as much by identity as it is by community. As a queer and disabled-owned business, Armstrong is clear that there is no separation between the personal and the professional. “There was no way for me to do this business keeping my own identity out of it,” she explains. Instead, the shop embraces that visibility, positioning it not as a limitation but as a point of pride. The act of “sitting in that joy,” she suggests, becomes, in itself, a quiet form of resistance. This ethos carries through to the shop’s approach to bookselling, particularly in its commitment to amplifying marginalised voices and challenging entrenched hierarchies within publishing.
Nowhere is this more evident than in its support for self-published authors. Within the romance genre, Armstrong argues, indie publishing is not peripheral but foundational—the “backbone” of the industry. Yet it continues to be dismissed through what she describes as an “elitist understanding” that equates traditional publishing with quality—which is “such a lie.” Book Lovers actively works against that narrative, foregrounding both independent and traditionally published works in an effort to “stock as much diversity” as possible.
Opening a genre-specific bookshop in Edinburgh—a city already dense with literary history—might seem, at first glance, like a risk. Yet it is precisely this context that has allowed Book Lovers to flourish. As a UNESCO City of Literature, Edinburgh sustains a culture that values bookselling not only as commerce but as craft. Within that supportive ecosystem, Book Lovers does not seek to assimilate but to complement. It fills a gap, not just locally but nationally, while remaining distinctly itself. “We came into the scene very proud of who we are,” Armstrong reflects, emphasising the importance of not diluting their individuality.
Still, the reality of independent bookselling remains precarious. Armstrong is candid about the risks involved, describing the experience as “terrifying”—a constant process of movement and uncertainty. At just 25, she invested her savings into the business, despite being advised against it, and while living abroad. What sustains the shop, however, is not certainty but passion: “We are here because we cannot stop talking about romance books.” That passion is balanced by a recognition of limits—of the need for support systems and for care. “At the end of the day, we are people first,” she notes, a reminder that sits in quiet tension with the demands of running a small business.
If Book Lovers’ rapid rise signals anything, it is that the demand for such spaces has long been present, waiting to be made visible. What the shop ultimately offers is something enduring: a space in which readers are not only welcomed, but understood. So step inside, ask for a recommendation—no matter how niche or oddly phrased—and trust that, somewhere on those shelves, there is a story already waiting for you.
Photo provided by FMcM for The Student
