Orange County is Falling for Romance Reads

Lauren Harvey
7 hours ago
4 min read

The county now has two romance-only bookstores and a thriving community of passionate readers.

The interior of Heartbound Book Shop in Anaheim. Photo courtesy of Jenika Morillo

Mary Marschke, Kierstin Gordon and Britnee Mitchell had never met before Aug. 16 around 1:30 p.m. But after they ended up next to each other in the line that began to curve around Mystic Box Bookshop in downtown Huntington Beach, the conversation flowed easily.

“It’s so nice. You get to just start talking, and everybody’s reading something different,” Marschke said. “Everyone has more experience with certain authors than others do, so you add more to your TBR list.”

The trio was waiting to meet bestselling romance and fantasy, or “romantasy,” authors LJ Andrews and Melissa K. Roehrich. While Marschke and Gordon both live in Orange County, Mitchell, driven by her love for the genre, traveled two hours from north Los Angeles just for the event.

“I actually go down to San Diego for book stuff, but I just found this bookstore,” Marschke said, adding that she’s lived in the area for about a decade. “It’s really nice to have something closer by.”

When Mystic Box opened next to the International Surfing Museum in July, it became the second romance-dedicated bookstore in Orange County, following Heartbound Book Shop in Anaheim, which opened in October 2024. And they’re part of a larger trend: The U.S. now has 107 physical romance bookstores, according to Romancing the Data.

As romance continues to outsell all other fiction genres – with romantasy titans Sarah J. Maas and Rebecca Yarros leading the way – these brick-and-mortar stores give passionate readers a space to bond over their favorite books, authors and tropes.

Mystic Box Bookshop may have recently opened its doors, but it already has a significant following. Kate Benito launched the company in 2018 as a bimonthly subscription service for special edition dark, mafia, taboo and erotic romance books. In 2024, she hosted an in-person event at the Kimpton Shorebreak Huntington Beach Resort, and realized the need for a physical bookstore.

Books on display at Mystic Box Bookstore in Huntington Beach. Photo courtesy of Emma Jane Photography

“We sold out 250 tickets in 20 minutes. People have been wanting to do more of that,” Benito said. “The idea of the brick-and-mortar is just a place that people can go to. We can host events. It gives us a good base for our customer base to visit us.”

Today, Benito still runs the Mystic Box subscription service in addition to the Arcane Society, focused on paranormal and fantasy romance, and Belle Box, dedicated to contemporary romance. Helping her in the store are her husband, Phil, and her daughter, Alex, who can often be found reading a philosophy book behind the counter.

Also a family operation, Heartbound Book Shop is coming up on one year in its Anaheim storefront.

Books on display at Heartbound Book Shop in Anaheim. Photo courtesy of Jenika Morillo

“We’re happy to be in Orange County,” said Jenika Morillo, who runs the business with her mom, Cecilia, and sister, Ayesha. “Our goal has always been to be a safe space for everyone, somewhere where they can come and not feel judged.

In 2023, Ayesha wanted to buy a physical copy of “The Unwanted Marriage” by Catharina Maura, but couldn’t find the indie book at any nearby Barnes & Noble. She and Jenika considered visiting the Ripped Bodice in Culver City or Meet Cute in San Diego – the two nearest romance bookstores – but couldn’t justify the drive.

“I joked around, ‘Why don’t we just open a romance bookstore in Orange County?’” Jenika said.

Six months later, Jenika quit her corporate job and went all-in on the bookstore. She spent an entire day researching how to source books and drafted a business proposal to present to her mom and sister. Together, they came up with the funds to launch a website and start doing pop-up events around Orange County in 2023. Almost a year later, they opened their brick-and-mortar business.

“One of my significant memories that always stands out was being able to open the doors and seeing the excitement on everybody’s faces that there was a bookstore in Orange County that they could go to that just had romance books,” Jenika said.

On Bookstore Romance Day – a national celebration of romance books that took place Aug. 11 – customers waited outside the store for two hours to participate in the festivities, which included drinking matcha from Sweet Memory Coffee, taking pictures in a photo booth and getting flash tattoos.

“Our shelves were mostly empty at the end of the day,” Jenika said. “I feel like everyone was running on adrenaline, but we had such a great time.”

Heartbound provides plenty of opportunities for romance readers to come together. Currently, the store facilitates three book clubs dedicated to romantasy, queer romance and general romance. Heartbound also hosts an in-store movie night on the first Friday of every month. On Sept. 5, they celebrated Ayesha’s birthday by watching her favorite movie, “The Princess Bride.”

In the digital age, it’s easier than ever for readers to connect over Discord, Instagram, TikTok and Zoom. Still, these local, brick-and-mortar spaces play a central role in building community and providing much-needed escape.

“This is the perfect alternate world to put myself into,” Marschke said. “It’s nothing like my current world.”