Love reading about love? Then mark your calendar for Aug. 19. That’s Bookstore Romance Day, when about a dozen bookstores around the Bay Area will join a national celebration of the romance novel.
Bookstore Romance Day, launched in 2019, is aimed at helping independent bookstores connect with romance readers and writers — and it’s coming to independent bookstores across the U.S.
This year’s celebration brings a series of bookish events for Bay Area romance readers, including a conversation with two authors at Books Inc. in Campbell, discounts on romance novels at Pegasus Books in Oakland and Berkeley and a queer rom-com book and wine pairing in Mountain View.
Campbell’s Books, Inc. will host a discussion between romance authors Evie Blum and Lexie Sloane on Aug. 19. Blum is the author of “Ship It,” a romance novel set at a Silicon Valley start-up. Sloane’s latest, “Broken Summit,” is a romance set during a mountain getaway. The conversation starts at 1 p.m. at Books Inc. Pruneyard at 1875 S. Bascom Ave. #600 in Campbell. Find details here.
Pegasus Books in Oakland and Berkeley will offer 20% off all romance novels all day on Aug. 19 and will raffle off three romance novel-themed gift baskets.
And at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 22, Mountain View’s Books Inc. is doing a romance and wine book club night at nearby Rootstock Wine Bar at 331 Castro St. Prepare to sip and dish on Taleen Voskuni’s “Sorry, Bro,” a queer rom-com and a celebration of Armenian culture all in one.
Also participating: Rakestraw Books in Danville, Towne Center Books in Pleasanton, Hicklebee’s in San Jose, Booksmart in Morgan Hill. Find still more at https://bookstoreromanceday.org/. If you want to go virtual, check out @bkstoreromanceday on Instagram for the latest updates.
And if you can wait until next month, there’s another romance novel event on the horizon: Kepler’s Books in Menlo Park will host a Sept. 16 panel discussion featuring authors Ali Hazelwood, Rosie Danan, Christina Lauren and Susan Lee, whose new novel, “The Name Drop,” is about to drop.