Fall in love with reading at Meet Cute Romance Bookshop

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – The city of San Diego’s first romance-only book store is now open in North Park inviting people to come find a book you didn’t know you were looking for.

Becca Title opened the doors to Meet Cute Romance Bookshop in September. Ever since, the page-turners paradise is opening readers’ eyes to just how vast the genre really is.

“People come in off the street and they’re like, ‘Wait, so all of these books are romance books?’ And I’m like yes, they are all romance. It’s a giant genre,” Title said.

Aside from a vast variety of books to choose from, Meet Cute offers readers a space to connect with other readers, take photos in front of a social-media-worthy mural, and take their pick from a wide selection of gifts.

“In an era and world where you can buy anything on the internet, you have to have a reason to buy something from a physical store,” Title said.

A ‘book boom’ of sorts is credited with surging the popularity of reading thanks to social media hashtags during the COVID-19 pandemic. People couldn’t shop in stores, but they had the ability to read recommendations from other readers online.

It’s also spurring support for book stores with more openings in the last three years than in the last decade altogether. Title is trying to remind people there are certain things an algorithm on the internet cannot do for you.

“People are coming in and saying, ‘Here’s a book I read and loved, here’s one I read but I didn’t love, what would you recommend?'” Title said. “That kind of customized conversation is something you can’t find on the internet.”

For more information on the store’s events and Meet Cute Podcast visit: https://www.meetcutebookshop.com/