More Than Words: 6 Swoon-worthy Bookish Romance Novels

As the owner of a bookstore, Tansy Adams thinks she is living the dream. Still, her family pesters her all the time about finding love. Tired of the questions, Tansy invents a girlfriend, describing a beautiful model from the cover of a book. So imagine her surprise when that very woman walks into her store! Gemma is not only the cover model, but she’s also the heir to a publishing empire. Unfortunately, in order to inherit, she needs to find a wife. When she learns that she’s already been Tansy’s pretend girlfriend for some time, Gemma makes her a deal: pretend to be Gemma’s fiancée for her family, and she’ll give Tansy the money to keep her struggling store open. But neither of them counted on the very real heat that grows between them.

Lily Greene has been stuck working as an editor of nonfiction for years, waiting for her dream of becoming an editor of children’s books to come true. She was fighting off her frustration by corresponding with her favorite fantasy author, until he let her down by ghosting her. Determined to shake it off, Lily goes looking for a date to her sister’s wedding. Her shy new neighbor, Nick, knows just the guy for Lily to take. But what she doesn’t know is that Nick is doing her this favor because he’s actually her favorite fantasy author. When he realizes Lily is the woman he fell in love with over email all those months ago, he’s determined not to let her down again. But can he keep his feelings a secret forever?

For those who love their local bookstores for their sense of community, there’s this charming story of a grieving bookshop owner and her loyal customers. Since the death of her father, Emelia has been struggling to keep the family bookstore open. Thankfully, she has a group of customers who have become like family and want to help her stay open. As they visit Nightingale Books and share quick glances and pine away for one another, they’ll also do what they can to keep the store—and love—alive.

Zora thought she couldn’t be more excited when Lawrence, her favorite mystery author, agrees to do an event at her D.C. indie bookstore. That is, until he asks her out. Dating Lawrence also means spending time with his cranky best friend, Reid, but Zora learns she shouldn’t judge a book by its cover when she discovers underneath Reid’s cranky exterior, he’s a sensitive, smart guy. And he’s also into Zora. Suddenly, she has two well-read men competing for her affections, like something straight out of a romance novel. Which one will Zora choose for her happily ever after?

What could be more romantic than a romance set in a bookstore in Italy? When Luna’s mother dies, Luna feels adrift and goes looking for answers to what she should do next. She finds them in letters she discovers in her mother’s belongings. Something Luna reads is about to take her on a grand journey, one filled with humor and romance, when she finds herself at a charming little bookshop on the canals in Venice. Luna set out to find answers about a mystery in her mother’s past, but she’s going to wind up writing a new exciting chapter for herself.

Joelle Prima, owner of a Filipino bakery, thought that having to share a space with the cute bookstore owner while their building was being renovated was going to be the start of a meet-cute. But Max Boyson is a nuisance, with a snippy attitude and boundary issues, and Joelle cannot wait to be rid of him—until they learn the actual reason for their building’s renovation. Suddenly, with a common cause to fight, Joelle discovers that Max is hiding a sweet side beneath his gruff exterior and that there just might be more to his story than she realized.