Hello, friends!
Jess here. I have had a dream of opening a romance bookstore since I learned about The Ripped Bodice. (I even asked if they were interested in franchising once upon a time!) I wrote about it for Book Riot long before there were over 200 romance bookstores across the globe. And now, Why Choose: A Romance Bookstore is joining the ranks. This year. In ten days. Really soon.
Earlier this year, a friend and colleague invited me to be part of a venture we had dreamed up and brainstormed in a hypothetical manner, but hadn’t thought we’d have access to a place to build it quite so soon. For years, we’d talked of a third space for book people, that was open past business and library hours. A place to host pictionary and give book recommendations, and maybe show some art. Lo and behold, a friend of hers had an empty commercially zoned space, and she wanted it to become this dream spot. A few introductory meetings and several shared google documents later, the 4th & 4th Foundation would become a living, breathing space for a writing center, book clubs, and other literary events.
Including, when I was ready, my bookstore.
All along, I knew I didn’t just want to open a regular romance bookstore. As it is in all my other Bookish Lives, my goal would be to uplift historically and systemically excluded and marginalized voices. I wanted to center every “diversity checkmark” I could think of, and I wanted to make sure that the people whose books and merch I sold were getting as much out of it as possible. And thanks to an unfortunate inheritance, I could go beyond what was available on Ingram and put money directly into creators’ hands.
It’s actually great that the space we settled on wouldn’t allow for a permanent bookstore, so I was able to slowly psych myself up towards Doing The Thing. As the Write on 4th writing center and the Why Choose Romance Book Club and other regular events settled in, I knew that now was the time. I wanted to do my first pop-up by the end of the year. Not before Christmas, because I wasn’t insane and there were already so many things happening leading up to that. But for some reason, in my mind, it needed to happen before the end of 2025. I said as much at a late summer board meeting, and the rest of the group was in favor.
So, I got started. I designed a logo. I filed for an LLC and built a website. I applied for a business license and a TPT. I made forms and social media platforms. I started amassing inventory, primarily through commission and direct sales. I followed the steps and the checklists and the recommendations. (I avoided all my friends asking “what can we do to help.”)
And now, here we are. Ten days out from one of the most anticipated moments of my career, at least until my next book (and the one after that, and the one after that, hopefully).
What’s that thing Little Red says about being excited and scared? You’ll have to check on me to make sure I haven’t had a heart attack in the meantime. But this will just be the beginning of what will be my greatest and most ambitious endeavor.
Will I see you there?
TL;DR
Winter Break Pop-Up
December 28th, 2025
2pm to 6pm
402 E 4th St. Tucson, AZ 85705
Come for the books, stay for the company.
(And the giveaways!)
Be gentle; it’s my first time.
—Jess
Owner, Why Choose: A Romance Bookstore