A new bookstore opens in Charlotte this weekend, and its shelves might leave readers feeling a little steamy. That’s because the Trope Bookshop, located off Central Avenue, is dedicated entirely to romance novels.
Inside the small, one-story bungalow at 1516 Lyon Court, the walls are painted floor to ceiling in a cozy, dark green. There’s an armchair, worn rugs and a big antique cabinet serving as a checkout. Owner Katie Mitchell, 34, says the atmosphere is like an English pub.
She stands on a ladder straightening up a shelf and trying to keep her emotions in check ahead of Saturday’s grand opening.
"I’m nervous. I’m anxious. I’m excited. I’m like, kind of sweating, feel like I kind of want to throw up — can’t wait for everyone to get here. Like, I’m so excited," she said.
The paint on the walls is still fresh — you can faintly smell it — and Mitchell agrees to give me a tour.
"Let’s start at the front. We can work our way to the back," she said.
Romantic melodrama to hardcore smut
This former tattoo parlor is now a clandestine bookshop with more than 900 titles ranging from light romantic melodrama to hardcore smut.
Mitchell shows off 16 different sections, including young adult, contemporary, and sensual sports. "Very popular — especially the hockey," she said.
There's also historical romance, royal romance, sexy vampires, and a whole section for cowboys. "The girls love the cowboys."
The back of the store holds books that are darker and more depraved. There are sections on mafia men, serial killers and adult monster romances that Mitchell describes as "very … detailed. I’ll just leave it there."
And then there’s the section Mitchell is most excited to talk about.
"Ugh. The 'romantasy,'" she said. "This is the ‘it’ genre right now. This is where I live."
This section contains fairies, beasts and magical, lascivious odysseys — or what fans lovingly call “fairy smut,” though Mitchell says it can sound reductive.
"The world building in these books is so incredible," she said. "You think of like George R. R. Martin or Brandon Sanderson with these huge, elaborate worlds that they build and for some reason, they get a little more respect? I don’t know if that’s the right word, but they get taken a little more seriously."
A bus named 'Green Girl'
Mitchell rediscovered the "romantasy" genre during the pandemic through TikTok. She started with Sarah J. Maas’s bestselling “A Court of Thorns and Roses” and found a welcome escape as she was hating, then leaving her job in corporate logistics.
Not too long after, she found herself romanticizing — as it were — the romance book business.
"One of my friends at dinner one night, she was like, 'Why don’t you look at a book cart like they do at Central Park in New York?' And I was like, ‘Huh, OK. There’s maybe something to that.’" Mitchell recalled. "And I literally found the bus on Facebook Marketplace when I got home that night."
That bus was a 2006 mini Ford school bus that she bought in July 2023, painted green and turned into a mobile bookstore, driving around to coffee shops, wine bars and breweries.
She said the bus will still make rounds, by the way.
"I want to be crystal clear: Green Girl’s not going away," Mitchell said. "She will be part of Team Trope always."
But now, readers can visit Mitchell’s physical store to browse even more titles and authors. She thinks romance may be just the escape people need right now.
"We live in unprecedented times," she said. "If I have to hear that phrase one more time on the internet or the news, I — I can’t. So, like, yeah. Give me some precedent. Give me something that I know exactly how this is going to go, and I think there’s something to be said for that."
The next chapter of her own story starts this weekend as the bookshop opens. Expect a DJ and food trucks on Saturday, and food trucks and author signings on Sunday. More details on the Trope Bookshop Instagram page.
