A Novel Romance, a romance-focused bookstore that opened in Louisville, Ky., last summer, hosted a grand reopening celebration recently at its expanded new location in an almost 2,400-square-foot building at 10512 Watterson Trail in downtown Jeffersontown.
Owner Jonlyn Scrogham said the store now features hundreds of new titles, space for additional subgenres, an expanded variety of bookish merchandise, a writer's room called the Noveling Nook, and many areas to relax, read, and build community.
With romantic decor and photo opportunities, A Novel Romance "will be a must see on any trip to or through Louisville," she noted. In addition, book clubs, writer's workshops, and other events will be hosted on-site to continue to expand and foster the community that has been built over the past 11 months.
Scrogham told the Louisville Courier-Journal she opened A Novel Romance as a way to honor a friend who died: "I lost someone very close to me, and I was trying to figure out how to channel that." She had spoken to the friend about what they would do with their lives if they had all the money and resources in the world and Scrogham said she would own a bookstore.
"I had taken myself to Asheville for a week to get away from everything. The very first book I picked up after going through the things I had gone through was One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston," Scrogham recalled. "I finished it 20 minutes after I arrived in Asheville and it was just so cathartic and beautiful. There were parts that were sad but still so hopeful, and I thought 'this is what I want to provide for people.' "
Scrogham hopes to offer that same healing journey to others through her bookstore, which she described as her "love letter to the community."