To celebrate the release of Battle of the Bookstores by Ali Brady (Berkley), romance bookstore HEA Book Boutique (l.) challenged their neighbor, Swamp Fox Bookstore (r.), a multi-genre bookstore, to see which store could sell the most copies of Brady's novel before the book's pub date, June 3. Both stores are located in Marion, Iowa, just blocks from each other.
Inspired by the book’s plot, which features two rival bookstore owners, the stores took to social media to document their challenge with playful stories and customer shout-outs. The stores shared the happy-ever-after result: it was a tie, with each store having sold 36 copies. And the author is providing signed bookplates to go with each purchase.