The Brooklyn location, which opened in August, wasn't even the first outpost of The Ripped Bodice. There's been one in Los Angeles since 2016. Fans went nuts anyway. Many travelled for the opening and there were queues of readers waiting to get in. Of course, the store sells only romance novels.
More than 280 years since Samuel Richardson published the first romance novel, Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded, in 1740, the genre is a world unto its own. Last year they raked in $1.4 billion, outselling crime and sci-fi and making up 25% of all books sold.
And yet, critics complain that they're full of clichés. Priya Chaudhary, aka Instagram's @TheReading Wanderer, says that's exactly what makes them fun. They may be the one place outside of Bollywood where stereotypes are not just expected, they're celebrated.
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