Romance bookstore turns page to success in Jeffersontown

By Brooklyn Sherman, Arts Angle Reporter

Male High School, Class of 2027

“It's a place where they can come and just feel safe and feel hopeful,” says Jonlyn Scrogham, the owner of A Novel Romance.

That’s how Scrogham describes her small bookstore in the heart of Jeffersontown. A Novel Romance centers its inventory on romance and inclusion, creating a safe space for all the city’s romance lovers.

Jonlyn Scrogram, owner of A Novel Romance. Photo courtesy of Jonlyn Scrogram.

More people are discovering this bookstore as it reaches its three-year anniversary, which it plans to celebrate from July 13 to 19. Scrogham says during the recent Global Book Crawl or Read for the Roses (April 20 to May 3), A Novel Romance saw a 10% increase in customer traffic this year over last.

This marked the bookstore’s third year in the crawl, a celebration of Independent Bookstore Day (April 25). The week-long event also included Carmichael's Bookstore locations, Foxing Books, Gye Nyame Books and More, Nook and Nowhere, The Rosewater and Set and Setting.

In 2023, when Scrogham drove to sign off to open the business, she intended to focus the bookstore on fantasy literature. During the drive, she was listening to a romance audiobook. By the time she finished the book and parked at her destination, she was filled with a sense of hope that drove her to open a romance bookstore.

Customers of Jeffersontown’s A Novel Romance can peruse books in the store’s comfortable and colorful alcoves. Photo by Brooklyn Sherman.

If romance novels aren’t your niche, don’t count this little bookstore out. The stacks include sections for biographies, non-fiction and even children’s books. Scrogham explains how these books fit into the theme.

“It's still love,” Scrogham says. “It's just a different version of it.”

This sense of hope fills the very structure of the Jeffersontown building, mirroring the feeling of reading a romance book, like when two characters start to feel that spark. The bookstore’s colorful selection matches the collection of artwork from local artists displayed throughout the space. Multiple murals decorate the walls depicting different genres of romance, and cute designs permeate the store that add to the beautiful and welcoming nature.

One of the multiple murals in Jeffersontown’s A Novel Romance's that spotlight specific romance genres. Photo by Brooklyn Sherman.

“We've got more painting happening,” she says. “We've got some murals going up because we already have a ton. But, you know, we can't be stopped.”

A Novel Romance also strives to create a place in Jeffersontown where everyone can feel accepted, specifically the LGBTQ community. The store’s organized sections and sub-sections are dedicated to different book genres including those with LGBTQ themes.

This store sustains a community through writing circles, book clubs and other exciting events. These efforts make it a safe space and allow people to feel accepted. And community support has provided Scrogham the freedom to create this female-owned and minority-group-centered bookstore.

“I feel like being in J-town has been very welcoming of a woman-owned business because there are so many women owned businesses here,” says Scrogham. She credits Roselynn Hill Winery for allowing the bookstore to host most events there.

Jeffersontown’s A Novel Romance features a cozy and colorful setting for its book stacks along with murals. Photo by Brooklyn Sherman.

Between the Jeffersontown community, including the Jeffersontown Chamber of Commerce, and a mentor with SCORE, part of the U.S. Small Business Administration, Scrogham says she has found strong support. As the bookstore continues to grow, her mother and friends have picked up shifts to help serve the fast-growing clientele.

That big growth spurt came after the bookstore’s 2023 start in a tiny building in Middletown. A rapidly multiplying clientele prompted the move less than a year later to Jeffersontown.

“All of a sudden, we couldn't keep books on the shelf and we couldn't be open enough,” she says.

The Jeffersontown location helps the store meet demand, handles more foot traffic, and, due to the building’s size, it can host the monthly events.

“Blind date” books on display in A Novel Romance. Photo by Brooklyn Sherman.

From the beginning, Scrogham wanted to focus on making the store a safe place for the LBGTQ community.

“You can't be everything for everyone. So, we decided we just wanted to be really good at being something for someone,” she says. "We decided to put all of our attention into uplifting, platforming and protecting the queer community.”

Besides romance books, A Novel Romance carries a large selection of books by local authors and publishers. The bookstore orders books through publishers and through the authors, which leads this store to have a selection not often found in bigger stores.

Then there are “blind date” books, anonymous books whose titles are concealed beneath decorative wrapping so customers purchase them with a surprise in their future. These mystery selections, now a big part of the store's product, come packaged with bookmarks and stickers.

Scrogham describes the “blind date” books as a gamble at first, but they sold out just after they went into the store. Now, A Novel Romance drops new “blind date” books each Friday morning.

The storefront of A Novel Romance in Jeffersontown. Photo by Brooklyn Sherman.

The store also carries other products like fun bookmarks, post cards and pins, with many resonating the store’s pursuit to be a safe space for the LGBTQ community. Many of these fun additional items reflect the owner's creativity, as Scrogham describes finding products on Faire, “a website like Etsy for wholesalers.” This brings a personal touch to the bookstore that makes it a more interesting place to shop.

A Novel Romance, a gorgeous reflection of the community, stands as an example of a success story for anyone who might be scared to pursue entrepreneurship. It’s a beautiful store Scrogham describes as “vibrant, fast and romantic.”

A Novel Romance

10512 Watterson Trail, Louisville, KY 40299

Website: www.anovelromance.com

Insta: @anovelromancebookstore