Sugar and Spice Books is now open as Boulder’s first romance-only bookstore and the first of its kind in Northern Colorado, celebrating its grand opening Feb. 7. Located at 1901 9th St., Unit 125, Sugar and Spice Books will be the second romance-only bookstore in Colorado, following Denver’s The Spicy Librarian, which opened in January 2025.
Sugar and Spice Books is owned by Superior resident Hannah Morgan. “I loved to read when I was a kid, and then you grow up and kind of stop,” she said. During the pandemic, Morgan read Sarah J. Maas’s viral series “A Court of Thorns and Roses,” and it reignited her love for books.
Romance has long had a dedicated readership, but in recent years, it has become one of the fastest-growing and bestselling genres in publishing. Sales started to climb during the pandemic and haven’t fallen yet. A “Court of Thorns and Roses” — known as ACOTAR to its fans — is one success story. Heated Rivalry, the Rachel Reid novel that inspired the hit HBO show, is another.
“There’s something for everybody,” Morgan said, and she’s eager to help readers find the subgenre that resonates with them. “There’s a huge market for this,” she added. She knows this firsthand, both as a reader and a bookseller.
In 2024, Morgan launched an online bookstore called Fated Mates Books, which specialized in special editions of popular romance novels. By day, she worked for the past 12 years as a clinical laboratory scientist.
“I enjoy the technical aspects of my job, and the science,” Morgan said, “but I am so burnt out on bureaucracy.” After seeing the success of Fated Mates Books, she decided to take the leap, quit her day job and open Sugar and Spice Books as a brick-and-mortar store.
One of the biggest hurdles was finding a retail space in Boulder that worked for Morgan’s budget and vision. She had fallen in love with the Pearl Street Mall on a visit to Boulder, and when she and her husband moved to Colorado in February 2025, Morgan knew she wanted her bookstore to be downtown.
“I had a really difficult time finding someplace to rent,” she said. “It’s really expensive” — a sentiment echoed by other small business owners in Boulder. Cost wasn’t the only obstacle. “I had one place reject me because they were worried about the optics of a romance bookstore,” she said.
The space she eventually found is a sublet near Pearl Street’s West End with plenty of space for everything Morgan’s envisioned: author signings, themed tattoo pop-ups, book clubs and book-related craft nights. Sugar and Spice Books replaces Multivogue, a women’s clothing store.
Romance-only bookstores are a relatively new trend, developing in tandem with the skyrocketing popularity of romance novels on the reading-centric subcommunities on TikTok and Instagram, colloquially called BookTok and Bookstagram. “Romance is really the only genre that’s branched out on its own,” Morgan said, noting that despite selling well for decades, romance can be looked down on by other readers. The mainstream embrace of romance and romantasy — a blend of romance and fantasy — has done wonders to combat antiquated taboos.
Ultimately, Morgan hopes that Sugar and Spice Books will be a hub for readers and writers.
She intends to prioritize Colorado authors. In addition to books that are traditionally published, Sugar and Spice will feature books from smaller, independent publishing houses and even books self-published by the authors. Morgan herself will be curating displays that will give these lesser-known authors more visibility.
“Boulder has a great demographic for romance readers because of the college,” she said. Romance, despite its steady readership, has long been a slightly stigmatized genre, and can be neglected by other larger bookstores. “It’s definitely a niche that needs to be filled,” Morgan said.
Starting Feb. 7, Sugar and Spice Books will be open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day.