13 APRIL 23-29, 2026 westword.com WESTWORD | CONTENTS | LETTERS | NEWS | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | CAFE | MUSIC | lenge hasn’t been fi nding readers — it’s sim- ply making sure they know the store exists. “The market’s there. The readers are there,” Morgan says. “People are dying for romance bookstores, a place where they could come and just hang out and talk to other people about what they’re passion- ate about.” Even though romance has grown into a publishing powerhouse, it is still one of the most dismissed genres in literature. Ivey has a blunt explanation for why. “The short answer is the patriarchy,” she says. “But more generally, people love to bring women down. If it’s something women love and are passionate about, it gets minimized. People say, ‘Oh, it’s just silly. It’s just smut.’” In reality, she contends, the books fre- quently deal with complex issues such as abusive relationships and questions about autonomy. “These are amazing stories that are well written and about really important issues,” she says. “Look at Sarah J. Maas. She’s talked about how many people have told her that after reading her books, they left their abu- sive spouses. Knowledge is power.” That freedom to explore complicated or uncomfortable ideas is one reason romance has expanded far beyond the clichés that once defi ned it. While the stories promise a happy ending, the road to that ending can include grief, trauma, political confl ict or questions about identity and power. “A really well-written romance makes you think, ‘Is this a new kink? Am I into this?’” Bromberg says. “I defi nitely think the extremism is a reason why people come to romance. It’s similar to why people read horror. It’s a way for us to explore something that isn’t necessarily viewed well.” And for some, it is a kink. In particularly spicy books, humans get it on with dragons and other beasts. And for some readers, that curiosity goes beyond the page, as fantasy- inspired toys like tentacle dildos have qui- etly become a staple of Denver’s sex shops. While dragon sex might seem far-fetched, even the most fantastical books often mirror real-world struggles. “Yes, there could be the pink dragons and the winged shadow daddies,” Bromberg says. “But a lot of romance books are still talking about very diffi cult things that people are dealing with.” And at the center of many of those sto- ries is a theme that resonates strongly with modern audiences: women claiming agency over their lives, their relationships and their bodies. “I think a lot of it is the women’s empow- erment kind of thing,” Morgan says. “The books we read, especially romantasy, are all very powerful women who are fi nding their voices and their power and changing the world. That draws women in. They’re just like, ‘Yeah, this woman’s a badass. I could do that.’ It’s empowering to read about other women doing that kind of thing. It’s women writing women for other women.” Ivey sees that dynamic as part of the genre’s deeper appeal. “Romantasy often features high-powered women changing systems that weren’t cre- ated for them,” she says. “They’re fi ghting for the underdog. They’re fi ghting for other women’s rights. They’re fi ghting for people to be fed. It’s all these things that relate to our own world, but because it’s happening in a fantasy land with magical powers, you can forget about our world for a little while.” Romance promises a sense of emotional closure that many other stories — and much of real life — no longer guarantee. In a cul- tural moment defi ned by uncertainty, readers know exactly what they’re getting when they open one of these books. “The world is shit right now, and one of the hallmarks of romance is there’s always a happy ending,” Bromberg concludes. “When you pick up a book and it’s romance, you know it’s going to end well, even if a shit ton of crap happens in the middle. It’s so comforting, especially when everything else is very not.” Email the author at [email protected]. Fantasy-themed dildos at Vanilla Kink, a boutique at 1111 Broadway. KRISTEN FIORE
