Heart Swell Books, Tucson’s first brick-and-mortar romance bookstore is officially open, stocked with all your favorite swoon-worthy reads and cozy love stories.
Heart Swell, at 2700 N. Campbell Ave., isn’t just any bookstore though. In addition to their curated shelves of popular romance books, owners and long-time friends, Chelsea Blue and Shelbie Webb, also sell a selection of beer, wines, non-alcoholic cocktails, coffee and teas. Because who doesn’t love a cozy evening with a glass of wine and a good book?
As young adults, Blue and Webb connected over their love of books, and the two started the romance book pop-up “Friends to Lovers,” with a couple of their friends back in 2024.
“It was four of us, and we thought it'd be fun to bring a bunch of romance books to Slow Body and see who would show up,” Blue said. “And then it turned out to be this super big thing. A lot of people wanted it and we saw the need for a physical space.”
For Webb in particular, owning a bookstore has been a life-long dream.
“I've always been an avid reader,” Webb said. “And it was my goal in life to own a bookstore.”
Owners of Heart Swell Books Chelsea Blue, left, and Shelbie Webb pose for a portrait, 2700 North Campbell Avenue, Tucson, Ariz., Oct. 2, 2026.
The romance focus was inspired by the rise in online popularity of the genre, as well as their desire to share the fun of romance books with readers.
“I think particularly women have had this experience over the last several years where on BookTok, the internet, they're getting these recommendations for romance books that maybe they wouldn't have read before, and they're really enjoying them,” Webb said.
Blue and Webb said they wanted to create a space where romance readers could feel comfortable sharing their interest, and engage with a community of other fans.
“We feel like there's this need to explain that reading romance isn't a guilty pleasure, that joy is radical, that this is really important,” Blue said. “Romance is where it's at. It’s really good, really fun, it's filling our cup and there's no reason to feel guilty about it.”
On the shelves, romance fans will find books from all facets of the genre, including contemporary romance, romantasy, historical romance and dark romance.
“We have a very large LGBTQIA+ section as well as just a diverse selection in general,” Webb said.
Some of the well-known authors featured in the collection are Sarah J. Maas, Alix E. Harrow, Casey McQuiston, and V.E. Schwab.
Romance books for sale at Heart Swell Books, 2700 North Campbell Avenue, Tucson, Ariz., Oct. 2, 2026.
Not everything is solely romance though. Heart Swell also has a collection of classic literature like “Pride and Prejudice”, “Emma,” and “Little Women,” and a “fiction with love” section, for readers who might not be ready to venture fully into the romance genre.
“With romance, it technically needs to have a happily ever after,” Webb said. “Those are books that may not, but still have a beautiful love thread throughout them. Whether that be familial, friendships, anything in between, they're not necessarily romance.”
For younger readers, they also have a designated section for kids and Young Adult books.
“The idea is that truly anyone could get something here,” Blue said.
At its core, Webb and Blue said they want Heart Swell Books to be a place for Tucson book-lovers to connect and relax.
“We really wanted to develop a space where people could hang out,” Webb said. “You do that by offering snacks and beverages and other things in addition to the books,” Webb said. “I also just love the idea of a book and wine pairing.”
Heart Swell Books officially opened their doors at the end of September, and both Blue and Webb said the support and excitement from customers has been incredible. Only a few weeks in, they said they are already starting to see the community grow.
“Someone came in and she was like, ‘I don't have enough friends in Tucson,’ and it was so sweet because she ended up just talking to absolutely everybody who was in here,” Blue said. “That's just the type of people who come in here.”
Webb said the sense of community connections reminds her of the events they held for “Friends to Lovers.”
“People would come alone to our events and make friends and get book recommendations, and to have a home for that is so cool,” she said.
Her hope for Heart Swell is to offer that same welcoming environment, and create events for the Tucson book community.
“I really see this being a hub for a lot of really fun events,” Webb said.
She said she would love to host authors and new book release events.
“Even themed events like we've done in the past,” she said. “Like doing something in the spring for a lot of the classics and historical romance. Maybe a flower making course.”
For now though, Webb said they are starting with book clubs, and so far they have announced three different book club dates on Oct. 20, Oct. 23, and Oct. 25.
“That's something we intend to do very regularly,” Blue said. “And what we did is we picked different types of books. So it's not that we expect everyone to come to the same ones. Not everybody is into the slasher horror one that we picked, and then some people maybe aren't into the cozy romance one we picked. So we tried to pick all these different ones.”
Afternoon customers order drinks before browsing the book selection at Heart Swell Books, 2700 North Campbell Avenue, Tucson, Ariz., Oct. 2, 2026.
To celebrate their grand opening, Heart Swell Books is hosting an all-day party on Oct. 16, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., featuring music, drinks from Slow Body Beer Co., raffles and all sorts of bookish fun.
“We're gonna start with doing yoga on the patio, and then we're gonna do mimosas after,” Webb said. “In the evening we're gonna have the Ensenada food truck outside, along with a DJ Night Moves. They'll be outside spinning vinyl.”
There will also be a few other special additions for attendees to look forward to.
“For our grand opening, we'll have a special new merch release,” she said. “So people can get excited about that.”
