Hopeless Romantic Bookshop opened in Toronto’s West Queen West neighbourhood in October 2025. (Photo courtesy Hopeless Romantic)

Shop Talk is an occasional feature in which fledgling independent booksellers take Q&Q into their stores and share their reasons for opening and what business has been like so far. 

Hopeless Romantic Bookshop
1080 Queen Street West
Toronto, Ontario

Kearston Bergeron and Serena Goodchild opened their romance bookstore on a whim. 

The sisters had long talked about how fun it would be to open a bookstore together in “wishful thinking” terms, Goodchild says. 

“Then one day we just started to look into the possibility – what space would we use, what the costs would be, etc.,” she says. “Before we knew it, we had all the info ready to go and we just had to do it.”

The pair opened the brick-and-mortar Hopeless Romantic Bookshop in downtown Toronto on Oct. 11 of this year, after a successful year-long stint operating out of Stackt Market, a shipping container market that offers flexible leases and outfitted spaces to emerging brands. At the time, Bergeron and Goodchild saw a lack of romance bookstores in eastern Canada and a definite need for one. 

The new store, in Toronto’s West Queen West neighbourhood, is about 890 square feet, though that figure is about 1,300 square feet for the entire location.

The owners have a staff of six, as well as Bergeron’s husband, who serves as IT, maintenance, and “everything-in-between guy.”

Goodchild recently talked to Q&Q about what the first month of business in the new location has been like. 

Why open Hopeless Romantic in 2025?

After almost a year [at Stackt Market], it was clear that our store and community had outgrown our little shop and we needed to start looking for a larger space. What started as a small passion project turned into a dream and we’ve been in awe watching it grow and loving getting to know so many amazing people in the romance community.

How has the community and its readers responded to the store?

We have had the warmest welcome to the neighbourhood, with many residents and neighbouring businesses personally reaching out to welcome us. In our short month of being open we’ve already made several new friends and connections.

How do you reach potential readers?

We do a lot of social media (Instagram, TikTok) but we also have word-of-mouth to thank as well. One thing about becoming a small business owner in 2025 is you have to be ready to commit to making social media content and be prepared that it is a lot more work than you expect.

What are your goals for the bookstore? Does the store have any special focus?

Our main goal is to create a welcoming, safe space for everyone – a place where all romance lovers can feel comfortable. But a dream would of course be to host a Carley Fortune signing/event one day.

What has been most surprising or unexpected about opening a bookstore or about your first few months in business?

As we’ve been in business for over a year already, there isn’t much that surprises us anymore – though we are constantly learning. One big thing is the social-media work; if you plan on opening a business, be prepared to be a content creator! 

This interview has been edited and condensed.