Photograph by Vy Pham
Leslie Schicht was down about the state of the world last spring. “I was feeling stressed and unhappy,” she recalls. “I just needed some really good romance novels to read. Some escapism.”
She wanted someone to point her to new books and authors, but the nearest romance bookstore was in Louisville. Upon a deeper dive on Google Maps, she realized there was a true void in Greater Cincinnati to provide the escape she needed. Sure, she could have gone to a big-name bookstore, but there’s rarely someone who can talk in depth about the genre, she says, unless you get lucky.
Photograph by Vy Pham
So Schicht took matters into her own hands, attended a business seminar at the Kenton County Library, and connected with Aviatra Accelerators, a nonprofit supporting women entrepreneurs. “I kept waiting for something to stop me,” she says. “Nothing did.”
She opened Poor Charlotte’s Books in Covington in October and currently operates a semi-permanent pop-up space in the Aviatra building on Pike Street. She offers all manner of romance books, including subgenres spanning historical to paranormal to fantasy and beyond. Within each subgenre, the store has LGBTQ+ titles, as well as books by self-published indie authors and a small nonfiction section. “I try to be intentional about carrying diverse voices and stories representative of diverse experiences,” she says.
Photograph by Vy Pham
On a normal day, you’ll find customers seeking out hard-to-find books on the shelves or newbies perusing the selection. The shop hosts cozy silent reading parties on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month. “We offer themes around love and community, acceptance, and perseverance,” says Schicht. “I joke that it’s non-trauma fiction.”
Expect to find popular titles like Heated Rivalry and The Long Game as well as authors with local ties, including Emily Henry and Christen Randall. “Lately, readers have been excited about the TV/romance crossovers,” says Schicht. (In addition to Heated Rivalry, Henry’s People We Meet on Vacation was recently released as a Netflix movie.) “Our book club is reading an excellent debut from Jaysea Lynn titled For Whom the Belle Tolls.”
For those who can’t find the title they’re looking for, Schicht says that Poor Charlotte’s will place special orders. As for those who don’t know where to begin, she likes to ask people what their preferred “spice level” is before recommending a book.
Poor Charlotte references the main character in E.M. Forster’s Room With a View. “What if poor Charlotte had a place like this where she could be herself, and read a dirty book,” Schicht asks.
Photograph by Vy Pham
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