New Romance-Only Bookstore Aims To Bring Love To Tinley Park

TINLEY PARK, IL — The second romance-only bookstore in the country opened in Tinley Park in mid-June. Love’s Sweet Arrow is owned and operated by mother-daughter team Roseann and Marissa Backlin, who were inspired to open the business by their love for romance novels.

“Romance is one of the most widely read genres in publishing, and yet there were only two exclusively romance bookstores in the world before we opened. And the only other one in the country is on the west coast,” Marissa Backlin said. “We wanted to do our part to change that and give romance readers a place to find their favorite books in the Midwest judgement-free.”

Developing the store from idea to actual opening took about a year.

“We had to do a lot of research into authors, publishing houses, form a business plan and attempt crowdfunding,” said Roseann Backlin, who also works as a food service manager at a local elementary school. The Backlins did a Kickstarter campaign that raised more than $12,000 and are now accepting donations on Patreon. “We reached out to friends who had spare bookshelves, went to a resale shop [for furniture] and were lucky enough to get some of our used stock from a retiring bookstore owner.”

In the age of impersonal ordering on Amazon, Love’s Sweet Arrow aims to be more than just an independent bookseller offering new and used novels. Marissa and Roseann hope to make it a community space, with events centered on bringing local residents together.

"In part of our research, we found that independent bookstores that focused on that community space feel and provided events for the community at large were more successful and were embraced by the community,” Marissa said.

Love’s Sweet Arrow hosts its own book club every other month, but encourages other local clubs to host meetings at the store. In addition to monthly craft nights and self-care nights, the owners also hope to partner with local charities for future events.

“We definitely want to give back and help support the community at large,” Marissa said. “I have two rescue dogs and I have discussed potentially having an adoption event at the store. One of our candle vendors is out of Oswego and is also a woman-run business. We have touched based with the American Cancer Society down the strip area from us and are hoping to do a donation week for them in October as our chosen charity.”

An author signing will be held August 24, and the store will celebrate national Bookstore Romance Day August 17 with romance author Barbara Keaton in attendance.

"I’m honored and super excited to be joining Love’s Sweet Arrow as they celebrate Bookstore Romance Day,” Keaton said. “My work celebrates the simplicity of love and romance, of being a couple and overcoming adversity to remain in love. What better way to celebrate romance than to engage readers on this special day and with an independent bookseller?”

Love’s Sweet Arrow is committed to carrying books from independent authors who self-publish. “[They] aren’t carried in big box stores as often,” Marissa said, citing the Filipino authors’ group #romanceclass as an example. “A lot of LGBTQIA authors and authors of color self-publish when major publishers reject their stories, and using the wholesaler print-on-demand option helps us a lot with being able to carry their books in stock.”

The owners are also prioritizing books from local authors. “The response has been very positive,” Roseann said. “I don’t think people realize how many authors live in the Chicagoland area.”

Marissa, who is taking a year off from her career as an early childhood special educator to work on the business full time, said children are welcome at Love’s Sweet Arrow. “[My] background has definitely influenced our small kids and YA section and we are working hard to make sure that any child who walks in the store can find a few books for themselves,” she said. “Tinley Park is a big family area and we wanted to provide a place where parents and children can both find books they like to read. Romance can be read by everyone.”