“Everybody wants love,” says Kelsey Orlecki, sitting on a couch in the back half of her store, accessible through a sliding secret entrance. She’s just the person to come to for such a literary request.
Orlecki is a purveyor of literature for lovers and those looking for a little romantic excitement between the pages; in straightforward terms, she’s the owner of The Book Boudoir, a bookstore focused on the sale of romance novels and literature.
Her small location a block north of Jasper Avenue just east of 124 Street features decorative nods to romance and literature. A bathtub sits in the corner with a pink neon “Good Girl” sign hanging above while a ladder named Jacob adorns the far wall. Titles such as The Kiss Thief and Blood and Roses adorn the walls.
The Book Boudoir is one of the 16 local book retailers taking part in the Edmonton Indie Bookstore Extravaganza, a celebration of small bookstores and the people behind them. Long-time book sellers such as Audreys Books, with more than 50 years in the community, share the day with newer stores such as Porch Light Books comic book stores, such as Variant Edition.
For two days, April 25 and 26, book lovers can stop by stores on the list to collect stamps in a passport. For each store visited, you can get a chance to win merchandise or gift cards.
The two-day literary celebration is an extension of the Canadian Independent Bookstore Day, a nationwide initiative on the last Saturday in April to support small book retailers, such as The Book Boudoir.
The Book Boudoir, #102 12017 102 Ave. NW, in Edmonton Thursday April 9, 2026.
What Orlecki has built is more than just a bookstore, but a community of romance fans in the city, a place where people looking for a bit of love between the covers can come together and possibly find something new.
“People are always looking for connection, and the in person connection is one of the bigger things,” says Orlecki. “I find that being an indie bookstore, it’s a central community hub that we’ve created. Especially with my brand, we’ve really created a safe space for, particularly women to come and really just be themselves and explore whatever they want to explore with no judgement.”
It’s The Book Boudoir’s second location; what started as a pop-up project less than three years ago has turned into a space for book lovers and lovers of literature. They run book clubs for fans of various romance sub-genres, and offer a “wandering book club” where themes and genres shift, for fans of the genre looking to dabble and maybe find something a bit out of their comfort zone.
Those book club members and repeat clients are joined by a steady stream of romance novices, individuals either drawn to the genre for the first time.
“That’s how somebody has explained it to me in the past is we just take the information of what people are looking for and we write them a little bookish prescription based off of that,” says Orlecki.
Like any good medical professional, there are considerations when making an assessment and providing recommendations: which sub-genres might of be of interest and, of course, what level of spice can the patient handle? Orlecki and her staff know the books on the shelves, know what might be of interest and take into account what triggers to ask about and to warn first-time readers.
There are romance novels that fade to black before the action starts and others that provide more lurid descriptions, more payoff to the tension and longing that build between characters. Heated Rivalry, the hockey romance between a pair of male hockey players, fits into the spicier end of that spectrum.
“That’s a great example of a book that people will say like, oh, it’s just spice, it’s just sex, it’s just whatever,” says Orlecki, countering that there’s more to the books than simple raunch. “But if you look at the story between the characters, it’s these two men who have to stay closeted because it’s not accepted in the world that they’re in. And so, of course, their relationship starts off physical, because it’s the only type of relationship they can truly have.”
The story from a Canadian author has garnered international attention and led to a much-talked-about television mini series picked up by HBO. The popularity of the books, and the romance genre as a whole, comes as no surprise to Orlecki; she points to the growing number of romance-specific bookstores across the country. There are now 25 bookstores across the country with some focus on romance, according to online resource Romancing the Data. That includes two in Calgary, one in Red Deer County and The Book Boudoir.
All of those bookstores and everyone is looking for the same thing — love.
Edmonton Indie Bookstore Extravaganza is organizing bus transportation for the weekend running on a 30-minute for book lovers looking to check out The Book Boudoir as well as a few other independent book retailers. The website has the schedule, which you can find at yegindiebookstores.ca.
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