Originally published March 2023 | Updated June 2023
“We are dedicated to making sure that we are highlighting the voices of underrepresented authors—queer people, people of color, nonbinary people—and making sure that those coming into the store are seeing those books,” says Becca Title, owner of Meet Cute Romance Bookshop in North Park.
Now the third romance-themed bookstore in the US, Meet Cute is focused on stocking books with traditionally underrepresented characters at the center of the narrative.
“Even in the amount of time that I have been working on opening this bookstore, the climate in the US for marginalized people has really shifted. The amount of anti-trans legislation and book banning has been spiraling out of control,” she says. “It’s really important in genre romance to make stories with happy endings [available] … about and by people of color because the representation of BIPOC stories and queer stories is overwhelmingly about trauma and tragedy.”
But her space is for more than just books. In the future, she plans to host a full calendar of events, a podcast, and Romance for Reproductive Justice, a virtual auction set to support a national network of abortion funds. “It was one of the reasons to open an indie bookstore,” she says. “That’s one of the things we can do that Amazon cannot: be a place for organizing and catalyzing a community.”
We spoke with Title to share her recommendations for new, returning, or regular readers of the romance genre seeking stories of the LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities. Here’s what she had to say:
“This is one of the funniest rom-coms I’ve ever read. Rosaline, a bisexual single mom (to one of romance’s least annoying children), is at the end of her rope. When she enters herself into a popular British TV baking competition that is, for legal reasons, definitely not The Great British Bake-Off, she has to deal with more than just soggy bottoms and accidentally phallic breads. But she may also find her very own cinnamon roll. As a side note, I will die on the hill that Alexis Hall is one of the best living writers.”
“The Companion is a cozy read from trans author E. E. Ottoman. It’s ideal for an evening curled up in an overstuffed chair with a mug of tea. It’s 1949, and after years of trying to break into New York’s literary scene, trans woman Madeline Slaughter takes a friend up on the offer of moving to the woods upstate as a live-in companion to a reclusive best-selling novelist (and trans man) Victor Hallowell.
There, she becomes entangled not only with Victor, but with his neighbor, and ex, Audrey (who is also trans). Can the three of them make a go of it?”
“In this delightfully steamy novel, Adriana Herrera takes on classic historical romance tropes while expanding the genre’s scope beyond the traditional cast of titled White Brits.
It’s 1889, and Luz Alana has set sail for Paris from Santo Domingo with her two best friends and 300 casks of rum, intent on expanding her family’s successful rum business. Of course, hijinks ensue, and she ends up in a marriage of convenience with a brooding whisky distiller who also happens to be a Scottish earl.”
“Filled to the brim with wacky coworkers and lovably chaotic roommates, One Last Stop is a love letter to found family and the queer liberation movement from nonbinary author Casey McQuiston. The life of amateur sleuth, part-time college student, and 24-hour pancake diner waitress August Landry takes an unexpected turn the day she accidentally spills her coffee on a subway hottie.
She soon discovers that her new crush, Chinese-American Jane, doesn’t only dress like a riot grrrl—she’s actually been trapped in a time loop since the 1970s.”
“Set in small-town Kansas, and woven through with the history of the traqueros, the Mexican and Mexican-American workers who helped build our cross-country railroads, this book features a sexy romance between a prickly Latina bartender who has come home from Chicago to lick her wounds and the sweet local professor who has been welcomed into her messy, sprawling family in her absence.”
“From author Helen Hoang, a local San Diegan with Autism Spectrum Disorder, The Kiss Quotient is a sexy but surprisingly tender read.
Stella, an autistic Bay Area econometrician, hires an escort, Michael, to help her complete the lesson plan that she created in the hopes of becoming more comfortable with physical intimacy.
Vietnamese-Swedish-American Michael is happy to help, if only to take his mind off his own problems. His mother is sick, his father is absent, and his life is stuck in neutral. Of course, the more time they spend together, the more their practical partnership begins to feel like something more.”
“This is a witty delight full of pining and sword fighting that also manages to interrogate the entire system of British aristocracy. Edward Percy, future duke, finds himself in the inconvenient position of needing to steal a book from his own father.
He enlists the help of grumpy coffee shop owner Kit Webb, a reformed highwayman whose last job killed his best friend and left him walking with the aid of a cane. When sparks fly, it’s not long before Percy decides that a book isn’t the only thing he’d like to steal.”
“In Sailor’s Delight, Rose Lerner expands the traditional scope of historical romance, featuring a love story between two men with regular jobs, one of whom is Jewish. This quiet, slow burn, friends-to-lovers romance set during the Jewish High Holidays is threaded through with impeccably researched historical detail about daily life and filled with enough pining to stock a forest.”
“In this sparkling and swoony queer Edwardian-set fantasy romance, Marske gives us a beautifully constructed system of magic, a meditation on bravery and vulnerability, and enough classic tropes (slow burn, grumpy/sunshine, himbo/nerd, forced proximity) to satisfy any seasoned romance reader.”
“Talia Hibbert is well-known for her British wit and characters who feel relatable and real, and this book is no different. Chloe Brown is a Black British woman with fibromyalgia and chronic pain who works from home as a web designer.
She’s grumpy and funny and has excellent taste in cardigans. After she almost gets hit by a car, she makes herself a bucket list and her sexy, tattooed neighbor, who sometimes paints shirtless, insists on helping her complete it.”
“This is the best kind of space opera: atmospheric, adventurous, and warm. Set in a queernormative world and complete with a colorful cast of a deftly drawn side characters, Winter’s Orbit features a slow burn romance between a scandalous prince and a dutiful scholar who have a hastily arranged political marriage, only to discover that one of them is a suspect in his late husband’s murder.”
“A cross between a romantic comedy and a thriller that takes place over the course of one long night in Vegas, Partners in Crime has it all: a kidnapping, a high stakes heist, and a second chance romance between accountant Mira Chaudhary and her rejected suitor, the perfectly boring lawyer Naveen Desai. It is a delightful romp of a book in which nothing is quite as it seems.”
“A charming You’ve Got Mail retelling brimming with the warmth of family, faith, and food. Hana Khan hosts a podcast and dreams of a career in radio all while waitressing part-time at her family’s restaurant—the only halal eatery in their close-knit Toronto neighborhood.
When a more upscale halal restaurant is set to open across the street, Hana adds sabotage to her lengthy to-do list. If only the new restaurant’s owner weren’t quite so handsome…or quite so familiar…”
The literary powerhouse waxes poetic on San Diego, the freedom of thinking like a dog, journalistic agony, and “age agnosticism” in anticipation of his SD Public Library event on October 9
For those uninitiated, Dave Eggers has gone from breakout cult icon with his 2000 debut memoir A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius to elder statesman of the modern literary scene. He’s a New York Times bestseller multiple times over, a celebrated journalist in both the US and the UK, and a Pulitzer Prize winner, and he has lent his talent and time to charitable endeavors like 826 Valencia—a youth writing center with several different locations nationwide, which he co-founded. And there’s more: He’s been featured in countless anthologies and collections, and created McSweeney’s, an independent publishing ring where writers go to live on in glory (IYKYK).
“I mean, it’s one of my favorite places just because you can’t swing a cat without hitting the beach,” Eggers admits. Eggers digs beaches and us (and his two cats at home, who, he promises, he doesn’t swing). On the evening of October 9, Eggers is in our city for at the San Diego Public Library to discuss his latest novel The Eyes & The Impossible.
Take it in, SD. We’re cool. The reason may not be highfalutin’, but our sandy shores sealed in our je n’ai sais quoi.
Eggers’ love of California runs in his blood. “My dad’s side is all from California going back to 1860 … But the rest of us are from Boston,” Eggers says. “For some reason, I grew up in Chicago. So, none of it makes any sense.”
What does make sense is Eggers’ insatiable curiosity, a driving force in why he’s drawn to so many different genres and styles of writing (case in point: The Eyes & The Impossible is written from the perspective of a roving park dog).
Though his career is steeped in fiction, journalism is his foundation. He studied it at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. “As a reporter, I always just kind of start out with a personal interest and see what’s going on and using that journalism degree as an entry point or as a bridge,” he says. “I was trained as a journalist, so I always had that sense that, every so often, there might be a way that I could explain things that haven’t been explained.”
He preffered to talk with rally attendees who looked dressed for a major league baseball game versus the red-washed ones carrying effigies of Biden. “I always come out thinking that people are a little bit more swayable than you think and thinking things through, to some extent, with open eyes,” he adds.
Students at 826 Valencia, the nonprofit that Eggers co-founded, participate in free writing workshops offered for for those ages 8 to 18
Commonality can be found if you go looking for it, no matter what party you prefer. That sense of seeking finds its way into his works of fiction, as well.
“I do toggle [or] pivot pretty hard between the two forms, because journalism is so rewarding and, you know, you have this excuse to ask questions and this way to get answers,” Eggers says. “And you can get very deep very quickly by asking the most knowledgeable people, but then, at the same time, writing up what you found out is a whole different task and sometimes very laborious and kind of a grind.”
On the other hand, he says, “Writing fiction … is just when you get to make everything up. It is far more liberating.”
Eggers has found the ultimate liberation in his latest book, The Eyes & The Impossible, where the narrator assumes an entirely different species: a dog called Johannes. But this isn’t the first time Eggers has shape-shifted for literary purposes. In 2002, he wrote a short story called After I Was Thrown In The River And Before I Drowned, in which his narrator was also canine. “That was the most fun I ever had to that moment [in] writing,” he says. “It’s just totally untethered. And I think that you could sort of get away with a more sort of liberated kind of train of thought, and that I think a lot of us humans would be diagnosed with having some kind of, I don’t know, cognitive issue, I guess, now.”
The Eyes & The Impossible has other quirks lending it a fantastical bend. Seeing the book’s Flemish-inspired illustrations by Shawn Harris, you’d be tempted to wonder if this is Eggers dipping his quill into the YA market. Think again.
Danielle is a freelance culture journalist focusing on music, food, wine, hospitality, and arts, and founder-playwright of Yeah No Yeah Theatre company, based in San Diego. Her work has been featured in FLAUNT, Filter Magazine, and San Diego Magazine. Born and raised in Maui, she still loves a good Mai Tai.
Our Essential Guide to Shopping Small in San Diego
More than 60 retail shops to help you find the perfect gifts for your loved ones this holiday season
Courtesy of Home + Hound
By Erica Nichols and Marie Tutko, with Jeanette Giovannellio, Elena Gomez, Kai Oliver- Kurtin, Jenna Miller, Sarah Pfledderer, Hannah Lott-Schwartz, and Carlos Rico | Photography by Kimberly Motos
Shopping Small – main
Courtesy of Home + Hound
We love San Diego’s small businesses, and you should, too. In these pages we’ve highlighted a sample of the many independently owned and effortlessly cool retail shops that make up our city. At these brick-and-mortars, both old and new, you can score a secondhand statement piece, shop handmade accessories, discover local brands, and fall in love with shopping small all over again.
This holiday season, help support local by visiting some of our favorite haunts around town. Got your credit card? You’re about to do some damage.
Soon after One Paseo shopping center began welcoming tenants, fashion entrepreneur and self-described tomboy Ariel Hujar opened Whiskey + Leather fashion boutique. This high-end men’s and women’s clothing shop stocks luxury brands from across the country, including One Teaspoon, Spell, Scotch & Soda, and For Love and Lemons. They also carry stylish accessories and home goods such as candles, books, and barware.
Quality comes first at Gold Dust Collective, where all the accessories are handmade and sourced as sustainably as possible. The North Park storefront carries goods from three local artists: Flight of Fancy jewelry, Haberdash hats, and El Gato Montes leatherwork. Shop here for unique readymade pieces like beetle pendants and adorned felt hats, or to start customizing one.
Hip-hop and street culture inspired the formation of The Fresh Yard. This independent boutique carries some of the most anticipated brands in streetwear, such as Raised by Wolves and Black Market Tailors, along with its own signature clothing and accessories like T-shirts, hats, and beanies. With a strong tie to the local art and music communities, The Fresh Yard releases exclusive collaborations and often hosts art shows and live events. When they’re not running the store, the team also organizes food and clothing drives to donate to people in need.
Tyler Axtell started this line of refined leather and canvas bags, backpacks, and jackets in a garage in Ocean Beach, and later moved to a store in East Village. All the items in this adventure goods collection—such as the best-selling camouflage Wilder backpack—are made to withstand travel and camping, but their polished look also works for the day-to- day. The bags are made to last, and free repairs are included for each purchase. The company had to close their 17th Street storefront, but they’re still crafting the line right here in San Diego and you can order online.
Onesies, cardigans, teething necklaces— this just-opened Alpine boutique serves the wee one in your life. Consider Cuddle + Kind dolls, which are knitted by hand in Peru, and Stokke, a sophisticated Norwegian furniture brand specializing in cribs and high chairs that grow with your baby.
Sophie Machado isn’t bashful to admit that, yes, being married to a professional surfer has its perks. She’s followed her husband, Rob, to countries around the world, including Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and his native Australia—but she jokes that in humid countries, you can only lie about for so long. So instead, her habit is to jump in a tuk tuk or taxi and drop into the heart of a city’s artisan district to see firsthand the care and craftsmanship that go into the imports we buy. Sophie’s never been one to gloat about those experiences. Instead, she’s on a mission to make something more of them, and that’s where Salt Culture comes in. The boutique stocks products from their travels and their favorite local brands.“Salt Culture is basically a scrapbook, and a place to tell our stories,” she says. It’s an homage to the girl she once was, a college student living on a shoestring; and the guy Rob’s always been, a surfer with an affection for supporting local. Salt Culture stocks Rob’s signature Smiley Face merch in the form of sweatpants and shirts, and it’s also the only brick-and-mortar storefront in the world where you can buy a custom-made Rob Machado surfboard. Sophie just launched her own loungewear line, too, named “Reawakening.”
Take a step into Four Moons Spa’s Bali-inspired oasis. The spa’s stated focus is on “wholeness”—meaning the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual layers of each guest. Visitors can experience everything from an astrological reading to a massage. They recently introduced a hammam treatment, inspire by Muslim public bathing culture, which can be done with a therapist or self-guided. A shop on site is full of products to keep up the Zen long after you leave.
Finding a gift that feels truly personal can be surprisingly difficult. In a sea of generic options — flowers, gift cards, candles, and the like — Xplosion Box offers something more lasting: a customized keepsake built around the photos, messages, and memories that matter most.
Founded by Southern California entrepreneur Jay Vijay, Xplosion Box LLC creates fully customized explosion gift boxes that arrive professionally designed, printed, assembled, and ready to gift. Each box opens layer by layer to reveal personal photos, heartfelt messages, pull-out albums, origami-style photo pockets, and hidden notes, turning a simple gift into an emotional reveal.
The brand was built for people who want to give something meaningful without spending hours printing photos, cutting paper, folding cardstock, or assembling a DIY project. Customers simply choose a box, upload their favorite photos, add personal messages, and the Xplosion Box team transforms those details into a polished keepsake that feels thoughtful, personal, and beautifully made.
Xplosion Box offers personalized gift boxes for birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, graduations, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Christmas, proposals, bridesmaid gifts, long-distance relationships, and thoughtful “just because” moments.
Customers can choose from flexible customization options starting at $27. The Mini Surprise Box includes 10 photos, three message cards, and one hidden secret note, while the Mega Surprise Box offers a fuller keepsake experience with 40 photos, three message cards, and one hidden secret note.
What sets Xplosion Box apart is its high level of customization combined with convenience. Filled with personal photos, custom text, decorative details, and layered surprises, each box gives customers the freedom to create a gift that feels one-of-a-kind — without having to make it themselves.
At its core, Xplosion Box helps people turn favorite photos, stories, and words into something tangible: a keepsake that can be opened, revisited, and remembered long after the occasion has passed. asion has passed.
A novel based on the life of Laura Bridgman, the first deaf and blind person to learn language. When she was 12, Charles Dickens declared her his prime interest for visiting America. She also paved the way for Helen Keller.
Eyrie cover
Eyrie
By Tim Winton
Scandal has left environmentalist Tom Keely broke and popping pills. When a woman from his past shows up and needs help, Keely slips into a nightmarish world of con artists, drug dealers, and extortion to save her.
I’ll Be Right There cover
I’ll Be Right There
By Kyung-Sook Shin
Amid 1980s political turmoil in South Korea, a highly literate, 20-something woman recounts her tragic personal history. She revisits the death of her mother, the excitement of her first love, and the forging of friendships.
The Book of Unknown Americans cover
The Book of Unknown Americans
By Cristina Henríquez
After an accident, Maribel’s family moves from Mexico to Delaware. While getting care, she falls for a Panamanian boy. A love story and a tale of the urban immigrant experience.
California cover
California
By Edan Lepucki
In a new post-apocalyptic world, Cal and Frida have left L.A. to live in a shack in the wilderness. But when Frida gets pregnant, they set out to find a community to join, which proves difficult in a world where society has collapsed.
If you’re anything like us, it can be easy to get so caught up in taking care of everyone else, that your own needs get lost in the ether. But while this may be a cliché, that doesn’t make it any less true: You can’t give your best self to other people unless you’re taking care of yourself.
Sometimes, that looks like stopping in for your regular acupuncture or chiropractic appointment. Other days, it means giving your body the fresh, organic fuel it needs to truly feel and function at its best. And some other times still, it involves leaving your responsibilities behind for a weekend to pamper yourself at an incredible resort and spa.
Only you can decide what your truly need. We’re just here to help you find the best ways to get it.
Tommy Bahama Miramonte Resort & Spa
Island living meets desert luxury at the Tommy Bahama Miramonte Resort & Spa in Indian Wells. When you step onto the 11-acre property, you’ll be surrounded by sweeping view of the Santa Rosa Mountains with olive trees and fragrant citrus groves decorating the grounds. In other words, everything about this relaxed but refined resort is primed to help you let go of the stress from home and enjoy easy sun-soaked days and gorgeous starry nights.
The rooms blend calming, woven textures with Tommy Bahama’s signature tropical prints and feature private lanais, making it easy unwind the moment you walk in the door. If you book one of the four Villa Suites, you’ll be treated to exclusive Tommy Bahama furniture and unique personal touches to further that feeling of instant ease.
At the award-winning Spa Rosa, the expert team will help reset and recharge your body and mind using methods and rituals inspired by the desert. The 12,000-square-foot retreat includes outdoor soaking pools, eucalyptus steam rooms, and outdoor cabanas, as well as massages, facials, and body masks—all aimed at creating a day dedicated to you. We’re particularly partial to the Day Long Escape, an indulgent all-day affair of CDBs soaks, renewing scrubs, life changing massages, and transformative facials.
Following your treatment, continue the experience with a meal on the patio at Grapefruit Basil. We love the Hamachi Crudo, a light, citrus-forward dish featuring premium yellowtail, house-made ponzu, creamy avocado, and fresh seasonal garnishes.
Whether you’re strolling the gardens, relaxing beside its saltwater pools, or indulging in a restorative treatment, you’ll be able to escape in style and relax in luxury at the Tommy Bahama Miramonte Resort & Spa.
Healcove Chiropractic
There’s no shortage of ways to stay active in San Diego—but if you really want to enjoy everything the city has to offer, you’ve got to make sure you’re giving your body its tune-ups. Enter: Healcove Chiropractic. The board-certified chiropractors and wellness professionals at Healcove are experts at addressing that stage where you’re not injured, exactly, but you’re not at 100%, either. Maybe you’re feeling a bit tense or stressed out. Or it could be that you’re not quite moving the way you want to. Sometimes, it’s just that the accumulation of days, weeks, or even years of daily strain is starting to take a toll. No matter what stage you find yourself at, the Healcove Chiropractic team can provide integrated, preventative care centered on long-term, science-backed approaches that ensure you can always stay active and live the life you want to live pain-free.
This starts by providing truly individualized care. Every patient can expect a thorough 60-minute consultation session that includes a posture and movement screening. This allows the team to develop a completely personalized plan. That plan might include chiropractic care, acupuncture, or massage therapy, as well as functional fitness training, vibration and sound therapy, and Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization, a clinical rehabilitation method that retrains the body’s stabilization systems. Whatever the team recommends, you can be sure that it’s tailored to meeting your body’s needs today and the future.
There’s a reason that San Diego Magazine named Healcove the “Best Chiropractor in San Diego”—don’t wait until you’re struggling with an injury to find out why. Book an appointment today for holistic, integrated care that helps ground and heal your body before it reaches a crisis point.
Juice Holler
West Coast wellness culture meets the community feel of Southern Appalachia at Juice Holler. Juice Holler’s menu consists of made-to-order smoothies and smoothie bowls, as well as grab-and-go cold-pressed juices, wellness shots, salads, and more. It operates from the blissfully simple premise that fueling up with food and drink that’s guilt-free and good your body should be simple, accessible, and, above all else, delicious. And if you haven’t yet made it out to the Encinitas café, which opened just this year, let us be the first to tell you: Juice Holler delivers on each and every of these fronts.
We love the Supercharger smoothie, a mood-lifting and body-fueling option made with banana, almond butter, blue spirulina, maca, grass-fed whey protein, raw cacao nibs, medjool dates, and coconut milk. We’re also partial to the Thrive Alive smoothie bowl, where avocado, mango, sea moss, spirulina, mint, coconut milk, and agave are mixed and topped with coconut, chia seeds, strawberry, mango, and chocolate drizzle. The wellness shots include the Detoxifier, a cleansing blend of kale, cucumber, lemon and spirulina, plus a shot specially designed to fight inflammation (named, fittingly, Anti-Inflammation). Probiotic overnight oats, lemon turmeric bars, and strawberry shortcake chia pudding are other standouts on the grab-and-go menu.
Much of the vibe feels beachy North County chic—think green tile with orange and pink accents, grounded with greenery and natural wood—but Juice Holler founder Kelly Sergott, a longtime Encinitas local, has also enfused the space with her Kentucky roots. In Appalachia, a holler is small valley between hills and mountains, where nature reigns, community is king, and nourishment comes right from the land. At Juice Holler, Sergott has created a holler for the busy modern times, using local ingredients to create a spot for people to come together and enjoy fresh, fast, feel-good fuel for their day.
Everwell Acupuncture
We’ve all had that experience with a medical professional where we’ve felt rushed, ignored, or misunderstood—and ultimately, like we didn’t get the answers that we needed. But at Everwell, the holistic acupuncture practice located in Solana Beach, the care team wants to transform your understanding of what healthcare can look like.
Patients at Everwell experience care rooted in intentional listening and radical empathy—and trust us, those aren’t just corporate buzzwords. This place actually puts those ideas into practice. You will always be given the time you need to tell your story— initial in-take appointments are two hours long—and you can rest assured that your story will be believed. Every single question and concern will be addressed by a dedicated practitioner who wants to find the specific solutions that work best for you, and you’ll receive care that’s aimed at healing the body, mind, and spirit.
Everwell’s highly trained, doctorate-level practitioners blend evidence-based acupuncture with the practice of classical Chinese medicine. (If you’ve never tried acupuncture before or aren’t sure if the team will be a fit, we’d highly recommended Everwell’s complimentary 20-minute consultations.) Research shows that by stimulating specific points on the body, acupuncture activates a natural healing response in the body, helping to restore balance, regulate the nervous system, and improve overall wellbeing. This allows the practice to address an incredibly wide range of conditions from chronic pain and autoimmune disorders to digestive issues, from stress and burnout to headaches migraines, fertility and postpartum struggles, hormonal imbalances, sleep concerns and more.
At Everwell, you can expect to feel heard, trusted, respected, and cared for. This is a space that doesn’t want to be just another healthcare provider you visit; it wants to provide patients with dedicated partner who will be there for their entire health journey.
