Love on Wheels

Wilmington’s first mobile bookshop brings love stories—and community—to local readers

By Lisa Filipe

Wilmington now has its first mobile romance bookshop: Bad B’s Romance Book Shop. Housed in a traveling mini truck called Queenie, the shop offers a wide selection of romance titles— from contemporary to romantasy, diverse voices to LGBTQ+ stories, traditional publishing to indie authors, including many with local ties. Lisa created Bad B’s to share her lifelong love of reading and to rekindle the nostalgic joy of Scholastic Book Fairs—this time, for grown-up romance readers. 

Here are a few titles on Bad B’s summer TBR:

Story of My Life by Lucy Score
Score’s newest romantic comedy follows Hazel, a romance novelist facing a crisis. After being evicted from her apartment, she buys a fixer-upper in Story Lake, Pennsylvania, hoping a change of scenery will inspire her writing. Instead, she meets a grumpy contractor who might just change everything. If you’re looking for depth of story and character, this one is unputdownable.

P.S. I Hate You by Lauren Connolly
This emotional second-chance romance takes readers on a journey of grief, self-discovery, and love. Maddie sets out to fulfill her late brother Josh’s final wish to scatter his ashes across eight U.S. states he never got to visit. The twist? She must travel with his best friend, Dominic—the man who once broke her heart. This one came highly recommended by a woman at Vicious Biscuit who noticed my bookish sweatshirt!

Sea-Devil by Jessica Sherry
Hallmark Mysteries fans, this one’s for you! Book-loving Delilah Duffy escapes her troubled past by returning to the island she loved as a child and reinventing herself as a bookstore manager. But when vandalism—and eventually murder—hits close to home, she becomes the prime suspect. As suspicion grows, only one person believes in her: her first love and biggest heartbreak, local cop Sam Teague.

Flirting With Trouble by Melissa Foster
Escape to Silver Island in this romantic second-chance story. Victoria, a workaholic widow, begins a casual situationship with a younger, self-proclaimed playboy. But when feelings grow, she must confront the guilt she carries—or risk losing the one person who’s shown her how to truly live. Fans of Foster’s Steeles at Silver Island series will love reconnecting with island royalty, the Silvers.

Join the book hive: @badbsbooks_ilm