LOVE STORIES
Owner of Love Stories Bookshop, Aimee Cummings
A new chapter for romance in Castle Arcade
When Aimee Cummings visited a romance-only bookshop in New York, she had no idea that the experience would eventually inspire her to open one of her own in Cardiff.
But a few years later, that holiday inspiration became Love Stories Bookshop, a specialist independent bookshop in Castle Arcade dedicated to celebrating love stories in all their forms.
Opened in December 2025, Love Stories describes itself as Wales's first bricks-and-mortar romance bookshop. Its shelves cover far more than traditional romantic fiction, bringing together contemporary romance, fantasy, science fiction and other genres united by one thing: a love story at their heart.
For Aimee, the aim is to create somewhere readers can discover stories that reflect their own experiences, relationships and identities. “We want people to be able to come in and find a love story that represents them on the shelves, be that who they love or how they love.”
It's a passion that began in childhood, when Aimee started borrowing romantic fiction from her mother's bookshelves. Years later, a visit to The Ripped Bodice, a romance-only bookshop in New York, showed her what a whole shop dedicated to those stories could look like.
At the time, Aimee was already considering a change of career. She casually suggested to her husband that perhaps she should open a bookshop of her own – and he immediately encouraged her. So what might otherwise have remained a holiday daydream soon became the beginnings of a business plan.
And there was never much doubt about where in Cardiff the shop should be.
“Even when the bookshop was just an idea, I knew it had to be in an arcade,” Aimee recalls.
Cardiff's historic arcades had always appealed to her, not just because of their independent character and unusual architecture, but because of the sense of discovery they offer. After considering several premises, the right unit appeared in Castle Arcade, opposite fellow independent bookseller Troutmark Books and surrounded by cafés, bars and other independent businesses.
The neighbouring traders helped confirm the decision. Before committing to the premises, Aimee and her husband spoke to other business owners to make sure Love Stories would be a good fit – and the welcome was immediate.
That warmth has continued since opening, reinforcing something Aimee had already noticed: the arcades are not simply places where businesses share an address, but communities where people look out for one another.
There's also a natural relationship between the bookshop and its neighbours. Customers can browse for a new read before heading for a nearby cup of coffee or glass of wine to settle down with their latest purchase. And for a business devoted to stories, Castle Arcade is an especially fitting home.
Aimee talks affectionately about the old passages beneath the shop, which she jokingly refers to as ‘the catacombs’. Even an attic hatch that creaks and blows open when it's windy has become part of the building's character.
It's a world away from a conventional modern retail unit, and even more appealing for it. And inside, Love Stories is creating its own distinctive atmosphere.
The shop's carefully curated selection includes a substantial LGBTQ+ range, and Aimee particularly enjoys seeing customers discover books that reflect and celebrate relationships like their own.
She says people are sometimes surprised by the breadth of customers who visit. Alongside dedicated romance readers are people curious about the shop, visitors who have discovered it through social media, and Cardiff residents who stumble across it while taking a shortcut through the arcade.
Some arrive having seen videos about Love Stories on TikTok, often created by enthusiastic customers rather than the business itself.
Beyond the bookshelves, there's also a collection of candles, bookmarks, stickers and other gifts sourced from independent businesses, many of them women-owned. For Aimee, stocking products from small businesses she admired long before opening Love Stories is another rewarding part of running the shop.
But perhaps the most meaningful aspect of opening in Castle Arcade is the opportunity to become part of its history. When Aimee told her grandfather about the premises she’d chosen, he immediately remembered what had occupied the same space some 50 years earlier.
It made her think about the generations of businesses that had come before Love Stories, and the possibility that, decades from now, people might look back and remember her own bookshop in the same way.
“When we first signed the lease, I said to my husband, 20 or 30 years from now, we might not still be here, but we'll be part of that history. Isn't that exciting?”
It's a thought that captures something special about opening a new business in one of Cardiff's oldest shopping spaces.
Love Stories is still young compared with some of its long-established neighbours, but that contrast is exactly what makes the arcades special. New independent businesses can find a home alongside names that have been part of Cardiff for decades, each contributing something different to the city's retail landscape.
For Aimee, the next chapter is about continuing to welcome readers, championing romantic fiction in all its forms and making the shop somewhere people feel represented. And while she hopes Love Stories will have a long future in Castle Arcade, her ambitions extend beyond the business itself.
“I can't picture what Cardiff would look like without the arcades,” she says. “It would lose a huge part of its identity.”
Her hope is that a hundred years from now, the arcades will still be here, filled with independent businesses and continuing to play an important part in Cardiff's story.
And somewhere in that history will be a romance bookshop that began with a visit to New York, an encouraging conversation between husband and wife, and a determination to create a place where everyone could find a love story of their own.