In the dim lighting of Sidekick Coffee & Books, the bright colors of the covers of local Midwest romance authors’ books lined tables. Although it was outside of the store’s business hours, it opened its doors to host Iowa City’s first romance book festival.
Despite Sidekick’s small and cozy size, owner Katy Herbold put together “It’s Getting Plot in Here,” with several activities for attendees. Upon entering, guests were greeted with a choice of champagne or a non-alcoholic beverage before being directed toward the rest of the festivities.
“Just going over the layout of things today and where everybody should sit and where we should do the bedazzling,” Herbold said. “I got really excited when I started to draw it out.”
Near the entrance was also the book bedazzling station, for attendees to take any of their new books to decorate. Continuing past the station was the store’s usual cafe with plenty of snacks and drinks for people to enjoy.
Further into the shop was a speed dating-style “blind date with a book” section. The premise follows exactly like any other speed dating event, except it is done with books that are wrapped up, where the only thing visible is the summary.
Within a minute, participants would get to quickly skim the blurbs and have to pick a book. If the book was something that seemed enjoyable to the reader, then they would be able to keep it, and their game would be over, or they could choose not to keep it and play another round.
“I’m pretty excited for the ‘Blind date with a book: the speed dating version,’” Herbold said. “I bought this little ladybug old school kitchen timer, it’s like a little love bug, and I just like watching people do that in the first place.”
Continuing forward leads to one of the bigger portions of the fest: meeting the authors. There were seven authors at the event, each showing off all of their current, past, and future works. The authors were available for fans and newcomers of the romance genre to meet and talk with, also providing those who want it with a signed book.
RELATED: UI students reflect on books that got them into reading
Two attendees were a mother-daughter duo, Jill Wheeler and Anna Libra. Both women traveled some distance to be at the fest, out of excitement for the activities.
“I have wanted to go to the Iowa Book Festival forever… and as I was researching the events, I saw this, and it was like, ‘Oh, we’ve got to go to this,’” Wheeler said.
The pair had only been at the event for about an hour, but were already finding things that they enjoyed.
“To have the opportunity to find new authors and local authors at that is really wonderful because if I’m going to read a book that makes me feel good, then you feel extra good when you know that it’s someone you can put a face to,” Libra said.
Among the many authors at the fest was Megan Murphy, a romance writer from Kentucky. Murphy was showing off her first book and talking about her upcoming release in April 2026. Even though she is not from the area, she was able to acknowledge the impact an event like this would have on the local community.
“Anytime people can celebrate romance without it being stigmatized really shows that there’s nothing to be ashamed of about it and that we can celebrate love and friendship and healthy communication in safe spaces and find other people who also appreciate those same things,” Murphy said.
She was not the only author who understood this. Chloe Angyal is an author currently living in the Iowa City area with four published books, the most recent having come out the day of the fest, Oct. 11.
“Romance readers are the most passionate, voracious readers, and they love to spend time with each other,” Angyal said. “I know Sidekick already has a romance book club, so I hope lots more people join the book club and start forming friendships with each other because romance has a way of bringing people together like that.”