Steamy Lit Is Coming Soon: A Cozy, Playful Haven for Romance Readers
By Milly Pérez-Crespo
The word is spreading fast. Just a few days ago, I overheard two women talking about it at the frozen food section at Milams. On the Woman’s Club Book Club WhatsApp chat, someone reposted the Instagram teaser, and the crowd went wild. The buzz is real: a new heartthrob will soon be moving into 1 Curtiss Parkway.
But it’s not a person...it’s a bookstore and we sat down with its CEO, Melissa Saavedra. It’s called Steamy Lit, and it is bringing readers a cozy, greenery-filled, and playfully flirty escape dedicated entirely to romance.
Inside, shelves of carefully curated romance novels will share space with witty totes that wink with sayings like “tóxica pero bien amorosa,” alongside candles, mugs, stickers, and other cool merch, you know, all that stuff designed with sayings that you feel you need in your life.
Why Miami Springs? “We wanted a community feel and to be embedded in one,” Melissa explained. “When I visited Miami Springs, I loved that little town feeling...once you cross over the bridge, it just feels homey.”
Meet Melissa
She’s a powerhouse Latina, with a sassy and warm personality, a proud Peruvian immigrant, and wait for it... a Navy veteran.
Melissa’s journey to bookselling began in California in 2020 with The Steam Box, a subscription service designed to “amplify the voices of women of color and other marginalized authors in romance”, she shared.
“There was a lack of respect for the genre; we don’t really talk about the things that give women pleasure or empower them. When it comes to men, it’s totally normal, but not for women.”
That spark grew into an online bookstore, a thriving community, and eventually a full-fledged convention—Steamy Lit Con in Anaheim, California.
But when Melissa moved back home after her divorce, she realized something was missing in South Florida: indie bookstores.
“In California, indie bookstores are everywhere. When I came back to Miami, I realized there was nothing like that here.”
She recalls how much was going on in her life at the time, and like all good Latina moms, hers said, “Calmate. Get through SteamyLit Con first and then think of what you want to do next.”
Finding the Perfect Space
Her first experiment was the Deerfield location, which she calls a serendipitous fit. But when she discovered Miami Springs, it felt like destiny (she didn’t say it in those exact words, but I got her).
“We were trying to find something that was in Miami but still had that small-town feel,” she said. “Miami Springs is close to the airport, which is perfect with all the authors we fly in and out. It just made sense.”
To avoid the misconceptions she had encountered in Deerfield before opening, Melissa sought pre-approval from the city before signing the lease. “We’re not an ‘adult bookstore,’” she said firmly. “We sell the same things that Target, Walmart, and Barnes & Noble sell. If you categorize us that way, you have to categorize them too.” There seems to be a lot of misconceptions about what romance is, she says, and “there is a lot of work to be done.”
Searching for Romance
One of Steamy Lit’s signatures will be its unique and diverse selection of titles. Shoppers often tell Melissa, “I’ve never even heard of this author before.”
Her answer is simple, “If you are reading diversely and you’re intentional about your reading, it’s not hard to stock this way. And being intentional about the people you employ is important too because they are going to be able to bring in what they’re reading.”
“Yes, we will carry some of the really popular titles that are on the NY Times best sellers list, and on BookTok and Instagram, but that is not where our focus is because we want to amplify other amazing romance books that are not getting those marketing dollars behind them.”
But how does she find them? “We do our research. We’ve been really lucky to have a great relationship with many authors in the romance space, and we find out what they are reading. Just within the community, we find new authors, self-published authors that weren’t on our radar.”
Romance Thrives!
Even as national studies report that leisure reading by adults 15 and older has declined by 40% over the past two decades, Melissa says romance continues to thrive. “We’ve seen more leisure reading being picked up in the romance genre.”
The days of women hiding the steamy romance book under their aprons and secretly passing it along are long gone. “People aren’t embarrassed anymore and they’re reading whatever they want to read, unapologetically.”
Building Community
For Melissa, the biggest surprise has been how deeply people have craved a space like this.
“It shows how universal love, friendship, and connection are,” she said. “People want to escape into these worlds, explore different cultures and identities, and share that in community. It’s really beautiful. The sense of empowerment of not being ashamed of what you want to read is powerful.”
Dream Dinner Guests
Suppose she could invite three romance authors to dinner at Steamy Lit. In that case, Melissa doesn’t hesitate: Kennedy Ryan (“her writing is so poetic”), Bolu Babalola (“I devour everything she writes”), and Mia Sosa (“her books are so hilarious—I think between the three of us we’d have such a good time”).
Looking Ahead
Melissa’s ultimate dream? To one day run her own publishing house. But for now, she’s focused on making Steamy Lit a welcoming space where everyone feels at home here in the Springs.
“We want everyone to know that no matter who you are or who you love, you’re welcome. We hope everyone finds a book that reflects their identity, because there’s nothing more powerful than being able to be seen.”
The store is planning a soft launch in November and a grand opening in December.
As Melissa puts it: “Steamy Lit is more than a bookstore”—it’s a cozy, inviting place to connect, to laugh, and to find yourself in the pages of a romance story.
And soon, Miami Springs will have its very own romance haven, one that promises to sweep readers off their feet the moment they step inside.
