![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/PNG-2026-Book-Trail-Poster-by-Wavy-Roller.png\")
Credit: Wavy Roller \/ Courtesy of Austin Texas Book Trail<\/p>\n
Opening just three months ago in December, Finney\u2019s is among the newest shops to join the trail and represents the kind of hyperlocal, community-driven charm you won\u2019t find at a chain. Exclusively selling romance with an emphasis on queer stories, Lagrone invites her customers to stay, chat, and read a while.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just so much more fun to have people to discuss the books that you\u2019re reading with and connect with people over these things that we all love, these stories we love,\u201d Lagrone said. \u201cSo it\u2019s been a fun space to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oftentimes, romance books are considered \u201clower-tier literature,\u201d Lagrone said. But when she first joined her online book club \u2013 a small group of women that she found on Reddit \u2013 she finally felt free to obsess over books in ways she never felt comfortable doing before. With Finney\u2019s, Lagrone wanted to embody this spirit and create a cozy, welcoming space where people can read and enjoy romance, no matter how sophisticated, without judgment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that having a space where [judgment\u2019s] not part of the discussion, and you don\u2019t have to justify what you\u2019re reading or why you\u2019re reading it, has made me realize that that type of safe space is worth having and is something that people are looking for,\u201d she said. \u201c[You can] just read what you want to read because it makes you happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
With her shop located on the Eastside, Lagrone said she is grateful for a customer base that values queer stories as much as she does.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt makes it feel very authentic to me,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s what I\u2019m reading; it\u2019s what I want to talk about; it\u2019s what I want to share. So that\u2019s been nice to be able to push into that and then have the customer base [here] that wants that as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lagrone said she hopes the Book Trail will be an opportunity to reach readers who don\u2019t typically go for romance and help them find a home within the genre.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully some folks who maybe saw that I opened [and] love a local bookstore, but thought \u2018I don\u2019t need a romance bookstore. I don\u2019t really read romance,\u2019 maybe they\u2019ll come in and see that we can find anything for you,\u201d Lagrone said. \u201cI can find you a book, even if romance isn\u2019t really your main genre.\u201d<\/p>\n
Finney\u2019s will be hosting author and vendor pop-ups all weekend, welcoming the Austin community into its little corner of romance literature heaven. But beyond the trail, Lagrone will continue to greet her customers with free coffee and tea, a comfy place to sit, and an ear to talk to.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love it when people can come and actually sit and hang out and talk to me,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m there because I love to talk about books. Engage with me and talk with me, and I\u2019ll sit down and chat with you also.\u201d<\/p>\n