“Mine might have been Jack Skellington, I feel like that was the first firm crush,” says author, Kathryn Moon. The crowd of romantasy fans sitting inside Flame & Fable laugh along with the panelists as the conversation veers towards early monster crushes.
Moon sits alongside authors Lana Kole, Petra Palerno, and Victoria Aveline inside Flame & Fable, a bookstore located on Detroit Avenue in Lakewood, Ohio. Ahren McNamara moderates as panelists add Billy Butcherson from Hocus Pocus, Scar from the Lion King, and Rattigan from The Great Mouse Detective to the conversation. (Note: The author links will take you to each person’s website and some images are not workplace appropriate.)
Monster romance is a subgenre that explores what happens when a human and non-human fall in love. The authors on the panel write about romantic relationships with aliens, demons, griffins, yetis, and even mothman. Monster romance usually includes themes like acceptance, belonging, forbidden relationships, and what can happen when societal norms are turned on their head.
The store’s owner, Nickie Liu, says the Monster Romance Author Panel and Book Signing is the store’s largest event to date.
Flame & Fable creates a welcoming environment for romance readers.
Flame & Fable is a romance and fantasy bookstore. Liu explains the store first opened in February 2025, but moved into its current location in September 2025, just a half mile down the road and twice the size of the original space. Liu describes Lakewood as a queer forward and welcoming community, the perfect location for the store.
Flame & Fable most frequently welcomes millennial women, but Liu notices an increasing number of Gen Z and Gen X visitors too. She also highlights the selection of queer books included within every section of the store, right at the beginning of the offerings, to make it easy for everyone to find what they’re interested in. Flame & Fable staff specialize in easing new readers into the genre and helping experienced readers find something new to explore. “I can find a book on the shelves for just about anybody,” says Liu.
Liu believes romance bookstores are popping up because people are looking for spaces where they can read and be themselves within a genre that is often stigmatized. To create that welcoming space, Liu designed Flame & Fable to be intentionally cozy with low lighting and calming colors on the walls. “I want people to walk through the door here and feel comfortable,” says Liu. “I consider everybody that walks in the door my friend.”
Based on conversation with visitors, Liu is succeeding.
“I love local bookstores,” says author, Kathryn Moon. ”I feel like I get to spend more time talking to people and getting to know everyone.”
“It’s just a great place for community and, Nickie, the owner, recognizes you when you come in,” says return visitor, Jennifer Myor. “She (Nickie) has the best recommendations. It’s a place where you feel free to like what you like.”
Niche content creates community.
One of Myor’s favorite things about Flame & Fable are the events. Saturday’s Monster Romance Author Panel is a prime example as returning guests, first time visitors, book clubs and authors converge around a shared interest.
“Monster romance, that’s my jam,” says first time visitor, Erin Bullion, from Oberlin. “ With Flame & Fable popping up, it (the Monster Romance Author Panel) was a really good opportunity to visit the local bookstore and get the niche content.”
“It’s such an underrated genre,” says author Petra Palerno. “I feel like everyone reads it but a lot of people won’t admit it.”
MJ Peterson is attending the event as a book club get-together. “We are big fans of a lot of the authors’ works but specifically, for me, it’s Victoria Aveline. I’m excited to see her and hear a little more about her.”
The Monster Romance Author Panel sold out. Liu thinks the genre of monster romance resonates with a lot of people, particularly those in the queer community, because of the genre’s strong themes of belonging and exploring identities outside the cultural majority. The authors spoke to this as well.
For example, Aveline portrays aliens as having different life experiences, which opens the story to conflicts that wouldn’t happen in a contemporary setting. Palerno describes monster romance as being a fun genre to explore because there are no set rules. The authors choose the societal structure, cultural norms and even the anatomy. While often inspired by fact, this world building aspect of the genre lends a lot of creative freedom. Matriarchal society, animal mating behaviors and tentacle placement were all part of the panel discussion.
Author friendships add to the atmosphere of the event.
By the end of the discussion, the audience learns the authors are friends based on their ongoing banter and references to shared experiences. The final question, provided by an audience member, asks them to elaborate on how their relationships with one another support their work.
Authors Moon and Kole share their practice of morning collaborative work calls. “We get on the phone and we have coffee together and we sit in absolute silence,” says Moon. Aveline highlights shared support in tasks like managing social media, finding artists to work with, or learning of upcoming events. She explains the value of having authors in her network who understand the challenges and can support the creative process.
Then Palerno jumps in, “So we go to Moon Manor for our sleepover…” and the panel erupts as everyone chimes in to recount the evening.
Palerno is referring to Kathryn Moon’s home. Which, Moon explains, was purposefully designed to have space for her peers to come together. As the closest geographically (Toledo, OH), Moon Manor made the perfect meet-up spot before the event.
As the panel concluded, the same friendly conversation and laughter continued to fill Flame & Fable as authors signed books and chatted with the visitors. Liu feels the event was a success based on the engagement of the crowd. She feels the banter within the panelist conversation helped put the crowd at ease and she noticed the audience members laughing at jokes and asking their own questions. “After the conversation, guests lingered to talk to the authors and just about everybody walked out with a new purchase”, Liu explains.
Browse a local bookstore.
Flame & Fable hosts a multitude of events throughout the year. Check out their event calendar for upcoming opportunities like book swaps, book clubs and book bedazzle nights. Flame & Fable’s first large-scale signing event featuring local author Kalie Cassidy will be held on July 11 at the Beck Center.
The store also posts flyers for events like the National Book Foundation’s Summer Reading Adventure and the Northeast Ohio Indie Bookshop Hop, a passport program with 28 participating locations. If romance isn’t your genre of choice, there are still plenty of ways to support local bookstores within your community.
We're celebrating four years of amplifying resident voices from Cleveland's neighborhoods. Will you make a donation to keep our local journalism going?
