Leeds bookseller, Amy Richards, from Words & Kisses, has won the Romantic Bookseller of the Year award for the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s annual Industry Awards for 2022. The awards celebrate the hard work and talent of any person, group or organisation who has championed the broad genre of romantic fiction in a positive way.

Amy has been running Words & Kisses for three years, first from her spare room and now from a custom-built office in the garden (affectionately nicknamed The Smut Hut). After picking up her first romance back in 2015, she became a romance novel evangelist and set up Words & Kisses to spread the love for her new favourite genre. Words & Kisses is the UK’s only romance-exclusive bookshop and subscription service, stocking a diverse range of curated traditionally published and indie picks.