A Peek Inside 'The Ripped Bodice,' America's First All-Romance Bookstore Kelly Faircloth4/11/16 2:00pm19118EditInvite manuallyPromoteDismissUndismissHideGo to permalinkBack in November, sisters Bea and Leah Koch raised $91,187 on Kickstarter to launch America’s first bookstore dedicated to romance novels. Clearly they are an organized pair, because it’s already been up and running a month.