I married author I met in my Scots bookshop and my daughter predicted it – we even got married in store

A SINGLETON who opened a bookshop is living a real-life love story – after marrying an author she met in her store.

Sarah Frame owns The Book Nook in her hometown of Stewarton in Ayrshire.

Before opening the shop her daughter predicted she might find love in her new role – but Sarah says she never expected it to happen.

But then crime author Douglas Skelton attended a book festival in her shop – and they fell in love.

They even decided to use the bookshop as the venue for their wedding.

Sarah said: ”When I opened The Book Nook, my daughter made a remark that it would be lovely if I met a man through the shop.

“It is a real-life romance. It just seemed right. We'd met in the shop and it means so much to both of us.

“We're both avid readers and we love books. The wedding was so lovely and it was so nice to have it here.

“I'm a member of the church next door to my shop, and the minister was delighted to come through to conduct the ceremony. It was very special.”

Sarah had previously worked as a company director, which required regular travel to and from London, as well as international travel.

But after experiencing a loss in her immediate family, she felt the need to make a change.

An avid reader, Sarah was eager to combine her love of books with her desire to make a positive change to the well-being of people in her local community – and The Book Nook was born.

“I was in a corporate role – I was travelling extensively and working long hours,” she said.

“I was based mostly in London, so I bounced up and down between London and Stewarton like something on a bit of elastic.

“I lost my younger son in July 2019. After losing my son, I really felt that it was the right time for me to make a change.

“Although I could still do my job, it was taking a real toll on my health. It was too much.

“What I needed to do was find a way of reshaping my life so I could cope with the grief.

“My son had struggled with severe clinical depression for a year or so before we lost him, so it was really important to me to be doing something that helped people. I hoped that doing something that would have a positive impact would help me as well.”

As COVID-19 restrictions eased in December 2020, Sarah opened her shop – and traded for eight days before the second lockdown came into place.

Determined to keep her business alive, Sarah began taking online orders, delivering books herself around town.

“I'd hoped that people would welcome a bookshop in Stewarton, but I didn't really know how it would go,” she said.

“But people were delighted to have the bookshop.

“During lockdown, I was able to do some online click and collect stuff – and kept fit by walking around Stewarton delivering books through people's letterboxes.”

By the time the shop reopened in May 2021, The Book Nook had become a familiar name in Stewarton, and Sarah was regularly hosting well-attended book clubs and events for adults and children.

In 2022, she began planning her most ambitious event yet – a mini book festival, boasting a week of workshops with authors and illustrators.

Sarah's friend, author Gordon J. Brown, agreed to host a talk – and brought along crime writer Douglas Skelton, author of the Rebecca Connolly series.

“In June 2022, I decided – a little bit rashly to be honest – to hold a wee book festival to celebrate Independent Bookshop Week,” she said.

“In the course of that, Gordon had said that he would come and do an event for the book festival.

“He phoned me up one day and told me he was friends with Douglas Skelton and that he would be happy to come to the book festival.

“I was so excited – I nearly screamed down the phone.

“Douglas duly turned up with Gordon, and they did an event together – and they were so funny together.

“It was such a successful event – and I did think Douglas was really nice.”

In October that year, the success of The Book Nook led Sarah to move the shop to a larger venue – and invited Douglas to do a speech at the opening ceremony.

Their relationship blossomed, and by 2024, the pair were engaged – and when planning their December ceremony, they couldn't think of a more perfect place to wed than the shop where they met.

Sarah said: “At our stage in life, we didn't want to have a big wedding – it was going to be quite a small wedding with immediate family and close friends.

“It seemed very meaningful and intimate to have the ceremony in the shop.”

The couple were married on December 28 in a small and heartfelt ceremony at The Book Nook, which Sarah's children had lovingly decorated for the occasion.

She described the ceremony as “very special,” and added: “Being in the bookshop feels like home, and we had all our family around us.

“My other children are all grown up and married with families too, and they all really like Douglas. They were delighted we were getting married, so they said they'd decorate the shop for us.

“They put up lovely fairy lights and candles and stars and balloons – it was just like a little fairy land, it was lovely.”

The shop still means the world to Sarah – who is deeply proud of the impact it has had on her local community.

Her achievements have even been recognised nationally – winning the Independent Bookshop of the year in 2024 and 2025 at the British Book Awards.

“Having a bookshop where people could come together and share their stories, read other people's stories, and talk about books, has been a really healing thing for me to do,” she said.

“Books can be such a source of comfort, and being part of the book-loving community is really helpful. There's lots of research that shows what a positive impact reading can have on our mental health as well.

“I couldn't have imagined four years ago that it would what it is now.”

Sarah hopes that The Book Nook can continue to be a safe haven for her customers – and hopes that her story can give some hope to people struggling through their own tragedies.

“I want people to feel part of something,” she said.

“Douglas and I have both found a new love and fresh joy later in life.

“I want people to have the opportunity to think ‘life is really dark right now, but it can get better.' “We've had some really tough, dark times, but it has got better.

“I just want to give people some hope.

“Even in the worst of times, there's still a way through.”