Verve Reads
We believe every book deserves its readers.
Verve Reads has spent nearly a decade on one idea: the right book, in the right reader's hands, is good for everyone. The reader finds a new obsession. The author finds a true fan. We build the websites that make those introductions.
It started with a search engine for love stories.
In 2017, in Chicago, co-founders Tracey Suppo and Kyle Backer launched Book+Main Bites: the first trope and subgenre search engine for romance. Readers could search hundreds of tropes and moods and discover books through "Bites," author-shared excerpts and bonus scenes. It was deliberately book-focused: no outside noise, no politics, no distractions. All books, all the time, by romance readers, for romance readers. It grew into Verve Romance, home to thousands of authors and readers in more than 150 countries.
Along the way, the family grew. In 2021, Verve Reads acquired Prolific Works (born Instafreebie), where more than 2 million readers discover free books in every genre, and Heybeta, a secure home for beta feedback. In 2023, we launched Book Club Connection, matching book clubs with paperbacks on shared reading schedules. And in 2026, Book Club Connection went digital: free ebooks matched to each reader's exact taste, with a match score on every book.
The Verve Reads story
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Book+Main Bites2017 · later Verve Romance
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Prolific Works2021 · joins the family, born Instafreebie
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Heybeta2021 · joins the family, home for beta feedback
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Book Club Connection2023 · launches, matching book clubs with paperbacks
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Book Club Connection ebooks2026 · free ebooks, matched to your taste
What happened to Verve Romance?
After eight wonderful years, we retired Verve Romance rather than rebuild an aging website. But nothing about its mission ended. The matching by trope, subgenre, and mood that made Verve special is the beating heart of Book Club Connection, and this time we deliver the whole book, free, instead of an excerpt. If you loved Verve Romance, Book Club Connection was built for you.
Get my free booksPassion • Experience • Commitment
Passion
We're readers. The joy of the right book finding the right person is why this company exists.
Experience
Nearly a decade, millions of readers, tens of thousands of authors, and every lesson folded into what we build next.
Commitment
To readers, books stay free and websites stay quiet, with no feed and no pressure. To authors, your work and your audience stay yours.
Say hello.
Readers, authors, publishers, press: we answer our email.
4044 N Lincoln Avenue
Suite 245, Chicago, IL 60618