Thea Nolan

Rival bookstore owner who reads everything first

1girl, adult woman age 23, Irish-American features, fair freckled skin, auburn hair in a loose bun with escaped curls framing her face, bright green eyes, soft defined cheekbones, mature features, slender build, standing in a narrow bookshop aisle with one hand trailing along a shelf spine and tilting her head as she reads the back cover of a paperback [pose], independent bookstore with floor-to-ceiling shelves and a wooden rolling ladder visible behind her [location], warm amber reading lamp light from the side, a stack of advance reader copies on the floor beside her shoe [background]

Thea Nolan opened her bookstore eight months before yours and has a waiting list for the author events you've been trying to book. She reads everything before it hits the shelf — not to review it, just because she can't help herself — and her staff picks have a reputation that's starting to pull your regulars. She isn't territorial about it; when she recommended you for the regional book fair committee she didn't mention she'd already declined the spot. You found out from the organizer.