NEED TO KNOW
BookTok, the reading community on TikTok, has steadily become a sacred online space for fans of the genreA love of love-focused books has moved off the page in the form of romance-centric bookstoresSeveral owners of romance bookstores spoke with PEOPLE about how BookTok has impacted their businesses
If you’re a member of BookTok, the literary community on TikTok, you know first hand that the romance genre reigns supreme on the social media app. There’s no better space for its readers, whether you’re a fan of big names like Emily Henry and Abby Jimenez, or looking for even the nichest of novel tropes (F1 romances, anyone?).
It’s no surprise, then, that romance-specific bookstores are steadily popping up around the country too. Helmed by knowledgable staff members, stores that exclusively stock romance novels have become an oasis for literature lovers searching for their favorite author’s latest release or a new recommendation altogether.
But exactly how much has BookTok impacted these businesses? For many owners, the two go hand-in-hand.
Jamie Fortin stands outside Friends to Lovers Romance Bookstore in Arlington, Va.
Dani White Photography
Jamie Fortin, who owns Friends to Lovers Romance Bookstore in Arlington, Va., always knew that she wanted to start a business after moving to the D.C. area. When she found an online community of readers hungry for a romance-centric store, Fortin saw that as an opportunity to open her own in 2024. After hiring a social media manager, and documenting the process of opening Friends to Lovers, the shop soon went viral.
“Because of BookTok and Bookstagram and the online communities that romance lovers have been building, I realized that there is a need and a desire for having a physical community in our area,” Fortin says. “We blew up really, really quickly. We started getting like tens of thousands of views and comments and people being so excited. We would have people looking through the windows or knocking on the door before we opened, wanting to see what was there and trying to come in.”
Katie Mitchell, who owns Trope Bookshop in Charlotte, N.C., was also inspired to launch her business when she began seeing other romance bookstores online. Trope Bookshop started out as a book mobile before the brick and mortar store opened in March 2025 — which also garnered lots of attention online.
Customers at Trope Bookshop in Charlotte, N.C.
Courtesy of Katie Mitchell
“We’ve got our regulars, but we have really become a destination,” Mitchell says. “We’ve got ladies that come from all over … It’s been very cool. Most of them tell me that they have found us on TikTok.”
Other business owners were encouraged by BookTok content itself. Melissa Saavedra, who owns Steamy Lit Romance Bookstore across two locations in Florida, was encouraged to pinpoint gaps she noticed online when she expanded her literary collective into a physical store in 2024.
“I wanted to create a different avenue to amplify and uplift authors of color who wrote romance, but I also wanted to dive a little deeper into having conversations and normalizing having conversations about sex, pleasure and all of those things that, as women, we’re often shamed for talking about,” she says.
BookTok can also play a role in what bookstore owners stock on their shelves —and sometimes, that has more to do with what’s on readers’ For You page than new releases.
Melissa Saavedra opening a Steamy Lit Romance Bookstore location.
Courtesy of Steamy Lit
“I can always tell if something, especially if it’s not a brand new release, gets really hot all of a sudden,” Mitchell says. “I’m like, ‘Uh oh, someone’s talking about it. Someone’s covering this on a series on TikTok.’”
For Amanda Anderson, who owns The Last Chapter Book Shop in Chicago, TikTok became a tool for seeing what readers were interested in after she opened her store in 2023.
“When I first opened, I definitely utilized social media and what people were talking about,” she says. “Now, it’s a little bit more curated to what I know our customers are looking for, beyond the popular BookTok titles. What else is out there that we can introduce into the store?”
Seeing what’s hot on the BookTok algorithm has also spurred many bookstore owners, like Leah Koch, to share recommendations that users may not have come across before. Koch opened The Ripped Bodice, the first U.S. romance bookstore, with her sister Bea in Los Angeles in 2016 before opening a second location in Brooklyn, N.Y. in 2023.
The exterior of The Last Chapter Book Shop in Chicago.
Courtesy of Amanda Anderson
“When people come in and they’ve read a lot of the BookTok books, we’re like, ‘Here are some great fantastic options that maybe you haven’t seen on there,’ because it’s an author of color or it’s self-published,” Koch says.
“I think we’re still in a space where Black and brown creators and authors have to work a little bit harder for their virality in social media,” Saavedra adds. “Obviously, we stock some of the books that go TikTok viral because we know our customers want them.” But Steamy Lit, among other stores, also focuses on stocking books other stores might not. “That’s what we really pride ourselves in,” Saavedra explains.
BookTok has steadily become a platform for readers and authors alike to stay connected with one another. But many romance store owners also note how the app has built a community off screen. Mitchell’s Trope Bookstore hosts a monthly book club with attendees in the hundreds, while Koch’s Ripped Bodice hosts other events for the community, like writing workshops and a standup comedy night.
“We’re also a lot of people’s neighborhood bookstore, and we want [locals] to feel welcome as well,” Koch says.
Leah Koch (left) and Bea Koch outside of The Ripped Bodice in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Megan Kantor
Rayanne Streeter, who owns Good Girl Books in Knoxville, Tenn., also notices readers bonding over their common interest both in person and online. They expanded what was originally just a mobile book truck into a physical store in 2024, due to the amount of people who wanted a community space where they could “share their experience and joy.”
“We can transition or transcend both the online space and the physical space,” Streeter says. “You’re talking to people in the comments of one of our posts, you’re talking to me in the DMs, we’re talking about our favorite books. Then you come into the store and you go, ‘Hey, I was that person who said this thing.’”
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“Reading can be a very isolated hobby because you’re kind of in your own world with what you’re reading,” Saavedra adds. “Now it’s like a companion hobby, where you get to read your books how you always have, but now you have this huge community of people that you can talk to about them.”
Rayanne Streeter outside of the Good Girl Books book truck.
Sydney Morris
But BookTok’s true success is allowing romance readers to loudly and proudly embrace their love for a genre that historically hasn’t gotten the respect it deserves.
“We just didn’t talk about being romance readers. We weren’t prideful in it,” Anderson says. “Now, people are like, “Yeah, I read this. I love it.” I think that’s because of social media and BookTok — people not being afraid to talk about what they’re reading and what they’re loving.”
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“So much of romance as a genre is steeped in the stigmatization, that it’s not serious,” Streeter says. “Social media and TikTok has allowed people to come out of the closet, out of the shadows, and reclaim these spaces and be like, ‘Yeah, I like these, and I’m proud of it.’”