Two women who love to read romance, a golden retriever, and a little pink truck pull up to a flower shop.
While it sounds like the promise of an excellent joke about Pinterest, it’s actually the start of the Good Girl Books storefront in West Knoxville.
Only a little over a year ago, Good Girl Books truck debuted as a bright pink kei truck, bringing romance novels to local events, like The Retropolitan Craft Fair, throughout the Knoxville area. Rayanne Streeter, a professor at Maryville College, and her golden retriever, Poppy, were the team behind Good Girls Books – just a devoted romance reader and her beloved pup putting happily-ever-afters in the hands of readers. When the truck’s success took off, becoming one of the most popular romance-only bookstores on Instagram at 65,000+ followers in less than a year, it was clear Rayanne and Poppy needed a forever home.
That was when Lauren Morrill, local romance author and book club best friend, jumped in. Now these two entrepreneurial women and Poppy have teamed up to bring the book truck aesthetic to their own brick and mortar spot, sharing a space with Flourish Flowers in Rocky Hill.
Q: What inspired GGB?
A: Rayanne: I, one, just love romance novels. Romance is the genre I connect to the most. And I was at a place in my life where I wanted to do something more creative. I thought, ‘I could open a bookstore.’ Real estate is expensive and that wasn’t going to be an avenue I could manage. But I came across a TikTok of someone who made a book truck and I said, ‘I could do that, right?’
Q: How did Poppy come to play such a key role?
A: Rayanne: To me she’s the cutest dog in the whole world. Dan [Rayanne’s husband, and builder of the kei truck’s custom shelving system] came up with the name, pointing out, I could put her in my logo. Then she could be a part of the store and I could be with her all the time. And then it was, OK, Good Girl Books. Poppy is a good girl!
Q: How is Poppy so well behaved at events?
A: Rayanne: When she’s in the truck, she’s happy as a clam. It was a happy accident that the truck gives Poppy some comfort and allows her to behave so well!
Q: Tell us more about the store and how this is going to work with the truck?
A: Rayanne: The store isn’t possible without Lauren. Lauren came on as my business partner. We met at a book club and she really believed in me.
A: Lauren: I told her, ‘Hey, if you want to do it, we can do it …’ A year or two ago, my husband stopped me and said, ‘Do you want to be in a bookstore every single day?’ And I realized, ‘I don’t … I want to own a bookstore, but I don’t want to be in a bookstore all the time.’
A: Rayanne: And I want to be in a bookstore all the time! As far as the location, this one just worked. We didn’t need to put in a garage door … and for me the truck always had to be inside. The truck is what made us, it’s the thing people are excited about and the truck not being part of the bookstore felt disingenuous.
Q: As the store gets going, will Poppy be available to visit?
A: Rayanne: Poppy’s birthday is in August so we’ve already scheduled an event for August 16th with a pet photographer to do pet photography that will be birthday themed and we hope Adopt-
A-Golden will be here for an adoption event.
Q: What’s the experience you’re hoping customers take with them?
A: Lauren: I want people to come in and feel pure joy about romance, no shame, no stigma. You love romance and I love romance and we don’t have to be embarrassed about it.
A: Rayanne: One of the things I love about the truck and that I hope is going to translate to the store is that community connection. I want it to be a joyful community full of love and romance.
Visit Good Girl Books at 7685 South Northshore Drive Knoxville TN 37919. Follow Poppy @goodgirlbooksknox on Instagram and TikTok.
Emily B. Riddle is a local rom-com author who loves a small-town romance. Find her “The Kissing Series” at Good Girl Books and follow @emilybriddlewrites
“I want people to feel pure joy about romance, no shame, no stigma…You love romance and I love romance and we don’t have to be embarrassed about it.”
“To me, she’s the cutest dog in the whole world. Dan came up with the name, pointing out, I could put her in my logo … and I could be with her all the time. And then it was, OK, Good Girl Books. Poppy is a good girl!”