In the Club: Nashville Smut Lovers

In the Club is a recurring series in which the Scene explores Nashville’s social club offerings.  

Alexa Sierra, one of the co-founders of Nashville Smut Lovers, is wearing a shirt reading, “The only thing I like more than fucking is reading books.” She introduces her club to a crowd that’s assembled for trivia in conjunction with another bookish group, Book Club Trivia Nashville. 

“We’re a local book club, and we don’t read the same book,” Sierra begins. “We read all the smut and make friends. We’ll have a night market with masked men running around …” 

An excited woo! from the crowd interrupts her.

“I should’ve led with that,” she says with a laugh. “That’s the seller.” 

This is not your typical book club. 

This particular event is a partnership with Book Club Trivia, and the group is covering Lights Out by Navessa Allen. The dark romance novel features a morally gray male love interest who has a penchant for wearing masks.

Nashville Smut Lovers began in September 2023 when Sierra and Maryssa Edwards — two friends in their mid-20s — started the group as a way to meet new people in Nashville. They launched with a closed Facebook group, and the group quickly grew to almost 200 members in its first week. Now they have more than 1,500 members, plus 3,000 followers on Instagram and 6,000 on TikTok.

The premise of the club is simple: It’s a safe space to discuss all things smut. While all romance subgenres and tropes are welcome, the group doesn’t shy away from more taboo subjects. Darker storylines? Biker boys? Enemies-to-lovers? Mafia romances? All of these are welcome and up for discussion. 

“This is a safe place to be who we are,” Edwards tells the Scene. “I’ve always struggled with being introverted, and I know I’m not the only person who struggles with this. It’s important to me to foster an environment where everyone feels seen.” 

The main motivation to start the club wasn’t just to have a place to discuss new favorite books, but also to allow women to express their own kinks and desires, and to truly be themselves. 

For more introverted folks who might be less comfortable talking smut in public, the Facebook group is always active with new discussions, and the group’s Instagram account (@nashvillesmut) features different book recommendations. Each month, Nashville Smut Lovers hosts a smaller meetup in a different coffee shop or bar. These meetups are very low-pressure, and the hosts help members overcome their “newcomer nerves.”

The club began with some of these smaller meetups, followed by a Halloween party and their first ticketed event — a 50 Shades of Grey-themed masquerade party — in 2024. As the group grew, Tyler Billings and Lauren Chabira were added as creative partners and moderators, which helped the club host even larger events and manage its growing social media presence.

“After my first party, I [knew] these were my people,” says Billings. “The camaraderie in the group is incredible; nobody is a stranger. Even if it’s your first meetup, you’re going to leave with phone numbers and new friends.” 

The Nashville bookish community has been steadily growing over the past few years, as seen with the opening of at least three local independent mobile bookstores dedicated to romance and smut — Sugar and Spice Book Co., Shadowed Pages Bookshop and Slow Burn Bookshop. Then there’s silent reading nights and literary events like those NSL have organized popping up around the city. The Smut Lovers have set out to make their club an inclusive space for romance readers within this growing community, and have also made it a point to showcase locals whenever possible. They’ve partnered with other book groups like Nash Gals Book Swap, and they feature local mobile romance bookstores like Sugar and Spice Co. at their events. Their logo, two peppers forming the shape of lips, was drawn by local artist Jeff Barnard at Golden Yeti Tattoo. 

Nashville Smut Lovers has also made events as accessible as possible, ensuring that authors, vendors and readers are able to connect. In May, the club hosted the inaugural Tempted by Fiction book festival at Fait la Force Brewing, which brought in more than 300 guests. The free event showcased indie authors — most of whom sold out of their books in the first hour-and-a-half — plus a variety of other vendors selling book-themed merch. 

The Tempted by Fiction festival will be returning in October, but this time as a night market. Indie authors and vendors will definitely come back, and will be joined by some masked men and other spooky treats. The group’s holiday party — A Circus of Temptation in December — will be an immersive circus experience, featuring live performances, a DJ set and curated cocktails. 

Community events and festivals aside, at the heart of this club is a group of bookish ladies talking about their favorite thing: smut. 

“It’s something I look forward to every month,” says Callie Gray, a member since 2024. “For me it’s a need. I love to have the girlies that I can talk to about things, no filter. It’s just a really loving community. … It’s wonderful.”