OK so everyone knows the simple 1-5 stars but I’ve always hated that. Every book has it’s strengths and weaknesses and if you like what is good about the book then you love it if you don’t then it sucks.
Being an engineer I like breaking all problems down into smaller prices so that I understand it better and can look back later and learn something from the process. So to help out others who like knowing more than just the feels I have for a book I’ve come up with a system for breaking down and rating romance books so we can all find the HEA we want to read.
Graphic Rating
- Open Door – Explicit sexy times
- Cracked Door – Everything up to the final base
- Closed Door – All acts are up to your imagination because they aren’t described
Heat Level
- Comfortable reading on my phone during a work meeting.
- Has its moments but no blushes
- Blushing and a few squirms.
- Hot and squirmy (My favorite sweet spot)
- I need to read this alone with a glass of wine and no one around.
Story Depth
- Popcorn – I enjoy it while I’m reading but will likely forget all the details in a few days
- Snack – Short but filling. There are moments I will remember.
- Full Meal – I could skim through all the sexy times and still love the story. It draws me in as more than just a HEA fix.
Sub genre
- Aliens – oh my someone isn’t from this planet
- Mates – Fate or genetics makes these people Insta-love
- Paranormal – Shifter(non mates), Fairies, ghosts, Vampire, or something non-human finds their happy ending
- Fantasy – We are not in Kansas or even on Earth and there is MAGIC!!!
- Contemporary Vanilla – these stories are love first sexy times second
- Contemporary Kinky – kinky sexy times lead love not quite erotica but could easily blur the line.
Tropes
This is what I usually search when I’m looking for something new.
- Secret Baby
- Enemy to lover
- Billionaire
- Stuck together
- Second Chance
- And so many more
MC archetypes
Is she a sexy billionaire and he a nerdy computer geek? I’ll boil any MC down to one sentence.
Triggers
I don’t have many so sometimes I miss them but I will do my best to call out anything that might cause someone to have a bad reaction to the story.
My Feels
Not sure if this helps anyone but I will do my best to tell you how I felt while reading a book and hope you agree.
Well that is it my own private system for rating. I will tag all reviews with the appropriate labels so you can search through my reviews once I have enough up to make it worth the time.
