Regency Reader Questions: Searching Intimacy Levels on Regency Reader

Regency Reader Question
Little embarrassed to be asking this but is it possible to search books/reviews on your blog by intimacy ranking. I prefer books that have a little more than just kisses but also do not run to pages and pages of purple prose. If not, that is of course okay! I have a lot of fun reading your blog! Thank you for the work that goes into it and for sharing your expertise! Best regards!

Hi Maggie! Thanks for the wonderful question and for being a Regency Reader.  Don’t be embarrassed for asking this question, or anything similar…its this type of information that helps us continue to refine and improve the website and reviews.

I like to read it all, but sometimes I am in the mood for kisses only…and other times give me all the heat!  Other readers are the same way, which is why we have gone to a robust rating system in each review that takes in to account adult subject matter/mature content, intimate scenes and violence.  I am someone in particular who is sensitive to violence, so we added that recognizing that a lot of times reviews/reviewers won’t mention what may seem innocuous but can be difficult for some readers.  This includes everything from a good, old fashioned historical romance kidnapping to murder, assault, and sexual assault.

There is no easy way to search for the final “star” rating, because it would be complicated to do that given that some score high because violence, some for intimacy, etc…and we know what a lot of readers (or so readers have told us) are usually looking to shop based on the amount of sex on the page.  That is why we also categorize books into three buckets of “heat” level: PG Rated, steamy vanilla, and hot and spicy.

They aren’t perfect titles/buckets or categories…but instead are a function of us really working out how to treat content in a way that made sense.  You will see old reviews (2007/2008/2009) used the US rating system to capture intimacy/violence/mature content.  We eventually moved away from that because we realized we were lucky enough to start to have non-US readers that found this system less intuitive and because it didn’t do a great job at breaking down the different aspect (content, intimacy, violence) of what can make a book challenging for readers.

PG (Parental Guidance) is what the traditional/kisses only falls under.  Its a hold over from the old movie rating system and also a result of significant debate on what to call kisses only romance.  If you are a reader who does not like a lot of mature content, violence, or intimate scenes this category is going to be the safest bet for you.  We have also used a * on the Books by Plot Type page to earmark these books if you are looking for a specific trope but also want to stick to kisses only.

Steamy vanilla was my way to describe some sex on the page, but mostly vanilla stuff.  I recognize that is sometimes used as a pejorative descriptor, and that was not my intent back when I started using it.  What I was trying to describe was more conventional sex scenes, not too graphic, with not a lot of kink.  This is typically what a lot of mass market/trade historicals will fall under.  Based on what you describe you are looking for, I would recommend selecting this category under the category menu (Post Categories, its a drop down menu, you will need to go below author names).  In each review, if you scroll to the bottom and see the large pink box of labelled Content Rating/Heat Index you will see we have drilled down a bit more into what you can generally expect.  This (or in the review text) is where I will also often flag if the intimate scenes are pretty limited/short or where there is a lot or lengthier scenes.

Hot and spicy is a smaller category that will include content with a lot or very graphic intimate scenes, likely some kink, and often longer scenes.  Admittedly, my blog needs a lot more in this category, so if you have recommendations send them my way!

Recently, we have also begun adding content warnings (CW) at the end of reviews or in the review text.  I am (as the primary content producer) still learning what to flag, how to do this effectively and sensitively, and how not to kink shame or otherwise ick people’s yum so always open to suggestions.

If you find this method frustrating and have some suggestions for improvement, I would love to hear them.  I have found its tough to find an all inclusive system because sex is personal and unlike tropes its very unique author to author.

Romance is also generally sex positive, but Regency/historical romance tends to be a niche genre where not all writers and readers are comfortable with mature content.  This was really confusing for me to navigate when I first started my blog in 2007.  I really honestly started the blog for my own purposes and never expected for Regency Reader to be where we are to day.  As the blog grew in readership, I had to learn a lot of stuff on the fly.  So you will see, many years ago, me using terms like “clean” to describe kisses only because that is what I saw other readers/reviewers using.  I now try to use kisses only to remove any suggestion that sex is unclean or dirty.  This is an example of how I, and the website, are continuing to learn, grow and improve.

So again, never be embarrassed to ask questions, offer suggestions, and encourage us to do and be better.  At the heart of it, our hope is that we are all readers (and writers) who love Regency romance and can continue to work together to have interesting, thoughtful conversations about what this genre and romance mean to us (with or without sexual content).

I also want to add that if you ever want some personal recommendations for authors based on your needs or preferences, please submit them to Reader ? (Regency Reader Questions) and we can create some lists.  Our readers LOVE lists (they are some of the most popular posts) and we always struggle with trying to figure out new and interesting list categories, so you would honestly be doing us a favor!  I already have a list generating in my mind of potential authors for you, Maggie, and with a little bit more info (trope favorites, main character preferences) could probably deliver a to be read (TBR) pile to keep you busy for the rest of 2020.

Love,

Anne