Ratings & Ethics

Review ratings:

Update (January 2022): I am converting over my book reviews (which will take a lot of time) and also changing up my rating/heat index.  The new rating is a five point scale again.  

The five point scale will be as follows:

1 star: This book has serious issues and may even be problematic.  Would not recommend.

2 star: This book had issues.  Would generally not recommend.

3 star: Enjoyed aspects of this book This book had some issues.   Recommended with caution.

4 star:  This book was entertaining and enjoyable with limited issues.  Would recommend.

5 star: This book had everything I was looking for, would read again and highly recommend.

The heat index is being replaced by a flame rating.  Flame ratings are the summation of three category scores (mature content, sexual content, violent content).  Any content warnings will be flagged.  The general scale is as follows:

0 flames – No mature, sexual, and/or violent content.  Appropriate for all ages.

1 flame – Limited mature, sexual, and/or violent content.  Appropriate for most ages.

2 flame – A few instances of mature, sexual, and/or violent content.

3 flame – Some mature, sexual, and/or violent content.

4 flame – Mature, sexual, and/or violent content.

5 flame – A significant amount of mature, sexual, and/or violent content.

Older ratings: (pre-2022)

For later reviews and per reader demand, I added a review rating and content rating system to my posts. There have been several iterations of the system, which you may see sprinkled throughout the site, but generally the principles are the same.

I rate reviews based on a scale of low (1) to high (6…formerly 5). Low are books that I would never recommend reading, and as such will be few and far between–as I don’t want to waste my time or my readers time reviewing substandard work. The upper end of the scale is more nuanced, and thus usually accompanied by a two sentence explanation. 6 is for outstanding “classic” romances, of the likes of Heyer and Austen, and so a rating that will also be rare.

Most books fall between the 3 and 5 range, which I consider to be “an ok read to a will read again.” Please feel free to engage in a dialogue or disagree with my rating via comments–I fully acknowledge that my opinions are just that and do not encapsulate all Reg Rom readers.

The second part of my rating system is a “heat index” or content rating based on the variety and level of adult subject matter/material in the book. This was at the behest of younger and clean Regency readers who wanted recommendations for “kisses only” or “clean” Regency. (Side note: We are no longer using the word “clean” to denote kisses only romances, because of the implications.  You may seem some older posts that still use this term. ) 

In the past, I used a motion picture scale with a couple of sentence explaining. However, I have noticed this is an incomplete system, because sometimes content has a lot of adult subject matter with little intimacy…which can’t be fully explained in a paragraph.

Therefore, I have developed a three scale system for rating content called the heat index.  The heat index covers individual ratings for mature content, intimate scenes and violence with an overall score based on those three categories).

If you disagree with my rating, please contact me!

Ethics Statement

Here is a statement of my ethics and coverage policies.

I haven’t been offered any paid speaking engagements, and may well never be, but if I do any paid speaking it won’t be for a company that I cover. I’m not a consultant for any companies.

As part of covering Regency romance, I review books. Occasionally, I receive free electronic copies for review. This is always disclosed at the end of such posts.  We do not accept payment for reviews or for a better rating, or be included on lists of authors.

I accept paid sponsorship ads for the blog.  Those funds go to help website upkeep and costs.  These are for ads only, and do not include any other services (like posts, promotions, etc).

We also use Amazon affiliate links for books and some other Regency related items (games or movies) to also help subsidize the website costs.

I also abide by the Bloggers Code of Ethics which can be found here.

Inclusivity Statement

We are committed to inclusivity and anti-racism.   This includes continuing to be sensitive and transparent about the language we use, continuing to promote diverse representation, and  providing content warnings to address potentially triggering/traumatic material.

We support an open dialogue about diversity in historical romance and commit to continuing to learn, grow, and do and be better.  Much love!