In romance books, the spice level is essentially a ranking of how steamy the smut is. (Hey, I believe in keeping it real!) Here at the Panty Report, my spice levels are notated by how many pairs of panties I went through while reading. My goal is to try and stay as objective as possible, so here is my “standards” for each rating.

🩲Sweet or Closed Door

• You’ll find meaningful glances and even a kiss or two, but no sex is described either on or off-page (fade to black).

🩲🩲Closed Door or Fade to Black (FTB)

• The smut happens behind closed doors, which means it is implied rather than shown. The focus is on the emotional buildup to the sexy fun times.

🩲🩲🩲Euphemistic Description

• These books will have at least one smut scene on page and will use understated euphemistic or nonoffensive language for sexual acts and body parts. These are non-explicit and non-detailed.

🩲🩲🩲🩲Detailed Open Door

• This smut contains somewhat explicit, on page scenes with detailed descriptions of various sexual acts and body parts. These books are not for those just getting started in the genre.

🩲🩲🩲🩲🩲Explicit

• These books are not for blushing Bettys. They contain multiple and adventurous smut scenes described in explicit detail throughout the book.