Forum Guidelines

Forum Rules & Community Guidelines

Welcome to the Sloppy Seconds Books forum — a space for romance readers to talk books, tropes, and feelings.

We’re readers first. Whether you’re here for cozy small-town sweetness or the darkest of dark romances, you belong here. These guidelines exist to keep this space welcoming for everyone.

The Short Version

Be kind to other readers
Use content warnings for sensitive topics
Keep it legal
Report problems — don’t engage

Community Expectations

Respect other readers. Disagree about books all you want — that’s half the fun — but don’t attack people. No name-calling, no mocking someone’s taste, no pile-ons.

Stay on topic. This is a space for romance readers. Keep discussions book-related or community-related. This isn’t the place for politics, religion, or selling things outside the marketplace.

Use content warnings. If you’re discussing sensitive content — abuse, assault, addiction, grief, or explicit scenes — please add a heads-up at the top of your post. Something like “CW: discussion of on-page abuse” is enough. This helps readers choose what they’re ready to engage with.

No spoilers without warnings. Mark spoilers clearly. Not everyone reads at the same pace.

What’s Not Allowed

We don’t host harm, hate, or illegal content. The following will be removed immediately:

Sexual content involving minors — No exceptions. This includes “aged-up” characters, “barely legal” framing, or any sexualized discussion of characters under 18.
Non-consensual content presented as erotic — Discussing dark romance is fine. Celebrating or eroticizing real-world assault is not.
Harassment, threats, or doxxing — Don’t share anyone’s private information. Don’t threaten or stalk other members.
Hate speech — No racism, homophobia, transphobia, or discrimination of any kind.
Piracy — Don’t share full book files, PDFs, or links to pirated content. Support authors.
Spam or self-promotion — If you’re an author, welcome! Share sample chapters in our Safe Words section, but don’t use the forum as your personal ad space.

Content Ratings

Romance means different things to different readers. To help everyone find their comfort zone, we encourage tagging discussions by heat level:

🌶️ Clean/Sweet — Closed door, no explicit content

🌶️🌶️ Warm — Some tension, mild heat

🌶️🌶️🌶️ Hot — Open door, explicit scenes

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ Very Hot — Frequent explicit content

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ Erotic — High heat throughout (add content warnings for dark themes)

You don’t have to use these tags, but they help.

If Something Goes Wrong

Report problems to in**@****************ks.com. Don’t engage with bad actors — just report. We review reports daily and take action quickly.

What happens when rules are broken:

Content removal + note
Private warning
Temporary mute
Account suspension
Permanent ban

We don’t enjoy banning people. But we will to protect this community.

A Note on Dark Romance

We know dark romance is a beloved subgenre with devoted readers. Discussing dark themes — morally gray heroes, dubious consent in fiction, taboo scenarios — is welcome here.

What matters is how we discuss it: as readers analyzing fiction, not as endorsement of real-world harm.

If you’re not sure whether something crosses a line, err on the side of content warnings and thoughtful framing.

Privacy & Data

Your posts are visible to other logged-in members. Don’t share personal information you wouldn’t want public. We don’t sell your data or share it with third parties beyond what’s needed to run the site.

For full details, see our Privacy Policy.

Questions?

Last updated: December 2025