Play Book Tag discussion

By popular need - er - demand, Fall Into Smut is BACK!

Runs October 1, 2026 through December 20th, 2026 - just to be sure we capture those smutty witchy books and Christmas Cowboy romances.

This is pure silly fun. It's all about reading trashy romances of any kind -- even those that end with nothing more than a 'really good kiss' as Peter Jackson says about Aragorn and Arwen's long awaited reunion after Sauron's defeat and Aragorn's crowned king. There is no smut level minimum! In fact, I tested out a Smut Level Rating system during Christmas in July, shared in Message#2. Feel free to make up your own and post it as a guide for all.

There are no points, no page minimums, no tags - though I believe we can give some real help to those still struggling with some of those Grab Tags, You don't even have to link or share your review. All you do is pull out a smutty romance or three to read then report back here on what you read, how it was as a smutty - or not - romance, and oh, particularly good or amusing metaphors.

Share those hot sexy covers.

Take a deep dive into your TBR - or someone else's - and see what you find. Any genre will do. Since I did not have the time to create the highlights reel I planned, to help guide your reading, here are 2025 Fall Into Smut Link and Inaugural Fall Into Smut Link.

Grab Tag Challenge members! This might be where you finish some of those tags you have been dodging. Don't be shy. Also, look at the prior 2 years of comments and reads as you might find something useful. Link to the Grab Tag Help Center, just in case anyone wants to add a title they stumble across that helps out in BDSM, Menage, and any other smutty tags that get added to provide help.

Go forth and read, a fine feathered or flowered fan in hand!

Smut Rating System - will be used by Theresa but feel free to create your own:

Smut rating: Use❤️‍🔥 a flaming heart

❤️‍🔥 - nothing graphic, except possibly one kiss at the end - often called 'sweet' or 'clean' romance - Christian ones too
❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 - hot kisses, some fondling, suggestion that heading to intimacy/bed or have been intimate, no details.
❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 - now have moved to full on intimacy but no details of the intimacy - closed door.
❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥- full details of one or two intimate encounters, often but not always in the last couple of chapters
❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 - frequent intimate encounters fully described - and if even one references something like unicorns and rainbows as a euphemism, it's an automatic ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

Note: if any thing too bizarre - crotch snakes come to mind from an Omegaverse tagged book - is an automatic loss of a ❤️‍🔥in the smut rating. Maybe as many as two.

I actually started a Fall Into Smut shelf at some point -- probably last fall. So I've got some books already identified there from my TBR. But I have loads in ebook and even print to pull from.

I also have a couple that are for a TBR Trim Challenge in another group --- there turn from my TBR came up. But I am quite sure none will get past a ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥. They are good romance books, just not really smutty romances.

What's everyone planning? Are you planning? Feel free to pose questions about a books content or tags or smut level. Someone might be able to provide guidance.

However, I do have some studly dog reads which should do a bit better.

I have How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf lined up waiting for October.
The cover isn't sexy, but it promises to be smutty and spicy.

Oh, Lyn, looks like such fun!

I just lined up a Jill Shalvis - she usually is good for some spicy smut or smutty spice!

I will definitely be participating.

I can recommend two series for smut that isn't not yucky. The first is the Black Dagger Brotherhood by J. R. Ward. It's perfect for Fall Flurries, too. The main characters are sexy vampires. The storyline is interesting and the characters are so well written. If you like audios, the series is narrated by Jim Frangione, the same man who narrates the Chet and Bernie mysteries. He does a phenomenal job. Start with the first book in the series Dark Lover. I may reread some of my favorites.......

If you are looking for something short and with a mystery feel to it, try the Mindf*ck series, by S. T. Abby There are only five and the first one is The Risk . The premise is the revenge that Lana takes on the men who gang raped her and left her for dead ten years ago. She falls for the FBI agent who is tracking her. It has some sections with graphic violence so it might not appeal to most of you. I skipped over it but it's definitely not a YA book.

I looked at my remaining tags, and it appears I managed to grab the spicy ones early in the year. Still, mc and bdsm should put me in play for this fun activity.
I might have started already, with my harlequin book, The Iron King but I think it will have a rather low smut rating because I'm at about 64% point and they still haven't kissed. I do enjoy the double-entendre from Kagawa, because I'm sure they are not accidental:

"Combat doesn't have to be with swords." Ash walked back to the bed, drawing his blade and examining the gleaming length.

I'm in, and lining up my remaining Romance-related Grab Tag books.

I've been surprised to see just how many of the tags on the Grab Tag list are secret synonyms for romance. In fact, I think it might have been possible to complete the whole challenge with nothing but romance!

Billionaire? There are more billionaire romances than actual billionaires in the world.

Hockey? I'm not even sure hockey is played in any of these books.

Age Gap? Some of these look pretty icky - "Dad/teenage daughter's friend" does nothing for me.

Mafia? Romance; MC? Romance; Single Parent? Romance

Omegaverse? I'm renaming "OMG-verse". It takes some effort for me to reject an entire genre, but Omegaverse just vaulted past High (yawn) Fantasy as my least favorite genre. (Theresa - I'm happy to see we're deducting ❤️‍🔥's for crotch snakes!)

Algernon wrote: "Combat doesn't have to be with swords." Ash walked back to the bed, drawing his blade and examining the gleaming length."

That's GOLD!

Sue wrote: "Algernon wrote: "Combat doesn't have to be with swords." Ash walked back to the bed, drawing his blade and examining the gleaming length."

That's GOLD!"

Going on the highlight reel for sure!

Sue wrote: "I'm in, and lining up my remaining Romance-related Grab Tag books.

I've been surprised to see just how many of the tags on the Grab Tag list are secret synonyms for romance. In fact, I think it mi..."

I thought the same. Or maybe all it shows is how broad the romance genre universe is.

The one other genre I have often thought is similar is crime fiction - and I often lean in to crime fiction for promots and tags.

And of COURSE there had to be a demerit!