A lover of all things books, I Can’t, I’m Booked, was born. A play on words, the name for this blog came to be from realizing that, generally speaking, I’d rather be reading than doing anything else. And, I’m not above turning down plans in favor of curling up with my favorite book.
WHO AM I?
Guess I should introduce myself! Hi! I’m Alyssa, a thirty something year old obsessed with books. While throughout my life I would read anything I could get my hands on, in the last few years, I dove head first into the world of romance books and I, quite honestly, don’t think I’m going to resurface anytime soon. I primarily read contemporary romance and erotic romance and dabble in dark romance.
A swoon worthy love interest, especially if they’re grumpy, will get me falling and for them every single time. Romance novels have the ability to make me cry over happy times, sad times and a really solid grand gesture. Really, I’m an emotional person and while cry over basically everything.
STAR AND SPICE RATING SCALES
Let’s talking about my rating scale! I usually rate books in .25 increments and will typically round up/down to the nearest full star on places like Goodreads and here. What do these ratings mean? Let’s get into it:
- 1 star – I should’ve DNF’d (did not finish)
- 2 stars – this was not a book for me
- 3 stars – this was an enjoyable book, but nothing to write home about
- 4 stars – above average and had a lot of things I loved, but something was missing to make this a new favorite
- 5 stars – new favorite; go read this now!
In my reviews, I will include content warnings, tropes (if applicable), star rating and where the book falls on the spice scale. What is the spice scale? In romance books, the spice scale indicates how much on page sex is occurring. Here’s my spice rate:
- 1 chili pepper – primarily closed door romance and/or minimal sexy times
- 2 chili peppers – on page but not super descriptive
- 3 chili peppers- there’s plot, a few sexy times and has graphic descriptions
- 4 chili peppers – split half and half with plot and spice; again, graphic descriptions involved
- 5 chili peppers – these have minimal plot and may have kink involved; I’m probably blushing
Please keep in mind that my star and spice ratings are super subjective and based on my taste. My three chili pepper could be your five, so please be mindful before we disagree.
I cannot wait to share my thoughts on books with you!