18+ content policy

You must be at least 18 years old (or the age of majority in your jurisdiction, whichever is greater) to create an account. Steamy Shelf is not a platform for minors. If we learn that an account belongs to a minor we will close it.

We catalog published romance fiction across the heat spectrum, from sweet and closed-door to explicit and kink-forward. Heat ratings, trope tags, and content warnings exist so you can filter for what you want and away from what you do not. Use your content warning hard limits to keep books that hit those limits out of your recommendations.

Reviews, lists, comments, and book club discussions written by users may describe scenes from those books, including explicit ones. Use the spoiler control if you are revealing major plot points; mark your review or comment with a spoiler tag in those cases.

The following are not permitted anywhere on Steamy Shelf:

• Sexual content involving any character or person who is, or is depicted as, under 18. This applies to user-generated content as well as to any book the community might try to add to the catalog.
• Content that sexualizes real, identifiable non-consenting people.
• Content that endorses or instructs sexual assault, child abuse, or human trafficking.
• Doxxing or sharing of private information without consent.
• Harassment, threats, hate speech, or incitement of violence against a person or group.
• Spam, repetitive promotions, or off-topic commercial solicitations.

Romance fiction frequently explores dark themes (dub-con, captivity, age-gap, morally grey heroes, violence). We catalog books that include these elements and use content warnings so readers can opt in or out. A book being listed on Steamy Shelf is not an endorsement of its themes, nor is a positive review by a user an endorsement of the events in the story.

User-generated content (reviews, comments, lists) must distinguish between describing or critiquing a fictional work and advocating real-world conduct. Endorsement of the conduct prohibited in Section 3 is not permitted regardless of fictional framing.

Use the Report control on any comment, review, list, or club pick to flag it for moderator review. Reports go to admin moderators, who review and act per our Terms of Service. You can also write to abuse@steamyshelf.com.

Violations may result in content removal, account suspension, or account termination. We may also report illegal content to the appropriate authorities and cooperate with valid legal process.

We may update this policy. Material changes will be announced in-app. Continued use after a change constitutes acceptance.

Questions about this policy can be sent to support@steamyshelf.com. To report urgent abuse, write to abuse@steamyshelf.com.