G: Nothing more happens than kissing, holding hands or hugging. No chemistry. Just a simple peck on the lips. (I do not see myself ever writing a G rated book.)
PG: Kissing, hugging, and appreciation for how someone looks (curves, the way she walks, etc). If the couple is married, vague references to sex and/or intimate touching. (I will rarely write a PG rated book.)
PG 13: Strong in sexual tension, appreciation of how the other person looks, character may appear naked, words like erection and breasts may be mentioned, but sex is behind closed doors.
R: Strong sexual tension followed up by sex. My aim is to maintain the romance while being descriptive about the sex. If you've read Carolyn Davidson, then you know what I'm talking about. Sex will only involve a married man and woman. (This is based on my personal beliefs.)
Based on my conversations with several romance readers, there is a wide variety of desire for romance novels in regards to the level of sensuality (or sexual tension, chemistry) that people desire in a book. I do not set out to write a certain rating for a book. I start writing and then let the story evolve as it will. Some stories are meant to be rated R, and others are meant to be G or PG. But if the book is R, it's because the characters are married.
I realize that some people don't care for R ratings, so this is why I point out the G, PG, and R symbol by each book. (I don't have any PG 13 books.) This way you know which books to avoid. One of my pet peeves is that there are few romance books with ratings on them. I like to know what I'm getting into before I start reading a book.
The system is designed to help you, the reader, find the book that best suits you since I don't write just one rating.
