About, Info, and Contact
We're readers, just like you, who love to partake of the magic found in books.
Any adventure you could possibly imagine can be found between the covers of a book.
Welcome to Books & Benches. We’re happy to have you here.
Books & Benches is author-owned and run with the help of dedicated volunteer readers. At its heart, the blog exists to support authors by sharing their work and to help readers discover books they’ll genuinely enjoy.
Still Turning Pages
at Books and Benches
Books & Benches has been sharing book recommendations and author features since 2012. After many active years, we took a gentle step back in 2022 to reflect and reset. This collection of posts is meant to be discovered and enjoyed at any time.
Looking forward, we’re embracing a more sustainable approach — one that allows us to continue sharing meaningful book recommendations and supporting authors at a thoughtful pace.
We invite you to explore, revisit favorites, and stumble upon something unexpected.
We are currently on hiatus.
Genres
While we’ve featured a wide variety of genres over the years, we are now focusing on the following:
Accepted Genres
We welcome books for features and review requests in these genres:
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Historical Fiction & Historical Mystery – prior to 1905 preferred; for reviews, no WW-era settings.
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Historical Romance – 15th century through 1905 preferred; settings in the British Isles, American West/Frontier, or Canada are preferred, though other settings will be considered.
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Historical Inspirational Romance – 15th century through 1905 or contemporary; British Isles, American West/Frontier, and Canada preferred.
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Dual-Time – must include a historical timeline prior to 1905.
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Time-Travel/Time-Slip Romance – must include a historical timeline prior to 1905.
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Contemporary Romance & Women’s Fiction – small-town, clean reads only at this time.
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Romantic Suspense/Thriller/Mystery - accepted or selected on a book-by-book basis at this time.
Content Guidelines
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We do not feature books with gratuitous sex, violence, or swearing. Steamy books are allowed, but books with over-the-top sexual content will be declined (the reviewer decides what is over-the-top based on blog guidelines).
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Reviewers may note or review books with adult content at their discretion.
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Clean Reads must avoid on-the-page sex scenes and swearing beyond a few uses of “hell” or “damn.” Mild violence is acceptable if it fits the time period, setting, and circumstances.
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No erotica or erotic romance will be accepted.
Note
Some genres were previously hosted on the site. The list above reflects the current focus for blog tours, features, and reviews.
Content Ratings
We use content ratings as a helpful guide to let readers know what kind of material you might encounter in a book.
Not every post will include a rating, and some are provided by blog tours or authors for non-review posts, but when a reviewer feels there’s content worth noting, it will be highlighted here. These notes are meant to help you choose books that are the right fit for you.
As always, we recommend readers confirm book content before reading or purchasing to make sure it’s a good match for your preferences.
Content Codes Deciphered!
0 Hearts: This book is as squeaky clean as it gets.
1 Heart: Aww! This is a clean read appropriate for all audiences. May have sweet, clean kisses.
2 Hearts: Our hearts are aflutter. This author knows how to turn up the heat with some passionate kisses. Nothing graphic here!
3 Hearts: Chemistry is a little sweet and little spicy. A touch of detail, but the stuff that makes us blush is behind closed doors.
4 Hearts: We're getting hot in here! These characters know how to have a good time. Lucky for us, they don't go into too much detail.
5 Hearts: Pull out your fans and grab a glass of ice-cold water because this book is steaming hot! One or more graphic sex scenes.
**We do not feature or review erotica or erotic romance.**
Content Ratings (Non-Romance Books)
N/A: No Sex; No Violence
PG: Non-Descriptive Sex; No Violence
PG-13 (1): Non-Descriptive Sex; Some Violence
PG-13 (2): No Sex; Some Violence
R (1): Descriptive Sex and Violence
R (2): No Sex; Graphic Violence