Understanding Bright Haven’s Content Ratings and Filters

Bright Haven is designed to help you find clean romance that matches your comfort level. That is why we use clear, detailed filters for romance intensity, audience, content levels, and themes.

This page explains what each rating means and how to use the filters to personalize your experience.

The Big Idea

Every reader is different. Some readers want only the lightest content. Others are comfortable with deeper emotional themes as long as the romance stays closed-door and the content remains clean.

Bright Haven’s filters help you:

• quickly find books that fit your preferences
• avoid content you do not want
• feel confident before you start reading

Peppers: Romance Intensity (Closed-Door Scale)

Bright Haven uses a pepper scale to show romance intensity at a glance.

Peppers help you answer:

“How romantic is this story, and how strong is the chemistry on the page?”

Important note: Bright Haven is focused on clean, closed-door romance, but intensity can still vary by tone, tension, and how much romantic focus is present.

How to use Peppers

• Choose fewer peppers if you prefer lighter romance and minimal heat
• Choose more peppers if you enjoy higher romantic tension while still staying closed-door

Audience: Who the Story Is Written For

Audience filters help you find books that match the intended reader age.

Common examples include:

• Teen / Young Adult (YA)
• Adult

This is especially helpful if you are choosing books for:

• teens
• family reading
• a more mature romance tone (without explicit content)

Content Levels: Profanity, Violence, and Substances

Some clean romance stories include mild language, references to violence, or mentions of substance use. Bright Haven uses content levels to help you filter these elements.

Content levels can include ratings for:

• Profanity
• Violence
• Substances

How to use Content Levels

• If you prefer the cleanest possible read, set these filters to the lowest available level
• If you are comfortable with mild references (still within clean standards), you can broaden your results

Sensitive Themes: Include or Exclude

Sensitive themes are used to flag topics some readers may want to avoid, even in clean books.

Examples may include:

• grief or loss
• trauma
• abuse references
• pregnancy loss
• mental health themes

How to use Sensitive Themes

• Exclude themes you prefer not to read about
• Include themes you are comfortable with (or leave them unfiltered for discovery)

Note: Some theme details appear in a title’s “More Info” section. If you want to avoid spoilers, use filters first and open “More Info” only when needed.

Worldview and Representation Filters

Some readers want stories that align with certain values, faith perspectives, or representation preferences. Bright Haven includes filters that allow you to include or exclude specific options.

These tools are meant to support reader comfort and preference, not to label books negatively.

How to Build Your Perfect Filter Set

If you want a reliable setup you can reuse, start with these three steps:

1. Pick your romance intensity (Peppers)
2. Set your content levels (profanity, violence, substances)
3. Exclude any sensitive themes you do not want

Then use Genre/Subgenre to match your mood.

Examples (Copy These)

“Give me the cleanest, lightest read”

• Peppers: Low
• Content levels: Lowest available
• Sensitive themes: Exclude heavier topics
• Audience: Teen/YA or Clean Adult (depending on preference)

“I want heartfelt romance without surprises”

• Peppers: Medium
• Content levels: Low
• Sensitive themes: Exclude your personal no-go topics

“I’m open to deeper themes, but still closed-door”

• Peppers: Medium to higher
• Content levels: Low to medium (based on comfort)
• Sensitive themes: Include what you are okay with, exclude the rest

Where to See the Details for a Specific Book

For most titles, you can view additional information directly on the book page. In the Reader app, this often appears under More Info.

If you need help understanding a specific rating or filter, message us through the chatbot and include the title.

Support and FAQ hub: https://brighthavenbooks.com/pages/about-us

Updated on: 23/01/2026