Author Archives: Bec @ bec&books

Bec @ bec&books A late-20s student & librarian who reads, games, drinks coffee, cuddles cats and tells the world about stories.

The Magician’s Assistant by Ann Patchett

A magician (with one memorable appearance on the Johnny Carson Show to his credit) takes the name Parsifal. He is gay. He has a Vietnamese lover, Phan. When Phan dies of AIDS, Parsifal marries the woman who has always adored him and who has lived with them both, his assistant Sabine.

Then Parsifal himself dies in California, suddenly and shockingly, of an aneurysm. Parsifal always said that he had no living family and that he came from wealthy upscale Connecticut stock… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • AIDs (theme)
  • Death of a husband from an aneurism
  • Death of a lover recounted

Wormwood Summer by Kai Butler

When the Summer Queen summons Parker to her court, the private investigator knows there’s trouble brewing. Trapped into compliance by his past debt to the fae monarch, he’s tasked with locating a missing girl in San Amaro. Now he has to find the girl or give up his life.

Things only get more complicated when a very familiar cop asks Parker for his help on a case involving murdered magic users. With the victims completely drained of their magic… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Torture, on-page

Sacred Sins by C. D. Reiss

You know what they say about family.
Blood is thicker than water.
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
A house divided cannot stand.

Margie is the keeper of her family’s secrets.
Six sisters and one brother.
Billions in assets.
Generations of malfeasance… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Child abuse
  • Drug use & smoking
  • Gambling
  • Unplanned pregnancy

Stolen by an Alien by Amanda Milo

I broke the rules and stole an auction item from her buyers.
Because somehow, they’d managed to abduct a Gryfala princess.
Though… she doesn’t look, or act, or sound quite like I thought one of her kind would.
But I’m merely a Rakhii gladiator; this is the closest I’ve actually ever been to a princess.
I’d be considered lucky indeed if she chose me to guard her.
Instead, I want more… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Attempted rape
  • Murder
  • Kidnapping

The Beauty in Breaking by Michele Harper

Michele Harper is a female, African American emergency room physician in a profession that is overwhelmingly male and white. Brought up in Washington, DC, in an abusive family, she went to Harvard, where she met her husband. They stayed together through medical school until two months before she was scheduled to join the staff of a hospital in central Philadelphia, when he told her he couldn’t move with her. Her marriage at an end, Harper began her new life in a new city, in a new job, as a newly single woman… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Child Abuse
  • Domestic abuse
  • Alcoholism
  • Abortion
  • Cancer
  • Death of a child

Run by Ann Patchett

Since their mother’s death, Tip and Teddy Doyle have been raised by their loving, possessive, and ambitious father. As the former mayor of Boston, Bernard Doyle wants to see his sons in politics, a dream the boys have never shared. But when an argument in a blinding New England snowstorm inadvertently causes an accident that involves a stranger and her child, all Bernard Doyle cares about is his ability to keep his children—all his children—safe… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother recounted

Spencer Cohen, Book Three by N. R. Walker

Learning to be in a committed relationship has been easy for Spencer. In fact, too easy. Andrew has fit into his life seamlessly. Spencer’s let go of his insecurities and hang-ups, and he and Andrew are enjoying where things are headed.

Learning to be in a committed relationship has been easy for Spencer. In fact, too easy. Andrew has fit into his life seamlessly. Spencer’s let go of his insecurities and hang-ups, and he and Andrew are enjoying where things are headed… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Suicide mentioned
  • Anaphylactic shock
  • Hospitalisation

Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden

When Liza Winthrop first lays eyes on Annie Kenyon at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, she knows there’s something special between them. Soon, their close friendship develops into a deep and intimate romance. Neither imagined that falling in love could be so wonderful, but as Liza and Annie’s newfound sexuality sparks conflict in both their families and at their schools, they discover it will take more than love for their relationship to succeed… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Lesbomisia
  • Ableism & ableist language

King’s Ex by E. J. Russell

To escape an arranged marriage, the king needs a fake fiancé. Stat.

King Bastien’s father locked him into an ironclad betrothal contract with Lady Helena Rey when the two of them were only seven years old. Bas and Helena have never been friends—and not only because she marked their first meeting by dropping a frog down his shirt. He’s been unsuccessfully petitioning Parliament to annul the damn contract ever since he took the throne nine years ago….. Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Miscarriage mentioned
  • Attempted murder
  • Kidnapping recounted
  • War mentioned