Author Archives: rachel @ typed truths

a tired aussie reader with a love of cats, libraries & sunflowers • she/her

A Touch of Gold and Madness by K.L. DeVore

Fairytales are for the naive. Princess Assassin Gray Monroe is ordered by her father to kill the villainous prince responsible for starting a war that threw the world into a post-apocalyptic society. In a decrepit landscape where two magical species war with one another, while a human militia hunts them all, Gray has only one thing on her mind: vengeance. With a single focus on killing the man who murdered her first love, she believes nothing will stop her. That is until she hesitates when she comes face-to-face with her nemesis at long last. With a single focus… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Child abuse

The Alibi Girl by C.J. Skuse

Joanne Haynes has a secret: that is not her real name. And there’s more. Her flat’s not hers. Her cats aren’t hers. Even her hair isn’t really hers. Nor is she any of the other women she pretends to be. Not the bestselling romance novelist who gets her morning snack from the doughnut van on the seafront. Nor the pregnant woman in the dental surgery. Nor the chemo patient in the supermarket for whom the cashier feels ever so sorry. They’re all just alibis. In fact, the only thing that’s real about Joanne is that nobody can know who she really is. But someone has got too close. It looks like her alibis have begun to run out….

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Murder
  • Death of a parent recounted
  • Death of a spouse recounted
  • Car accident mentioned
  • Animal cruelty mentioned

In Bloom by C.J. Skuse

If only they knew the real truth. It should be my face on those front pages. My headlines. I did those things, not him. I just want to stand on that doorstep and scream it: IT WAS ME. ME. ME. ME. ME! Rhiannon Lewis has successfully fooled the world and framed her cheating fiancé Craig for the depraved and bloody killing spree she committed. She should be ecstatic that she’s free. Except for one small problem. She’s pregnant with her ex lover’s child. The ex-lover she only recently chopped up and buried in her in-laws garden. And as much as Rhiannon wants to continue making her way through her kill lists, a small voice inside is trying… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Domestic abuse
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Murder

Sweetpea by C.J. Skuse

Rhiannon is your average girl next door, settled with her boyfriend and little dog but she’s got a killer secret. Although her childhood was haunted by a famous crime, Rhiannon’s life is normal now that her celebrity has dwindled. By day, her job as an editorial assistant is demeaning and unsatisfying. By evening, she dutifully listens to her friends’ plans for marriage and babies while secretly making a list. A kill list. From the man at the grocery checkout who always mishandles her apples, to the driver who cuts her off on her way to work, to the people who have it coming, Rhiannon is ready to get her revenge. Because the girl… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape
  • Suicide mentioned
  • Abortion mentioned
  • Miscarriage mentioned
  • Murder
  • Torture
  • Bullying

Man vs. Durian by Jackie Lau

Durian is my nemesis. We have a long, painful history. In my opinion, the spiky fruit smells like natural gas and rotten onions with eau de vomit. Bleh. So when Valerie Chow spills her durian ice cream all over me, I shouldn’t fall in love. But despite her fondness for durian, Valerie is beautiful and delightfully prickly and stares at me when I take off my soiled shirt. And somehow, this chance encounter leads to me agreeing to be her fake boyfriend to get her mom off her back about her dating life. Her supposed boyfriend is a paediatric resident, but no big deal, right? My job’s in landscaping… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexual harassment, off-page

Red Butterfly by A.L. Sonnichsen

Kara never met her birth mother. Abandoned as an infant, she was taken in by an American woman living in China. Now eleven, Kara spends most of her time in their apartment, wondering why she and Mama cannot leave the city of Tianjin and go live with Daddy in Montana. Mama tells Kara to be content with what she has…but what if Kara secretly wants more?

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment
  • Death of a newborn
  • Death of a pet bird

A Love Unexpected by Leah Brunner

Also known as A Love Unexpected.

Apparently, the conservative mid-western voters want more than my brains, connections, and good looks to vote me in as a congressman. I thought I had it all, but missed one glaring requirement: a wife to make me look like the all-American family man Kansas wants. The lovely Odette Hastings seems to fit the bill. She’s a wholesome small-town girl, and conveniently in need of cash. I’ll give her the money to take care of her elderly parents, and she’ll be the political arm candy I need. We both win, right? The only problem is Odette is a little too beautiful, a little too intelligent, and much too distracting. I have to keep my eye on the… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Cheating mentioned
  • Blackmail

Flirtation or Faceoff by Leah Brunner

Then my best friend has to go and marry an NHL player, and his teammate, Colby Knight, won’t leave me alone. Colby is a master at scoring (on and off the ice), and he’s not used to being told no. So he takes my disinterest as an invitation to pursue me even harder. I ignore him… until I realize I can use his expertise to help me get my crush’s attention. But now that he’s my dating coach, and we’re spending so much time together, I’m growing more and more distracted. I mean, those dimples? Very enticing. Just when I think he might be more than just a playboy hockey player, a blast from the past comes back and reminds me why I swore off athletes in the first place. Can I… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Cheating recounted (ex-partner)

Desire or Defense by Leah Brunner

The notoriously angry, grouchy, D.C. Eagles defenseman that just can’t keep his temper in check. The temper that leads to a fifteen game suspension from the NHL. As if that’s not bad enough, I’m forced into a short term youth-hockey coaching gig. Which my manager swears will “rebuild my image.” But what I didn’t expect was for a gorgeous, spunky blonde to stomp onto the ice on day one and lecture me about being rude to her little brother. Something about this spitfire of a woman, and the boy she’s so protective of, has my defenses melting. And if I’m not careful, I’ll burst into flames, forever melting the ice I’ve carefully kept around my heart.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment
  • Incarceration of a parent
  • Death of parents in a car accident
  • Bullying

Passion or Penalty by Leah Brunner

Ever sent your brother’s best friend a video expressing your undying love for him? While hopped up on pain meds? No? Just me then? Once I knew this girl who sent a video of herself to her brother’s best friend… while she was hopped up on pain meds. And he didn’t reciprocate her feelings. Sounds like a hilarious story, right? WRONG. This really happened… to ME, Melanie Taylor. That was five years ago, so I’m over it—over him. At least, I thought I was… until West got traded to the D.C. Eagles and moved to the same city as me! Oh yeah, did I forget to mention my brother’s best friend is Weston Kershaw? An incredibly talented… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consumption
  • Anxiety and panic attacks, on-page
  • Mentions of being trapped under ice and nearly drowning as a child