Snaring Emberly by Gigi Styx

Revenge was supposed to be simple, but love had other plans Emberly: When an abusive ex corners me in a nightclub, I cling to the first man I see for protection. Little do I know he’s a mafia Don, fresh out of prison and eager for a one-night stand. One night extends into two, then three. I’m beginning to suspect I can’t leave. But every time I raise questions, he answers with offers impossible to resist. Sometimes, it’s hard to tell if I’m just paranoid or a pawn in a much larger game. Roman: When a man gets jailed for a crime he didn’t commit, the first thing he wants after leaving death row is vengeance. The bastard who framed me… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape mentioned
  • Domestic violence mentioned
  • Elder abuse
  • Forced marriage
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) & panic attacks
  • Attempted suicide, immolation & threats of suicide bombing
  • Drugging
  • Forced pregnancy due to birth control tampering
  • Male genital mutilation
  • Dismemberment, desecration of a corpse, and cremation of living people
  • Murder
  • Torture (waterboarding)
  • Organised crime (mafia)
  • Kidnapping & imprisonment

Context : Depiction of BDSM & kink, including voyeurism, exhibitionism, and mentions of urophilia

I Will Mend You by Gigi Styx

My worst nightmare finally stepped out of the mirror. And the only man who can save me is a ghost. I’m trapped in a forgotten nightmare with the monster I most fear. The key to my freedom lies behind a wall of memories. Xero’s specter invades my mind, whispering both vengeance and salvation. He insists he’s real, yet I can’t trust my shattered psyche. But as my tormentors draw close, I must rely on the phantom I betrayed for protection—and for revenge. She’s ensnared by darkness, and only I can set her free. To save her, I must become the vengeful spirit she fears. Amethyst’s mind is a maze of terror and confusion. Freeing… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Child & organ trafficking
  • Elder abuse
  • Victim-blaming
  • Rape, dubious consent (‘dubcon’), sexual harassment, & attempted sexual assault
  • Paedophilia, grooming, & child sexual abuse
  • Underage sex work mentioned (secondary character)
  • Gang rape (secondary character)
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Hallucinations & memory loss
  • Immolation
  • Abortion (forced) recounted
  • Medical misconduct (medication tampering)
  • Forced feeding
  • Cannibalism & dismemberment
  • Genital mutilation (castration)
  • Murder & murder of a child/infant
  • Graphic torture (on-page)
  • Car accident
  • Poisoning
  • Arson
  • Kidnapping & captivity
  • Imprisonment
  • Stalking & blackmail
  • Bullying & online harassment

I Will Break You by Gigi Styx

My prison pen pal got the electric chair. So how can he sext me from the grave? I see dead people, and not just the men I murdered. I’m in danger of being committed because I can’t tell what’s real from my hallucinations. Everyone thinks I’m crazy when the serial killer I jilted starts haunting my house. He assassinates any man who shows me interest, leaving their body parts under my pillow. During the day, his gaslighting destroys my peace of mind. But at night, he invades my nightmares and makes me crave the depravity. She ghosted me at the altar. Now, I’m aching for revenge. I want to break her, piece by delicious piece. Revel in her… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Teacher-student relationship recounted
  • Victim-blaming
  • Paedophilia, grooming & child sexual abuse recounted
  • Rape & sexual assault
  • Gang rape mentioned (secondary character)
  • Underage sex work mentioned (secondary character)
  • Hallucinations & memory loss
  • Suicide
  • Abortion (forced) & miscarriage recounted
  • Medical misconduct (medication tampering)
  • Dismemberment and desecration of a corpse & grave
  • Genital mutilation (castration)
  • Torture
  • Strangulation
  • Car accident
  • Imprisonment
  • Cults
  • Stalking
  • Bullying, online harassment & doxxing

Context : Depiction of BDSM & kink, including erotophonophilia, sadism, phrogging, collaring, spanking, osteophilia, fear play, mask play, knife play, gun play, and mentions of coprophilia,

Poisoning Ivy by Carly Claire

The mountain was always my safe place… until it wasn’t. It was my refuge from the cold loneliness of the city, from my parent’s loveless marriage, from their anger and chaos. Even when they left me with my creepy uncle, I looked forward to summers at the cabin, especially after I met them. The reapers. Killian, Monty, and Theo. They were my friends, the secret I kept to make my life tolerable. And then one summer, their friendship turned into something sinister. Their hatred kept me alive, fed a part of me that needed it. I thought it turned into something more, but then… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Homophobia
  • Sex trafficking mentioned (off-page)
  • Child physical & sexual abuse and neglect (implied)
  • Rape & dubious consent (‘dubcon’), including forced voyeurism and gun play
  • Depression & suicidal ideation
  • Domestic abuse
  • Pregnancy discussed
  • Mutilation
  • Murder
  • Home invasion

In Memoriam by Alice Winn

In 1914, war feels far away to Henry Gaunt and Sidney Ellwood. They’re too young to enlist, and anyway, Gaunt is fighting his own private battle – an all-consuming infatuation with the dreamy, poetic Ellwood – not having a clue that his best friend is in love with him, always has been. When Gaunt’s mother asks him to enlist in the British army to protect the family from anti-German attacks, he signs up immediately, relieved to escape his overwhelming feelings. But Ellwood and their classmates soon follow him into the horrors of trenches. Though Ellwood and Gaunt find fleeting moments of solace in one another, their friends are dying in front of them, and at any moment they could be next….

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Classism & minor bullying
  • Homophobia & internalised homophobia, including slurs
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (‘shell shock’) & psychological trauma from war, including survivor’s guilt, nightmares, depression, and panic attacks
  • Suicidal ideation & self-sacrifice (in battle)
  • Alcohol consumption & abuse
  • Minor drug use (i.e. morphine in a medical context)
  • Starvation
  • Blood, gore, and injury descriptions, including hospitalisation in military facilities, amputations, graphic descriptions of bodies, and general medical treatment and illness from battlefield wounds & injuries
  • Graphic depictions of World War Two, including trench warfare, combat violence, gas attacks (mustard gas), and battle scenes
  • Animal death (horses)

The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

“Back then, when I was a young woman, there were still witches”: That was how Nana Alba always began the stories she told her great-granddaughter Minerva—stories that have stayed with Minerva all her life. Perhaps that’s why Minerva has become a graduate student focused on the history of horror literature and is researching the life of Beatrice Tremblay, an obscure author of macabre tales. In the course of assembling her thesis, Minerva uncovers information that reveals that Tremblay’s most famous novel, The Vanishing, was inspired by a true story: Decades earlier, during the Great Depression, Tremblay attended the…. Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Grooming & incest (uncle-niece)
  • Dubious consent (‘dubcon’)
  • Murder
  • Animal death

The Kill Clause by Lisa Unger

A hit woman’s work doesn’t stop for the holidays. As the advent calendar winds down, Paige slips into a palatial house, ignoring a blizzard of texts from her ex-husband. No surprise—Julian always gets maudlin this time of year. The real shock comes when the target is not alone. His young daughter is there too. Risking the wrath of her organization, Paige retreats. There are some lines that, for personal reasons, she just won’t cross. But when she returns on Christmas Eve to finish the job, the girl is still there…along with someone even more startling. As the ghosts of her past gather,… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Domestic abuse
  • Overdose
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a parent
  • Murder by gun violence
  • Home invasion
  • Animal death

More Than Words by Mia Sheridan

The moment she met Callen Hayes, eleven-year-old Jessica Creswell knew he was a broken prince. Her prince. They became each other’s refuge, a safe and magical place far from their troubled lives. Until the day Callen kissed her–Jessica’s first real, dreamy kiss—and then disappeared from her life without a word. Years later, everyone knows who Callen Hayes is. Famous composer. Infamous bad boy. What no one knows is that Callen’s music is now locked deep inside, trapped behind his own inner demons. It’s only,… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Child abuse recounted
  • Alcohol abuse
  • Unplanned pregnancy
  • Death of a parent (off-page)

Leo by Mia Sheridan

Evie and Leo met in foster care as children and formed a bond of friendship. As they grew, their bond turned to love, and they vowed to make a life together when they turned 18 and were no longer a part of the system. When Leo unexpectedly gets adopted as a teen and moves to another city, he promises Evie that he will contact her as soon as he gets there and come back for her in a few short years. She never hears from him again. Now eight years later, in spite of the odds, Evie has made a life for herself. She has a job. She has friends. She’s content. Then a man shows up out of the blue, claiming that her long lost love, Leo,… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Paedophilia recounted
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Experiences in the foster care system recounted
  • Car accident

The Fix by Mia Sheridan

Eleven years ago, Cami Cortlandt’s mother and sister died cruelly in a violent home invasion. The trauma and notoriety still linger, but Cami has managed to build a life in her hometown despite everything she’s lost. Then one day it all comes rushing back. A distorted voice on the phone: Would you like a do-over? A disturbing video of a room with bars on the window, trapping a young boy inside who looks achingly, impossibly familiar. Four days to find him. With the help of Rex Lowe, an old classmate whose past is inextricably tied to her own, Cami races to uncover everything she can about the boy—where he is, who he is, and why… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape (multiple by captor, on-page & discussed)
  • Teen pregnancy & adoption
  • Drugging
  • Murder of a mother & sister in a home invasion (on-page)
  • Gun violence
  • Kidnapping & captivity