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Bitterburn by Ann Aguirre

Bitterburn by Ann Aguirre

Amarrah Brewer is desperate and grief-stricken. For ages, the town of Bitterburn has sent tribute to the Keep at the End of the World, but a harsh winter leaves them unable to pay the toll that keeps the Beast at bay. Amarrah volunteers to brave what no one has before—to end the threat or die trying.

The Beast of Bitterburn has lost all hope. One way or another, Njål has been a prisoner for his entire life. Monstrous evil has left him trapped and lonely, and he believes that will never change. There is only darkness in his endless exile, never light. Never warmth. Until she arrives.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Child abuse
Suicidal ideation
Illness of a child
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a fiancé
Torture
Animal pregnancy & stillbirth
Animal death (goat)

Human by Diego Agrimbau

Human by Diego Agrimbau and illustrated by Lucas Varela

Planet Earth: 500,000 years in the future. Humans have been extinct for millennia. Two scientists, Robert and June, have been orbiting the Earth, waiting for the planet to become habitable once more. With the help of a team of robots, they plan to start over from scratch: a new Adam and Eve who won’t make the same mistakes as their ancestors. But first Robert has to find June, who seems to have landed somewhere else in this vast jungle—their Eden—full of grotesque creatures and strange primates…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Slavery
Rape, implied
Attempted genocide

In the Winter Woods by Isabelle Adler

In the Winter Woods by Isabelle Adler

Declan Kensington isn’t really in the mood for Christmas. His latest mystery book sales are tanking, his finances are in a dismal state, and his spirits are anything but festive. Perhaps spending the holidays alone at his family lakeside cabin in the small village of Maplewood, Vermont, will provide him much-needed peace and quiet. Then he might finally get to work on a new book and (hopefully) jumpstart his stalling writing career.

When he starts receiving anonymous letters threatening him to leave, Declan realizes his solitary writer’s retreat isn’t at all what he bargained for. And if the threats aren’t enough, a killer strikes, casting Declan in the role of the most likely suspect. Now it’s up to him… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Grief & loss depiction
Death of a parent
Dead body
Murder, off-page
Gun violence

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Fifteen-year-old Kambili and her older brother Jaja lead a privileged life in Enugu, Nigeria. They live in a beautiful house, with a caring family, and attend an exclusive missionary school. They’re completely shielded from the troubles of the world. Yet, as Kambili reveals in her tender-voiced account, things are less perfect than they appear. Although her Papa is generous and well respected, he is fanatically religious and tyrannical at home—a home that is silent and suffocating.

As the country begins to fall apart under a military coup, Kambili and Jaja are sent to their aunt, a university professor outside the city, where they discover a life beyond the confines of their father’s authority. Books cram the shelves, curry and nutmeg permeate the air, and their cousins’ laughter rings throughout the house. When they return home, tensions within the family escalate, and Kambili must find the strength to keep her loved ones together.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Parental abuse
Graphic domestic abuse

Easy Motion Tourist by Leye Adenle

Easy Motion Tourist by Leye Adenle

Easy Motion Tourist is a compelling crime novel set in contemporary Lagos. It features Guy Collins, a British hack who stumbles by chance into the murky underworld of the city. A woman’s mutilated body is discarded by the side of a club near one of the main hotels in Victoria Island. Collins, a bystander, is picked up by the police as a potential suspect. After experiencing the unpleasant realities of a Nigerian police cell, he is rescued by Amaka, a Pam Grier-esque Blaxploitation heroine with a saintly streak. As Collins discovers more of the darker aspects of what makes Lagos tick – including the clandestine trade in organs – he also falls slowly for Amaka. Little do they realise how the body parts business is wrapped up in the power and politics of the city.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Sex work
Blood depiction
Kidnapping
Murder

Love Scammed by Rilzy Adams

Love Scammed by Rilzy Adams

When Monae Alexander turns up to Miami International Airport to meet her best friend, Tempest, for their anti-Valentine’s Day girls’ trip to Turks and Caicos, she realizes she’s been scammed. Tempest is nowhere in sight and soon Monae finds out that the trip was an elaborate scheme to get her to meet Hudson Bradley, a man Tempest had been trying to set Monae up with for months. Hudson has been played too, thinking he was heading overseas for a business trip and not a five-day Valentine’s Day getaway with a woman he’s never met before. It is the Valentine’s Day trip neither Hudson nor Monae asked for, but could it turn out to be just what they need?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Intimate partner abuse & violence recounted

Will You Be Mine? by Rilzy Adams

Will You Be Mine? by Rilzy Adams

JT Johnson has been in love with his best friend for as long as he can remember. Hallie, however, seems clueless or deliberately obtuse. When she asks him to pretend to be her boyfriend for her ex-best friend’s wedding, JT hesitantly agrees. Will their escape to the Caribbean be Heaven or Hell in Paradise?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Teen pregnancy
Forced adoption

The Gift by Rilzy Adams

The Gift by Rilzy Adams

When Maya’s best friend, Charlotte, asks her to be her surrogate, she reluctantly agrees. Although pregnancy and motherhood were things Maya didn’t plan to deal with for years, she was willing to sacrifice nine months of her time for her best friend’s happiness.

Her world is turned inside out when Charlotte is murdered just as Maya gets confirmation of the IVF’s success. Now, Maya must raise the child she never intended to keep and preserve peace with Charlotte’s widower, Jaxon.

Soon Maya finds that pregnancy and impending motherhood are the least of her worries. She must fight against the tenderness she’s begun to feel for her best friend’s husband and she must atone for the sin she desperately tries to keep hidden. Maya Jenkins killed her best friend.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Pregnancy
Death of a friend
Murder
Gun violence

Hopeless Romantic by Marina Adair

Hopeless Romantic by Marina Adair

As caregiver for her autistic brother, Beckett Hayes knows how meaningful a little extra help can be when life happens. Which is why she runs Consider It Done, a personal concierge service in her small town. Her job also gives her the flexibility to follow her passion, being Rome, Rhode Island’s unofficial special needs advocate, training emotional support companions in her spare time. There’s not much of that, though, and certainly not enough for serious dating. It’s always been family first for Beck. But one unquestionably gorgeous, good-natured man is suddenly a temptation that’s getting tougher to resist…

Sixteen years ago, Levi Rhodes was ready to sail off into the sunset–literally…. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism
Parental abandonment
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a father recounted
Death of a sister in a car accident

RomeAntically Challenged by Marina Adair

RomeAntically Challenged by Marina Adair

Growing up the lone Asian in a community of WASPs, Annie has always felt out of place. Her solution? Start a family of her own. Not easy when every man she’s dated, including her ex-fiancé, finds “his person” right after breaking up with Annie. Even worse than canceling the wedding eight weeks beforehand? Learning the “other woman” plans to walk down the aisle wearing her wedding gown. New plan—find a fresh, man-free start. Too bad her exit strategy unexpectedly lands her working at a hospital in Rome, Rhode Island, rather than Rome, Italy, and sharing a cabin with a big, brooding, and annoyingly hot male roommate… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Racism
Transmisia
Depression
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a parent, on-page
Death of a mother recounted
Car accident recounted