The Words by Ashley Jade

The Words by Ashley Jade

He was the talented bad boy everyone wanted. I was the irrelevant geek everyone hated. He was the sun, drawing all of us in. I was a black hole, taking up space. He was destined to be a star. I was destined to remain an insignificant no one. Until he made me believe I was special… And then he destroyed me. I never thought I’d see Phoenix Walker again after he broke my heart, but fate had other plans. One tour. Eight weeks. Forty shows. Countless opportunities to make him pay. The world thought he was a God… But I knew the truth.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Fatmisia & body-shaming (theme)
  • Dubious consent scenario, on-page
  • Child abuse
  • Abusive & toxic relationship
  • Recovery from substance abuse issues
  • Parent with early-onset dementia
  • Disordered eating as a coping mechanism for grief mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption & abuse recounted
  • Drug abuse & use recounted
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother during childbirth recounted
  • Bullying*

*Context : The heroine is hired as the hero’s sober companion. The heroine was bullied for her weight in high school.

Blood Song by Anthony Ryan

Blood Song by Anthony Ryan

Vaelin Al Sorna is the Sixth Order’s newest recruit. Under their brutal training regime, he learns how to forge a blade, survive the wilds and kill a man quickly and quietly – all in the name of protecting the Realm and the Faith. Now his skills will be put to the test. War is coming. Vaelin must draw upon the very essence of his strength and cunning if he is to survive the coming conflict. Yet as the world teeters on the edge of chaos, Vaelin will learn that the truth can cut deeper than any sword.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Child abuse & abandonment
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Blood & injury depiction
  • Death of a child
  • Murder
  • Torture
  • War themes

Hush by Cathleen Cole and Frank Jensen

Hush by Cathleen Cole & Frank Jensen

Hush: I had love once and lost it. Never again. That’s why I told myself she’s off limits—forbidden. It doesn’t matter that she’s as sexy and courageous as she is unexpected. Or that I can’t get her out of my mind. I’m not her happily ever after. So, I’ll help her investigate why people are going missing in the desert. But I’ll keep my hands—and my heart—to myself. That’s the plan, anyway. Seek: My dogs and my career in Search and Rescue are all I need to be happy. Or so I thought. Turns out, I need him, too. But while he’s willing to give me his… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Age-gap relationship*
  • Death of a wife recounted
  • Military service recounted
  • Murder
  • Gun violence

*Context : The hero is 52-years-old and the heroine is 27-years-old.

Bloodied Hands by Adelaide Forrest

Bloodied Hands by Adelaide Forrest

Ivory: Caught in a bank robbery and staring down the barrel of a gun was not the way I intended to start my day. When the masked man takes one look at my face and mutters my name in shock, my world stops.. And then he follows it with a plea for forgiveness from the devil himself. Matteo uses the opportunity to invade my life, reclaiming me as if the past twelve years never happened. The boy I loved is gone, replaced by hardened cruelty and a dangerous reputation. But Matteo isn’t the only one who wants to make me a pawn in a game I never… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Death of a father recounted
  • Bank robbery
  • Organised crime (mafia)

Ricochet by Cathleen Cole and Frank Jensen

Ricochet by Cathleen Cole & Frank Jensen

Ricochet: All it takes is one glance and I know Jordan is going to be mine. Her sweet smile and infectious energy make me feel alive again. She chases away the shadows, giving me a reason to continue on. But just as I’m beginning to win the elusive beauty over trouble comes for my family. I may be a veteran with PTSD and a member of a notorious motorcycle club, but both have given me skills that allow me to address any threat and win.
I refuse to let my past dictate my future, and convincing Jordan to trust me is a… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Abusive relationship recounted
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) & flashbacks
  • Military service recounted

Deep Dark Secrets by Keri Beevis

Deep Dark Secrets by Keri Beevis

Lizzie Kent wasn’t supposed to babysit the night she was murdered. She was covering for her best friend, Nell. Nell has lived with the guilt ever since. Eighteen years later Nell returns to the area, desperate to escape a bad relationship after inheriting her aunt’s rundown guesthouse. But her return isn’t welcomed by everyone – in particular Sam Kent, who blames Nell for his sister’s death. And after a few unsettling incidents, it becomes apparent that someone is trying to scare her. Is Sam responsible or has Nell’s abusive ex-boyfriend managed to track her down? Or is someone else, with a more sinister agenda, responsible?

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Abusive relationship recounted
  • Murder of a friend in a home invasion recounted

The Family at No. 12 by Anita Waller

The Family at No. 12 by Anita Waller

When Janette answers the door to a potential customer looking to board his dog, she never imagines he has nefarious plans. But minutes later he’s dead and in her cellar. Weeks later she realises she’s pregnant. And so she becomes Mother and the baby Child, and a hidden life begins. But all secrets come out eventually . .

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Rape & pregnancy from rape
  • Murder

My Little Brother by Diane Saxon

My Little Brother by Diane Saxon

Two siblings, both missing for 20 years turn up within one day of each other. One dead. One alive. It was an ordinary school day, the day I lost my little brother.
One moment he was on the roundabout and then was gone. Gone. Missing. They all blamed me. I was in charge. Even though I was only ten years old. They sent me away. The hurt, the shame, the questions. The not knowing. I tried to move on. It’s been nineteen years in exile and now somebody wants me back. Someone with a dark secret. They hold the keys, they know the truth. So, I need to return to my childhood village to find out who, because I have a secret, too… I did something bad.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Familial estrangement
  • Parental infidelity recounted
  • Filicide of an autistic son
  • Murder of a partner
  • Death of a brother
  • Disappearance of a sibling recounted

The Waitress by Nina Manning

The Waitress by Nina Manning

Nameless. Faceless. Deadly? Waitress Kit Lowman knows that people look down on her and the job she does. But being anonymous offers Kit safety and security and allows her own terrible secrets to remain hidden. And then Kit’s luck changes, and she suddenly faces a terrible dilemma: reveal her true identity and accept that life will never be the same. Or stay in the shadows…where she hopes she’ll be safe? But secrets can’t stay hidden forever. And the more Kit tries to hide away, the more someone makes it clear that they are going to make her pay for what she did.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Depression
  • Animal cruelty
  • Animal death (dog)

The Widow by Valerie Keogh

The Widow by Valerie Keogh

Grieving or guilty? When Allison’s wealthy and charming husband Peter is found dead, she appears distraught, devastated… delighted? Because despite an apparently picture-perfect marriage, Allison knows it was all built on a bed of lies. And as the truth regarding Peter’s life and death are revealed, Alison must try to keep her own dark past buried. Because if Peter was keeping secrets, then his widow is too…

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Death of a husband