Entries – Page 4 – Trigger Warning Database

Seatmate by Cara Bastone

I have exactly 5 hours and 10 minutes to get from Boston to New York City or the professional opportunity of a lifetime disappears. My only travel option? The second to last seat on a discount bus. Across from the bathroom. Wearing last night’s clothes (don’t ask). All worth it if I can make it in time. My nerves almost get the best of me, but then there he is, sitting down in the seat next to me. Tall. Friendly smile. Bright indigo streak in his brown hair. The perfect distraction. Turns out he’s on his way to reconnect with an old flame. The one who got away. We can both make it on time… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Death of a parent from cancer (off-page)

No Matter What by Cara Bastone

Roz and Vin can’t look each other in the eyes anymore, let alone share a bed. It’s been a year since they survived a life-altering accident, and their marriage hasn’t been the same. But Roz has held out hope that they can fix things, until she discovers Vin has signed a new lease. So she does what any soon-to-be-divorced Manhattanite would do: sign up for a figure-drawing class. Between Roz’s determined attempts to improve her artistic skills and her adventures with her best friend, Raffi, she can almost ignore Vin’s impending move-out date and his footsteps in… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Alcohol consumption & drug use
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) & panic attacks
Grief & loss depiction
Scars & injuries sustained in a car accident

Just a Heartbeat Away by Cara Bastone

Newly widowed dad Sebastian Dorner was unraveling at the edges—until his son’s teacher, Via DeRosa, threw him a lifeline. Now, two years later, they reconnect at Matty’s new school, and an inconvenient but unmistakable jolt of attraction crackles between them. But why does the first person to spark with Sebastian in years have to be a millennial? Is twentysomething Via really too young for him or does fortysomething Sebastian just feel too damn old? A former foster kid, Via’s finally forged the stable life she’s always dreamed of—new job, steady income, no drama. The last thing she needs are rumors… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Child abuse mentioned & foster care system experiences recounted
Unplanned pregnancy mentioned
Death of a wife & parents in a car accident recounted

Promise Me Sunshine by Cara Bastone

Lenny’s a bit of a mess at the moment. Her best friend, Lou, recently passed away after a battle with cancer, and her death has left Lenny feeling completely lost. She’s avoiding her concerned parents, the apartment she shared with Lou, and the list of things she’s supposed to do to help her live again. The only thing she can do is temporary babysitting gigs, and luckily, she just landed a great one, helping overworked, single mom Reese and her precocious daughter, Ainsley. It’s not perfect: Ainsley’s uncle, Miles, always seems to be around, and is kind of… a huge jerk. But if Lenny acts like she has it all together, maybe no… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Parental infidelity
Stroke
Death of a parent from cancer recounted

Call Me Maybe by Cara Bastone

Paint your toes. Pick up the wrong coffee and bagel order. Drive from Brooklyn to Jersey in traffic so slow you want to tear your hair out. It’s amazing all the useless things I can accomplish while on hold for three hours with customer service. Three hours when I should be getting the Date-in-a-Box website ready to launch at the big business expo in a few days. Except my shiny new website is glitching, and my inner rage-monster is ready to scorch some earth… when he finally picks up. Not the robot voice I expected but a real live human named Cal. He’s surprisingly helpful and really knows his stuff, even if he’s a little awkward… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Secondary character with a broken foot
Blackmail & catfishing

Sweet Talk by Cara Bastone

It’s officially booty o’clock, I’m alone again in my kitchen choking down a slice of terrible chocolate cake…and I’m pretty sure I just got drunk texted by the man I have a ginormous crush on. I’ve been daydreaming about Eliot Hoffman’s dimples for two months, and even though I’m sure this was a mistake on his end, it doesn’t mean it’s not an opportunity on mine. It’s the middle of the night, and I just wanna talk to him. So I text him back. And then somehow we keep talking…ALL NIGHT. We’re both insomniacs, so talking all night soon turns into talking EVERY night. And talking.. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Parental abandonment recounted
Secondary character with alcoholism
Anxiety & panic attack
Parent with terminal cancer
Home invasion & threats of gun violence (protagonist)

Under the Neon Lights by Arriel Vinson

Sixteen-year-old Jaelyn Coleman lives for Saturdays at WestSide Roll, the iconic neighborhood roller rink. On these magical nights, Jae can lose herself in the music of DJ Sunny, the smell of nachos from the concession, and the crowd of some of her favorite people—old heads, dance crews, and other regulars like herself. Here, Jae and other Black teens can fully be themselves. One Saturday, as Jae skates away her worries, she crashes into the cutest boy she’s ever seen. Trey’s dimples, rich brown skin, and warm smile make it impossible for her to be mad at him… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Racism
Parental abandonment & divorce
Miscarriage motioned (off-page)
Police brutality mentioned
Gentrification discussed

In It to Win It by Sharon C. Cooper

Spoiled, fickle, and flighty are only a few adjectives that have been used to describe Morgan Redford. She’s never had to worry about money, but she’s determined to build a career on her own and do something meaningful with her life—by helping children who are aging out of the foster care system. She has her eyes on a property that a family friend is selling, which is perfect for these young adults to live in, but her competition is someone she never expected. When Los Angeles real estate developer Drake Faulkner learns that his eccentric mentor is selling… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Unplanned pregnancy (protagonist)
Death of a mother & father recounted

Business Not As Usual by Sharon C. Cooper

This is the mantra that will get Dreamy Daniels through each day until she makes it big. So what if she lives in a seedy part of Los Angeles in a house that’s one earthquake away from crumbling, or works an unfulfilling secretarial job while struggling to finish her bachelor’s degree? All Dreamy needs to do is win the lottery, which she’s been entering in as a weekly tradition with her grandfather. When she catches the attention of her boss’s potential investor, Dreamy has to remind herself to focus on her career goals so she can be her own boss. Who cares if he has the… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Depression

Salt Slow by Julia Armfield

In her brilliantly inventive and haunting debut collection of stories, Julia Armfield explores bodies and the bodily, mapping the skin and bones of her characters through their experiences of isolation, obsession, love and revenge.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Homophobia (Cassandra After)
Body-shaming (Mantis)
Infidelity (Cassandra After)
Divorce (Formally Feral, Smack)
Depression (Smack, Cassandra After)
Suicide mentioned (The Collectables)
Self-harm mentioned (Cassandra After)
Alcohol consumption & smoking (The Collectables)
Pregnancy & mention of miscarriage/pregnancy loss (Salt Slow)
Blood & injury depiction (Mantis, Formally Feral, Stop Your Women’s Ears with Wax, Granite, Salt Slow)
Heart attack mentioned (The Collectables)
Weight loss, dieting & starvation mentioned (Mantis, Salt Slow)
Emesis (Stop Your Women’s Ears with Wax)
Death of a parent recounted (Smack)
Death of a partner (Cassandra After)
Car accident mentioned (Stop Your Women’s Ears with Wax)
Fire (The Collectables)
Drowning (Salt Slow)
Bullying (Formally Feral)