Genres – Trigger Warning Database

The Close-Up by Pip Drysdale

When Zoe Ann Weiss moves to Los Angeles to pursue her dream of becoming a writer, her whole future is wide open. But then Zach, the bartender and aspiring actor she’s falling for, ghosts her. Her debut novel, a thriller, fails. And she has writer’s block worse than ever before. Now, three years later, Zach is famous and Zoe is… not. She’s facing her thirtieth birthday, a dead-end job at a flower shop, and a demanding agent, terrified she’ll never get her life back on track. But when she goes to make a flower delivery and Zach is at the address, it’s like no time has passed at all.. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Kidnapping & stalking
Gun violence

Maybe This Time by Cara Bastone

Romance can be a little complicated when you get sucked into a wormhole. Just ask high school English teacher June Flint. One little solar flare happens and suddenly you find yourself 85 years in the future. Eighty-five years from your dream job. Your ailing mother whose only companion in this world is you. Your favorite stuffed-crust pizza from DeLucia… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Workplace homophobia & racism recounted
Anxiety
Parent with degenerative memory issues
Death of a parent recounted

Love at First Psych by Cara Bastone

This Psych 312 assignment just might send me off the deep end. Determining whether love at first sight really exists with Robbie Moravian as my project partner of all people? He’s the sappiest man alive, so upbeat I could scream, and clearly rooting for happy endings at every turn. How does he not learn from experience considering our own meet-cute last semester almost got us expelled? But we both need to pass… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Divorce (secondary characters)
Parent in cancer remission mentioned

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