Contemporary – Page 163 – Trigger Warning Database

For the Love of April French by Penny Aimes

For the Love of April French by Penny Aimes

April French doesn’t do relationships and she never asks for more. A long-standing regular at kink club Frankie’s, she’s kind of seen it all. As a trans woman, she’s used to being the scenic rest stop for others on their way to a happily-ever-after. She knows how desire works, and she keeps hers carefully boxed up to take out on weekends only. After all, you can’t be let down if you never ask.

Then Dennis Martin walks into Frankie’s, fresh from Seattle and looking a little lost. April just meant to be friendly, but one flirtatious drink turns into one hot night. When Dennis asks for her number, she gives it to him. When he asks for her trust, well…that’s a little harder. And when the desire she thought she had such a firm grip on comes alive with Dennis, April finds herself wanting passion, purpose and commitment.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Racism discussed
Transmisia
Misgendering
Gender dysphoria
Familial estrangement
Alcohol consumption

The Cheat Sheet by Sarah Adams

The Cheat Sheet by Sarah Adams

Hi, my name is Bree Camden, and I’m hopelessly in love with my best friend and star quarterback Nathan Donelson (so is half of America, judging by the tabloids and how much the guy dates). The first step is admitting, right? Except, I can never admit it to him because he clearly doesn’t see me that way, and the last thing I want is for things to get weird between us.

Nothing but good old-fashioned, no-touching-the-sexiest-man-alive, platonic friendship for us! Everything is exactly how I like it! Yes. Good. (I’m not crying, I’m just peeling an onion)… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Anxiety & panic attacks

Isn’t It Bromantic? by Lyssa Kay Adams

Isn’t It Bromantic? by Lyssa Kay Adams

Elena Konnikova has lived her entire adult life in the shadows. As the daughter of a Russian journalist who mysteriously disappeared after speaking out against government corruption, she escaped danger the only way she knew how. She agreed to marry her childhood friend, Vladimir, and move to the United States, where he is a professional hockey player in Nashville.

Vlad, aka The Russian, thought he could be content with his marriage of convenience. But after four years, it’s become too difficult to continue in a one-sided relationship. He joined the Bromance Book Club to learn how to make his wife love him, but all he’s learned is that he deserves more. He’s ready to create his own sweeping romance – both on and off the page… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Human & sex trafficking mentioned
Child neglect recounted
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a parent recounted
Kidnapping
Car accident

Listen, Layla by Randa Abdel-Fattah

Listen, Layla by Randa Abdel-Fattah

Layla has ended the school year on a high and can’t wait to spend the holidays hanging out with her friends and designing a prize-winning Grand Designs Tourismo invention. But Layla’s plans are interrupted when her grandmother in Sudan falls ill and the family rush to be with her.

The last time Layla went to Sudan she was only a young child. Now she feels torn between her Sudanese and Australian identities. As political tensions in Sudan erupt, so too do tensions between Layla and her family. Layla is determined not to lose her place in the invention team, but will she go against her parents’ wishes? What would a Kandaka do?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Islamomisia
Racism
Sexism discussed
Grandmother hospitalised due to a stroke
Cousin hospitalised for gunshot wounds to the shoulder & leg
Death of a friend mentioned
Bullying
Gun violence
Riots, on-page

You Must Be Layla by Randa Abdel-Fattah

You Must Be Layla by Randa Abdel-Fattah

Layla’s mind goes a million miles a minute, so does her mouth – unfortunately, her better judgement can take a while to catch up! Although she believes she was justified for doing what she did, a suspension certainly isn’t the way she would have wished to begin her time at her fancy new high school. Despite the setback, Layla’s determined to show everyone that she does deserve her scholarship and sets her sights on winning a big invention competition. But where to begin?

Looking outside and in, Layla will need to come to terms with who she is and who she wants to be if she has any chance of succeeding.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Islamophobia
Racism
Coming out themes
Emesis
Physical assault
Bullying

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

2000. Bright, ambitious, and yearning for adulthood, fifteen-year-old Vanessa Wye becomes entangled in an affair with Jacob Strane, her magnetic and guileful forty-two-year-old English teacher.

2017. Amid the rising wave of allegations against powerful men, a reckoning is coming due. Strane has been accused of sexual abuse by a former student, who reaches out to Vanessa, and now Vanessa suddenly finds herself facing an impossible choice: remain silent, firm in the belief that her teenage self willingly engaged in this relationship, or redefine herself and the events of her past. But how can Vanessa reject her first love, the man who fundamentally transformed her and has been a persistent presence in her life? Is it possible that the man she loved as a teenager—and who professed to worship only her—may be far different from what she has always believed? … Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Slut-shaming
Fatmisia & body shaming
Adult-minor relationship
Student-teacher relationship
Paedophilia, grooming & child sexual abuse
Rape, including statutory rape
Sexual assault
Child pornography
Emotional abuse & gaslighting
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Dissociation
Suicide
Substance addiction
Alcoholism
Alcohol consumption & abuse
Recreational drug use
Disordered eating
Death of a dog

Too Late by Colleen Hoover

Too Late by Colleen Hoover

Sloan will go through hell and back for those she loves. And she does, every single day. After finding herself stuck in a relationship with the dangerous and morally corrupt Asa Jackson, Sloan will do whatever it takes to get by until she’s able to find a way out. Nothing will get in her way. Nothing except Carter.

Sloan is the best thing to ever happen to Asa. And if you ask Asa he’d say he’s the best thing to ever… Read more

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Rape, on-page
Abusive relationship (theme)
Intimate partner abuse & violence
Substance addiction
Schizophrenia
Murder
Drug use & abuse

Verity by Colleen Hoover

Verity by Colleen Hoover

Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish. Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity’s notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn’t expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiogr… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Child abuse
Attempted self-abortion
Death of a child
Death of a parent
Murder
Attempted murder of a newborn
Car accident

It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover

It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover

Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up— she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life suddenly seems almost too good to be true. Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily. And the way he looks in scrubs certainly doesn’t hurt. Lily can’t get him out of her head. But Ryle’s complete aversion to… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Attempted rape
Parental abandonment
Domestic abuse (theme)
Intimate partner violence
Suicide mentioned
Alcohol consumption
Death of a parent
Homelessness

Nothing by Annie Barrows

Nothing by Annie Barrows

Nothing ever happens to Charlotte and Frankie. Their lives are nothing like the lives of the girls they read about in their YA novels. They don’t have flowing red hair and hot romantic encounters never happen—let alone meeting a true soul mate. They just go to high school and live at home with their parents, who are pretty normal, all things considered. But when Charlotte decides to write down everything that happens during their sophomore year to prove that nothing happens and there is no plot or character development in real life, she’s surprised to find that being… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Sexual assault
Alcohol consumption & drug use
September 11 attacks mentioned