Category Archives: Contemporary

Pretty When She Cries by A Zavarelli 

Pretty When She Cries by A. Zavarelli

Your first kiss is supposed to be sweet. Ours was baptized in fire. I was the new girl trying to find her place. Landon was the brooding neighbour I tutored over the summer. I didn’t know he was a legend at Black Mountain Academy. I didn’t know they worshipped him like a religion. But I fell for him before I knew those things. To me, he was just the tortured soul who drew me in like a magnet. And then he did something so unspeakable, so unforgivable, it shattered me. I ran away then because I was weak, but I’ve shed my tears. He stole my heart and my dignity, and I’m here to take it back. The only problem is… he’s not giving it up without a fight.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Drugging
  • Drug abuse
  • Alcohol abuse

Thief by A Zavarelli 

Thief by A. Zavarelli

I live by a code that can’t be bent or broken. It is my duty to my family to stay innocent and pure. To marry an Italian man. The stars are already aligned. But Nikolai Kozlov re-writes my destiny with five simple words: You belong to me now. He’s Russian mafiya. A thief. A skilled liar with no moral boundaries. He is everything I have been taught to hate. A man who stands for nothing. A man who takes what he wants without a second thought. And what he wanted was me. He thinks he controls my fate, but what he doesn’t know is, sometimes it’s the good girls you have… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Human trafficking mentioned
  • Child abuse recounted
  • Dubious consent scenarios
  • Organised crime (mafia)
  • Kidnapping & captivity

Saint by A Zavarelli 

Saint by A. Zavarelli

When going to war, there are three very simple rules one must abide by: know thy enemy, be prepared to sacrifice, and always wear good shoes. After all, revenge is a dish best served in stilettos. I’ve got an eye for it, and nothing’s going to stand in my way. Not even Rory ‘The Saint’ Brodrick.
He’s a fool if he thinks he can change me. By the time I’m through with him, I’ll make his mafia look like child’s play.

I’m a fighter. A hustler. A mobster. I’ve seen a few things in my day. But I’ve never encountered anything like her. She’s a beauty with a beast of a heart. The poison apple I just can’t resist. And in her trail, she leaves a wake of men crawling on their knees. What she doesn’t know is that I like my women wild. It only makes it that much more fun to tame them.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Rape

Stealing Cinderella by A Zavarelli 

Stealing Cinderella by A. Zavarelli

Every royal has their dirty little secret. His was… me.

It should have been simple. Go to the ball, meet the prince, and secure his patronage for my favourite charity. But beneath the mask, the brooding beast of a man was not at all who I expected. He was dark and intense and eerily quiet.
When I left, I could still feel the ghost of his touch branded into my skin. He haunted my dreams, but I never expected to see him again.

Then he came for me. And he took me. And I learned that his darkness was a void I never could have conceived. He’s the crown prince of Norway. And, now, I’m his captive. 

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Dubious consent scenarios, including improper BDSM practices
  • Drugging
  • Kidnapping & captivity

Ghost by A Zavarelli 

Ghost by A. Zavarelli

I have always been a bird. Caged by one prison or another. Then the only thing I ever wanted was to fly away. Sold. Beaten. Starved. Drugged. Nothing scares me anymore. Until him. He makes the numbness go away. He is hazardous to me. It has nothing to do with his mafia lifestyle, and everything to do with what he offers. A gilded prison. A retreat from everything that I once knew. The reality I have no desire to return to. He thinks he’s caged me, but soon… I’m going to fly.

I live by a code. The Vory code. In this mafiya world, there are traditions. Expectations. She does not care for these things. She does not care about anything. She thinks she has me fooled with her haunted eyes. What she can’t know is that I see her better than most. She wants to fly but I’m going to clip her wings. And make her my wife.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Human sex trafficking
  • Rape
  • Child sexual abuse by a foster parent recounted
  • Cheating recounted
  • Pregnancy
  • Drug use
  • Death of a parent from suicide, off-page
  • Death of a sibling
  • Murder & attempted murder

Reaper by A Zavarelli 

Reaper by A. Zavarelli

He’s dark and mysterious. Quiet and lethal. An Irish mobster. Pure sin wrapped up in a beautiful package. But there’s also something off about him. He doesn’t feel anything. He shows no emotions. Sometimes I question his humanity. He hasn’t spoken to me in two years. Not a single word. But we share a secret, he and I. And if it ever comes out, I have no doubt in my mind… He won’t have a problem killing me too.

Ronan: I’ve slain for her. I’ll do it again. When it comes to Sasha, there isn’t a line I won’t cross. I watch her. She doesn’t know it. She thinks I hate her. Sometimes, I think I might too.
But I’m always there, lurking in the shadows. Craving her. Trying to keep the beast within at bay. I’ll keep her safe. I’ll slaughter anyone who tries to hurt her. The only thing I can’t do… is protect her from myself.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Child abuse recounted
  • Sexual assault recounted
  • Unplanned pregnancy
  • Murder
  • Gun violence

Crow by A Zavarelli 

Crow by A. Zavarelli

I had a plan. Get in, get my information, and get out. Easy, right? Turns out, infiltrating the Irish mafia isn’t exactly what I thought it would be. I just wanted a soldier. Someone I could flirt with to get me in the door.

That’s when Lachlan Crow noticed me. Problem was, he wasn’t a soldier. No, he was next in line for the throne of the Irish underworld. And he was determined to hate me from the outset. My sob story about needing a job? Yeah, he wasn’t buying that either. Too bad for him, I won’t let anyone get in the way of my mission.

Who cares if we have some kind of crazy chemistry? He’s the worst kind of wrong- and I would never in a million years be with a guy like him. Because they took her from me, and I’m going to make them pay. 

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Human trafficking
  • Rape & attempted rape, on-page
  • Sex work
  • Cheating recounted
  • Death of a parent from cancer recounted
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Blackmail
  • Organised crime

Kingdom Fall by A Zavarelli 

Kingdom Fall by A. Zavarelli

I was a nanny in need of a job. He was darkness personified. I had little to call my own. He was filthy rich, powerful, and dangerous. The assignment was simple, and my goal was too. Take care of his son. Keep my head down. When he least expects it, destroy him.

It should have been easy. I thought it would be until I looked into his stark blue eyes. Kissing the enemy is a bad idea, but so is falling in love with him. He doesn’t know my crumbling foundation is built on lies. When he discovers the truth, I’ll find out if he’s as brutal as I believe.

I came here to steal his life. I didn’t count on him stealing my heart.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Rape

Refugee Boy by Benjamin Zephaniah

Refugee Boy by Benjamin Zephaniah

Alem is on holiday with his father for a few days in London. He has never been out of Ethiopia before and is very excited. They have a great few days together until one morning when Alem wakes up in the bed and breakfast they are staying at to find the unthinkable. His father has left him. It is only when the owner of the bed and breakfast hands him a letter that Alem is given an explanation. Alem’s father admits that because of the political problems in Ethiopia both he and Alem’s mother felt Alem would be safer in London – even though it is breaking their hearts to do this. Alem is now on his own, in the hands of the social services and the Refugee Council. He lives from letter to letter, waiting to hear from his father, and in particular about his mother, who has now gone missing…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism
  • Murder, off-page
  • Death of a mother

How We Fall Apart by Katie Zhao

How We Fall Apart by Katie Zhao

Nancy Luo is shocked when her former best friend, Jamie Ruan, top-ranked junior at Sinclair Prep, goes missing, and then is found dead. Nancy is even more shocked when word starts to spread that she and her friends–Krystal, Akil, and Alexander–are the prime suspects, thanks to “The Proctor,” someone anonymously incriminating them via the school’s social media app.

They all used to be Jamie’s closest friends, and she knew each of their deepest, darkest secrets. Now, somehow The Proctor knows them, too. The four must uncover the true killer before The Proctor exposes more than they can bear and costs them more than they can afford, like Nancy’s full scholarship. Soon, Nancy suspects that her friends may be keeping secrets from her, too.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism
  • Parental neglect
  • Teacher-student relationship
  • Suicide
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Self harm
  • Panic attack
  • Recreational drug use
  • Death of a friend
  • Murder
  • Blackmail
  • Fire