Contemporary – Page 44 – Trigger Warning Database

How It Feels to Float by Helena Fox

How It Feels to Float by Helena Fox

Biz knows how to float. She has her posse, her mum and the twins. She has Grace. And she has her dad, who tells her about the little kid she was, and who shouldn’t be here – because he died when she was seven – but is. So she doesn’t tell anyone her dark thoughts. She knows how to float, right there on the surface – normal okay regular fine. But when the tethers that hold Biz steady come undone – when her dad disappears along with all comfort – might it be easier, better, sweeter to float away?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Ableism
Slut-shaming
Sexual assault
Anxiety
Depression
Dissociation
Hallucinations
Panic attack, on-page
Suicidal ideation
Alcohol consumption
Grief & loss depiction (theme)
Death of a father recounted
Car accident recounted
Drowning
Bullying

Dress Codes for Small Towns by Courtney Stevens

Dress Codes for Small Towns by Courtney C. Stevens

As the tomboy daughter of the town’s preacher, Billie McCaffrey has always struggled with fitting the mould of what everyone says she should be. She’d rather wear sweats, build furniture, and get into trouble with her solid group of friends: Woods, Mash, Davey, Fifty, and Janie Lee. But when Janie Lee confesses to Billie that she’s in love with Woods, Billie’s filled with a nagging sadness as she realizes that she is also in love with Woods…and maybe with Janie Lee, too. Always considered “one of the guys,” Billie doesn’t want anyone slapping a label on her sexuality before she can understand it herself. So she keeps her… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Ableism
Queermsia
Lesbomisic slur

Compass by Deborah Bladon

Compass by Deborah Bladon

Gage Burke was supposed to be my happily-ever-after. When he dropped to one knee on my twenty-first birthday, I saw the promise of forever in his soulful green eyes. I picked the venue, bought the perfect wedding dress, and chose my favourite flowers for the bouquet. Every detail was arranged, but just days before the ceremony, my fiancé set sail on a new adventure without me. I picked up the pieces of my shattered heart and patched it back together. I left sunny California and headed east, unaware that Gage felt the same pull to New York City that I did… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Miscarriage recounted

Save the Date by Morgan Matson

Save the Date by Morgan Matson

Charlie Grant’s older sister is getting married this weekend at their family home, and Charlie can’t wait for the first time in years, that all four of her older siblings will be under one roof. Charlie is desperate for one last perfect weekend before the house is sold and everything changes. The house will be filled with jokes and games and laughs again. Making decisions about things like what college to attend and reuniting with longstanding crush Jesse Foster all that can wait. She wants to focus on making the weekend… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Parental divorce

Wait for It by Molly O’Keefe

Wait for It by Molly O’Keefe

Tiffany: After fighting for a new life, I don’t want to play the victim anymore. However, with three kids to raise, I’m getting desperate enough to make a deal with the devil. My estranged brother-in-law, Blake, says he just wants to help, but he’s been trouble since I met him. I don’t know if I can believe this kinder, gentler Blake, and there’s a friction between us that has turned into the sweetest chemistry. He could be my salvation…or my downfall. Blake: I haven’t always had Tiffany’s best interests at heart but I’m ready to make up for my sins. Besides, I can’t help admiring her: the girl… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Domestic violence
Child abuse recounted

Seed by Lisa Heathfield

Seed by Lisa Heathfield

Seed loves you. Seed will never let you go. Fifteen-year-old Pearl has lived her whole life protected within the small community at Seed, where they worship Nature and idolise their leader, Papa S. When some outsiders arrive everything changes. Pearl experiences feelings that she never knew existed and begins to realise that there is darkness at the heart of Seed. A darkness from which she must escape before it’s too late.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Paedophilia
Suicide
Cult (theme)

Cancer Ships Aquarius by Anyta Sunday

Cancer Ships Aquarius by Anyta Sunday

Dumped by the fifth girl in two years and abandoned by his best friends, Reid Glover is alone and in need of a home. Desperate, he interviews to become a live-in manny aboard widowed Sullivan Bell’s yacht, the Aquarian. The job? Not to look after thirteen-year-old Joanna. No, this child-mastermind needs Reid to befriend her dad, urge him to participate more in family life, encourage him to date, oh, and become his closest confidant and help him unleash his bottled emotions.
No pressure. At least he’s not entirely out of his depth. Okay, so he may have a slight aversion to… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Parental abandonment mentioned
Alcohol consumption, accidental
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a spouse recounted
Homelessness mentioned

Sustained by Emma Chase

Sustained by Emma Chase

When you’re a defence attorney in Washington, DC, you see firsthand how hard life can be, and that sometimes the only way to survive is to be harder. I, Jake Becker, have a reputation for being cold, callous, and intimidating—and that suits me just fine. In fact, it’s necessary when I’m breaking down a witness on the stand. Complications don’t work for me—I’m a “need-to-know” type of man. If you’re my client, tell me the basic facts. If you’re my date, stick to what will turn you on. I’m not a therapist or Prince Charming—and I don’t pretend to be Then Chelsea McQuaid and…Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Death of a sibling
Death of a parent

The Good Luck Girls of Shipwreck Lane by Kelly Harms

The Good Luck Girls of Shipwreck Lane by Kelly Harms

For heartbroken Janine “Janey” Brown, this announcement has the hallmarks of one of her Aunt Midge’s harebrained plans to lure her from her tiny kitchen, where she’s been submerging her grief in the pursuit of the perfect pot-au-feu. Meanwhile, across town, Janine “Nean” Brown couldn’t be more thrilled. She just knows that this house is her destiny, the chance to escape the latest in her revolving door of crappy jobs and drunken boyfriends. When both Janine Browns descend on Christmas Cove, Maine, to claim the prize they both think is theirs, however… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Foster care system
Agoraphobia
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a fiancé

Waking Up Married by Reese Ryan

Waking Up Married by Reese Ryan

What’s wrong with a little fake marriage between friends? Their night on the town is a blank, but when Zora Abbott and Dallas Hamilton awaken in a Vegas hotel room, they’re man and wife. With news of the nuptials spreading virally, the high-profile best friends decide to stay married, temporarily. Maybe under the cover of marriage, Dallas can even make his best friend’s baby dream come true. But can their friendship survive their newly unleashed passions?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Alcohol consumption
Recreational drug use, unintentional