Category Archives: Romance

Love and Other Alien Experiences by Kerry Winfrey

Love and Other Alien Experiences by Kerry Winfrey

Mallory hasn’t left the house in sixty-seven days–since the day her dad left. She attends her classes via webcam, rarely leaves her room (much to her brother’s chagrin), and spends most of her time watching The X-Files or chatting with the always obnoxious BeamMeUp on New Mexico’s premier alien message board. But when she’s shockingly nominated for homecoming queen, her life takes a surprising turn. She slowly begins to open up to the world outside. And maybe if she can get her popular jock neighbour Brad Kirkpatrick to be her homecoming date… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment
  • Anxiety
  • Agoraphobia

Aurora Blazing by Jessie Mihalik

Aurora Blazing by Jessie Mihalik

Bianca von Hasenberg did her duty for High House von Hasenberg and ended up trapped in a terrible marriage. When her husband dies unexpectedly and leaves her a happy widow, she vows never to marry again. Instead, she uses her connections to save other young women. Information is power and Bianca has a network that would be the envy of the ’verse—if anyone knew about it. After an attack, Bianca’s oldest brother, the House von Hasenberg heir, disappears from Earth without a trace. Determined to find him, Bianca leaves against orders. When she refuses to return… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Domestic abuse & violence recounted
  • Restrictive eating
  • Miscarriage mentioned
  • Medical experimentation
  • Torture, off-page

Midnight in Everwood by Maria Kuzniar

Midnight in Everwood by Maria M.A. Kuzniar

There’s nothing Marietta Stelle loves more than ballet, but after Christmas, her dreams will be over as she is obligated to take her place in Edwardian society. While she is chafing against such suffocating traditions, a mysterious man purchases the neighbouring townhouse. Dr Drosselmeier is a charming but calculating figure who wins over the rest of the Stelle family with his enchanting toys and wondrous mechanisms. When Drosselmeier constructs an elaborate set for Marietta’s final ballet performance, she discovers it carries a magic all of its own… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Body shaming
  • Sexual assault mentioned
  • Claustrophobia
  • Blood & gore depiction including dead bodies
  • Murder
  • Physical assault
  • Animal hunting

The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester by Maya MacGregor

The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester by Maya MacGregor

Sam Sylvester’s not overly optimistic about their recent move to the small town of Astoria, Oregon after a traumatic experience in their last home in the rural Midwest. Yet Sam’s life seems to be on the upswing after meeting several new friends and a potential love interest in Shep, the pretty neighbor. However, Sam can’t seem to let go of what might have been, and is drawn to investigate the death of a teenage boy in 1980s Astoria. Sam’s convinced he was murdered–especially since Sam’s investigation seems to resurrect some ghosts in the town… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Transmisia & misgendering
  • Bimisia
  • Homomisia
  • Hate crime
  • Anxiety & panic attacks
  • Attempted murder
  • Gun violence
  • Strangulation mentioned
  • Stalking
  • Bullying

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

In Norse Mythology, Gaiman stays true to the myths in envisioning the major Norse pantheon: Odin, the highest of the high, wise, daring, and cunning; Thor, Odin’s son, incredibly strong yet not the wisest of gods; and Loki—son of a giant—blood brother to Odin and a trickster and unsurpassable manipulator. Gaiman fashions these primeval stories into a novelistic arc that begins with the genesis of the legendary nine worlds and delves into the exploits of deities, dwarfs, and giants. Through Gaiman’s deft and witty… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Marital rape mentioned
  • Sexual harassment
  • Cheating
  • Forced arranged marriage
  • Suicide
  • Pregnancy & childbirth mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Blood, gore and injury depiction
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a son & father
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Physical assault
  • Fire
  • Kidnapping
  • Blackmail
  • Hanging
  • Graphic animal death & cruelty
  • War themes

Commonwealth by Ann Patchett

Commonwealth by Ann Patchett

One Sunday afternoon in Southern California, Bert Cousins shows up at Franny Keating’s christening party uninvited. Before evening falls, he has kissed Franny’s mother, Beverly—thus setting in motion the dissolution of their marriages and the joining of two families. Spanning five decades, Commonwealth explores how this chance encounter reverberates through the lives of the four parents and six children involved. Spending summers together in Virginia, the Keating and Cousins children forge a lasting bond that is based on a shared disillusionment with their parents and… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Cheating
  • Divorce
  • Miscarriage
  • Cancer, including medical treatment, on-page
  • Arson

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

At the end of the Second World War, Cyril Conroy combines luck and a single canny investment to begin an enormous real estate empire, propelling his family from poverty to enormous wealth. His first order of business is to buy the Dutch House, a lavish estate in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia. Meant as a surprise for his wife, the house sets in motion the undoing of everyone he loves. The story is told by Cyril’s son Danny, as he and his older sister, the brilliantly acerbic and self-assured Maeve, are exiled from the house where they grew up by their stepmother.… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment
  • Divorce
  • Diabetes
  • Death of a parent

Beach Read by Emily Henry

Beach Read by Emily Henry

Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast. They’re polar opposites. In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they’re living in neighbouring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer’s block. Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She’ll take him on field trips worth… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Child abuse & domestic violence recounted (love interest)
  • Parental infidelity recounted & discussed
  • Suicide cults discussed
  • Miscarriage mentioned (protagonist’s parent)
  • Alcohol consumption (on-page)
  • Parent with heart condition mentioned
  • Parent in remission for breast cancer (protagonist)
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a father from a stroke recounted

Kingdom of the Feared by Kerri Maniscalco

Kingdom of the Feared by Kerri Maniscalco

Emilia is reeling from the shocking discovery that her twin sister, Vittoria, is alive. But before she faces the demons of her past, Emilia yearns to claim her king, the seductive Prince of Wrath, in the flesh. Emilia doesn’t simply desire his body, she wants his heart and soul—but that’s something the enigmatic demon can’t promise her. When a high-ranking member of House Greed is assassinated, Emilia and Wrath are drawn to the rival demon court. Damning evidence points to Vittoria as the murderer and she’s quickly declared an enemy of the Seven Circles. Despite her betrayal, Emilia will do anything to solve this new mystery… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Abandonment
  • Blood depiction
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Murder
  • Kidnapping & captivity
  • War themes

Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow by Siobhan Curham

Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow by Siobhan Curham

Fourteen-year-old Stevie lives in Lewes with her beloved vinyl collection, her mum … and her mum’s depression. When Stevie’s mum’s disability benefits are cut, Stevie and her mother are plunged into a life of poverty. But irrepressible Stevie is determined not to be beaten and she takes inspiration from the lyrics of her father’s 1980s record collection and dreams of a life as a musician. Then she meets Hafiz, a talented footballer and a Syrian refugee. Hafiz’s parents gave their life savings to buy Hafiz a safe passage to Europe; his journey has been anything but easy. Then… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Parent with depression
  • Death of a father
  • Refugee experiences