Category Archives: Representation

Far from Home by Lorelie Brown

My name is Rachel. I’m straight . . . I think. I also have a mountain of student loans and a smart mouth. I wasn’t serious when I told Pari Sadashiv I’d marry her. It was only party banter! Except Pari needs a green card, and she’s willing to give me a breather from drowning in debt. My off-the-cuff idea might not be so terrible. We get along as friends. She’s really romantically cautious, which I find heartbreaking. She deserves someone to laugh with. She’s kind. And calm. And gorgeous. A couple of years with her actually sounds pretty good. If some of Pari’s kindness and calmness rub… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Eating disorder (anorexia)
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Hospitalisation
  • Death of a father from a heart attack mentioned

Fans of the Impossible Life by Kate Scelsa

Mira is starting over at Saint Francis Prep. She promised her parents she would at least try to pretend that she could act like a functioning human this time, not a girl who can’t get out of bed for days on end, who only feels awake when she’s with Sebby. Jeremy is the painfully shy art nerd at Saint Francis who’s been in self-imposed isolation after an incident that ruined his last year of school. When he sees Sebby for the first time across the school lawn, it’s as if he’s been expecting this blond, lanky boy with mischief glinting in his eye. Sebby, Mira’s gay best friend, is a boy who seems to… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Depression & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)
  • Attempted suicide
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Drug use & abuse

A Family for Christmas by Jay Northcote

Zac never had a family of his own, but Rudy has enough to share. Shy, inexperienced Rudy has a crush on Zac from the moment his new colleague walks through the door. On an office night out before Christmas, Rudy finds the courage to make a move, and they form a tentative bond. When he discovers Zac will be alone at Christmas, he invites Zac to come home with him. Zac prefers to keep people at arm’s length. Yet when Rudy offers him a family Christmas it’s impossible to resist. With no parents of his own, Zac is pleasantly surprised to be welcomed by Rudy’s. The only draw… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Foster case
  • Alcohol consumption

False Value by Ben Aaronovitch

Peter Grant is facing fatherhood, and an uncertain future, with equal amounts of panic and enthusiasm. Rather than sit around, he takes a job with émigré Silicon Valley tech genius Terrence Skinner’s brand new London start up – the Serious Cybernetics Company. Drawn into the orbit of Old Street’s famous ‘silicon roundabout’, Peter must learn how to blend in with people who are both civilians and geekier than he is. Compared to his last job, Peter thinks it should be a doddle. But magic is not finished with Mama Grant’s favourite son. Because Terrence Skinner… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Slavery mentioned
  • Miscarriage mentioned
  • Torture mentioned
  • Gun violence

False Hearts by Laura Lam

Raised in the closed cult of Mana’s Hearth and denied access to modern technology, conjoined sisters Taema and Tila dream of a life beyond the walls of the compound. When the heart they share begins to fail, the twins escape to San Francisco, where they are surgically separated and given new artificial hearts. From then on they pursue lives beyond anything they could have previously imagined. Ten years later, Tila returns one night to the  twins’ home in the city, terrified and covered in blood, just before the police arrive and arrest her for murder–the first… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Surgery to separate conjoined twins due to heart failure recounted (protagonist)
  • Psychedelic, mind-altering drug use discussed
  • Blood depiction
  • Organised crime
  • Cult recounted

The Fall of the Hotel Dumort by Cassandra Claire and Maureen Johnson

Magnus Bane watches the once-glamorous Hotel Dumort become something else altogether in 1970s New York City. Fifty years after the Jazz Age rise of the Hotel Dumort, immortal warlock Magnus Bane knows the Manhattan landmark is on the decline. The once-beautiful Hotel Dumort has fallen into a decayed thing, a ruin, as dead as a place can be. But the vampires don’t mind…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Drug use & abuse
  • Substance addiction
  • Blood depiction
  • Dead bodies
  • Murder

Fake It Till You Break It by Jenn P. Nguyen

Mia and Jake have known each other their whole lives. They’ve endured summer vacations, Sunday brunches, even dentist visits together. Their mothers, who are best friends, are convinced that Mia and Jake would be the perfect couple, even though they can’t stand to be in the same room together. After Mia’s mom turns away yet another cute boy, Mia and Jake decide they’ve have had enough. Together, they hatch a plan to get their moms off their backs. Permanently. All they have to do is pretend to date and then stage the worst breakup of all time—and then they’ll be free. The only… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Death of a parent in a car accident recounted

Fake It Till You Bake It by Jamie Wesley

Jada Townsend-Matthews is the most reviled woman in America after turning down a proposal on a reality dating show. When she comes home to lick her wounds, Jada finds herself working at San Diego’s newest cupcake bakery, Sugar Blitz, alongside the uptight owner and professional football player Donovan Dell. When a reporter mistakenly believes Jada and Donovan are an item, they realize they can use the misunderstanding to their advantage to help the struggling bakery and rehabilitate Jada’s image. Faking a relationship should be simple, but some… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Gambling addiction mentioned
  • Cyberharassment

Just the Tipsy by Audrey Vaughn

My new neighbor, Waylon Stryker is Jepsen’s most eligible bachelor – gorgeous, built, and kindhearted. I stick out like an LA-shaped thumb in this small town after inheriting a dilapidated house and tiny dog. But when I need my ex to back off and he needs his family to stop pressuring him to settle down, Waylon comes up with the perfect solution — a fake relationship. It would have been perfectly transactional if I hadn’t drunkenly told him about my spicy bucket list. I prayed he’d forget about it. Instead, he vows to help me check off each task. Turns out the kind veterinarian who… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Toxic relationship recounted
  • Cheating recounted (secondary characters)
  • Alcohol consumption

The Fake Boyfriend Fiasco by Talia Hibbert

For millionaire footballer Nikolas Christou, one look is all it takes. The minute he sees Aria Granger, he’s a goner. Playboy Nik knows lust—intimately—but his need for Aria goes far beyond that. Of course, the plus-sized beauty isn’t interested in romance… but Nik isn’t interested in giving up. Aria Granger has sworn off relationships for her own good. After all, her ex nearly murdered her best friend, so clearly her taste is questionable. When charming, gorgeous Nik bounds into her life, Aria can’t decide if he’s as innocent as he seems… or if her bullshit-ometer is… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Biphobia
  • Alcohol consumption & drug use recounted
  • Kidnapping & stalking mentioned
  • Explosion recounted