Category Archives: Representation

The Princess Stakes by Amalie Howard

The Princess Stakes by Amalie Howard

Born to an Indian maharaja, Princess Sarani Rao has it all: beauty, riches, and a crown. But with a British mother, her mixed-blood makes her a pariah and a target. And when Sara’s father is murdered, her only hope of survival is to escape on the next ship out―captained by the boy she once loved…and spurned.

Captain Rhystan Huntley, the reluctant Duke of Embry, has a place in the English fleet, which he’s loathe to give up. But duty is calling him home, and this is his final voyage. Leave it to fate that the one woman he’s ever loved must escape India on his ship. 

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism
  • Colourism
  • Death of a parent
  • Death of a sibling recounted
  • Murder
  • Colonialism

The Beast of Beswick by Amalie Howard

The Beast of Beswick by Amalie Howard

Lord Nathaniel Harte, the disagreeable Duke of Beswick, spends his days smashing porcelain, antagonizing his servants, and snarling at anyone who gets too close. With a ruined face like his, it’s hard to like much about the world. Especially smart-mouthed harpies—with lips better suited to kissing than speaking—who brave his castle with indecent proposals.

But Lady Astrid Everleigh will stop at nothing to see her younger sister safe from a notorious scoundrel, even if it means offering herself up on a silver platter to the forbidding Beast of Beswick himself. And by offer, she means what no highborn lady of sound and sensible mind would ever dream of—a tender of marriage with her as his bride.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Slut-shaming
  • Child abuse recounted
  • Facial & body scarring
  • Death of a parent recounted
  • Military service in the Napoleonic War recounted

Stutter by A Zavarelli 

Stutter by A. Zavarelli

I’m trapped in a black hole of darkness I can’t seem to crawl out of. My twin and my lover want each other dead and I’m pregnant with a baby I don’t know how to protect. Ryland says he will do anything to get me back, but how do you trust the man who almost killed you? When every option before you comes at a cost, how do you choose the right path?

People say that history has a way of repeating itself. Six years after the fact, my father’s actions are still haunting me. When I learn about an old debt yet to be settled, everything changes. It might not matter who I trust anymore when my every breath brings me one step closer to the end of this twisted game. 

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Kidnapping
  • Pregnancy

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

Every Dark Desire by Fiona Zedde

Every Dark Desire by Fiona Zedde

Naomi McIlroy’s life in Jamaica has always been about the comforts of family and home – but secretly she yearns for something more. Surrendering to seduction under a full moon, Naomi becomes part of a vampire clan whose carnal hungers are never sated. 

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Rape
  • Blood depiction

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