Category Archives: Representation

Cross the Line by Simone Soltani

Formula 1 driver Dev Anderson’s career is on the line. After a social media disaster leaves him with an angry team and sponsors threatening to jump ship, he needs someone to help save his image. At a party in Monaco, he bumps into the woman who can fix it all. There’s just one problem: she’s his best friend’s little sister. And, okay, maybe there’s another problem—he kissed her last year and hasn’t been able to stop thinking about it since. Recent college grad Willow Williams needs a job. She may have a talent for seeing the bright side of any bad situation, but it’s hard to stay positive when she’s struggling to get hired. So when Dev… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Chronic joint illness & pain (protagonist)

Gay the Pray Away by Natalie Naudus

Valerie Danners is in a cult. She just doesn’t know it yet. When she finds a queer book at the library and smuggles it home, her conservative Christian home-schooling world begins to crack. And when the cutest girl she’s ever met shows up to Bible class, she starts to question everything. Riley is so confident and kind, and she and Valerie bond quickly over existing as multiracial teens in a very white Christian community. As Valerie explores her feelings for Riley, she begins to see that the world she knows is a carefully crafted narrative. Publicly, the girls are close friends… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Religious trauma & homophobia (theme)
  • Physical child abuse mentioned
  • Self-harm (self-flagellation)
  • Emesis

Triple Sec by T.J. Alexander

As a bartender at Terror & Virtue, a swanky New York City cocktail lounge known for its romantic atmosphere and Insta-worthy drinks, Mel has witnessed plenty of disastrous dates. That, coupled with her own romantic life being in shambles, has Mel convinced love doesn’t exist. Everything changes when Bebe walks into the bar. She’s beautiful, funny, knows her whiskeys—and is happily married to her partner, Kade. Mel’s resigned to forget the whole thing, but Bebe makes her a unique since she and Kade have an open marriage, she’s interested in taking Mel on a date. What… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Transphobia
  • Divorce recounted (protagonist)
  • Alcohol consumption

Swift River by Essie J. Chambers

It’s the summer of 1987 in Swift River, and Diamond Newberry is learning how to drive. Ever since her Pop disappeared seven years ago, she and her mother hitchhike everywhere. But that’s not the only reason Diamond stands out: She’s teased relentlessly about her weight, and the fact that since Pop’s been gone, she is the only Black person in all of Swift River. This summer, Ma is determined to declare Pop legally dead so they can collect his life insurance money, get their house back from the bank, and finally move on. But when Diamond receives a letter from a… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism & racial slurs
  • Adult-minor relationship
  • Death of a parent
  • Bullying

Icon and Inferno by Marie Lu

A year has passed since superstar Winter Young last saw secret agent Sydney Cossette. After barely surviving their first assignment together in London — and their intense chemistry – the two haven’t spoken at all. Though they’re never far from the other’s thoughts, or fantasies. So when Syndey shows up at Winter’s studio one day with a new mission from Panacea, he has no choice but to accept. With the clock ticking, the duo prepares to head to Singapore to rescue an operative in danger — only to learn he’s none other than Sydney’s ex, a rogue agent known as the Arsonist… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Child abuse & domestic violence recounted
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Parent with alcoholism recounted
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a brother recounted
  • Murder by poisoning
  • Car bombing
  • Knife & gun violence

House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen

Rose Barclay is a nine-year-old girl who witnessed the possible murder of her nanny – in the midst of her parent’s bitter divorce – and immediately stopped speaking. Stella Hudson is a best interest attorney, appointed to serve as counsel for children in custody cases. She never accepts clients under thirteen due to her own traumatic childhood, but Stella’s mentor, a revered judge, believes Stella is the only one who can help. From the moment Stella passes through the iron security gate and steps into the gilded, historic DC home of the Barclays, she realizes the… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental divorce & infidelity
  • Traumatic mutism
  • Drug & alcohol abuse recounted
  • Murder

Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult

After Zoe Baxter loses her baby, the only way she can find of coping is to try again. But her husband Max disagrees – more than that, he wants a divorce. When they separate, there is no mention of the unborn children they created together, still waiting at the clinic. The Zoe falls in love again, out of the blue, and finds herself with an unexpected second chance to have a family. But Max has found a new life too – one with no place in it for people like Zoe. And he will stand up in court to say that her new choice of partner makes her an unfit mother.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Homophobia (theme)
  • Divorce
  • Panic attack
  • Secondary character with dementia
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Self-harm mentioned
  • Stillbirth, miscarriage & abortion
  • Infertility

Himawari House by Harmony Becker

When Nao returns to Tokyo to reconnect with her Japanese heritage, she books a yearlong stay at the Himawari sharehouse. There she meets Hyejung and Tina, two other girls who came to Japan to freely forge their own paths. The trio live together, share meals, and even attend the same Japanese-language school, which results in them becoming fast friends. But will they be able to hold one another up as life tests them with new loves, old heartbreaks, and the everyday challenges of being fish out of water?

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Parental abandonment & estrangement
  • Infidelity
  • Anxiety
  • Alcohol consumption

Jack Addison vs. Merman Seductions by K.A. Merikan

It turns out that by staying with Calix, Jack had bet on the wrong centaur. A year on, he is broke and heartbroken after his boyfriend left him for someone with a thicker wallet. Salvation comes in the form of a message from Roux, Jack’s rival and crush all in one. Jack is willing to do whatever it takes to prove he’s a changed man. As the only non-human in their profession, the humanoid feline Roux not only hunts down creatures but also understands their unique needs. Can Jack help him save the beautiful merman Lauro from the claws and teeth of jealous mermaids? And can he resist the seductive merman in the process?

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Suicide mentioned
  • Cannibalism mentioned

Jack Addison vs. Centaur Pimps by K.A. Merikan

Jack Addison’s career as a monster hunter is blossoming, and so is his experience in dealing with all kinds of interesting species. But one creature still remains a mystery to Jack—the feline-like Roux Chat-Bonnes. His fellow venator has been avoiding Jack since their successful werewolf hunt in Bohemia, but a man can only pine for so long, which is why Jack decides to vacation on a Greek island famous for its centaur population. Eager to get intimately acquainted with one of the hooved beauties, Jack instead uncovers a cruel plot that will change his view of human-centaur relations for good.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Human trafficking & sex work
  • Kidnapping