Starcrossed by Barbara Dee

Star-Crossed by Barbara Dee

Mattie, a star student and passionate reader, is delighted when her English teacher announces the eighth grade will be staging Romeo and Juliet. And she is even more excited when, after a series of events, she finds herself playing Romeo, opposite Gemma Braithwaite’s Juliet. Gemma, the new girl at school, is brilliant, pretty, outgoing—and if all that wasn’t enough: British. As the cast prepares for opening night, Mattie finds herself growing increasingly attracted to Gemma and confused, since, just days before, she had found herself crushing on a boy named Elijah… Read more.

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Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Queerphobia
  • Emesis
  • Bullying

Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody

Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody

Enne Salta was raised as a proper young lady, and no lady would willingly visit New Reynes, the so-called City of Sin. But when her mother goes missing, Enne must leave her finishing school—and her reputation—behind to follow her mother’s trail to the city where no one survives uncorrupted. Frightened and alone, Enne has only one lead: the name Levi Glaisyer. Unfortunately, Levi is not the gentleman she expected—he’s a street lord and a con man. Levi is also only one payment away from cleaning up a rapidly unravelling investment scam, so he doesn’t have time to investigate… Read more.

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Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Paedophilia
  • Gambling & mentions of past substance addiction
  • Blood & injury depiction including burns
  • Death of a mother
  • Death of a friend in a fire
  • Murder & regicide (on-page)
  • Torture
  • Physical assault
  • Poisoning
  • Bullying

The Accidental Pinup by Danielle Jackson

The Accidental Pinup by Danielle Jackson

Photographer Cassie Harris loves her job—her company Buxom Boudoir makes people look beautiful and feel empowered with her modern twist on classic pinup photography. Cassie’s best friend, Dana, is about to launch her own dangerously dreamy lingerie line and wants Cassie to shoot and direct the career-changing national campaign. But company politics and Dana’s complicated pregnancy interfere, and Cassie finds herself—a proud plus-size Black woman—not behind the camera but in front of it… Read more.

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Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism, fatphobia & sexism
  • Parental abandonment recounted
  • Gambling addiction (secondary character)
  • Alcohol consumption
  • High-risk pregnancy mentioned (secondary character)

The Abyss Surrounds Us by Emily Skrutskie

The Abyss Surrounds Us by Emily Skrutskie

For Cassandra Leung, bossing around sea monsters is just the family business. She’s been a Reckoner trainer-in-training ever since she could walk, raising the genetically-engineered beasts to defend ships as they cross the pirate-infested NeoPacific. But when the pirate queen Santa Elena swoops in on Cas’s first solo mission and snatches her from the bloodstained decks, Cas’s dream of being a full-time trainer seems dead in the water. There’s no time to mourn. Waiting for her on the pirate ship is an unhatched Reckoner… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Slavery mentioned
  • Suicide, attempted suicide & suicidal ideation
  • Emesis
  • Murder
  • Torture
  • Kidnapping & captivity
  • Graphic animal death & cruelty

Abel by Katee Robert

Abel by Katee Robert

Eight years ago, my family was betrayed by those closest to us. Now we’re back in Sabine Valley, staging our return during the feast of Lammas, where I step into the ring and ensure we’re given what we’re owed. Who we’re owed. Our enemies send their seven best warriors against me. With each victory, I win a Bride for each of my brothers. And for me? I’m saving the best for last. My Bride is Harlow, the woman claimed by the man I used to call friend—the one responsible for our exile. Eli. And if Eli has a problem with it? Well, then I’ll take him as my Bride, too. All the better to enact my revenge…and bring Sabine Valley to its knees.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Child abuse recounted
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Injury requiring surgery (gunshot wound)
  • Death of a mother from cancer mentioned
  • Murder of a father recounted
  • Gun violence
  • Mass death in an arson fire mentioned

16 Steps to Forever by Georgia Beers

16 Steps to Forever by Georgia Beers

If there’s one thing Brooke Sullivan knows for sure it’s that people let you down, but that hasn’t stopped her from going after the life she wants. In a new city, with a new job and a new start as a high-end real estate agent, she’s finally back on her feet. The last thing she needs is a distraction. Not her volatile neighbours, not a damn stray cat, and certainly not the flaky, infuriatingly adorkable girl-next-door property stager she has to work with. Macy Carr believes in soul mates and true love. She knows because she had it all until a freak accident took the love of her life… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Homomisia
  • Panic attack
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100 Days of Cake by Shari Goldhagen

100 Days of Cake by Shari Goldhagen

There are only three things that can get seventeen-year-old Molly Byrne out of bed these days: her job at FishTopia, the promise of endless episodes of Golden Girls, and some delicious lo mien. You see, for the past two years, Molly’s been struggling with something more than your usual teenage angst. Her shrink, Dr Brooks isn’t helping much, and neither is her mom who is convinced that baking the perfect cake will cure Molly of her depression—as if cake can magically make her rejoin the swim team, get along with her promiscuous sister, or care about the SATs… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Depression
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Across a Field of Starlight by Blue Delliquanti

Across a Field of Starlight by Blue Delliquanti

When they were kids, Fassen’s fighter spaceship crash-landed on a planet that Lu’s survey force was exploring. It was a forbidden meeting between a kid from a war-focused resistance movement and a kid whose community and planet are dedicated to peace and secrecy. Lu and Fassen are from different worlds and separate solar systems. But their friendship keeps them in each other’s orbit as they grow up. They stay in contact in secret as their communities are increasingly threatened by the omnipresent, ever-expanding empire. As the empire begins a new attack against… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Blood depiction
  • Emesis
  • Death of a parent, off-page
  • Gun violence
  • Car accident
  • War themes & colonialization
  • Animal death
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Because of You by Pip Harry

Because of You by Pip Harry

Tiny is homeless. Nola has everything she could ask for. They meet when Nola is forced into volunteer work for the writers’ group at the homeless shelter where Tiny is staying, and at first, it seems impossible that two people who are so different could ever be friends. But despite her initial prejudice, Nola quickly learns that there isn’t much separating her from the people who live on the streets. And Tiny begins to see that falling down doesn’t mean you never get back up. Because of You is a story about homelessness, prejudice and the power of words to provide a little hope… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Homomisia
  • Post-natal depression
  • Substance addiction
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Drug abuse
  • Death of a friend
  • Homelessness
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The Little Wave by Pip Harry

The Little Wave by Pip Harry

When a Manly school sets out to bring a country class to the city for a beach visit, three very different kids find each other and themselves. Noah is fearless in the surf. Being at the beach makes him feel free. So where does his courage go when his best mate pushes him around? Lottie loves collecting facts about bugs, but she wishes her dad would stop filling their lonely house with junk. She doesn’t know what to do about it. Jack wants to be a cricket star, but first he has to get to school and look after his little sister. Especially if he wants to go on the class trip and see the ocean for the first time.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Parent with Hoarding Disorder
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother & wife recounted
  • Near-drowning recounted
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