Best of Luck by Kate Clayborn

Greer Hawthorne is finally on the cusp of proving to her big, overprotective family that shes independent until a careless mistake jeopardizes her plan to graduate. Lucky for her, theres someone in town who may be able to help. Alex Averin plans to show up for his sisters wedding, then get straight back to his job as a world-renowned photojournalist. But when gorgeous, good-hearted Greer needs an assist with a photography project, he’s powerless to say no. Can a ceaseless wanderer find a stopping place alongside a woman determined to set out on her own, or are Alex and Greer both pushing their luck too far?

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism and internalised ableism
  • Anxiety & panic attacks
  • Parent with alcoholism & gambling addiction
  • Physical injuries
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Death of mother recounted
  • Poverty recounted

Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Her city is under siege. The zombies are coming back. And all Nona wants is a birthday party. In many ways, Nona is like other people. She lives with her family, has a job at her local school, and loves walks on the beach and meeting new dogs. But Nona’s not like other people. Six months ago she woke up in a stranger’s body, and she’s afraid she might have to give it back. The whole city is falling to pieces. A monstrous blue sphere hangs on the horizon, ready to tear the planet apart. Blood of Eden forces have surrounded the last Cohort facility and wait for the…. Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Suicidal ideation & suicide (secondary character)
  • Protagonist with pica & food sensory issues
  • Panic attack
  • Blood, gore & injury depiction including body horror, cancer, jellyfish sting, needles and dead bodies
  • Eugenics recounted
  • Murder by stabbing & shooting
  • Immolation (secondary characters)
  • Physical assault
  • Loss of autonomy (possession)
  • Nuclear bombs
  • Alcohol consumption & smoking (cigarettes)

DallerGut Dream Department Store by Lee Mi-ye

In a mysterious town that lies hidden in our collective subconscious, there’s a quaint little store where all kinds of dreams are sold. Day and night, visitors both human and animal from all over the world shuffle in sleepily in their pyjamas, lining up to purchase their latest adventure. Each floor in the department store sells a special kind of dream, including nostalgic dreams about your childhood, trips you’ve taken, and delicious food you’ve eaten, as well as nightmares and more mysterious dreams. In Dallergut Dream Department Store we meet Penny an enthusiastic new-hire; Dallergut, the flamboyant owner of the department store; Agnap Coco, producer… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consumption
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a child mentioned

Return to the DallerGut Dream Department Store by Lee Mi-ye

It has been a year since Penny first walked through the doors of DallerGut Dream Department Store, and surviving a year at the store means one thing . . . She is now an official employee of the dream industry! She can finally take the express commuter train to the Company District, where all the dream production companies are located and discover how all raw dream materials and testing equipment are produced. But the Company District is not quite what she expected, it hides the darker underbelly of the magical industry that Penny thought she was a part of… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Depression
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Dieting mentioned

Not Here to Make Friends by Jodi McAlister

Murray O’Connell is standing on the greatest precipice of his career. As showrunner of the reality dating show Marry Me, Juliet, Murray is determined to make this season a success. Nothing and nobody will stand in his way. Except perhaps Lily Fireball, the network’s choice for this season’s villain. Lily has classic reality TV appeal: She’s feisty, dramatic, and never backs down from a fight. She also happens to be Murray’s estranged best friend and former co-showrunner. What was once a perfectly planned season turns to chaos as the two battle for control. Working in reality television, they’re used to drama, secrets, and romance. But what happens when suddenly they’re at the center of the storyline?

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Outing
  • Anxiety & panic attack (secondary character)
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Secondary character in cancer remission
  • COVID-19 pandemic
  • Physical assault (off-page)
  • Death of a husband in a car accident recounted

Can I Steal You for a Second? by Jodi McAlister

Mandie Mitchell will do anything to get over her toxic ex. Even sign up to the polarising reality dating show, Marry Me, Juliet. But with her self-esteem in tatters, she’s not sure she’s brave enough to actually go on the show – until she forms a friendship with fellow contestant Dylan Gilchrist, who gives her the push she needs. Dylan is everything Mandie is not – tough, strong, and totally unafraid to speak her mind. Unfortunately, she also looks set to win, as she soon becomes the clear favourite of the Romeo, who also happens to share the same name. It’s annoying, really, just how perfect the Dylans seem for… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Workplace sexism & sexual harassment
  • Biphobia & panphobia recounted including forced outing (secondary character)
  • Infidelity recounted
  • Anxiety & panic attacks (secondary character)
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Dieting discussed
  • COVID-19 pandemic
  • Death of a father from cancer mentioned
  • Bullying

Context : One protagonist’s ex-husband cheated and the other left her ex-boyfriend for another woman.

Children of Anguish and Anarchy by Tomi Adeyemi

When Zelie seized the royal palace that fateful night, she thought her battles had come to an end. The monarchy had finally fallen. The maji had risen again. Zélie never expected to find herself locked in a cage and trapped on a foreign ship. Now warriors with iron skulls traffic her and her people across the seas, far from their homeland. Then everything changes when Zélie meets King Baldyr, her true captor, the ruler of the Skulls, and the man who has ravaged entire civilizations to find her. Baldyr’s quest to harness Zélie’s strength sends Zélie, Amari, and Tzain searching for allies in unknown lands… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Human trafficking
  • Self-harm (blood magic) & self-sacrifice
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Blood & injury depiction including broken bones, seizures (secondary character) and needles for piercing/tattooing
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Torture & physical assault
  • Imprisonment
  • Volcanic eruption
  • Explosion
  • Animal death, abuse & injury

Rules for Second Chances by Maggie North

Liz Lewis has tried everything to be what people want, but she’s always been labelled different in the boisterous world of wilderness expeditions. Her marriage to popular adventure guide Tobin Renner-Lewis is a sinkhole of toxic positivity where she’s the only one saying no. When she gets mistaken for a server at her own thirtieth birthday party, Liz vows to stop playing a minor character in her own life. The (incredibly well-researched and scientific) plan? A crash course in confidence . . . via an improv comedy class. The catch? She’s terrible at it, and the only person willing to practice with her is a certain… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment recounted
  • Parental infidelity mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Pregnancy & childbirth mentioned (epilogue)
  • Disappearance of a child mentioned

Right Where We Left Us by Jen Devon

Temperance Jean Madigan and Duncan Brady have never gotten it right. After one radiant, secret summer together when they were eighteen, they’ve been on-again off-again ever since. Now, despite red-hot chemistry and TJ’s closeness with Duncan’s family, they’re virtually strangers, only capable of adversarial banter, awkward small talk―and the occasional messy hookup. .When a wedding at the Brady’s vineyard lands TJ there for the summer, their mutual avoidance strategies prove impossible. The last thing TJ wants is to be under those angsty, heated glances Duncan thinks he hides. And for Duncan.. Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Nightmares
  • Alcohol consumption mentioned
  • Minor injury depiction (mild concussion, sprained wrist)
  • Chronic illness (vertigo & a blood platelet disorder)
  • Death of a pet dog mentioned

Christmas Is All Around by Martha Waters

Charlotte hates the holidays. As a former child actress, she starred in a modern classic of a holiday movie, and its fans won’t let her move on. When a piece revealing that her reluctance nixed plans for a reboot, she flees to London to spend the five-week countdown to the holidays with her sister. But the ghosts of Christmas past follow her there when she ends up at Eden Priory, a filming location for the movie she has never visited. There, after being recognized by a fan while viewing the extraordinary holiday decorations, she’s accidently left behind, forcing her to accept a ride back to London by Graham, the son of the owners. Their… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental infidelity mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Emesis
  • Death of a father from cancer mentioned