Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter

Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter

Liz Buxbaum has always known that Wes Bennett was not boyfriend material. You would think that her next-door neighbour would be a prince candidate for her romantic comedy fantasies, but Wes has only proven himself to be a pain in the butt, ever since they were little. Wes was the kid who put a frog in her Barbie Dreamhouse, the monster who hid a lawn gnome’s severed head in her little homemade neighbourhood book exchange. Flash forward ten years from the Great Gnome Decapitation. It’s Liz’s senior year… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consumption
  • Smoking
  • Emesis
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother in a car accident mentioned
  • Bullying
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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.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

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

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

And a Happy New Year by Holly Bourne

… And a Happy New Year? by Holly Bourne

Evie, Amber and Lottie are having a new year party to remember. For the first time since leaving college, all three girls are back together. It’s time for fun and flirting, snogs and shots. (And not tears or tantrums or terrible secrets) Because everything’s going great for these girls – Spinster Club for ever! Right?

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consumption
  • Emesis
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Running Girl by Simon Mason

Running Girl by Simon Mason

Meet Garvie Smith. Highest IQ ever recorded at Marsh Academy. Lowest ever grades. What’s the point, anyway? Life sucks. Nothing ever happens. Until Chloe Dow’s body is pulled from a pond. DI Singh is already on the case. Ambitious, uptight, methodical – he’s determined to solve the mystery and get promoted. He doesn’t need any ‘assistance’ from notorious slacker, Smith. Or does he?

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Drug & alcohol abuse
  • Suicide
  • Murder
  • Fire
  • Stalking
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A List of Cages by Robin Roe

A List of Cages by Robin Roe

When Adam Blake lands the best elective ever in his senior year, serving as an aide to the school psychologist, he thinks he’s got it made. Sure, it means a lot of sitting around, which isn’t easy for a guy with ADHD, but he can’t complain, since he gets to spend the period texting all his friends. Then the doctor asks him to track down the troubled freshman who keeps dodging her, and Adam discovers that the boy is Julian—the foster brother he hasn’t seen in five… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Misogyny
  • Child abuse, on-page
  • Disordered eating
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Starvation
  • Hospital
  • Bullying
  • Death of a parent
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Homicide and Halo-Halo by Mia Manansala

Homicide and Halo-Halo by Mia P. Manansala

Things are heating up for Lila Macapagal. Not in her love life, which she insists on keeping nonexistent despite the attention of two very eligible bachelors. Or her professional life, since she can’t bring herself to open her new cafe after the unpleasantness that occurred a few months ago at her aunt’s Filipino restaurant, Tita Rosie’s Kitchen. No, things are heating up quite literally, since summer, her least favourite season, has just started. Things are heating up for Lila Macapagal. Not in her love life, which she insists on keeping nonexistent despite the attention… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Fatmisia
  • Sexism
  • Coming out scene
  • Anxiety & panic attacks, on-page
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Dead body
  • Emesis
  • Death of a mother recounted
  • Murder
  • Hostage situation
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A Clash of Steel by CB Lee

A Clash of Steel: A Treasure Island Remix by C.B. Lee

1826. The sun is setting on the golden age of piracy, and the legendary Dragon Fleet, the scourge of the South China Sea, is no more. Its ruthless leader, a woman known only as the Head of the Dragon, is now only a story, like the ones Xiang has grown up with all her life. She desperately wants to prove her worth, especially to her mother, a shrewd businesswoman who never seems to have enough time for Xiang. Her father is also only a story, dead at sea before Xiang was born. Her single memento of him is a pendant she always wears, a simple but plain piece of gold jewellery… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consumption
  • Blood & injury depiction
  • Death of a parent
  • Murder
  • Gun & sword violence
  • Physical assault
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The Towering Sky by Katharine McGee

The Towering Sky by Katharine McGee

Welcome back to New York, 2119. A skyscraper city, fueled by impossible dreams, where the lives of five teenagers have become intertwined in ways that no one could have imagined. Leda just wants to move on from what happened in Dubai. Until a new investigation forces her to seek help—from the person she’s spent all year trying to forget. Rylin is back in her old life, reunited with an old flame. But when she starts seeing Cord again, she finds herself torn: between two worlds, and two very different boys. Rylin is back in her old life, reunited with an old flame. But when she… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Substance addiction recovery
  • Alcohol consumption mentioned
  • Death of a friend recounted
  • Murder
  • Drowning
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The Safe Place by Anna Downes

The Safe Place by Anna Downes

Emily Proudman just lost her acting agent, her job, and her apartment in one miserable day. Scott Denny, a successful and charismatic CEO, has a problem that neither his business acumen nor vast wealth can fix. Until he meets Emily. Scott offers Emily a summer job as a housekeeper on his remote, beautiful French estate. Enchanted by his lovely wife Nina, and his eccentric young daughter, Aurelia, Emily falls headlong into this oasis of wine-soaked days by the pool. But soon Emily realizes that Scott and Nina are hiding dangerous secrets, and if she doesn’t play along, the consequences could be deadly.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Child abuse, implied
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Drug use
  • Kidnapping
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