Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley

Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley

When you sit down with Lily and the Octopus, you will be taken on an unforgettable ride. The magic of this novel is in the read, and we don’t want to spoil it by giving away too many details. We can tell you that this is a story about that special someone: the one you trust, the one you can’t live without. For Ted Flask, that someone special is his aging companion Lily, who happens to be a dog. Lily and the Octopus reminds us how it feels to love fiercely, how difficult it can be to let go, and how the fight for those we love is the greatest fight of all.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Animal illness

Among the Beasts and Briars by Ashley Poston

Among the Beasts & Briars by Ashley Poston

Cerys is safe in the kingdom of Aloriya. Here there are no droughts, disease, or famine, and peace is everlasting. It has been this way for hundreds of years since the first king made a bargain with the Lady who ruled the forest that borders the kingdom. But as Aloriya prospered, the woods grew dark, cursed, and forbidden. Cerys knows this all too well: when she was young, she barely escaped as the woods killed her friends and her mother. Now Cerys carries a small bit of the curse—the magic—in her blood, a reminder of the day she lost everything. The most danger… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Animal injury
  • Self-inflicted injuries
  • Blood depiction
  • Body horror

Shield of Winter by Nalini Singh

Shield of Winter by Nalini Singh

Assassin. Soldier. Arrow. That is who Vasic is, who he will always be. His soul drenched in blood, his conscience heavy with the weight of all he’s done, he exists in the shadows, far from the hope his people can almost touch – if only they do not first drown in the murderous insanity of a lethal contagion. To stop the wave of death, Vasic must complete the simplest and most difficult mission of his life. For if the Psy race is to survive, the empaths must wake. Having rebuilt her life after medical ‘treatment’ that violated her mind and sought to stifle her abilities, Ivy should have run from the black-clad Arrow with eyes of winter frost. But Ivy Jane has never done what she should. Now, she… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Surgery
  • Amputation (arm)
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Animal injury (dog)

Not a Sound by Heather Gudenkauf

Not a Sound by Heather Gudenkauf

When a tragic accident leaves nurse Amelia Winn deaf, she spirals into a depression that ultimately causes her to lose everything that matters–her job, her husband, David, and her stepdaughter, Nora. Now, two years later and with the help of her hearing dog, Stitch, she is finally getting back on her feet. But when she discovers the body of a fellow nurse in the dense bush by the river, deep in the woods near her cabin, she is plunged into a disturbing mystery that could shatter the carefully reconstructed pieces of her life all over again. As clues begin to surface, Amelia finds her… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Depression
  • Physical assault resulting in loss of hearing
  • Dead body
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Animal injury (dog)
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The Air He Breathes by Brittainy Cherry

The Air He Breathes by Brittainy C. Cherry

I was warned about Tristan Cole. It’s easy to judge a man because of his past. To look at Tristan and see a monster. But I couldn’t do that. I had to accept the wreckage that lived inside of him because it also lived inside of me. We were both empty. We were both looking for something else. Something more. We both wanted to put together the shattered pieces of our yesterdays. Then perhaps we could finally remember how to breathe.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a spouse & son in a car accident
  • Kidnapping
  • Animal injury (dog), sustained during a car accident

Object of Desire by Dal Maclean

Object of Desire by Dal Maclean

Tom Gray is one of the world’s top models–an effortless object of desire. Self-contained, elusive and always in control, he’s accustomed to living life entirely on his own terms. But when Tom comes under suspicion in the gory death of his employer, his world spirals into chaos. But when Tom comes under suspicion in the gory death of his employer, his world spirals into chaos. And as old secrets come to light, Tom finds his adversary always one step ahead.. And as old secrets come to light, Tom finds his adversary always one step ahead… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Animal mutilation (cat)

Take Me Home by Lorelie Brown

Take Me Home by Lorelie Brown

I didn’t know what I was looking for until I saw her Craigslist ad. I love my family. I’m lucky to have them — well, most of them. But my aunt? I’m so tired of her giving my mom crap because I happen to be a lesbian. So one pink-haired tattoo artist pretending to be my girlfriend will annoy my Christian fundamentalist aunt right back and make my Thanksgiving perfect. Only Brooke turns out to be cuter and more complicated than I expected. And before you can say “yorkiepoo,” we kiss . . . and abduct a dog together. I want to keep them both — but Brooke isn’t the kind to be kept.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Lesbomisia
  • Misogyny
  • Fatmisia & body shaming
  • Rape mentioned
  • Recreational drug use
  • Overdose mentioned
  • Animal abuse
  • Animal injury
  • Poverty mentioned
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Second Nature by Amber Boudreau

Second Nature by Amber Boudreau

Mavis Corvid can’t remember. Not who she is, nor where she came from. It’s been six months and nothing. Zip. Zilch. Now she’s settling into a new life. She’s back on her feet, literally, and working at a garage in Eustace Park for a boss as grumpy as he is handsome. She has an apartment, friends, and an insatiable curiosity about werewolves. No one knows why the wolves disclosed their existence to the world, but the one-year anniversary of their reveal is fast approaching. A fight brews between two alphas that could threaten the rest of humanity unless Mavis can remember… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Persecution for witchcraft
  • Panic attack
  • Amnesia
  • Depersonalisation
  • Dysphoria
  • Drugging
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Body horror
  • Physical injuries & illness, including burns, anaphylaxis, and loss of limb
  • Dead bodies & body parts
  • Medical experimentation
  • Medical procedures & treatment
  • Hospitalisation & psychiatric hospitalisation
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of friend
  • Death of brother
  • Death of son
  • Death of parent
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Poisoning
  • Gun violence
  • Home invasion
  • Captivity & confinement
  • Disappearance of a loved one
  • Fire
  • Animal death & death of a pet
  • Animal illness & injury
  • Poverty
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By a Thread by Lucy Score

By a Thread by Lucy Score

I got her fired. Okay, so I’d had a bad day and took it out on a bystander in a pizza shop. But there’s nothing innocent about Ally Morales. She proves that her first day of her new job… in my office… after being hired by my mother. So maybe her colourful, annoying, inexplicably alluring personality brightens up the magazine’s offices that have felt like a prison for the past year. Maybe I like that she argues with me in front of the editorial staff. And maybe my after-hours fantasies are haunted by those brown eyes and that sharp tongue. But that doesn’t mean that… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Workplace sexual harassment
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Sing Anyway by Anita Kelly

Sing Anyway by Anita Kelly

After a lifetime of failed relationships, non-binary history professor Sam Bell is committed to a new (non)romantic strategy: Thirst Only. It’s the actual drinking where things get too complicated, where Sam inevitably gets hurt. Sam is good at being thirsty, though, especially when it’s karaoke night at The Moonlight Café, otherwise known as Moonie’s to its largely queer regulars. Moonie’s is fun. Comfortable. Safe. Except for tonight, when one by one, all of Sam’s friends abandon them. Disappointed, they prepare to leave—until their #1 karaoke crush catches… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consumption
  • Animal injury & illness mentioned
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