Ain’t Never Not Been Black by Javon Johnson

Ain’t Never Not Been Black by Javon Johnson

Engaging with themes of masculinity, racism, love, and joy, Johnson is at once critical and creative. His spoken word performance transfers effortlessly to the page, with poems that will encompass you. This is a book about blackness and survival, and how in American these are inseparable. In a world of individualism, who can you hold close? In a world of danger, what makes you feel safe? From a poem written in the form of a syllabus, to another about the time his grandmother literally saved his life, Johnson’s creative expression is constantly enacting the feminist mantra, “the personal is political.”

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism & racial slur
  • Cancer
  • Murder
  • Police brutality & violence
  • Gun violence
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One Step Too Far by Lisa Gardner

One Step Too Far by Lisa Gardner

Frankie Elkin, who readers first met in Before She Disappeared, learns of a young man who has gone missing in a national forest. Law enforcement has abandoned the search, but a crew of people led by the young man’s father are still looking. Sensing a father’s desperation, Frankie agrees to help–but soon sees that a missing person isn’t all that’s wrong here. And when more people start to vanish, Frankie realizes she’s up against something very dark–and she’s running out of time.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Alcoholism
  • Abortion
  • Blood depiction
  • Cancer
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Split by KA Merikan

Split by K.A. Merikan

Hunter knew he was in deep shit when a patchover went sideways, ending up with his prez dead, and him and his cousin becoming live-in hostages at the Coffin Nails MC clubhouse. What he didn’t know though, was that the girl he fucked just a few days before was the Coffin Nails club president’s daughter, set on having nothing to do with him after a creepy one-night stand in an abandoned church. Tough luck, because Hunter is not a quitter, even if getting involved with the prez’s hot daughter could get him killed. Astaroth is devastated after losing the two people closest to her… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Homomisia
  • Child abuse mentioned
  • Sexual harassment
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Cancer mentioned
  • Death of a sibling & parent
  • Torture
  • Organised crime (motorcycle gang)

Reading the Signs by Keira Andrews

Reading the Signs by Keira Andrews

As a teenager crushing on Jake Fitzgerald, his big brother’s teammate, pitcher Nico Agresta decided he can never act on his desire for men. Nico is desperate to live up to his Italian-American family’s baseball legacy, and if he can win Rookie of the Year in the big leagues like his dad and brother did, maybe he can prove he’s worthy. At 34, veteran catcher Jake just wants to finish out his contract and retire. His team doesn’t have a prayer of making the playoffs, but who needs the stress anyway? Jake lost his passion for the game—and life—after driving away the man he loved. He… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Homomisia & homomisic slur
  • Emesis
  • Death of a parent from cancer

Life on Pause by Erin McLellan

Life on Pause by Erin McLellan

Niles Longfellow is a nerd, and not the trendy type of nerd, either. He wears a historically accurate homesteader costume to work every day, has a total of one friend, and doesn’t know how to talk to guys. So when he gets a flat tire and the hottest hipster ever stops to help him, all Niles can think is that he’s wearing his stupid cowboy getup. Normally, Niles feels invisible to other men, but he’d take that invisibility any day over Rusty Adams seeing him in suede and fringe. Rusty moved to Bison Hills to help his sister raise her daughter, and nothing is… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Homomisia
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Parent in assisted living due to a stroke
  • Death of a father, off-page
  • Death of mother from brain cancer recounted
  • Bullying recounted

Pipe Dreams by Sarina Bowen

Pipe Dreams by Sarina Bowen

Mike Beacon is a champion at guarding the net, but off the ice, he’s not so lucky. A widower and a single father, he’s never gotten over Lauren Williams, the ex who gave him the best year of his life. When Lauren reappears in the Bruisers’ office during the play-offs, Beacon sees his chance to make things right. Lauren hates travelling with the team she used to manage and with the man who broke her heart. There’s still undeniable sexual tension running between her and Mike, but she won’t go there again. She’s focused on her plans for the future—she doesn’t need a man to make her… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Spousal infidelity
  • Divorce
  • Death of a spouse from cancer, off-page

Two Man Station by Lisa Henry

Two Man Station by Lisa Henry

Gio Valeri is a big city police officer who’s been transferred to the small outback town of Richmond with his professional reputation in tatters. His transfer is a punishment, and Gio just wants to keep his head down and survive the next two years. No more mistakes. No more complications. Except Gio isn’t counting on Jason Quinn. Jason Quinn, officer in charge of Richmond Station, is a single dad struggling with balancing the demands of shift work with the challenges of raising his son. The last thing he needs is a new senior constable with a history of destroying other people’s careers. But like it or not, Jason has to work with Gio… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Domestic violence
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a partner from cancer recounted
  • Bullying

Love Forged by Nicole Pyland

Love Forged by Nicole Pyland

Tate Antonio has been without her father for nearly thirteen years. He left one day and never came back. Tate had given up on hearing from her father ever again when a strange letter arrives in the mailbox of her apartment that she shares with her best friend since birth, Flynn McEntire. Born just two weeks apart, the two girls grew into women with a plan. They would attend the same university and later, medical school. They would be in the other’s wedding party when they married the men of their dreams. The problem with that plan? Tate has no idea that Flynn’s dream… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Bimisia
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Smoking
  • Cancer

The Price Of Scandal by Lucy Score

The Price Of Scandal by Lucy Score

Emily Stanton’s perfect life just became a disaster. She has a trust fund brother looking for a handout, a father who is more board member than dad, and a mother who thinks she should give up on this whole billionaire CEO thing and meet a man with a pre-nup and a yacht. Oh, and then there’s that “misunderstanding” with law enforcement witnessed by Miami’s paparazzi. Now her billion-dollar deal is on the line, and there’s a naked man in her bathtub who claims he’s going to make all her problems disappear Charming—and happy to bend the rules when necessary—Derek Price… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consumption
  • Cancer mentioned
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Shot in the Dark by Tracy Solheim

Shot in the Dark by Tracy Solheim

If there’s anything zoologist Josslyn Benoit abhors more than guns, it’s poachers. When an African “fact-finding” mission with a wildlife conservationist group goes horribly wrong and one of their members is shot, Josslyn and her team must flee for their lives. What’s worse? Josslyn must call in a favour from her older half-sister…the First Lady of the United States. She returns to D.C. to hunt down a major importer of illegal animal products and the last thing she needs on her tail is a gun-toting, testosterone-fueled hottie who’s too sexy for words and too bossy to tolerate… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consumption mentioned
  • Parent with Alzheimer’s Disease
  • Cancer mentioned
  • Animal death
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