Play On by Samantha Young 

Play On by Samantha Young 

Nora O’Brien chased a dream from Indiana to Scotland, so sure it was the right thing to do. Three years later she was left in her adopted country with nothing to her name but guilt and regret. Until Aidan Lennox entered her life. Older, worldlier, a music producer and composer, the sexy Scot should never have made sense for Nora. But somehow in each other, they found the light they were looking for, the laughter and the passion—the strength to play on despite their past losses… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Child abuse
  • Childhood cancer

Under Locke by Mariana Zapata 

He was my boss, my brother’s friend, a Widower, an ex-felon, and a man I’d seen casually with a handful of women. But he was everything that gripped me, both the good and the bad. Worst case scenario if things turned awkward between us, I could go somewhere else. I’d gotten over epic heartbreak before, one more wouldn’t kill me. After moving to Austin following six months of unemployment back home, Iris Taylor knows she should be glad to have landed a job so quickly… even if the business is owned by a member of the same motorcycle club her estranged father… Read more.

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Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment
  • Slut-shaming
  • Attempted sexual assault
  • Emesis
  • Death of a mother from breast cancer recounted
  • Murder by gun violence
  • Physical assault
  • Car accident recounted

The Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

A. J. Fikry’s life is not at all what he expected it to be. His wife has died, his bookstore is experiencing the worst sales in its history, and now his prized possession, a rare collection of Poe poems, has been stolen. Slowly but surely, he is isolating himself from all the people of Alice Island—from Lambiase, the well-intentioned police officer who’s always felt kindly toward Fikry; from Ismay, his sister-in-law who is hell-bent on saving him from his dreary self; from Amelia, the lovely and idealistic (if eccentric) Knightley Press sales rep who keeps on taking the ferry over to Alice Island, refusing to be deterred by A.J.’s bad attitude. Even.. Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Miscarriage
  • Cancer
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a spouse

By Her Touch by Adriana Anders

By Her Touch by Adriana Anders

Clay left the Sultans biker gang a changed man. Its ringleaders may be awaiting trial, but he wears the memory of his time in that hell tattooed across his skin. He figures he doesn’t have space in his messed-up life for anything gentle? Not now, maybe not ever. Besides, what woman could possibly want the man he’s become?

Dr. Georgette Hadley is drawn to the damaged stranger’s pain, intimidated but intrigued by the warmth that lies beneath Clay’s frightening exterior. She thrills at the way he gentles at her touch…and under his rough hands, she burns with a passion she never thought she’d know… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Cancer
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a spouse
  • Death of a sister
  • Hostage situation
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The Revolution of Birdie Randolph by Brandy Colbert 

The Revolution of Birdie Randolph by Brandy Colbert

Dove “Birdie” Randolph works hard to be the perfect daughter and follow the path her parents have laid out for her: She quit playing her beloved soccer, she keeps her nose buried in textbooks, and she’s on track to finish high school at the top of her class. But then Birdie falls hard for Booker, a sweet boy with a troubled past…whom she knows her parents will never approve of.

When her estranged aunt Carlene returns to Chicago and moves into the family’s apartment above their hair salon, Birdie notices the tension building at home. Carlene is sweet, friendly, and open-minded–she’s also spent decades in and out of treatment facilities for addiction. As Birdie becomes closer to both Booker and Carlene, she yearns to spread her wings. But when long-buried secrets rise to the surface, everything she’s known to be true is turned upside down.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism & racial profiling
  • Parental abandonment mentioned
  • Familial estrangement
  • Substance addiction
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Recreational drug use & abuse
  • Death of a parent from cancer mentioned
  • Physical assault recounted
  • Bullying mentioned
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10 Things I Hate About Pinky by Sandhya Menon

10 Things I Hate About Pinky by Sandhya Menon

Pinky Kumar wears the social justice warrior badge with pride. From raccoon hospitals to persecuted rock stars, no cause is too esoteric for her to champion. But a teeny-tiny part of her also really enjoys making her conservative, buttoned-up corporate lawyer parents cringe.

Samir Jha might have a few . . . quirks remaining from the time he had to take care of his sick mother, like the endless lists he makes in his planner and the way he schedules every minute of every day, but those are good things. They make life predictable and steady.

Pinky loves lazy summers at her parents’ Cape Cod lake house… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism
  • Cancer mentioned
  • Death of a parent recounted
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The Last Letter by Rebecca Yarros

The Last Letter by Rebecca Yarros

Beckett, If you’re reading this, well, you know the last-letter drill. You made it. I didn’t. Get off the guilt train, because I know if there was any chance you could have saved me, you would have. I need one thing from you: get out of the army and get to Telluride. My little sister Ella’s raising the twins alone. She’s too independent and won’t accept help easily, but she has lost our grandmother, our parents, and now me. It’s too much for anyone to endure. It’s not fair. And here’s the kicker: there’s something else you don’t know that’s tearing her family apart. She’s going to need help.

So if I’m gone, that means I can’t be there for Ella. I can’t help them through this. But you can. So I’m begging you, as my best friend, go take care of my sister, my family. Please don’t make her go through it alone. Ryan

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Pediatric cancer (theme)
  • Death of a child

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North

Some stories cannot be told in just one lifetime. Harry August is on his deathbed. Again. No matter what he does or the decisions he makes, when death comes, Harry always returns to where he began, a child with all the knowledge of a life he has already lived a dozen times before. Nothing ever changes. Until now. As Harry nears the end of his eleventh life, a little girl appears at his bedside. “I nearly missed you, Doctor August,” she says. “I need to send a message.” This is the story of what Harry does next, and what he did before, and how he tries to save a past he cannot change and a future he cannot allow.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Rape
  • Suicide
  • Overdose
  • Medical experimentation
  • Cancer
  • AIDS
  • Infanticide
  • Torture, on-page
  • Incarceration

On the Island by Tracey Garvis Graves

On the Island by Tracey Garvis Graves

When thirty-year-old English teacher Anna Emerson is offered a job tutoring T.J. Callahan at his family’s summer rental in the Maldives, she accepts without hesitation; a working vacation on a tropical island trumps the library any day.

T.J. Callahan has no desire to leave town, not that anyone asked him. He’s almost seventeen and if having cancer wasn’t bad enough, now he has to spend his first summer in remission with his family—and a stack of overdue assignments—instead of his friends.

Anna and T.J. are en route to join T.J.’s family in the Maldives when the pilot of their seaplane suffers a fatal heart attack and crash-lands in the Indian Ocean… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Cancer
  • Death of parents

Before Jamaica Lane by Samantha Young

Before Jamaica Lane by Samantha Young

Despite her outgoing demeanour, Olivia is painfully insecure around the opposite sex—usually, she can’t get up the nerve to approach guys she’s interested in. But moving to Edinburgh has given her a new start, and, after she develops a crush on a sexy postgrad, she decides it’s time to push past her fears and go after what she wants.

Nate Sawyer is a gorgeous player who never commits, but to his close friends, he’s as loyal as they come. So when Olivia turns to him with her relationship woes, he offers to instruct her in the art of flirting and to help her become more sexually confident… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Death of a parent from cancer
  • Death of a girlfriend to cancer