Hotel Ruby by Suzanne Young

Hotel Ruby by Suzanne Young

When Audrey Casella arrives for an unplanned stay at the grand Hotel Ruby, she’s grateful for the detour. Just months after their mother’s death, Audrey and her brother, Daniel, are on their way to live with their grandmother, dumped on the doorstep of a DNA-matched stranger because their father is drowning in his grief.

Audrey and her family only plan to stay the night, but life in the Ruby can be intoxicating, extending their stay as it provides endless distractions—including handsome guest Elias Lange, who sends Audrey’s pulse racing. However, the hotel proves to be as strange as it is beautiful. Nightly fancy affairs in the ballroom are invitation-only… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Suicide
  • Death by stroke
  • Car accident
  • Fire

The Best Thing by Mariana Zapata

Some things are easily forgiven. Other things… not so much. Lenny DeMaio made herself a promise: she was done. Done thinking about him. Done worrying about him. Done reaching out to a man who clearly didn’t want to be found. Too bad no one gave Jonah Collins the memo.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Unplanned pregnancy
  • Chronic injury
  • Fatal car accident (drunk driving)

He Started It by Samantha Downing 

He Started It by Samantha Downing

Beth, Portia, and Eddie Morgan haven’t all been together in years. And for very good reasons—we’ll get to those later. But when their wealthy grandfather dies and leaves a cryptic final message in his wake, the siblings and their respective partners must come together for a cross-country road trip to fulfill his final wish and—more importantly—secure their inheritance. But time with your family can be tough. It is for everyone.

It’s even harder when you’re all keeping secrets and trying to forget a memory—a missing person, an act of revenge, the man in the black truck who won’t stop following your car—and especially when at least one of you is a killer and there’s a body in the trunk. Just to name a few reasons. But money is a powerful motivator. It is for everyone.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Emotional abuse & gaslighting
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Car accident

What You Wish For by Katherine Center 

What You Wish For by Katherine Center

Samantha Casey is a school librarian who loves her job, the kids, and her school family with passion and joy for living. But she wasn’t always that way.

Duncan Carpenter is the new school principal who lives by rules and regulations, guided by the knowledge that bad things can happen. But he wasn’t always that way.

And Sam knows it. Because she knew him before—at another school, in a different life. Back then, she loved him—but she was invisible. To him. To everyone. Even to herself. She escaped to a new school, a new job, a new chance at living. But when Duncan, of all people, gets hired… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Panic attacks
  • Seizures described
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a father recounted
  • School shooting
  • Car accident
  • Disappearance of a child

A Stranger in the House by Shari Lapena

A Stranger in the House by Shari Lapena

Karen and Tom Krupp are happy—they’ve got a lovely home in upstate New York, they’re practically newlyweds, and they have no kids to interrupt their comfortable life together. But one day, Tom returns home to find Karen has vanished—her car’s gone and it seems she left in a rush. She even left her purse—complete with phone and ID—behind. There’s a knock on the door—the police are there to take Tom to the hospital where his wife has been admitted. She had a car accident, and lost control as she sped through the worst part of town… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape by coercion*
  • Cheating recounted
  • Domestic abuse recounted
  • Amnesia & memory loss (theme)
  • Suicide mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Drug abuse discussed
  • Infertility
  • Blood, gore & injury depiction including dead bodies and hospitalisation
  • Death of an ex-husband
  • Murder (off-page)
  • Gun violence (off-page)
  • Car accident
  • Disappearance of a spouse
  • Incarceration
  • Home invasion
  • Blackmail
  • Stalking

The Bride Test by Helen Hoang

The Bride Test by Helen Hoang

Khai Diep has no feelings. Well, he feels irritation when people move his things or contentment when ledgers balance down to the penny, but not big, important emotions—like grief. And love. He thinks he’s defective. His family knows better—that his autism means he just processes emotions differently. When he steadfastly avoids relationships, his mother takes matters into her own hands and returns to Vietnam to find him the perfect bride.

As a mixed-race girl living in the slums of Ho Chi Minh City, Esme Tran has always felt out of place. When the opportunity arises to come to America and meet a potential husband, she can’t turn it down, thinking this could be the break her family needs… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Ableism & internalised ableism
  • Parental abandonment
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a relative in a car accident

The Ex Hex by Rachel Hawkins and Erin Sterling

The Ex Hex by Rachel Hawkins and

Nine years ago, Vivienne Jones nursed her broken heart like any young witch would: vodka, weepy music, bubble baths…and a curse on the horrible boyfriend. Sure, Vivi knows she shouldn’t use her magic this way, but with only an “orchard hayride” scented candle on hand, she isn’t worried it will cause him anything more than a bad hair day or two.

That is until Rhys Penhallow, descendent of the town’s ancestors, breaker of hearts, and annoyingly just as gorgeous as he always was, returns to Graves Glen, Georgia. What should be a quick trip to recharge the town’s ley lines and make an appearance at the annual fall festival turns disastrously wrong. With one calamity after another striking Rhys… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Sexism
  • Death of a parent recounted
  • Car accident

If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy

If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy

After having just graduated with a degree in shoe design, and trying to get her feet on the ground, Cindy is working for her stepmother, who happens to be the executive producer of America’s favourite reality show, Before Midnight. When a spot on the show needs filling ASAP, Cindy volunteers, hoping it might help jump-start her fashion career, or at least give her something to do while her peers land jobs in the world of high fashion. Turns out being the only plus-size woman on a reality dating competition makes a splash, and soon Cindy becomes a body positivity… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Fatmisia & body shaming
  • Terminal cancer mentioned
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a parent, off-page
  • Car accident mentioned

Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer

Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer

Juliet Young always writes letters to her mother, a world-travelling photojournalist. Even after her mother’s death, she leaves letters at her grave. It’s the only way Juliet can cope.

Declan Murphy isn’t the sort of guy you want to cross. In the midst of his court-ordered community service at the local cemetery, he’s trying to escape the demons of his past.

When Declan reads a haunting letter left beside a grave, he can’t resist writing back. Soon, he’s opening up to a perfect stranger, and their connection is immediate. But neither Declan nor Juliet knows that they’re not actually strangers. When life at school interferes with their secret life of letters, sparks will fly as Juliet and Declan discover truths that might tear them apart. 

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Infidelity
  • Anxiety
  • Panic attacks
  • Depression
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother
  • Death of a sibling
  • Car accident

While We Were Dating by Jasmine Guillory

While We Were Dating by Jasmine Guillory

Ben Stephens has never bothered with serious relationships. He has plenty of casual dates to keep him busy, family drama he’s trying to ignore and his advertising job to focus on. When Ben lands a huge ad campaign featuring movie star Anna Gardiner, however, it’s hard to keep it purely professional. Anna is not just gorgeous and sexy, she’s also down to earth and considerate, and he can’t help flirting a little…

Anna Gardiner is on a mission: to make herself a household name, and this ad campaign will be a great distraction while she waits to hear if she’s booked her next movie. However, she didn’t expect Ben Stephens to be her biggest distraction… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism
  • Anxiety & panic attacks
  • Car accident, off-page