A Talent for Murder by Peter Swanson

Martha Ratliff conceded long ago that she’d likely spend her life alone. She was fine with it, happy with her solo existence, stimulated by her job as an archival librarian, constantly surrounded by thought-provoking ideas and the books she loved. But then she met Alan, a charming and sweet-natured divorcee with a job that took him on the road for half the year. When he asked her to marry him, she said yes, even though he still felt a little bit like a stranger. A year in and the marriage was good, except for that strange blood streak on the back of one of his shirts he’d worn to a conf… Read more.

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Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Infidelity
  • Stroke mentioned
  • Kidnapping & stalking

A Love Letter to Whiskey by Kandi Steiner

This is not your typical love story. 
It’s a story of almosts and could-have-beens. Of friendship that teeters on the edge of something more. Of passion so intoxicating, it burns. Jamie and B are two hearts caught in the tangle of bad timing and unspoken words. Their connection defies labels—too deep for friendship, too tangled for love. Over a decade of moments, choices, and missed opportunities, they find themselves drawn together like a moth to a flame, even when the world—and their own mistakes—keep pulling them apart. Is it obsession? Destiny? Or just self-destruction with… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Infidelity (protagonists)
  • Rape (the protagonist is a product of assault)

Redemption Point by Candice Fox

When former police detective Ted Conkaffey was wrongly accused of abducting Claire Bingley, he hoped the Queensland rainforest town of Crimson Lake would be a good place to disappear. But nowhere is safe from Claire’s devastated father. Dale Bingley has a brutal revenge plan all worked out – and if Ted doesn’t help find the real abductor, he’ll be its first casualty. Meanwhile, in a dark roadside hovel called the Barking Frog Inn, the bodies of two young bartenders lie on the beer-sodden floor. It’s Detective Inspector Pip Sweeney’s first homicide investigation – c… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Paedophilia, grooming & child sexual abuse recounted
  • Rape recounted
  • Cheating
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Death of a friend
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Police corruption mentioned
  • Wrongful incarceration
  • Animal cruelty

The Night War by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

It’s 1942. German Nazis occupy much of France. And twelve-year-old Miriam, who is Jewish, is not safe. With help and quick thinking, Miri is saved from the roundup that takes her entire Jewish neighborhood. She escapes Paris, landing in a small French village, where the spires of the famous Chateau de Chenonceau rise high into the sky, its bridge across the River Cher like a promise, a fairy tale. But Miri’s life is no fairy tale. Her parents are gone – maybe alive, maybe not. Taken in at the boarding school near the chateau, pretending to be Catholic to escape Nazi capture, Miri is called upon… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Period-typical antisemitism & Nazism (theme), including physical beatings and setting houses on fire as a hate crime
  • Infidelity mentioned
  • Blood depiction
  • Death of a husband discussed
  • Police brutality & violence (on-page)
  • World War II (theme) with mentions of concentration camps
  • St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre discussed

Heartbreak Warfare by Heather M. Orgeron and Kate Stewart

Remember when we parted ways in Germany? It was the day I broke your heart. What you didn’t know was that I was breaking mine too. I thought they’d be enough–my husband and my son. That I’d get home and everything would go back to the way it was… Before the war. Before the ambush. Before you. But, no matter how hard I try, I can’t erase the trauma we shared. I can’t seem to forget the way my heart beat in time with yours. The truth is I’m lost without you. I thought the nightmare was over when they pulled us from that hole in the ground, but nothing could have… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape (on-page)
  • Infidelity (protagonists, on-page)
  • Torture
  • War themes & military service

The Family Experiment by John Marrs

The world’s population is soaring, creating overcrowded cities and an economic crisis. And in the UK, the breaking point has arrived. A growing number of people can no longer afford to start families, let alone raise them. But for those desperate to experience parenthood, there is an alternative. For a monthly subscription fee, clients can create a virtual child from scratch who they can access via the metaverse and a VR headset. To launch this new initiative, the company behind Virtual Children has created a reality TV show called The Substitute. It will follow ten… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Infidelity mentioned
  • Gambling addiction mentioned
  • Drug use mentioned
  • Cancer mentioned
  • Death of a child

Faking Ms. Right by Claire Kingsley

Everly Dalton is a walking, talking, martini-drinking dating disaster. Forget kissing frogs. She can’t even get past the first date. But at work, she’s a badass—the longest-running assistant billionaire Shepherd Calloway has ever had. Her coworkers wonder how she handles the big bad wolf—and never gets bit. Shepherd Calloway isn’t interested in being anyone’s sugar daddy. Tired of women who only want him for his money, he swears off dating, determined to focus on running his empire. Until his gold-digging ex hits him where it hurts, putting him in a difficult position. His solution-to have… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental infidelity recounted
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Parent with cancer

The Fake Out by Stephanie Archer

The best way to get back at my horrible ex? Fake date Rory Miller–my ex’s rival, the top scorer in pro hockey, and the arrogant, flirtatious hockey player I tutored in high school. Faking it is fun and addictive, though, and beneath the bad boy swagger, Rory’s sweet, funny, and protective. He teaches me to skate and spends way too much money on me. He sleeps in my bed and convinces me to break my just-one-time hookup rule. He kisses me like it’s real. And now I wonder if Rory was ever faking it to begin with.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Emotional child abuse (off-page)
  • Parental abandonment & divorce recounted
  • Cheating recounted (ex-partner)
  • Parent with body dysmorphia & mention of her disordered eating
  • Alcohol consumption

Just the Tipsy by Audrey Vaughn

My new neighbor, Waylon Stryker is Jepsen’s most eligible bachelor – gorgeous, built, and kindhearted. I stick out like an LA-shaped thumb in this small town after inheriting a dilapidated house and tiny dog. But when I need my ex to back off and he needs his family to stop pressuring him to settle down, Waylon comes up with the perfect solution — a fake relationship. It would have been perfectly transactional if I hadn’t drunkenly told him about my spicy bucket list. I prayed he’d forget about it. Instead, he vows to help me check off each task. Turns out the kind veterinarian who… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Toxic relationship recounted
  • Cheating recounted (secondary characters)
  • Alcohol consumption

Fake Boyfriend Breakaways by Eden Finley

Breakaways is a collection of short stories from Eden Finley’s Fake Boyfriend universe. They all feature side characters from the series but do not contain fake boyfriend tropes.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexual assault (forced kiss)
  • Boss-employee relationship
  • Cheating mentioned