The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

Orphan, clock keeper, and thief, Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. But when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric, bookish girl and a bitter old man who runs a toy booth in the station, Hugo’s undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy. A cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden message from Hugo’s dead father form the backbone of this intricate, tender, and spellbinding mystery.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Minor physical injury (a child’s hand is crushed in a door)
  • Alcohol consumption mentioned
  • Death of a mother & father mentioned
  • Child homelessness (theme)

Stella by Starlight by Sharon M. Draper and illustrated by Sarah Jane Coleman

Stella lives in the segregated South; in Bumblebee, North Carolina, to be exact about it. Some stores she can go into. Some stores she can’t. Some folks are right pleasant. Others are a lot less so. To Stella, it sort of evens out, and heck, the Klan hasn’t bothered them for years. But one late night, later than she should ever be up, much less wandering around outside, Stella and her little brother see something they’re never supposed to see, something that is the first flicker of change to come, unwelcome change by any stretch of the imagination. As Stella’s community – her world – is upended, she decides to fight fire with fire. And she learns that ashes don’t necessarily signify an end.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • White supremacy & Klu Klux Klan
  • Hate crimes
  • Physical child abuse
  • Domestic abuse & violence
  • Death of a father in a lumber mill accident mentioned
  • House fire & arson

Broken Resolutions by Olivia Dade

Romance has never had a happy ending for librarian Penny Callahan, who could write the book on cheating, heart-breaking liars. So she’s made a resolution: no men for the next twelve months. If she can just get through the library’s New Year’s Eve singles night, she can return home to her pyjamas and a good book. But when she finds herself checking out a hot hunk with an irresistible smile, an evening in the stacks becomes a lot more tempting. Reclusive author Jack Williamson never should have trusted his mother. Even though he’s trying to avoid being recognized, she guilts him into attending a dating meet-and-greet—where an adorable librarian makes him question his lonely lifestyle. Is… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Infidelity recounted
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Death of a father mentioned

The Catch by Amy Lea

In a last-ditch effort to rescue her brand from the brink of irrelevance, Boston fashion influencer Melanie Karlsen finds herself in a rural fishing village on the east coast of Canada. The only thing scarier than nature itself? The burly and bearded bed-and-breakfast owner and fisherman, Evan Whaler—who single-handedly disproves the theory that Canadians are “nice.” After a boating accident lands Evan unconscious in the hospital, Mel is mistaken for his fiancée by his welcoming yet quirky family, who are embroiled in a long-standing feud over the B&B. In a bold attempt to mend family fences, Mel agrees to fake… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consumption
  • Near-drowning incident (on-page)
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a father, brother & cousin mentioned
  • Hospitalisation for a head injury sustained during a boating accident

What Was Meant to Be by Heather Guerre

There’s nothing Wes Sorenson cares about more than restoring his family’s lost legacy—a Northwoods cottage resort that’s been handed down from one generation to the next since the late-1800s until it was stolen from them by unscrupulous business partners, dismantled, and sold in pieces. Bit by bit, over the course of years, Wes has managed to restore the family business, except for one piece: the crucial lakefront acreage necessary to the resort’s success. But after years of dead ends, he’s finally figured out how to secure to the last piece of the puzzle: marrying the woman who owns the land. Rain has never really belonged anywhere… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Anxiety
  • Emotional child abuse recounted
  • Parental infidelity & divorce recounted
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Physical illness (migraine)
  • Death of grandparents mentioned
  • Death of a father
  • Death of a mother from a heart defect recounted

King of Country by CW Farnsworth

Kyle Spencer is the king of country music. She’s the city girl, sent to talk him into returning to the stage. Piper Egan landed her dream job straight out of college—working at Empire Records. But instead of discovering new talent and changing lives, like she’d hoped, her time is spent taking meeting notes and catering to spoiled celebrities. When the chance to change that finally appears, she should be thrilled. Unfortunately, Piper’s promotion involves the charming cowboy she’s spent years attempting to avoid. And flying to middle of nowhere, Texas, in a desperate attempt to talk the king of country music into returning to the… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Infidelity recounted
  • Parent in alcoholism recounted
  • Alcohol consumption & abuse
  • Death of a mother in a self-inflicted drunk-driving accident recounted
  • Death of a stepfather recounted

*Context : The female protagonist’s ex-partner cheated on her in the past.

Titan by Shantel Tessier

I know I have a black soul. Bloodshed and danger are what I live for. A King is supposed to rule his Kingdom using any means necessary to demand respect. I’m not a weak man. A King kneels to no one. I’ve only ever cared about one other person in my life, but the thing is, she never belonged to me. And before I could tell her how I felt, she left. Now she’s returned, needing someone to save her. Emilee York was always meant to be mine, and I’ll see to it that happens. I always get what I want, even if that means I have to take it. And she’s no different. She’ll be my queen, on…. Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Misogyny & slut-shaming
  • Sex work & sex work shaming
  • Rape by coercion*
  • Sexual harassment
  • Intimate partner violence
  • Infidelity*
  • Parental divorce recounted
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Involuntary body modifications (forced branding)
  • Death of a mother from cancer (lymphoma), on-page
  • Death of a grandparent in a car accident
  • Faked death of a father from a heart attack
  • Murder
  • Torture including waterboarding and strangulation
  • Arson
  • Physical assault
  • Kidnapping*
  • Plane crash recounted

*Context : A secondary character kidnaps the female protagonist (FMC)’s mother and withdraws her medical care until she has sex with him. There are multiple mentions of secondary characters having affair or their infidelity.

The Sinner by Shantel Tessier

I was raised in a world where money and power are at your fingertips. My father is a LORD, a very respected member of a secret society that knows no bounds. When tragedy struck my family, we discovered we weren’t untouchable. Just when I thought life couldn’t get any worse, I was shown what hell is really like. Then he came and saved me. The devil disguised as my personal hero. But of course, nothing is for free. Not when a soul is up for grabs. Easton Bradley Sinnett—Sin—uses his power for his own sick pleasure. Like a typical Lord, he never thought about the consequences of his actions. I grew up with him, obsessed over… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Misogyny
  • Slut-shaming & victim-blaming
  • Rape, including rape of a minor and rape by coercion, on-page & recounted
  • Sexual assault including reproductive assault
  • Involuntary voyeurism
  • Intimate partner violence & abuse
  • Forced marriage
  • Professor-student relationship
  • Infidelity recounted
  • Panic attack & nightmare
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Substance abuse & overdose
  • Attempted forced miscarriage (secondary character)
  • Emesis
  • Voluntary & involuntary body modifications including tattoos, nipple piercings and branding
  • Murder & staged suicide of a father recounted
  • Kidnapping & captivity mentioned
  • Torture
  • Stalking

*Context : The male protagonist (MMC) sexually assaults the female protagonist (FMC) with his body and an object (gun). The MMC also rapes the FMC by pretending to be someone else while she is blindfolded and tied up. The FMC was drugged and raped in the past by her professor. She was also raped by the MMC’s father when she was a minor. The MMC tampers with the FMC’s birth control, their condoms, and later forgoes a condom without consent. Secondary character hide cameras in the FMCs rooms to record sex without consent. The MMC is physically and emotionally abusive to the FMC, threatens to kill her, and tricked her into signing a marriage license. The FMC slaps the MMC. The MMC slept with a married woman in the past.

I Could Never by Penelope Ward

It all started with an unexpected phone call. Two years after my fiancé passed away in an accident, his father died suddenly, leaving Brad’s adult, special-needs brother with no one to care for him. The next thing I knew, I was on a cross-country drive to New Hampshire where I’d be moving in to look after Scottie until I could get him into a group home. The last thing I ever expected? I wouldn’t be taking care of him alone. Josh Mathers, my fiancé’s best friend—who also happened to be my sworn enemy—insisted he was the better person for the job. He told me to go back to California, and I told him where he could stick that…. Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Child neglect & abandonment
  • Parental infidelity, off-page
  • Death of a fiancé in a car accident
  • Death of a father-in-law

Starlings by Amanda Linsmeier

Kit’s father had always told her he had no family, but four months ago his sudden death revealed the truth. Now she has a grandmother she never knew she had–Agatha Starling–and an invitation to visit her father’s hometown, Rosemont.

And Rosemont… it’s picture perfect: the famed eternal roses bloom year-round, downtown is straight out of the 1950s… there’s even a cute guy to show Kit around… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Anxiety
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Drugging
  • Emesis, on-page
  • Starvation & cannibalism recounted
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a father recounted
  • Murder
  • Kidnapping
  • Drowning