Beard Necessities by Penny Reid

Beard Necessities by Penny Reid

No one deserves a happily-ever-after quite as much as the second oldest Winston brother and his lady love, Claire McClure (aka Scarlet St. Claire). Cruelty and circumstance tore them apart almost twenty years ago. Secrecy and bitterness kept them separated. But you know who’s tired of their separation and stubbornness? Everyone. Especially Billy Winston’s family. And now they’re going to do something about it. Well-meaning interference means the star-crossed lovers can’t stop tripping over each other in the hills of Tuscany, the catacombs of Rome, and the waterways of… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Coerced adult-minor marriage
  • Marital rape
  • Pregnancy mentioned
  • Death of a mother from cancer recounted
  • Death of a spouse during military service
  • Knife violence & stabbing mentioned
  • Death of a pet dog mentioned
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Beauty and the Mustache by Penny Reid

Beauty and the Mustache by Penny Reid

There are three things you need to know about Ashley Winston: 1) She has six brothers and they all have beards, 2) She is a reader, and 3) She knows how to knit. Former beauty queen, Ashley Winston’s preferred coping strategy is escapism. She escaped her Tennessee small town, loathsome father, and six brothers eight years ago. Now she escapes life daily via her one-click addiction. However, when a family tragedy forces her to return home, Ashley can’t escape the notice of Drew Runous—local Game Warden, bear wrestler, philosopher, and everyone’s favorite guy. Drew’s irksome philosophizing in particular makes Ashley want to run for the skyscrapers… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Death of a mother from cancer
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In the Middle of Somewhere by Roan Parrish

In the Middle of Somewhere by Roan Parrish

Daniel Mulligan is tough, snarky, and tattooed, hiding his self-consciousness behind sarcasm. Daniel has never fit in—not at home in Philadelphia with his auto mechanic father and brothers, and not at school where his Ivy League classmates looked down on him. Now, Daniel’s relieved to have a job at a small college in Holiday, Northern Michigan, but he’s a city boy through and through, and it’s clear that this small town is one more place he won’t fit in. Rex Vale clings to routine to keep loneliness at bay: honing his muscular body, perfecting his recipes, and making custom furniture. Rex has lived in Holiday for years, but his… Read more.

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Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Homophobia & outing
  • Hate crime (‘gay bashing’) leading to the death of the protagonist’s ex-partner and his hospitalisation for injuries
  • Nightmares
  • Protagonists with a speech impediment & chronic migraines
  • Attempted suicide recounted
  • Death of a father from a heart attack
  • Death of a mother from pancreatic cancer
  • Death of a brother from suicide mentioned (secondary character)
  • Car accident resulting an injured dog (no death)

Just Like the Other Girls by Claire Douglas

Just Like the Other Girls by Claire Douglas

At loose ends after the death of her mother, Una Richardson responds to an advertisement for a ladies’ companion, a position that leads her into the wealthy, secluded world of Mrs. Elspeth McKenzie. But Elspeth’s home isn’t the comforting haven it seems. Kathryn, her cold and bitter daughter, resents Una’s presence. More disturbing is evidence suggesting two girls lived here before her. What happened to the young women? Why won’t the McKenzies talk about them? What are they hiding? As the walls begin to close in around her, Una fears she’ll end up just like the other girls…

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Death of a mother
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All the Ways Home by Elsie Chapman

All the Ways Home by Elsie Chapman

Sometimes, home isn’t where you expect to find it. After losing his mom in a fatal car crash, Kaede Hirano–now living with a grandfather who is more stranger than family–developed anger issues and spent his last year of middle school acting out. Best-friendless and critically in danger repeating the seventh grade, Kaede is given a summer assignment: write an essay about what home means to him, which will be even tougher now that he’s on his way to Japan to reconnect with his estranged father and older half-brother. Still, if there’s a chance Kaede can finally build a new… Read more.

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Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother in a car accident

Cattywampus by Ash Van Otterloo

Cattywampus by Ash Van Otterloo

In the town of Howler’s Hollow, conjuring magic is strictly off-limits. Only nothing makes Delpha McGill’s skin crawl more than rules. So when she finds her family’s secret book of hexes, she’s itching to use it to banish her mama’s money troubles. She just has to keep it quieter than a church mouse — not exactly Delpha’s specialty. Trouble is, Katybird Hearn is hankering to get her hands on the spell book, too. The daughter of a rival witching family, Katy has reasons of her own for wanting to learn forbidden magic, and she’s not going to let an age-old feud or Delpha’s contrary ways stop her. But their quarrel accident… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Persecution for witchcraft
  • Parental abandonment discussed
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a cousin recounted
  • Death of a grandmother from dementia recounted
  • Death of a brother & child by drowning mentioned
  • Car accident recounted
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Queen of Air and Darkness by Cassandra Clare

Queen of Air and Darkness by Cassandra Clare

Innocent blood has been spilled on the steps of the Council Hall, the sacred stronghold of the Shadowhunters. In the wake of the tragic death of Livia Blackthorn, the Clave teeters on the brink of civil war. One fragment of the Blackthorn family flees to Los Angeles, seeking to discover the source of the disease that is destroying the race of warlocks. Meanwhile, Julian and Emma take desperate measures to put their forbidden love aside and undertake a perilous mission to Faerie to retrieve the Black Volume of the Dead. What they find in the Courts is a secret that may tear the Shadow World asunder and open a dark… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Blood and gore depiction including dead bodies
  • Grief and loss depiction
  • Death of a sister recounted
  • Death of a mother and father recounted
  • Murder and attempted murder
  • Exile
  • Drowning
  • Whipping recounted
  • War themes
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The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer Smith

The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith

Greta James’s meteoric rise to indie stardom was hard-won. Before she graced magazine covers and sold-out venues, she spent her girlhood strumming her guitar in the family garage. Her first fan was her mother, Helen, whose face shone bright in the dusty downtown bars where she got her start—but not everyone encouraged Greta to follow her dreams. While many daydream about a crowd chanting their name, her father, Conrad, saw only a precarious life ahead for his daughter. Greta has spent her life trying to prove him wrong, but three months after Helen’s sudden death, and weeks before the launch of her high-stakes sophomore… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother from cancer
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The Dream Hunter by Laura Kinsale

The Dream Hunter by Laura Kinsale

Desperate to find safety in England, Zenia, the descendent of the Queen of the Desert, dresses herself as a Bedouin boy. For protection, she agrees to guide Arden, the Lord of Winter, through the wilds of her dangerous desert homeland as he searches for a legendary Arabian mare. Consigned by her mother to live disguised, Zenia hasn’t the courage to admit her sex to Arden. Yet, as they cross a merciless desert, she comes to yearn for this fearless, untamable man to know the feminine heart beating beneath her Bedouin rags. Lord Winter’s loneliness and adventurous spirit have always driven him to the… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Antiziganism
  • Misogyny
  • Unplanned pregnancy
  • Childbirth
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Death of a fiancé by drowning
  • Death of a mother
  • Gun violence
  • Kidnapping
  • Imprisonment
  • Animal attack (snake) mentioned

Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim

Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim

When Amaya rescues a mysterious stranger from drowning, she fears her rash actions have earned her a longer sentence on the debtor ship where she’s been held captive for years. Instead, the man she saved offers her unimaginable riches and a new identity, setting Amaya on a perilous course through the coastal city-state of Moray, where old-world opulence and desperate gamblers collide. Amaya wants one thing: revenge against the man who ruined her family and stole the life she once had. But the more entangled she becomes in this game of deception—and as her path intertwines with the son of the man she’s… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Classism
  • Indentured servitude of children, discussed in-depth
  • Sexual assault, on-page
  • Child abuse
  • Forced arranged marriage
  • Gambling addiction recovery & relapse (theme)
  • Suicide mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption & abuse, recounted & discussed
  • Drugging
  • Blood & gore depiction,
  • Dead bodies & body parts
  • Needles
  • Terminal illness (plague-like), recounted & on-page
  • Depiction of starvation
  • Cannibalism mentioned
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother & father recounted
  • Death of children, on-page
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Knife violence & stabbing
  • Torture recounted
  • Whipping recounted
  • Hanging mentioned
  • Kidnapping & captivity
  • Blackmail
  • Death by a fall recounted
  • Near-drowning incident
  • War themes discussed
  • Poverty themes & debt collection (theme)