Tag Archives: Death of a Parent & Guardian

We Can Never Leave This Place by Eric LaRocca

A precocious young girl with an unusual imagination is sent on an odyssey into the depths of depravity. After her father dies violently, young Mara is surprised to find her mother welcoming a new guest into their home, claiming that he will protect them from the world of devastation and destruction outside their door.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape mentioned (brief)
  • Incest
  • Emotional & verbal child abuse
  • Miscarriage & stillbirth
  • Body horror
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a parent
  • Death of a child mentioned
  • Murder
  • Animal death

The Trees Grew Because I Bled There: Collected Stories by Eric LaRocca

Eight stories of literary dark fiction from a master storyteller. Exploring the shadow side of love, these are tales of grief, obsession, control. Intricate examinations of trauma and tragedy in raw, poetic prose. In these narratives, a woman imagines horrific scenarios whilst caring for her infant niece; on-line posts chronicle a cancer diagnosis; a couple in the park with their small child encounter a stranger with horrific consequences; a toxic relationship reaches a terrifying resolution…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Abusive relationship
  • Elder abuse
  • Incest
  • Cheating
  • Miscarriage
  • Cancer & terminal illness
  • Death of a parent & spouse
  • Murder & torture
  • Kidnapping

You’ve Lost a Lot of Blood by Eric LaRocca

Each precious thing I show you in this book is a holy relic from the night we both perished-the night when I combed you from my hair and watered the moon with your blood. You’ve lost a lot of blood . . .

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Abandonment
  • Paedophilia mentioned
  • Body horror (theme)
  • Desecration of a corpse
  • Cancer
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a child & parent
  • Murder & torture

Queen Takes Rose by Katee Robert

Once upon a time I made a deal with the devil. It turns out I like playing in the dark. Over the years, I’ve become someone I’m proud of, someone dangerous. I’ll never be as dangerous as Malone, though. She’s one of the most feared leaders in Carver City, and her reputation is more than earned. Years ago, we had a single night together and she’s ignored me ever since. Imagine my surprise to discover she’s scheduled me for the final two weeks of my contract. Maybe I should be afraid. Everyone else fears Malone. Instead, all I feel is anticipation. It’s time to balance the… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment recounted
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother after twenty years in a life-support coma
  • Caning

Radiant Sin by Katee Robert

As a disgraced member of a fallen house, Cassandra Gataki has seen firsthand what comes from trusting the venomous Thirteen. But when the maddeningly gorgeous and kind Apollo asks her to go undercover as his plus-one at a week-long party hosted by a dangerous new power player…Cassandra reluctantly agrees to have his back. On one condition: when it’s all over, and Apollo has the ammunition he needs to protect Olympus, she and her sister will be allowed to leave. For good. Apollo may be the city’s… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexism
  • Body-shaming mentioned
  • Boss-employee relationship
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Blood depiction
  • Death of a parent
  • Murder
  • Gun violence

The Sea Witch by Katee Robert

Once upon a time, I met a man who stole my heart. In my desperation to reunite with him, I have nowhere to turn but the Sea Witch. Ursa is as beautiful as she is dangerous, and the one person my father warned me never to let close. But she’s all crimson lips and pretty lies, and I’m convinced despite my fear. It’s a simple enough plan, if not for the faint of heart. An auction to sell the one thing I possess of any value—myself. The money will free Alaric and then we can finally be together. Except nothing is simple at all. Ursa is playing at games I can only begin to comprehend… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Misogynoir
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Death of a parent
  • Gun violence mentioned
  • Flogging & caning (consensual)

Seducing My Guardian by Katee Robert

On the night my parents die, I meet a sexy stranger who tells me he’s my new guardian. Before I can as much as blink, he ships me off to boarding school and then ignores me for three years…until he shows up on my nineteenth birthday to save me from myself. For six years, that’s his routine. Show up on my birthday. Save me. Tempt me. And then send me on my way when the chemistry between us sizzles too hot. That all ends tonight. I’m twenty-five and at midnight I get control of my trust fund. After this, I never have to see Devan again and he’ll no longer drive me… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Nonconsensual drugging recounted
  • Death of parents in a car accident

Electric Idol by Katee Robert

In the ultra-modern city of Olympus, there’s always a price to pay. Psyche knew she’d have to face Aphrodite’s ire eventually, but she never expected her literal heart to be at stake…or for Aphrodite’s gorgeous son to be the one ordered to strike the killing blow. Eros has no problem shedding blood. But when it comes time to take out his latest target, he can’t do it. Confused by his reaction to Psyche, he does the only thing he can think of to keep her safe: he marries her. Psyche vows to make Eros’s life a living hell until they find a way out of this mess. But as lines blur and… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Fatphobia & body-shaming
  • Emotional parental abuse
  • Revenge pornography recounted
  • Sexual assault of a minor mentioned
  • Suicide mentioned (off-page)
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Death of a parent recounted
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Gun violence

Your Perfect Year by Charlotte Lucas

For hyper-particular publishing heir Jonathan Grief, the day starts like any other—with a strict morning fitness regimen that’ll keep his divorced, easily irritated, cynical, forty-two-year-old self in absolutely flawless physical condition. But all it takes to put a crimp in his routine is one small annoyance. Someone has left a leather-bound day planner with the handwritten title Your Perfect Year in his spot on his mountain bike at his fitness course! Determined to discover its owner, Jonathan opens the calendar to find that someone known only as “H.” has filled it in with suggestions, tasks, and affirmative actions for… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Cheating recounted
  • Suicide
  • Alcoholism
  • Dementia
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a parent mentioned
  • Homelessness

Passing Through by Katia Rose

Emily Rivers does not have time for love. Or dating. Or even a one night stand. As the eldest of the Rivers sisters, she’s too focused on keeping her family’s campground running in the wake of a devastating tragedy to even think about romance. When Kim Jefferies shows up at the local small town bar looking like a lesbian snack on a stick, Emily writes her off as yet another tourist just passing through—no matter how much the butterflies in her stomach try to tell her otherwise. Only Kim’s plans of ‘passing through’ fade the second she sees Emily Rivers, despite… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Panic attack
  • Parent with depression
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother from breast cancer recounted
  • Hiking accident resulting in serious injury