Tag Archives: Death of a Parent & Guardian

The Night Guests by Marina Scott

Once a prominent fixture in Omaha’s high society, Nina Wilson is now drowning in debt and disgrace following the untimely death of her father. Her engagement has been broken off, her family’s grand estate has fallen into disrepair, and her mother, consumed by grief, is incapable of running the household. Attempting to bring closure to her grieving mother, Nina invites a mysterious medium, Leroy Marshall, into their home. But Leroy Marshall’s brand of charisma—equal parts alluring and repellent—leaves Nina feeling deeply unsettled. The man’s presence seems to have awakened something otherworldly in the house itself, and now it’s stepping out of the shadows, refusing to leave,

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a father

Life, and Death, and Giants by Ron Rindo

Gabriel Fisher was born an orphan, weighing eighteen pounds and measuring twenty-seven inches long. No one in Lakota, Wisconsin, knows what to make of him. He walks at eight months, communicates with animals, and seems to possess extraordinary athletic talent. But when the older brother who has been caring for him dies, Gabriel is taken in by his devout Amish grandparents who disapprove of all the attention and hide him away from the English world. But it’s hard to hide forever when you’re nearly eight feet tall. At seventeen, Gabriel is spotted working in a hay field by the local football coach. What happens… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Incest & child sexual abuse
  • Suicide
  • Miscarriage mentioned
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother in childbirth recounted
  • Bullying
  • Animal death

Where He Left Me by Nicole Baart

College professors Sadie Sheridan and Felix Graham are on sabbatical at Hemlock House, located on a remote mountain homestead established years ago by Felix’s family. When Felix leaves on a work trip but doesn’t return, effectively stranding Sadie on the mountain, her world collapses. Alone at Hemlock House, frantic Sadie struggles to make sense of what her missing astronomer husband left behind. Forced to confront two mysterious trespassers just as a powerful storm bears down, Sadie and the strangers have no choice but to ride it out together. As conditions worsen and shocking secrets are revealed, Sadie must face… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Familial estrangement
  • Domestic abuse
  • Dementia
  • Death of a mother mentioned
  • Disspearance
  • Gun violence

Violet Thistlewaite Is Not a Villain Anymore by Emily Krempholtz

Guy Shadowfade is dead, and after a lifetime as the dark sorcerer’s right-hand, Violet Thistlewaite is determined to start over—not as the fearsome Thornwitch, but as someone kind. Someone better. Someone good. The quaint town of Dragon’s Rest, Violet decides, will be her second chance—she’ll set down roots, open a flower shop, keep her sentient (mildly homicidal) houseplant in check, and prune dark magic from the twisted boughs of her life. Violet’s vibrant bouquets and cheerful enchantments soon charm the welcoming townsfolk, though nothing seems to impress the prickly yet dashingly handsome… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of parents recounted
  • Murder
  • Kidnapping & imprisonment

The Arc by Tory Henwood Hoen

35-year-old Ursula Byrne, VP of Strategic Audacity at a branding agency in Manhattan, is successful, witty, whip-smart, and single. She’s tried all the dating apps, and let’s just say: she’s underwhelmed by her options. You’d think that by now someone would have come up with something more bespoke; a way for users to be more tailored about who and what they want in a life partner–how hard could that be? Enter The Arc: a highly secretive, super-sophisticated matchmaking service that uses a complex series of emotional, psychological and physiological assessments to architect partnerships that will go… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Infidelity mentioned
  • Death of a parent from cancer

The Survival Kit by Donna Freitas

When Rose’s mom dies, she leaves behind a brown paper bag labeled Rose’s Survival Kit. Inside the bag, Rose finds an iPod, with a to-be-determined playlist; a picture of peonies, for growing; a crystal heart, for loving; a paper star, for making a wish; and a paper kite, for letting go. As Rose ponders the meaning of each item, she finds herself returning again and again to an unexpected source of comfort. Will is her family’s gardener, the school hockey star, and the only person who really understands what she’s going through. Can loss lead to love?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Grief & loss depiction (theme)
  • Death of a mother from cancer

The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano by Donna Freitas

Rose Napolitano is fighting with her husband, Luke, about prenatal vitamins. She promised she’d take them, but didn’t. He promised before they got married that he’d never want children, but now he’s changed his mind. Their marriage has come to rest on this one question: Can Rose find it in herself to become a mother? Rose is a successful professor and academic. She’s never wanted to have a child. The fight ends, and with it their marriage. But then, Rose has a fight with Luke about the vitamins–again. This time the fight goes slightly differently, and so does Rose’s future as she grapples with whether she can indeed... Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Infidelity
  • Divorce
  • Pregnancy & pregnancy coercion discussed (theme), including death from childbirth
  • Miscarriage & abortion
  • Death of a mother from cancer

We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes

Lila Kennedy has a lot on her plate. A broken marriage, two wayward daughters, a house that is falling apart, and an elderly stepfather who seems to have quietly moved in. Her career is in freefall, and her love life is . . . complicated. So when her real dad—a man she has barely seen since he ran off to Hollywood thirty-five years ago—suddenly appears on her doorstep, it feels like the final straw. But it turns out even the family you thought you could never forgive might have something to teach you: about love, and what it actually means to be family.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Death of a mother mentioned
  • Bullying mentioned

These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean

Alice isn’t like the other Storm siblings. While the rest stayed to battle for their parents’ approval, attention, and untold billions, she left, building her own life beyond the family’s name and influence. Nothing could induce her to come back, except the shocking death of her larger-than-life father. Now back on the family’s private island off the Rhode Island coast, she plans to keep her head down, pay the last of her respects, and leave the minute the funeral is over. Unfortunately, her father had other plans. The eccentric, manipulative patriarch left his widow and their grown children a final challenge–an inheritance game desi… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Grief & loss depiction (theme)
  • Death of a father

The Academy by Elin Hilderbrand and Shelby Cunningham

It’s move-in day at Tiffin Academy and amidst the happy chaos of friends reuniting, selfies uploading, and cars unloading, shocking news: America Today just ranked Tiffin the number two boarding school in the country. It’s a seventeen-spot jump – was there a typo? The dorms need to be renovated, their sports teams always come in last place, and let’s just say Tiffin students are known for being more social than academic. On the other hand, the campus is exquisite, class sizes are small, and the dining hall is run by an acclaimed New York chef. And they do have fun—lots of parties and school dances, and a piano man plays in the student lounge every Monday night… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Fatphobia
  • Eating disorder (builmia)
  • Suicide
  • Alcohol abuse & alcoholism
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a parent