Tag Archives: Death of a Partner & Spouse

Wonderland by Jennifer Hillier

Welcome to Wonderland. By day, it’s a magical place boasting a certain retro charm. Excited children, hands sticky with cotton candy, run frenetically from the Giant Octopus ride to the Spinning Sombrero, while the tinkling carnival music of the giant Wonder Wheel—the oldest Ferris wheel in the Pacific Northwest—fills the air. But before daybreak, an eerie feeling descends. Maybe it’s the Clown Museum, home to creepy wax replicas of movie stars and a massive collection of antique porcelain dolls. Or maybe it’s the terrifyingly real House of Horrors. Or…maybe it’s the dead, decaying body left in the midway for all the Wonder Workers… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Transphobia & deadnaming
  • Fatphobia
  • Paedophilia & grooming
  • Child abuse (on-page)
  • Domestic violence
  • Drugging
  • Sexual assault & attempted rape (on-page)
  • Infidelity
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Death of a parent & spouse
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Abortion
  • School shooting mentioned

The Underground Library by Jennifer Ryan

When new deputy librarian, Juliet Lansdown, finds that Bethnal Green Library isn’t the bustling hub she’s expecting, she becomes determined to breathe life back into it. But can she show the men in charge that a woman is up to the task of running it, especially when a confrontation with her past threatens to derail her? Katie Upwood is thrilled to be working at the library, although she’s only there until she heads off to university in the fall. But after the death of her beau on the front line and amid tumultuous family strife, she finds herself harboring a life-changing secret with no one to turn to for help. Sofie Baumann, a… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Unplanned pregnancy
  • Death of a fiancée

Through the Smoke by Brenda Novak

Riches. Power. An ancient heritage of pride. The Earl of Druridge wanted only for an heir. So when he learned that his wife was carrying another man’s child, he was filled with a thirst for vengeance. But he wasn’t the one who caused Katherine’s death. Or was he? To his horror, he remembers nothing of that dreadful night, when their last confrontation ended in scorching flame and cold blood. A forbidden love… But he wasn’t the one who caused Katherine’s death. Or was he? To his horror, he remembers nothing of that dreadful night, when their last confrontation ended in scorching flame and cold blood. Passionately drawn to the…. Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Drugging
  • Death of a mother
  • Death of a wife in a fire recounted

Canadian Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday

The fake Canadian boyfriend. It’s a thing. The get out of jail free card for all kinds of sticky social situations. “I can’t go to prom; I’m going to be out of town visiting my boyfriend in Canada.” It’s all over pop culture. But Aurora Evans did it first. Once upon a time she met a teenage hockey player at the Mall of America. He was from Canada. He was a boy. She may have fudged the “friend” part a little, but it wasn’t like she was ever going to see him again. It wasn’t like she hurt anyone. Until she did—years later—on both counts. When pro hockey player and recent widower Mike Martin walks into the dance studio where Aurora Evans… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Verbal parental abuse
  • Eating disorder recovery
  • Anxiety & panic attack, on-page
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a spouse & mother in a car accident

Death and Night by Roshani Chokshi

He was Lord of Death, cursed never to love. She was Night incarnate, destined to stay alone. After a chance meeting, they wonder if, perhaps, they could be meant for more. But danger crouches in their paths, and the choices they make will set them on a journey that will span lifetimes.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Death during childbirth mentioned
  • Death of a husband

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

The Empress of Time by Kylie Lee Baker

Half British Reaper, half Japanese Shinigami Ren Scarborough is no longer the girl who was chased out of England—she is the Goddess of Death ruling Japan’s underworld. But her problems have never been greater. Her Shinigami see her as a foreigner on the throne. Her brother, Neven, is gone, lost in the deep darkness. And her fiancé, Hiro, has been killed by her own hand. Then Ren receives the most troubling news yet—Reapers have been spotted in Japan, and it’s only a matter of time before Ivy, now Britain’s Death Goddess, comes to claim her revenge. Ren’s last hope is to appeal to the god of storms and seas, who can turn the tides to… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Cannibalism
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Death of a mother mentioned
  • Death of a fiancé by stabbing mentioned
  • Death of a brother
  • Murder
  • Torture

The Alibi Girl by C.J. Skuse

Joanne Haynes has a secret: that is not her real name. And there’s more. Her flat’s not hers. Her cats aren’t hers. Even her hair isn’t really hers. Nor is she any of the other women she pretends to be. Not the bestselling romance novelist who gets her morning snack from the doughnut van on the seafront. Nor the pregnant woman in the dental surgery. Nor the chemo patient in the supermarket for whom the cashier feels ever so sorry. They’re all just alibis. In fact, the only thing that’s real about Joanne is that nobody can know who she really is. But someone has got too close. It looks like her alibis have begun to run out….

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Murder
  • Death of a parent recounted
  • Death of a spouse recounted
  • Car accident mentioned
  • Animal cruelty mentioned

Family Meal by Bryan Washington

Cam is living in Los Angeles and falling apart after the love of his life has died. Kai’s ghost won’t leave Cam alone; his spectral visits wild, tender, and unexpected. When Cam returns to his hometown of Houston, he crashes back into the orbit of his former best friend, TJ, and TJ’s family bakery. TJ’s not sure how to navigate this changed Cam, impenetrably cool and self-destructing, or their charged estrangement. Can they find a way past all that has been said – and left unsaid – to save each other? Could they find a way back to being okay again, or maybe for the first time?.. Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Cheating
  • Drug use & abuse
  • Sex addiction
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a partner
  • Death of parents in a car accident recounted

The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff

Geeta’s no-good husband disappeared five years ago. She didn’t kill him, but everyone thinks she did–no matter how much she protests.

But she soon discovers that being known as a “self-made” widow has some surprising perks. No one messes with her, no one threatens her, and no one tries to control (ahem, marry) her. It’s even been good for her business; no one wants to risk getting on her bad side by not buying her jewelry… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Misogyny
  • Classism
  • Fatmisia & body-shaming
  • Rape & attempted rape
  • Sexual assault
  • Domestic violence
  • Alcoholism
  • Murder of a husband
  • Acid attacks mentioned