Emotional Abuse & Gaslighting – Page 23

A New Foundation by Rochelle Alers

A New Foundation by Rochelle Alers

He’s the man with the plans. But she’s calling the shots

After escaping an abusive marriage, Sonya Rios-Martin is determined to live an independent life. The generous job offer from Taylor Williamson will help her do that. But her unexpectedly strong attraction to model-turned-project-engineer Taylor throws a wrench in her plans. Sonya and Taylor have to figure out how to build a solid foundation—without re-creating the cracks from her last devastating relationship.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Child neglect
Emotional & verbal domestic abuse
Miscarriage & infertility discussed
Death of a parent recounted

All in by Simona Ahrnstedt

All in by Simona Ahrnstedt

In the cutthroat world of Sweden’s financial elite, no one knows that better than corporate raider David Hammar. Ruthless. Notorious. Unstoppable. He’s out to hijack the ultimate prize: Investum. After years of planning, all the players are in place; he needs just one member of the aristocratic owning family on his side Natalia De la Grip.
Elegant, brilliant, driven, Natalia is curious about David s unexpected invitation to lunch. Everyone knows that he is rich, dangerous, and unethical. But she soon discovers he is also deeply scarred.

The attraction between these two is impossible, but the long Swedish nights unfold an affair that will bring to light shocking secrets, and force both Natalia and David to confront their innermost fears and desires.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism & ableist slurs
Racism & racial slurs
Antiziganism
Classism
Slut shaming
Intimate partner abuse
Emotional parent abuse
Alcohol consumption
Scars
Bullying & hazing recounted
Animal abuse mentioned

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet.

So begins this exquisite novel about a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee, and her parents are determined that she will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue. But when Lydia’s body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together is destroyed, tumbling them into chaos.

Goo d reads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Racism
Ableism & ableist language
Emotional & physical abuse
Suicide mentioned
Drowning

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capital, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute.

The odds are against him. He’s been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined — every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute… and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Sexual assault, implied
Child abuse & neglect
Emotional abuse
Drug use
Beheading
Cannibalism mentioned
Starvation
Death of a parent
Murder
Physical & psychological torture
Hanging
Poverty themes

The Same Breath by Gregory Ashe

The Same Breath by Gregory Ashe

Teancum Leon, who goes by Tean, is a wildlife veterinarian. His life has settled into a holding pattern: he loves his job, he hates first dates, and he only occasionally has to deal with his neighbor Mrs. Wish’s cat-related disasters.

All of that changes, though, when a man appears in his office, asking for help to find his brother. Jem is convinced that something bad has happened to Benny, and he thinks Tean might be able to help. Tean isn’t sure, but he’s willing to try. After all, Jem is charming and sweet and surprisingly vulnerable. Oh. And hot… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism
Fatmisia
Racism
Homomisia
Rape mentioned
Emotional abuse & gaslighting
Child abuse mentioned
Attempted suicide mentioned
Animal death

City of Strife by Claudie Arseneault

City of Strife by Claudie Arseneault

A hundred and thirty years have passed since Arathiel last set foot in his home city. Isandor hasn’t changed—bickering merchant families still vie for power through eccentric shows of wealth—but he has. His family is long dead, a magical trap has dulled his senses, and he returns seeking a sense of belonging now long lost.

Arathiel hides in the Lower City, piecing together a new life among in a shelter dedicated to the homeless and the poor, befriending an uncommon trio: the Shelter’s rageful owner, Larryn, his dark elven friend Hasryan, and Cal the cheese-loving halfling. When Hasryan is accused of Isandor’s most infamous assassination of the last decade, what little… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Racism
Parental abandonment
Physical & emotional abuse
Memory loss
Torture
Police brutality
Hanging
Death by fire mentioned
Homelessness

Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade

Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade

Marcus Caster-Rupp has a secret. While the world knows him as Aeneas, the star of the biggest show on TV, Gods of the Gates, he’s known to fanfiction readers as Book!AeneasWouldNever, an anonymous and popular poster. Marcus is able to get out his own frustrations with his character through his stories, especially the ones that feature the internet’s favorite couple to ship, Aeneas and Lavinia. But if anyone ever found out about his online persona, he’d be fired. Immediately.

April Whittier has secrets of her own. A hardcore Lavinia fan, she’s hidden her fanfiction and cosplay hobby from her “real life” for years—but not anymore. When she decides to post her latest Lavinia creation on Twitter, her photo goes viral…. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Fatmisia & body shaming
Emotional parental abuse

Rafe by Rebekah Weatherspoon

Rafe by Rebekah Weatherspoon

After a nasty divorce and a thousand mile move, Dr. Sloan Copeland and her twin daughters are finally getting the hang of their new life in Los Angeles. When their live-in nanny bails with no warning, Sloan is left scrambling to find a competent caretaker to wrangle her smart, sensitive girls. Nothing less will do.

Enter Rafe Whitcomb. He’s all of those things, not to mention good-natured and one heck of a whiz in the kitchen. He’s also tall, and handsome, and bearded, and ripped, and tatted, wrist to neck.

It doesn’t take long for the Copelands to invite Rafe into their home. Just as quickly, both Sloan and Rafe find themselves succumbing to a heady mutual attraction, neither of them wants to deny.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Emotionally abusive relationship recounted
Boss-employee relationship
Death of a family member from cancer mentioned
Physical assault
Incarceration recounted

Cheer Up by Crystal Frasier

Cheer Up: Love and Pompoms by Crystal Frasier and illustrated by Val Wise

Annie is a smart, antisocial lesbian starting her senior year of high school who’s under pressure to join the cheerleader squad to make friends and round out her college applications. Her former friend BeeBee is a people-pleaser—a trans girl who must keep her parents happy with her grades and social life to keep their support of her transition. Through the rigors of squad training and amped up social pressures (not to mention micro aggressions and other queer youth problems), the two girls rekindle a friendship they thought they’d lost and discover there may be other, sweeter feelings springing up between them.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Transmisia
Fatmisia
Sexual assault
Sexual harassment
Emotional abuse

The Sailor in Polynesia by Liz Alden

The Sailor in Polynesia by Liz Alden

After fighting to keep her sailboat in a bitter divorce, Mia embraces her dream to sail the South Pacific alone. Until handsome stranger Jonas drops anchor beside her. Everything was fine; maybe my boat was a little more tired than I thought, and maybe it’s a touch lonely this far from my family. But that’s just part of sailing. Then, on a remote tropical atoll, another boat drops anchor next to me. It’s gorgeous, and so is the captain.

Jonas shows me everything that this sailing life could be—watching sunsets, snorkeling reefs, and enjoying camaraderie with his crew. A sizzling kiss sparks two blissful weeks of passion, but he’s heading to New Zealand, and my little sailboat has to stay in the gentle waters of Tahiti. There’s no way I’d give up my boat—she’s everything I’ve ever wanted. But can I give up Jonas?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Emotionally & verbally abusive relationship recounted