Tag Archives: Forced & Arranged Marriage

This page lists books that contain trigger warnings for the depiction of coerced and involuntary marital arrangements, including forced arranged marriages.

See Adult-minor relationships for marital relationships between a child and an adult

Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb

Fitz has survived his first hazardous mission as king’s assassin, but is left little more than a cripple. Battered and bitter, he vows to abandon his oath to King Shrewd, remaining in the distant mountains. But love and events of terrible urgency draw him back to the court at Buckkeep, and into the deadly intrigues of the royal family. Renewing their vicious attacks on the coast, the Red-Ship Raiders leave burned-out villages and demented victims in their wake. The kingdom is also under assault from within, as treachery threatens the throne of the ailing king. In this time of great danger, the fate of the kingdom may rest in Fitz’s hands—and his role in its salvation may require the ultimate sacrifice.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexism & classism
  • Elder abuse
  • Child abuse recounted
  • Infidelity mentioned
  • Forced political marriage
  • Depressive episode recounted
  • Suicidal ideation mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption & drug use
  • Pregnancy & miscarriage discussed
  • Graphic blood & injury depiction, including dead bodies, emesis, seizures, and chronic illness
  • Death of a father from medical complications due to chronic alcoholism recounted
  • Murder & attempted murder and infanticide
  • Poisoning
  • Physical assault
  • Knife, arrow and axe violence
  • Imprisonment
  • Loss of autonomy (mind control & invasion)
  • War themes & battle scenes and naval warfare
  • Regicide
  • Animal abuse (wolf)
  • Animal death mentioned, including the death of a pet dog

In Bed with a Highlander by Maya Banks

Ewan McCabe, the eldest, is a warrior determined to vanquish his enemy. Now, with the time ripe for battle, his men are ready and Ewan is poised to take back what is his—until a blue-eyed, raven-haired temptress is thrust upon him. Mairin may be the salvation of Ewan’s clan, but for a man who dreams only of revenge, matters of the heart are strange territory to conquer. The illegitimate daughter of the king, Mairin possesses prized property that has made her a pawn—and wary of love. Her worst fears are realized when she is rescued from peril only to be forced into marriage by her charismatic and commanding saviour… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape, off-page
  • Forced marriage
  • Graphic emesis
  • Death of a wife mentioned
  • Poisoning
  • Physical assault
  • Kidnapping

96 Words for Love by Rachel Roy and Ava Dash

Ever since her acceptance to UCLA, 17-year-old Raya Liston has been quietly freaking out. She feels simultaneously lost and trapped by a future already mapped out for her. Then her beloved grandmother dies, and Raya jumps at the chance to spend her last free summer at the ashram in India where her grandmother met and fell in love with her grandfather. Raya hopes to find her centre and her true path. But she didn’t expect to fall in love… with a country of beautiful contradictions, her fiercely loyal cousin, a local girl with a passion for reading, and a boy who teaches her that in Sanskrit, there are 96 different… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Forced public outing
  • Sex trafficking
  • Arranged marriage mentioned
  • Addiction recovery
  • Suicide
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Disappearance & kidnapping of a child

Killers and Monsters by Clio Evans

The dragon has come to claim his mafia wife, but I already belong to a knight. My shadow. The bodyguard whose world revolves around me. After ten years of the same routine, I discover that I’m not the woman I thought I was. I’m a killer. The daughter of a fierce god.
As danger strikes, the three of us find that hate can become lust and enemies can become lovers. Our destiny has been written, and we are determined to change it—even if it means a battle against those who would rather see us stay apart.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Attempted rape
  • Paedophilia*
  • Forced marriage
  • Dieting mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Emesis
  • Death of a mother & father recounted
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Physical assault
  • Stalking & non-consensual voyeurism

*Context : One of the male protagonist becomes interested in the female protagonist when she was 17-years-old.

A Rogue by Any Other Name by Sarah MacLean

A decade ago, the Marquess of Bourne was cast from society with nothing but his title. Now a partner in London’s most exclusive gaming hell, the cold, ruthless Bourne will do whatever it takes to regain his inheritance—including marrying perfect, proper Lady Penelope Marbury. A broken engagement and years of disappointing courtships have left Penelope with little interest in a quiet, comfortable marriage, and a longing for something more. How lucky that her new husband has access to such unexplored pleasures. Bourne may be a prince of London’s underworld, but… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Forced marriage
  • Gambling addiction recovery
  • Kidnapping
  • Death of parents recounted

Late Bloomers by Deepa Varadarajan

After thirty-six years of a dutiful but unhappy arranged marriage, recently divorced Suresh and Lata Raman find themselves starting new paths in life. Suresh is trying to navigate the world of online dating on a website that caters to Indians and is striking out at every turn–until he meets a mysterious, devastatingly attractive younger woman who seems to be smitten with him. Lata is enjoying her newfound independence, but she’s caught off guard when a professor in his early sixties starts to flirt with her. Meanwhile, Suresh and Lata’s daughter, Priya, thinks her father’s… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Arranged marriage recounted (consensual)
  • Divorce
  • Infidelity

Context: A female protagonist is having an affair with a married man.

Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey

Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey

Esther is a stowaway. She’s hidden herself away in the Librarian’s book wagon in an attempt to escape the marriage her father has arranged for her—a marriage to the man who was previously engaged to her best friend. Her best friend who she was in love with. Her best friend who was just executed for possession of resistance propaganda. The future American Southwest is full of bandits, fascists, and queer librarian spies on horseback trying to do the right thing.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Queermisia & internalised queermisia
  • Misogyny
  • Attempted forced arranged marriage
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a friend recounted
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Hanging recounted, off-page

In Her Highlander’s Bed by Lynsay Sands

In Her Highlander’s Bed by Lynsay Sands

An invigorating swim in the loch was exactly what Calan Campbell, Laird of Kilcairn, needed after defeating his enemies in battle. What he didn’t need was a thief running away with his plaid while he swam. Calan gave chase and managed to catch the lad, only the lad turned out to be a lass, and obviously a lady. Having hit her head when he’d tackled her to the ground, the woman was now unconscious and couldn’t explain how she had ended up bruised and naked in his woods. He’d have to take her back to his castle and tend her wounds to learn that. Kidnapped and forced to… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Attempted sexual assault
  • Domestic abuse
  • Forced marriage
  • Kidnapping

A Bollywood Affair by Sonali Dev

A Bollywood Affair by Sonali Dev

Mili Rathod hasn’t seen her husband in twenty years–not since she was promised to him at the age of four. Yet marriage has allowed Mili a freedom rarely given to girls in her village. Her grandmother has even allowed her to leave India and study in America for eight months, all to make her the perfect modern wife. Which is exactly what Mili longs to be–if her husband would just come and claim her. Bollywood’s favourite director, Samir Rathod, has come to Michigan to secure a divorce for his older brother. Persuading a naive village girl to sign the papers should be easy for… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Child marriage
  • Child abuse recounted
  • Parent with terminal cancer
  • Pregnancy & childbirth
  • Death of a parent mentioned

Sweet Surrender by Sav Miller

Sweet Surrender by Sav R. Miller

After his father’s retirement, Elia Montalto took over organized crime in King’s Trace, Maine. His pragmatic nature makes him popular and allows alliances with government officials, which keeps prying eyes off his business. But even a town as small as theirs is not without risk or envy, and Elia has only ever really wanted one thing: Senator Harrison’s daughter. As the eldest daughter of a corrupt politician, survival was Caroline Harrison’s only hope at one day being granted freedom. But her father has other plans, and when negotiations for her hand in marriage begin, all her dreams shatter. That is, until she makes… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Arranged marriage
  • Infidelity
  • Sexual assault mentioned
  • Sex work mentioned
  • Physical child abuse
  • Murder
  • Torture
  • Knife play
  • Organised crime