Missing Clarissa by Ripley Jones

In August of 1999, dazzlingly popular cheerleader Clarissa Campbell disappears from a party in the woods outside the rural town of Oreville, Washington and is never seen again. The police question her friends, teachers, and the adults who knew her—who all have something to hide. And thanks to Clarissa’s beauty, the mystery captures the attention of the nation. But with no leads and no body, the case soon grows cold. Despite the efforts of internet sleuths and true-crime aficionados, Clarissa is never found—dead or alive. Over twenty years later, Oreville high school… Read more,

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Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism, racism & homophobia mentioned
  • Adult-minor teacher-student relationship & statutory rape
  • Blood & injury depiction
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Gun violence
  • Kidnapping

Fable for the End of the World by Ava Reid

By encouraging massive accumulations of debt from its underclass, a single corporation, Caerus, controls all aspects of society. Inesa lives with her brother in a half-sunken town where they scrape by running a taxidermy shop. Unbeknownst to Inesa, their cruel and indolent mother has accrued an enormous debt—enough to qualify one of her children for Caerus’s livestreamed assassination spectacle: the Lamb’s Gauntlet. Melinoë is a Caerus assassin, trained to track and kill the sacrificial Lambs. The product of neural reconditioning and physiological alteration, she is a living weapon, known for her cold brutality and deadly beauty… Read more,

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexual harassment
  • Adult-minor relationship
  • Blood, gore & injury depiction
  • Emesis
  • Death of a child
  • Gun violence
  • Animal death

You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego

When renowned anonymous author J. R. Alastor hires former aspiring writer Mila del Angél to host a writing retreat at his private manor off the coast of Maine, she jumps at the chance—particularly since she has an ax to grind with one of the invitees. The guest list? Six thriller authors, all masters of deceit, misdirection, and mayhem. Alastor and Mila have masterminded a week of games, trope-fueled riddles, and maybe a jump scare or two—the perfect cover for Mila to plot a murder of her own. But when a guest turns up dead—and it’s not the murder she planned—Mila finds herself trapped in a different narrative altogether…. Read more.

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Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Murder
  • Gun & knife violence
  • House fire

Rebel Witch by Kristen Ciccarelli

Rune Winters is on the run. Ever since the boy she loved, Gideon Sharpe, revealed who she was and delivered her into enemy hands, everyone wants her dead. If Rune hopes to survive, she must ally herself with the cruel and dangerous Cressida Roseblood, who’s planning to take back the Republic and reinstate a Reign of Witches—something Cressida needs Rune to accomplish. Apparently it wasn’t enough for Rune to deceive Gideon; she’s now betrayed him by allying herself with the witch who made his life a living hell. Gideon won’t allow the Republic to fall to the witches and be plunged back into the nightmare… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexual assault
  • Blood & injury depiction including mentions of a secondary character getting their ear removed without consent (on-page)
  • Execution of a grandmother recounted
  • Murder of a brother from gun violence
  • Gun & cannon violence
  • Physical assault & strangulation
  • Kidnapping of an infant mentioned
  • Near-fatal whipping
  • Alcohol consumption (on-page)

Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister

It is June 21st, the longest day of the year, and new mother Camilla’s life is about to change forever. After months of maternity leave, she will drop her infant daughter off at daycare for the first time and return to her job as a literary agent. Finally. But, when she wakes, her husband Luke isn’t there, and in his place is a cryptic note. Then it starts. Breaking news: there’s a hostage situation developing in London. The police arrive, and tell her Luke is involved. But he isn’t a hostage. Her husband—doting father, eternal optimist—is the gunman. Because only she knows what the note he left behind that morning says…

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder mentioned
  • Infertility & miscarriage mentioned
  • Murder
  • Gun violence

Shadows of You by Catherine Cowles

It was supposed to be a fresh start. A small town where I could hide my little girl from the shadows that haunt us. A place where I could keep us safe. The last thing I expected was him. A surly, broody mountain of a man who helps me save an injured deer in a snowstorm. Now, Roan Hartley keeps showing up with his glowers and grimaces. But they only make his rare smiles and the gentle way he talks to my daughter mean that much more. When forces from my past find us, Roan is determined to keep us safe—even if that means sleeping on my ancient couch every night… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Murder of a sister recounted
  • Gun violence
  • Kidnapping & stalking
  • Animal mutilation

Glimmers of You by Catherine Cowles

He hadn’t always just been my brother’s best friend. There was a time when he was mine, too. Until he disappeared from our small town when I needed him the most. Now, Caden’s back. With his cocky smirk and infuriating nicknames. And I’m struggling to ignore his presence. When my ex refuses to leave me alone, Caden steps in, suggesting that it will get my ex and Caden’s calculating father off both our backs if we just pretend to be madly in love. There’s just one problem… Nothing I feel for Caden Shaw is fake—even when I thought I hated him. And there’s no denying how the touch of his lips sparks a flame I’ll never be able to… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Attempted sexual assault
  • Toxic parental relationship
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a sister from cancer recounted
  • Gun violence
  • Kidnapping & stalking
  • Arson

Fragile Sanctuary by Catherine Cowles

The scowl should’ve been my first clue to stay far away from Anson Hunt. The sexy smirk and the fact that he’s my brother’s best friend? Reasons two and three. Not to mention, he’s the new contractor working on my house. He’s everything I’m not: grumpy, rude, and more than a little attached to his solitude. It doesn’t matter how many times I try to kill him with kindness; the man simply won’t crack. Until he sees me shatter. .Because when my world comes crashing down around me, Anson is the one catching me as I fall. And as so-called accidents start plaguing every part of my life, it’s Anson who steps in to keep me safe…. Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Death of a sibling & parent
  • Murder (on- & off-page)
  • Attempted murder by car accident
  • Arson & fire
  • Gun violence

Echoes of You by Catherine Cowles

Nash Hartley has always been my everything: Protector. Partner in crime. Best friend. The person who was there for me in my darkest hour. But my heart wanted so much more. So, when I knew for certain Nash didn’t feel the same about me, I tried to move on. What a mistake that turned out to be. Now, I’m back in our small town, desperate to escape my living nightmare, and the only person I want to see is him. As secrets are revealed, and Nash finds out what happened to me, he’ll do anything to keep me safe. But there are those who will do anything to stop him, and this time neither of us may make out alive.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Domestic abuse
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Gun violence
  • Stalking

Delicate Escape by Catherine Cowles

Trust doesn’t come easily when you’ve been running for as long as I have, which is why moving in with a man I barely know is such a bad idea. Shepard Colson is all golden-boy charm and devastating good looks. But I know what it’s like to be taken in by easy smiles and the promise of forever—I have the scars to prove it. Only the handsome contractor won’t stop coming by the bakery and prying little truths from my lips. Those amber eyes of his seeing far too much. And when all the secrets come crashing down, he’s determined to keep me safe. Even if it means moving into my rundown… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Domestic emotional abuse & gaslighting (secondary character)
  • Attempted murder by gun violence
  • Kidnapping & stalking