Beautifully Cruel by JT Geissinger

Beautifully Cruel by J.T. Geissinger

Alpha (noun): 1) Having the highest rank in a dominance hierarchy, 2) The most powerful man in a group, or 3) Liam Black. He was a stranger to me, a dark and dangerous presence who materialized from the shadows one rainy night to save me from a vicious attack. I didn’t know his name or where he was from. All I knew was that the only place I’d ever felt safe was in his arms. But safety is an illusion. And not every saviour is a hero. And—as I’d soon find out—having an alpha save your life comes with a price. Liam Black wanted something from me in return.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Cheating recounted*
  • Death of a girlfriend recounted
  • Murder, on-page
  • Kidnapping

*Context : The heroine’s boyfriend cheated on her in the past.

The Lost Book of the White by Cassandra Clare and Wesley Chu

The Lost Book of the White by Cassandra Clare and Wesley Chu

Life is good for Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood. They’re living together in a fabulous loft, their warlock son, Max, has started learning to walk, and the streets of New York are peaceful and quiet—as peaceful and quiet as they ever are, anyway. Until the night that two old acquaintances break into Magnus’s apartment and steal the powerful Book of the White. Now Magnus and Alec will have to drop everything to get it back. They need to follow the thieves to Shanghai, they need to call some backup to accompany them, and they need a babysitter. Also, someone has stabbed… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Death of a child mentioned
  • Torture
  • Physical assault
  • Kidnapping

There Are No Saints by Sophie Lark

There Are No Saints by Sophie Lark

I loathe Alastor Shaw. The city of San Francisco thinks we’re rival artists. In truth, we’re predators battling for hunting ground. We never chased the same prey. Until the night we both laid eyes on Mara Eldritch. Shaw wants to use her as a pawn in his twisted game. I’m fixated on her for a different reason… She makes me feel things I never thought I could feel. Want things I never wanted. Only she can make me lose control. I don’t know if I should protect her at all cost or destroy her before she ruins me. Mara knows I’m no saint. But she has no idea she’s dancing with the devil…

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Child abuse mentioned
  • Self-harm mentioned
  • Murder
  • Torture
  • Kidnapping
  • Stalking

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.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

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

Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger

Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger

Twelve-year-old Sophie Foster has a secret. She’s a Telepath—someone who hears the thoughts of everyone around her. It’s a talent she’s never known how to explain. Everything changes the day she meets Fitz, a mysterious boy who appears out of nowhere and also reads minds. She discovers there’s a place she does belong, and that staying with her family will place her in grave danger. In the blink of an eye, Sophie is forced to leave behind everything and start a new life in a place that is vastly different from anything she has ever known. Sophie has new rules to learn… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Drugging
  • Kidnapping
  • Fire

The Cursed King by Abigail Owen

He will burn. She will rise. Airk Azdajah, the rightful King of the White Clan, spent half a millennium being tortured by the false High King Pytheios. The only reason he’s alive is a curse— the man to kill Airk will be consumed in his own fire. Which is why Pytheios kept Airk alive, barely, unable to shift in his prison cage, driving the creature half of him into madness. Airk escaped, but he’ll never be truly free. What good is a king who can never let his feral dragon loose, never fly, and never lead his people? He’s better off dead. Angelika Amon is the last unmated… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Torture recounted
  • Kidnapping & captivity recounted

Be Still My Heart by Emily McIntire & Sav Miller

Be Still My Heart by Emily McIntire & Sav R. Miller

Skelm Island, Maine has always been known for two things: lobsters and its broken lighthouse. But when corpses start showing up in the water, the isolated town becomes the face of a cryptic investigation. At the heart of which stands Lincoln Porter, a grumpy ex-SEAL whose lobstering business seems to attract more dead bodies than fish. When homicide expert Detective Sloane is called in to assist with the case, she begins digging up skeletons; ones that Lincoln would rather stay buried. Forced to work together, Sloane’s suspicious attitude and optimistic… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Child sexual abuse mentioned
  • Blood & gore depiction including dead bodies
  • Gun violence
  • Kidnapping
  • Naval service recounted (Navy SEAL)

Little Lies by Helena Hunting

Little Lies by H. Hunting

I don’t want you. You mean nothing to me. I never loved you. I turned my words into swords. And I cut her down. Shoved the blade in and watched her fall. I said I’d never hurt her, and I did. Years later, I’m faced with all the little lies, the untruths, the false realities, the damage I inflicted, when all I wanted was to indulge my obsession. Lavender Waters is the princess in the tower. Even her name is the thing fairy tales are made of. I used to be the one who saved her. Over and over again. But I don’t want to save her anymore. I just want to pretend the lies are still the truth.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Anxiety & panic attacks
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) & trauma
  • Self-harm
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Attempted kidnapping of a child recounted

Promises and Pomegranates by Sav R. Miller

Promises and Pomegranates by Sav R. Miller

Elena. To most, Kal Anderson is a villain. Harbinger of death, keeper of souls, frequenter of nightmares. Doctor Death. Hades incarnate. They say he stole me. Usurped my fiancé and filled the cracks in my heart with empty promises. Imprinted his crimson fingerprints on my psyche and tried to set me free. They’re not wrong, per see. Except it was my choice to stay. Kal. To most, Elena Ricci is an innocent. Goddess of springtime, lover of poetry, angel of my nightmares. Little one. Persephone personified. They say I ruined her. Shattered her virtue and devoured her soul like a succulent pomegranate.
Embedded my evil as deep as I could… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Blood & knife play
  • Murder
  • Torture
  • Physical assault
  • Kidnapping

*Note : This is an age-gap romance with a heroine who is twenty years old and a hero who is thirty-two years old.

Tiger’s Quest by Colleen Houck

Tiger’s Quest by Colleen Houck

Back in Oregon, Kelsey tries to pick up the pieces of her life and push aside her feelings for Ren. Kelsey Hayes’s eighteenth summer was crazy. The kind of crazy nobody would ever believe. Aside From battling immortal sea monkeys and trekking the jungles of India, she fell in love with Ren, a 300-year-old prince. When danger suddenly forces Kelsey on another Indian quest, with Ren’s bad-boy brother, Kishan, the unlikely duo begins to question their true destiny. Ren’s life hangs in the balance–so does the truth within Kelsey’s heart.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Blood & injury depiction including bloodletting and broken bones
  • Gun, knife & arrow violence
  • Torture
  • Physical assault
  • Kidnapping
  • Animal attack