Tag Archives: Mental Illness

The First Mistake by Sandie Jones

THE WIFE: For Alice, life has never been better. With her second husband, she has a successful business, two children, and a beautiful house. HER HUSBAND: Alice knows that life could have been different if her first husband had lived, but Nathan’s arrival into her life gave her back the happiness she craved. HER BEST FRIEND: Through the ups and downs of life, from celebratory nights out to comforting each other through loss, Alice knows that with her best friend Beth by her side, they can survive anything together. So when Nathan starts acting strangely, Alice… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Abandonment
  • Depression
  • Death of a spouse

Shoulder Season by Christina Clancy

The small town of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin is an unlikely location for a Playboy Resort, and nineteen-year old Sherri Taylor is an unlikely bunny. Growing up in neighboring East Troy, Sherri plays the organ at the local church and has never felt comfortable in her own skin. But when her parents die in quick succession, she leaves the only home she’s ever known for the chance to be part of a glamorous slice of history. In the winter of 1981, in a costume two sizes too small, her toes pinched by towering stilettos, Sherri joins the daughters of dairy farmers and factory workers for the defining experience of her life…. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Drug use
  • Disordered eating

The Snowbirds by Christina Clancy

Kim and Grant are at a turning point. A couple for thirty years, their “separate but together” partnership is running up against the realities of late middle age: Grant’s mother has died, the college where he taught philosophy was shuttered, and their twin girls are grown and gone. Escaping the bitter cold of a Midwestern winter for the hot desert sun of Palm Springs seems as good a solution as any to the more intractable problems they face. When they arrive at Le Desert, a quirky condo community where everyone knows everyone’s business, Kim immediately embraces the opportunity to make new friends and explore a more… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Infidelity
  • Suicide & self-harm mentioned
  • Alcoholism mentioned

Empire of Hate by Rina Kent

My boss. My enemy. I escaped my life. Leaving everything behind wasn’t easy, but I did it. I turned the page and flew over the ocean. This is my new beginning. My new chapter. My new book. Or so I hoped before I met my new boss. Daniel Sterling. Rich as sin, illegally attractive, and the face of every magazine cover. Oh, and the reason why I escaped in the first place. I made his high school life hell. He won’t stop until he gives me a taste of my own medicine.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexual assault
  • Eating disorder

Empire of Desire by Rina Kent

I kissed my father’s best friend and it kind of didn’t go well. Not only because he’s eighteen years older than me—but he also didn’t like it. Not one bit. In my defense, I didn’t mean to fall for him. It just happened. Nathaniel Weaver is the most attractive man I’ve ever seen with enough charisma to blind the sun. He’s bigger than the world, owns half of it and conquered the other half. He was forbidden. Wrong. So I totally got over him. Or so I told myself. Until we’re forced to get married. Now I’m trapped. But maybe he’s trapped too. Because we’re both reaching for that forbidden fruit dangling between us.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Parent in a coma

All the Lies by Rina Kent

My name is Reina Ellis. Popular. Beautiful. Untouchable. Problem is, I remember none of it. His name is Asher Carson. Gorgeous. Silent. Dark. Oh, and my future husband. He has three rules for me: I’ll bow. I’ll break. I’ll pay for what I’ve done. Problem is, I don’t remember what I’ve done, but I have a clue. There was a fire. A dead girl. And I was there.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Amnesia & memory loss

Unnecessary Drama by Nina Kenwood

Eighteen-year-old Brooke is the kind of friend who not only remembers everyone’s birthdays, but also organizes the group present, pays for it, and politely chases others for their share. She’s the helper, the doer, the maker-of spreadsheets. She’s the responsible one who always follows the rules―and she plans to keep it that way during her first year of college. Her student housing only has one “no unnecessary drama.” Which means no fights, tension, or romance between roommates. When one of them turns out to be Jesse, her high-school nemesis, Brooke is determined she can handle it. They’ll simply silently endure… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Anxiety & panic attacks
  • Parent with alcoholism
  • Alcohol consumption & abuse
  • Medical emergency for a burst ovarian cyst (protagonist)

A Girl Like Us by Anna Sophia McLoughlin

It’s 2004 and former reality TV star and party girl Maya Miller has just married the most eligible bachelor on the planet: Colin Sterling, of the globally famous Sterling family whose history of aristocratic titles and land holdings rival a British royal and whose media empire is comparable to the Murdochs. To some, Maya represents the American dream. To others, a gold digger. But when Colin’s cousin Arianna, the heiress to the family’s immense fortune, is found murdered, Maya is thrust into the spotlight: first as she is revealed to be the next heiress to the fortune, and then as the… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Infidelity
  • Alcohol consumption & drugging
  • Alcoholism mentioned
  • Institutionalisation
  • Murder
  • Arson

Iveliz Explains It All by Andrea Beatriz Arango

Seventh grade is going to be Iveliz’s year. She’s going to make a new friend, help her abuela Mimi get settled after moving from Puerto Rico, and she is not going to get into any more trouble at school.. Except is that what happens? Of course not. Because no matter how hard Iveliz tries, sometimes people say things that just make her so mad. And worse, Mimi keeps saying Iveliz’s medicine is unnecessary–even though it helps Iveliz feel less sad. But how do you explain your feelings to others when you’re not even sure what’s going on yourself?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Alzheimer’s Disease & dementia
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Panic attacks
  • Self-harm ideation
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a parent recounted

Silent Sister by Megan Davidhizar

Two sisters went missing on their class trip—Grace, the outgoing athlete who is friends with just about everyone, and Maddy, the wallflower wilting in her sister’s shadow who’d rather absorb herself in her journal than talk to her classmates. But when Grace is found—injured, with no memory of what happened—everybody thinks she’s lying. It’s hard not to look guilty with Maddy’s blood on her clothes Desperate to save her sister—and prove her own innocence—Grace must piece together what happened on that school trip with the help of her sister’s notebook and.,.. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Teacher-student relationship
  • Amnesia
  • Bullying