Mental Illness – Page 21 – Trigger Warning Database

Vanquish by Pam Godwin

Her life is like a prison cell. A self-made, to-hell-with-the-free-world existence that locks from the inside. Stop judging. Her agoraphobia doesn’t define her. It simply keeps her safe. He belongs in a prison cell. The 6×8, make-me-your-bitch variety that locks from the outside. But he’s free. To hunt. To take. To break. And he just found a sexy new toy. Capturing her is the easy part. Her fucked-up mind, however, makes him question everything he does next. But he’s a determined bastard. If all goes his way, this will hurt like hell.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Internalised fatphobia & body dysmorphia
Rape, sexual slavery & nonconsensual BDSM (on-page)
Sex trafficking (on-page & recounted)
Sex work recounted
Intimate partner violence (on-page)
Emotional & verbal intimate partner abuse recounted
Forced child abandonment
Divorce recounted
Agoraphobia, bulimia & Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (protagonist)
Psychiatric institutionalisation of a parent mentioned
Alcohol consumption
Drug abuse recounted (protagonists)
Death of a mother from an overdose recounted
Murder by gun violence mentioned (secondary character)
Kidnapping (on-page)

Context : The male protagonist kidnaps, rapes, and abuses the female protagonist, his love interest. He is a former stalker and sex trafficker who has raped others in the past. He has a child with a different secondary character who was forcibly taken away. The female protagonist is divorced.

Training the Heart by Paisley Hope

Wade Ashby is a closed book. With the weight of the family business on his shoulders, and his ongoing battle to escape a failed marriage, he only has time for one looking after his ranch. Life has dealt Ivy Spencer some tough blows. So when the opportunity to work on the Silver Pines ranch presents itself, she grabs it by the horns. Nothing will stand in the way of her dream of training a racehorse on route to the Kentucky Derby. Wade might be determined to keep his heart under lock and key, but Ivy’s constant presence soon ignites a passion he thought he’d lost long ago… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Emotionally abusive relationship recounted & gaslighting
Parent with alcoholism
Infertility discussed

Protect by Paisley Hope

Imagine coming into the town pub with my crew, dirty and exhausted, only to walk right into my biggest regret. The twin sister of my lost best friend and the one who got away. I haven’t seen Violette Taylor in years but I haven’t forgotten her either. I used to be Rowan to her. Now, I’m just King, the guy who broke her heart, but not for the reasons she thinks. Violette is back in town for good, she’s a single mom and a nurse in the burn unit I accidentally wind up in. Can you call that fate? Maybe, if she wasn’t doing her best to stay far away from anyone who reminded her of her past, especially… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Anxiety & panic attacks
Burn injury from fire
Grief & loss depiction

Holding the Reins by Paisley Hope

CeCe Ashby is looking for a fresh start after escaping the toxic relationship that has consumed her adult life. Unsure of what the future holds, she returns to the small town of Laurel Creek and her family’s ranch. Nash Carter is the recently retired hockey superstar of the Dallas Stars, Laurel Creek’s hometown hero, and notorious bachelor. He may look good in a cowboy hat, but he is also CeCe’s brother’s best friend… and therefore off limits. When CeCe reappears in her hometown in need of a job, Nash knows he has to have her, and not entirely for business… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Infidelity
Insomnia & nightmares (protagonist)
Grief & loss depiction
Death of parents in a car accident recounted

When Rain Turns to Snow by Jane Godwin

Lissa is home on her own after school one afternoon when a stranger turns up on the doorstep carrying a baby. Reed is on the run – surely people are looking for him? He’s trying to find out who he really is and thinks Lissa’s mum might have some answers. But how could he be connected to Lissa’s family – and why has he been left in charge of a baby? A baby who is sick, and getting sicker… Reed’s appearance stirs up untold histories in Lissa’s family, and suddenly she is having to make sense of her past in a way she would never have imagined. Meanwhile, her brother is dealing with a devastating secret of his own.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Sexism
Substance addiction mentioned
Bullying & cyberbullying

Dark Notes by Pam Godwin

They call me a slut. Maybe I am. Sometimes I do things I despise. Sometimes men take without asking. But I have a musical gift, only a year left of high school, and a plan.
With one obstacle. Emeric Marceaux doesn’t just take.
He seizes my will power and bangs it like a dark note.
When he commands me to play, I want to give him everything. I kneel for his punishments, tremble for his touch, and risk it all for our stolen moments. He’s my obsession, my master, my music. And my teacher…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Sibling abuse (protagonist)
Rape of a minor (multiple, protagonist)
Underrage sex work mentioned
Adult-minor teacher-student relationship (theme) between a 17-year-old high school student and her 27-year-old music teacher & mentor
Parent with substance addiction (protagonist)
Poverty (protagonist)

Earl Crush by Alexandra Vasti

For three years, wallflower heiress Lydia Hope-Wallace has anonymously penned seditious pamphlets. And for almost as long, she’s corresponded with the Earl of Strathrannoch, whose political ambition is matched only by his charm. When Arthur’s latest letter reveals his dire financial straits, Lydia sets out for Scotland to offer him the only salvation she can think of—a marriage of convenience. To, um, herself. Unfortunately, the Earl of Strathrannoch has no idea who she is. .When a bewitching redheaded stranger offers him her hand in marriage, Arthur Baird is stunned—but… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Parental abuse recounted
Social Anxiety (protagonist)
Gun violence

Mask of the Deer Woman by Laurie L. Dove

To find a missing young woman, the new tribal marshal must also find herself. At rock bottom following her daughter’s murder, ex-Chicago detective Carrie Starr has nowhere to go but back to her roots. Starr’s father never talked much about the reservation that raised him, but they need a new tribal marshal as much as Starr needs a place to call home. In the last decade, too many young women have disappeared from the rez. Some dead, others just… gone. Now, local college student Chenoa Cloud is missing, and Starr falls into an investigation that leaves her drowning in memories of her daughter—the girl she failed to… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Racism
Rape mentioned
Alcohol consumption & alcoholism mentioned
Death of a child mentioned
Murder mentioned
Animal death

If This Is Love by Jewel E. Ann

He’s mine… don’t ever forget that. Milo lives in the barn, a cowboy through and through. I live in a castle, but I’m not a princess. When the only person who loves me dies, Milo’s there. As I get older, I no longer look at Milo like a big brother. I look at him like the man God made just for me. With the first glimpse of freedom from my pathetic excuse for a father, I imagine a future with Milo. I dream of the day when we won’t have to hide our feelings. But Milo has a secret. He is not free. The man I love is marrying the woman I hate…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Incestuous rape mentioned (off-page)
Domestic violence
Infidelity*
Parent with alcoholism
Murder
Blackmail

*Context: The male protagonist is still married when he is with the heroine.

The Apple Tree by Jewel E. Ann

He’s a single dad starting over in a new town. She’s a relentless flirt with a penchant for trouble, ten years younger than him, and the babysitter. What could go wrong? Eve has just graduated from high school, but she doesn’t know what’s next aside from working at the local motel, spying on Kyle, her neighbor, and stealing apples from his orchard. If she doesn’t figure things out soon, she’ll be stuck at home and treated like a child forever. Kyle is a single dad and the new football coach who needs a babysitter for his adorable son. When he meets Eve, there’s an instant connect… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Depression
Alcoholism & forced rehabilitation
Overdose