He Is Poison by K.A. Merikan

Domenico Acerbi. The Villani Family’s best assassin. Ruthless. Vicious. With no patience for weakness. Seth Villani. The Don’s son. Clueless. Stubborn. In dire need of someone to keep him in line. Domenico Acerbi grew up ready to give his life for the Family. Ready to follow orders and exceed expectations. A proud man of honor. The last thing he wants to deal with is training the Don’s son for his future role within the organization. Lazy, annoying, spoiled, and as hot as a Sicilian summer, Seth Villani is no mafia material. But a man who could never become a threat might just be what Domenico needs. Seth Villani wants… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Transphobia & misogyny

Misfits by Hunter Shea

During the height of the 90s grunge era, five high school friends living on the fringe are driven to the breaking point. When one of their friends is brutally raped by a drunk townie, they decide to take matters into their own hands. Deep in the woods of Milbury, Connecticut, there lives the legend of the Melon Heads, a race of creatures that shun human interaction and prey on those who dare to wander down Dracula Drive. Maybe this night, one band of misfits can help the other. Or maybe some legends are meant to be feared for a reason.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape
  • Domestic violence & child abuse
  • Alcoholism
  • Suicide
  • Emesis

The Harpy by Megan Hunter

Lucy and Jake live in a house by a field where the sun burns like a ball of fire. Lucy has set her career aside in order to devote her life to the children, to their finely tuned routine, and to the house itself, which comforts her like an old, sly friend. But then a man calls one afternoon with a shattering message: his wife has been having an affair with Lucy’s husband, Jake. The revelation marks a turning point: Lucy and Jake decide to stay together, but make a special arrangement designed to even the score and save their marriage–she will hurt him three times. As the… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape mentioned
  • Domestic abuse
  • Infidelity
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Emesis
  • Poisoning
  • Animal cruelty mentioned

Be With Me by Samantha Young

While Arran Adair might have followed the call of wanderlust in his younger years, it isn’t the reason he stayed away from Ardnoch. Home now, desperate to put the sins of his past behind him, and rebuild his life in the Scottish Highlands, Arran could never have predicted Eredine Willows. The Ardnoch Estate Pilates instructor is a complicated mystery and one Arran can’t help but want to solve. Eredine has spent the last eight years hiding in Scotland and building walls between her and the people she cares about. Arran is the first Adair who doesn’t treat her as if she’s fragile and demands a genuine friendship. Yet, the attraction… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape & sexual assault mentioned
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a parent mentioned
  • Knife violence
  • Drowning
  • Stalking

There With You by Samantha Young

For Regan Penhaligon, there’s no better place to run to than the exclusive Ardnoch Estate in the remote Scottish Highlands. Her impulsive behaviour has finally caught up with her and Regan’s visit with her sister, Robyn, is an opportunity to hide from someone who has grown dangerously obsessed with her. Determined to make amends for her mistakes, Regan plans to repair her relationship with Robyn by staying close. And when an offer of help comes from Thane Adair, Regan gratefully accepts. Widower, Thane, needs… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Attempted rape
  • Death of a wife
  • Attempted murder
  • Car accident mentioned
  • Stalking & doxing

Beyond the Thistles by Samantha Young

It’s been a long time since Walker Ironside left behind Scotland and the memories that haunt him. Yet after years of traveling the world as a bodyguard, Walker misses his homeland enough to return. To a village in the Scottish Highlands that plays host to an exclusive members-only club, Ardnoch Estate. If not happy, Walker is content working with the elite security at the club and maintaining his bachelor lifestyle. What he doesn’t need is distraction in the form of the enticing but too-young newcomer, single mother Sloane Harrow. Sloane never imagined she’d get pregnant at sixteen. Or that a decade later she’d escape from… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Attempted rape
  • Domestic violence
  • Death from an overdose mentioned
  • Blood & injury depiction
  • Cancer mentioned
  • Murder
  • Gun violence

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

Early morning, August 1975: a camp counsellor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found. As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Statutory rape mentioned
  • Domestic violence
  • Death of children
  • Murder recounted
  • Drowning

Opium and Absinthe by Lydia Kang

New York City, 1899. Tillie Pembroke’s sister lies dead, her body drained of blood and with two puncture wounds on her neck. Bram Stoker’s new novel, Dracula, has just been published, and Tillie’s imagination leaps to the impossible: the murderer is a vampire. But it can’t be—can it? A ravenous reader and researcher, Tillie has something of an addiction to truth, and she won’t rest until she unravels the mystery of her sister’s death. Unfortunately, Tillie’s addicted to more than just truth; to ease the pain from a recent injury, she’s taking more and more laudanum and some in her…. Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape mentioned
  • Drug abuse
  • Murder

What the Neighbors Saw by Melissa Adelman

When Alexis and her husband Sam buy a neglected Cape Cod house in an exclusive DC suburb, they are ecstatic. Sam is on the cusp of making partner at his law firm, Alexis is pregnant with their second child, and their glamorous neighbours welcome the couple with open arms. Things are looking up, and Alexis believes she can finally leave her troubled past behind. But the neighbourhood’s picture-perfect image is shattered when their neighbour Teddy – a handsome, successful father of three – is found dead on the steep banks of the Potomac River. The community is shaken… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Pregnancy from rape mentioned
  • Infidelity
  • Incest (half-siblings)
  • Disordered eating
  • Murder

Context : The protagonist has her husband murdered because she finds out they’re half-siblings and she can’t deal with the public humiliation. She also learns she is the product of rape.

The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell

Every summer for the past ten years, six awe-struck bakers have descended on the grounds of Grafton, the leafy and imposing Vermont estate that is not only the filming site for “Bake Week” but also the childhood home of the show’s famous host, celebrated baker Betsy Martin. The author of numerous best-selling cookbooks and hailed as “America’s Grandmother,” Betsy Martin isn’t as warm off-screen as on, although no one needs to know that but her. She has always demanded perfection, and gotten it with a smile, but this year something is off. Things go awry… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape & sexual harassment
  • Death of a parent
  • Murder