The Winners by Fredrik Backman

Most people don’t even notice them—three tiny figures sitting at the end of a long pier in the corner of one of the most famous paintings in the world. Most people think it’s just a depiction of the sea. But Louisa, an aspiring artist herself, knows otherwise, and she is determined to find out the story of these three enigmatic figures. Twenty-five years earlier, in a distant seaside town, a group of teenagers find refuge from their bruising home lives by spending long summer days on an abandoned pier, telling silly jokes, sharing secrets, and committing small acts of rebellion. These lost souls find in each other a reason to… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Homophobic slurs
  • Child abuse & neglect mentioned
  • Infidelity mentioned
  • Abusive relationship recounted
  • Rape mentioned & recounted
  • Suicide, suicidal ideation & self-harm mentioned
  • Anxiety & panic attacks
  • Alcohol consumption & drug use including overdose
  • Death of a child (off-page)
  • Murder by gun violence
  • Fatal car acciedne tmentioned
  • Animal death (dog)

My Friends by Fredrik Backman

Most people don’t even notice them—three tiny figures sitting at the end of a long pier in the corner of one of the most famous paintings in the world. Most people think it’s just a depiction of the sea. But Louisa, an aspiring artist herself, knows otherwise, and she is determined to find out the story of these three enigmatic figures. Twenty-five years earlier, in a distant seaside town, a group of teenagers find refuge from their bruising home lives by spending long summer days on an abandoned pier, telling silly jokes, sharing secrets, and committing small acts of rebellion. These lost souls find in each other a reason to… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Homophobia
  • Foster care discussed
  • Rape & sexual assault mentioned
  • Domestic abuse
  • Attempted suicide, suicidal ideation & self-harm
  • Anxiety & panic attacks
  • Depression
  • Alcoholism
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Bullying

Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay

Two rival conquerors have divided the Peninsula of the Palm. As the provinces in the peninsula were falling one by one, the sorcerer Brandin made a fateful decision, sending his beloved son to capture the last one. But when that son is killed on the battlefield, Brandin, blinded by grief, avenges his death by ruthlessly vanquishing the resistance and then cursing the people of this province with a dark sorcery–so that the very name of their home cannot be spoken or remembered. Years after that devastation, a handful of… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Homophobia
  • Slavery
  • Rape & incest
  • Genocide

Braving the Storm by Elliott Rose

I’m not supposed to feel this way… I never wanted to disappear more than while around my family. Briar Lane, the girl only useful for one thing: my surname. A business handshake and pawn to be traded. My father’s chess piece shuffled between empires. That was my life back in L.A. but all it took was finding the dirty secret stuffed in a jacket pocket, and my entire world unraveled. So, I fled to the one place I knew they could never find me. Crimson Ridge. Arriving in this snowy, harsh world, I thought I’d be starting over on my own, but it turns out I couldn’t have been… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Statutory assault & rape, child prostitution & grooming mentioned (secondary characters)
  • Internalised victim-blaming by a rape survivor mentioned (secondary character)
  • Child abandonment & foster care system experiences mentioned (secondary character)
  • Verbal & emotional intimate partner abuse & gaslighting by ex-partner mentioned
  • Forced arranged marriage mentioned
  • Threats of disownment recounted
  • Infidelity by ex-partner discussed
  • Anxiety (protagonist) & nightmares recounted
  • Restrictive eating mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption & mentions of alcoholism
  • Suicide of a pregnant side character by overdose mentioned
  • Infertility
  • Physical head injury (on-page) & mentions of past bull-riding injuries
  • Death of parents mentioned including death during childbirth (off-page)
  • Home invasion (off-page)
  • Blackmail & nonconsensual surveillance
  • Animal abuse mentioned

*Context : A romance between an adopted uncle and his estranged niece.

Chasing the Wild by Elliott Rose

What happens when you’re snowed in on a mountain ranch, with the one man you definitely should not be fantasizing about? I’ve always done what was expected of me. Layla Birch, the good girl. Forced to grow up too fast. To take care of everything myself. I had a plan.
Only, I didn’t count on him. Colton Wilder. The cowboy nearly twice my age. He’s my dream man. One who takes care of me, gives me a job, and makes my pulse thud harder every time he comes near. My ex-boyfriend’s father. The nights are long and cold on top of this mountain. As the snow grows thicker and the tension builds between us, we’re both… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Domestic abuse recounted
  • Attempted date rape

Complicate by Pam Godwin

Cole Hartman is a mystery. He works alone, sleeps alone, and satisfies his aches…alone. He hasn’t touched a woman in seven years. No one will ever compare to the one who broke his heart. Until he stares into the seductive eyes of his enemy. He finally meets his match in the redheaded Russian spy. But she’s a dangerous risk. His obsession with her leaves him only one choice .If you love something, let it go. If it doesn’t kill you, hunt it down and take it.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape
  • Torture
  • Starvation

Manipulate by Pam Godwin

Tula Gomez is in the most ruthless prison in Latin America. She only drove to Mexico to help her sister. She did nothing wrong. But her quiet life changed in an instant. To survive the violent, cartel-controlled prison where men blend with women, she pledges her loyalty to the notorious leader in exchange for the one thing she needs most. Protection. When she agrees to seduce the suspicious new inmates, Martin Lockwood and Ricky Saldivar, she doesn’t expect to enjoy it. Sure, they’re gorgeous, irresistibly alpha, and insanely talented with their hands and mouths… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape, paedophilia & sexual assault mentioned
  • Imprisonment (theme)
  • Organised crime (cartel)

Dead of Eve by Pam Godwin

A virus devastates humanity. Few men survive. The rest are monsters. The women are dead, except Evie. Through a quirk in her genetics, she survives. When her physiology begins to evolve, she must come to terms with what she is and accept her role in finding a cure. The mutated hunt her. The men brutalize her…except three. Cryptic warrior, contrite lover, caring enemy; they are fiercely protective of the last living woman, but divided in their own agendas. Can they come together to protect the only hope for humanity? Evie must survive.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Islamophobia (on-page)
  • Rape & attempted sexual assault (protagonist)
  • Forced impregnation mentioned
  • Global epidemic resulting in mass death
  • Graphic blood & gore depiction

Take by Pam Godwin

He’s a notorious crime lord, a kidnapper, and an artist.
Scarification is his outlet, and he just captured a new canvas. Kate refuses to surrender beneath his blade or the cruelty in his beautiful eyes. But she’s drawn to the man inside the monster. A man who makes her ache with his touch. Who owns her with his kiss. A man who worships her as deeply as he hurts her. She can run, but there’s no escape from a bond carved in scars.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape, sexual assault & dubious consent scenes (on-page)
  • Self-harm (protagonist, on-page)
  • Kidnapping & captivity (on-page)

Disclaim by Pam Godwin

Camila was seventeen when Van Quiso kidnapped her. Ten years after her escape, the shackles refuse to release her. Not while there are still slave traders preying on her city. She will stop at nothing to end them. Even if that means becoming a slave again. Returning to chains is her worst fear—and only option. They won’t know who she is or what she intends to do. She’s prepared for every complication. Except him. The one who decimated her sixteen-year-old heart. Matias is charming, gorgeous, and dangerously seductive. He’s also untrustworthy and enshrouded… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape, sexual assault & dubious consent scenes
  • Sex trafficking & sexual slavery
  • Kidnapping & captivity (on-page)