Books Tagged With potential trigger - abuse

Word Count: Information not available

Character Identities: Click here to revealAce, Bisexual, Pansexual (Click here to hide)

Summary: Matthias has spent his whole life on the edge of a very small world. The bastard child of a fallen woman, he’s known nothing but judgment and hatred from the harsh, religious people of his enclave—except for Balthazar. The son and heir of the High Elder, Balthazar shows Matthias kindness, love... and desire. But when the High Elder discovers what his son has been doing, Matthias is arrested and sent to an isolated prison known as the School. There, and in the wastelands beyond, Matthias learns the secrets behind the hypocrisies of the Council of Elders, and his true heritage, true power, and true love.

Word Count: Click here to reveal68000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay (Click here to hide)

Summary: James Morgan, lead guitarist for the rock band Eden, seems to have it all. That is, until Theo, Eden’s lead singer and James’s secret lover, violently betrays him, sending James into a deep depression and cutting their current tour and the band’s life short. Kieran Jackson, the lead vocalist for the less successful band Lost and Found, is at his wits’ end. At thirty-three, he never dreamed he’d still be opening for bands comprised of twentysomethings. When Eden pulls out of the last few shows of their summer tour, Kieran returns home burned out and heartbroken. Over a year later, James, Phil, and David of Eden decide to reform under a different name with Kieran as their new vocalist. James, never having forgotten his single interaction with Kieran, nor the only time he ever listened to him perform, knows Kieran’s the best choice. James is still closeted—and skittish after his last relationship—and one fumbling, drunken kiss threatens to undo everything he’s worked so hard to rebuild, as well as the cover he’s fought to maintain. Can James overcome his past, confront his demons, and reclaim his former fame? Or will he and the newly formed True North remain in Eden’s shadow forever? Can he finally find comfort in who he is, accept his past, and reopen his heart? Or will the memories of Theo’s betrayal and the subsequent fallout dash any hope of finding—and trusting—love again? Trigger warning: this book contains explicit rape, as well as one failed suicide attempt by a main character.

Word Count: Click here to reveal82679 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay (Click here to hide)

Summary: Everyone deserves to be loved. But with constant abuse from his step-father and his mother’s contempt, Christian Goodley isn’t so sure. Being gay in high school is hard enough. Also being the black sheep in the family with only one friend in the world makes life damn near impossible to bear. But when Christian’s path crosses with a new teacher his senior year, a ray of hope brings new life and meaning to his world. Damien Duvel, a recent college graduate and History teacher, forges a bond of friendship with Christian that the young man so desperately needs. As their relationship evolves and matures the rumor mill in the school starts turning. Hushed whispers and sidelong glances turn to outright accusations. For both Christian and Damien it would seem that fate had brought them together. But with so many factors conspiring against them, it is unclear whether they can tow the fine line they walk without stepping away unscathed emotionally or physically.

Word Count: Click here to reveal96460 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay (Click here to hide)

Summary: Christian Goodley did the unthinkable and now he’s left everyone to suffer the consequences of his actions. His family returned home from church, only to find him laying on the floor, in a pool of his own blood. At the hospital, Vivian got the devastating news about her son. With the family trying to put the pieces of their lives back together, Vivian is having stomach pains and after an important phone call, returned to the hospital. There, she received two additional pieces of information that forever altered the course of her life. Consequently, Vivian set forth a plan of action to undo years of her wrongdoings. While Vivian was focused on her plan and protecting her life-changing secrets, tensions start to brew between Cordell and his stepfather. This unfolds a past of abuse, lies and betrayal that in turn, leads to an ultimate showdown that threatens one of their lives. Because of his web of lies and secrets, Damien’s personal life is a disaster. His professional life, on the other hand, couldn’t be better. He is selected to represent his school at a national teaching conference. While on this trip, he accidentally stumbles across evidence that questions everything he knows to be true. Is Damien’s mind playing a dirty trick on him or is this newfound information actually reality? Crimes of the Heart 2: The Aftermath, is a story of secrets, lies, betrayal and redemption. Just how far would a remorseful mother go to protect her flesh and blood?g

Word Count: Click here to reveal158103 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay (Click here to hide)

Summary: How would it feel to wake up every day, not knowing who you really are? How would it feel to know that the only family you have is your mother and baby sister? How would it feel to know that your mother is lying to you? Everyone around you is lying to you. Meet Raphael. Three months prior, fate allowed Raphael come in contact with a man that claimed he knew him. That chance encounter triggered a series of reoccurring dreams, filled with people he didn't recognize. He thought he was going insane; the dreams felt real. Upon the advice of his friend, he even sought out a psychiatrist. He was desperate for the truth, but the truth isn't always kind. Raphael and his friend went on a vacation to celebrate their college graduation. In Atlanta, Raphael saw another man that he felt he knew, but was afraid to approach. Seeing that stranger was the key he needed to solve his own investigation as to who he really was. Realizing what he had done in his past frightened him. He was tired of being lied to; he was tired of being hidden. Raphael took actions into his own hands. He was coming to Orlando. He was coming to gain his old life back. His family was going to be in for the shock of their lives. He had resurrected. Join Raphael and the crew on this final journey, as this web of secrets, lies and betrayal comes to a head. Someone must—and will—pay!

Word Count: Click here to reveal52000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay (Click here to hide)

Summary: With the help of technomage and hacker Theo, rare snake shifter Robbie escaped his mother and clan, who planned to use him as breeding stock. While still working to break through the conditioning and mind control of his past, Robbie is enjoying exploring a new relationship with the worldlier Theo. But their fight isn’t over yet. A trip to his aunt’s house for Thanksgiving is highjacked by political intrigue, leaving the couple wondering who their friends really are. They cannot help but be drawn into larger plots while trying to find justice for Robbie at his mother’s trial. When clan rivalries turn deadly, they’ll need their allies—and each other—more than ever.

Word Count: Click here to reveal82000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay (Click here to hide)

Summary: Will the truth bring them together, or tear them apart? When a battered shifter rescued from a lifetime of trauma ends up as the top tiger’s mate, Declan is faced with possible war. With his nephew safe, and a new mate to secure, he should be focused on them. Instead he’s facing a challenge that will end up changing everything, or his death. Sean grew up in a cage never dreaming of freedom, until the chance to save another brings him into the light. Now he’s met a man he can’t imagine living without. Only they both face a trial neither of them may survive. Can love give them the strength to win? This is Book One in the series and while the MCs do receive their happy ending, there is an overall story arc which must be read in order to enjoy the story. Each book will feature its own main couple. Content advisory warning: off page non-con, violence, child abuse, and PTSD.

Word Count: Click here to reveal78967 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay (Click here to hide)

Summary: The last straw was the stun gun. Dex knew it was either flee or die. Ross’s increasingly hateful treatment over the last two years was getting even worse. Leaving his job as lead platform dancer at Over the Rainbow was hard, but he’d find work somewhere else—somewhere far away—somewhere with friendly people and a chance to do what he did best. The job at Hill Country Hideaway seemed perfect. He would teach guests some of his moves. What could be easier? Then he meets Husker, and he’s in trouble again. How could he resist the gorgeous man? Husker was straight, that’s how. But maybe not. Then Ross catches up with him, and his ideal world falls apart. Imprisoned again, he wonders how he could escape Ross's even tighter rein. Would he ever see Husker again?

Word Count: Click here to reveal81669 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealBisexual, Gay, Genderfluid, Questioning (Click here to hide)

Summary: Unearthing the past brings them closer together…and to danger. A maniac is on the loose in London, drugging young women and assaulting them before burying them in shallow graves. When Inspector John Cordiline asks Jake Chivis for his unique assistance as a Fire Elemental with the Cemetery Rapist case, he feels he can hardly refuse. What begins as a simple job—trying to get memories from a suspect to aid conviction—soon takes a darker turn when one of the victims dies and an offer of help comes from an unexpected and unwelcome source. Dr. Mari Gale is disturbed to find that his former lover Tomas Arregui is London and wants to meet with him. Despite his best efforts to avoid the man, fate seems to be pushing him onto a collision course with Tomas. And the impact will cast him into more trouble than he could ever have imagined. Digging deeper for the truth could be the death of them.

Word Count: Click here to reveal51300 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay (Click here to hide)

Summary: Rene and his men are known as D.O.A., Dragons of Anarchy. They were created centuries ago, by the great Heck, to find and destroy serialists by any means necessary. Each member was gifted with a dragon that was connected to their soul. If one died, so did the other. The men didn't shift into the dragon, but they would call out and the maharishi would join them in the fight against evil. Not wanting their secret discovered, D.O.A. lived in a town called Drago, just outside Poconos Boulevard, and they hid behind their image as a bad ass motorcycle club Children were being murdered and Rene, otherwise known as Pit, along with his men were out to find out who was behind the copycat murders of a long time serial killer known as the Alphabet Killer. While questioning a victim's mother, Rene discovered his sentience, his mate. Now all he had to do was figure out how to tell the man he was not exactly human, and he better do it fast because his dragon heat was already kicking in. Bren was the local town veterinarian. He figured something was off about SI Rene Telkin. If not from the leather jacket with a large D.O.A. patch on the back, then maybe because he drove a navy Blue Harley Davidson CVO Street glider instead of a tan sedan. Bren was not the type to get mixed up with a biker club, even if the man was a cop. However, something kept drawing him to the sexy man and it seemed that nothing would break the bond they were forming. Not even when he discovered the secret all D.O.A. agents held. A large dragon for a partner. Now Rene needs to do his best to claim his mate and also track down a serial killer, because on the last body was a note threatening the good doctor of Poconos Boulevard.

Word Count: Click here to reveal59472 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay (Click here to hide)

Summary: An untrained warlock is a dangerous man to love. On his twenty-first birthday, Evrain Brookes discovers he is an elemental warlock. The spell suppressing his talent lifts and he has to get used to a whole new existence. The protection that kept him safe during his childhood is gone, his skills are wild and uncontrolled and there are those that seek to use him for their own gain. Evrain’s grandmother is a witch, his godfather another warlock. Between them they do their best to keep Evrain on the right path. He learns that in order to gain control of his formidable powers, he will need to ‘channel’ through a life partner, a process that happens only with consent and through love. But how will he ever find a man prepared to put up with a Dominant warlock for a boyfriend? Dominic Castine has no idea that Evrain’s grandmother sees him as a prospective partner for Evrain. He tends her garden and she teaches him about herbs—a trade-off they both enjoy. He is drawn to Evrain’s charismatic presence but doesn’t understand why he wants to drop to his knees and submit to him. When Agatha is murdered, Evrain and Dominic are thrown together as she manipulates them from beyond the grave. Dominic becomes the pawn in a terrifying game between warlocks whose powers he barely comprehends. In the end, lives will depend on his courage, his willingness to grant Evrain control and the power of love. Reader Advisory: This book contains scenes of kidnap and a reference to attempted sexual assault.

Word Count: Click here to reveal62000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay (Click here to hide)

Summary: Olympic figure skater Emory Lowe falls in lust the moment he lays eyes on his new neighbor, hockey player Nikolai Vetrov. On the surface, Nik is a typical badass enforcer, intimidating and dangerous, on and off the ice. The only son of Ukrainian immigrants, Nik has been groomed from childhood to fulfill his father’s dreams of seeing him in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Igor guides his son toward that goal with a controlling—and abusive—hand, steering him clear of anyone who might ruin his chances. Although Emory is the US National Figure Skating champion, he’s in-your-face gay, and his audacious persona rubs Nik and his family the wrong way. Raised by supportive and loving parents, Emory is Nik’s polar opposite in every way but one—his desire to succeed. Underneath the fluff and glitter beats the heart of a fierce competitor, and this side of Emory’s personality begins to close the distance between the two athletes. While the attraction is one-sided in the beginning, Nik finds himself responding to Emory’s flirting. But before the incongruous pair have a chance at any sort of relationship, they must survive the pressures of career, separation, and most importantly, Igor’s ruthless homophobia.

Word Count: Click here to reveal170,000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay, Questioning (Click here to hide)

Summary: In 1846 London, Oliver Twist has one desire: to own a bookshop and live a simple, middle-class life as far as possible from his workhouse-shadowed past. One thing stands in his way, Jack Dawkins--The Artful Dodger--who's just returned to London and wants to reconnect. Jack's visits cause Oliver nothing but trouble with his master, but he finds himself drawn, time and again, to their shared past, Jack's unguarded honesty, and those bright, green eyes. Oliver craves respectability, and doesn't think he will find it with a forbidden love. Can Jack convince Oliver that having one doesn't mean losing the other? Fagin’s Boy: The Further Particulars of a Parish Boy's Progress is the first book in Christina E. Pilz’s Oliver & Jack series, a gay historical romance. If you like Dickensian characters who fall in love in spite of themselves, and beautiful flowering romance occurring in all the wrong places,  then you’ll love Fagin’s Boy, so pick up a copy today!

Word Count: Click here to reveal101,946 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealBisexual (Click here to hide)

Summary: A "what if" tale set in the Spy vs. Spook/Mann of My Dreams universe! Kyle Winchester is a genius when it comes to foreign languages. He has no trouble learning them and often picks up dialects simply for fun. This makes him an ideal candidate for certain agencies in the intelligence community, most notably the CIA and the WBIS. While these two agencies fight it out between them, all an unknowing Kyle wants to do is discover more about the mysterious Frenchman he met while in New York -- and possibly fall in love with him. Alain Boucher, a championship-level card player, discovers playing cards with the wrong man could get him imprisoned and deported. As a result, he’s pressured into doing the occasional job for the CIA. One of these jobs is to convince -- by any means -- a certain young man that becoming a member of the CIA is exactly what his future should hold. The problem is Alain has come to like Kyle, and he isn’t so certain what the CIA wants is what’s best for the young man. However, events beyond his control see Kyle agreeing to work for the Company. The reality of his new job isn’t as rosy as Kyle was promised, but when a covert operative is outed, leaving her assets to fend for themselves, Kyle has to make a decision: stay with an organization that seems to have no regard for its people, or resign. Things become even more complicated when he’s offered a position at the WBIS by the enigmatic Mark Vincent. Kyle has to wonder ... should he accept this job? And if he does, how will that affect his relationship with Alain, the man who’d set out to woo him for ulterior motives but then wound up falling in love with him?

Word Count: Click here to reveal32850 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealBisexual, Demisexual, Gay (Click here to hide)

Summary:

Word Count: Information not available

Character Identities: Click here to revealBisexual, Demisexual (Click here to hide)

Summary: (Jimmy) I fell for my best friend. Shifters like us have mates. If I didn't know better, I'd swear he was mine, but Savi's feelings for me? Purely platonic. I need to find a way to fall out of love with him. Because losing him? Not an option. Who would have thought a trip to the zoo would be the start of my forever? At just five years old I knew that the cute kitty in the cage was meant to be mine…my best friend, my person, MY Kiki. At sixteen, I prayed to every deity known in the human world that he would be my mate. At nineteen, I left. Now?  Our lives will never be the same.   (Savi) We should be planning the best summer ever, instead, I’m learning how to live without my best friend for the first time since he and his family rescued me from my terrible foster “parents” when I was a kid. Jimmy, my best friend, my person, up and left me for 6 whole months! One hundred eighty-two and a half-ish days. Maybe forever. It’s only a matter of time before Jimmy finds his mate and our separation is permanent. If only I was that mate. Because it’s only a matter of time before he can’t deny anymore that he needs more than me. He needs a mate. Something I’m not, something I can never be. Shouldn’t be. For anyone, but especially not for Jimmy LaFleur. For All Eternity : Destinies Entwined is an ongoing M/M Best Friends to Lovers, Paranormal, Kindle Vella Romance serial. It contains multiple points of view, but the main bulk of the story and main focus is on these best friends and their path to their eternity. For All Eternity : Destinies Entwined features an autistic main character, traumatic pasts, horses, and lots and lots of cuddling. Oh, yeah, and Blood Play (eventually!) The friendship these two have is nothing ordinary! Note: Heat level of 3 is indicative of the heat in the story thus far, not the entire story, which will be a 5.

Word Count: Click here to reveal65,000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay (Click here to hide)

Summary: What if your life was a lie? From the outside Jay’s life seems idyllic, a twenty-something, runs his family’s business with high disposable income and freedom. The reality, is Jay’s life is dictated by a bigoted, controlling, abusive father who insists Jay simply can’t be gay. Jay yearns for his own life with a dominant man, but it’s an out-of-reach pipe dream. When he meets trained Dom, Eric, the most Jay can hope for is the occasional one-night-stand or quick fling. Eric has his heart set on Jay, and not only for more than one night. Jay is the type of sub Eric could easily spend the rest of his life with, fall in love with. While trying to navigate winning Jay’s love, Eric’s life is further complicated by chasing down a killer who may be something other than human. When Jay is targeted, Eric wants only to protect him. Can he save Jay’s life and win his heart as well?

Word Count: Information not available

Character Identities: Click here to revealBisexual, Gay (Click here to hide)

Summary: A product of his past, Black spends half his time saving lives and the other half taking them. Every day, a hard choice must be made and he’s the man to make it. Long ago, he vowed to never love again; one-night stands with a willing body was all he ever needed. But along came Quill, and Black’s life is irrevocably changed. He never expects something as simple as Quill’s persistence to alter the way he not only sees the world, but how he lives it. Quill has bad taste in men and equally horrible luck. Growing up wasn’t easy, surviving is even harder. When his past and present collide, he’s convinced he’ll finally witness his own destruction. But when an unlikely antihero steps in to protect him, his life is turned on its head. He’s spent months flirting with the man of his dreams and hoping he’d take notice. But it turns out, being on Black’s radar isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and his idea of protection varies greatly from Quill’s. Unknowingly sharing the same goal—burying their own pasts deeper than the fires of hell can reach—they’re both unaware that jumping into that fire will do more than ignite their feelings, it could lead to their own demise. Will Black and Quill be consumed by the flames, or from these ashes, will they find their own happily ever after?

Word Count: Click here to reveal17000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay (Click here to hide)

Summary: Duty and honor-bound, Yoshi draws on years of training to fulfill his clan’s expectations and obligations, suppressing emotions to safeguard and protect both himself and those he’s sworn to serve. His current assignment is to the Shuhan of Mochizuki who deems that training unsuitable and launches Yoshi into the world of women, of the fabled Geisha, to learn the grace and skills his master desires. Pain Yoshi understood, humiliation was something else entirely. And his keeper, Zenshiro, decides that while Geisha training is all well and good, the matter of seduction would be handled in a different fashion. Keeping up the masquerade might be the biggest challenge Yoshi has ever faced. Geisha is transgressive M/M literary fiction. It utilizes adult language and adult situations. It depicts violence, explicit sex and disturbing scenes/images. If you are offended by male/male eroticism, sexual situations, depiction of BDSM elements, and strong language you might not enjoy this work.

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Summary: Miss Mona is the sweet old lady who lives on the fourth floor. Or, at least, that's what all her neighbors think. But the true soul underneath the cardigan is much, much darker than anyone would ever suspect. Mona is hiding some very disturbing secrets in her home. After all, everyone has their little obsessions, don’t they? Includes the bonus short story “Spark."