Trigger Warnings

Just as a general note about trigger warnings, I wanted to say that I am a firm believer in providing them. I believe that we all need to curate our own experiences when it comes to things in life, and while we are responsible for knowing our triggers, I feel like as a dark romance writer, it is my responsibility to provide you with the most information without spoiling the book. I know some people consider trigger warnings a spoiler in themselves, but I feel like for the people that need them, they are essential. As a person with CPTSD and a person who treats others with PTSD, it seems to me only smart to provide this information. 

Note: There are no trigger warnings for main character death, animal death or abuse, underage sexual encounters, or child death. This is because I do NOT write these things in my stories. I have very few triggers, but these things are some of them. You will not find any of the above in my stories. There may be descriptions of past abuse during childhood that main characters have endured, or other characters talk about, but there will be no scenes on the page of any of these things.

ALL my characters are over eighteen at minimum. Any children depicted in the story will never be depicted in a sexual way, and will never be involved in a sexual scene, even without their knowledge. Adult characters may talk about sexual experiences when they were children, however these scenes will not be given in flashback or otherwise. They will simply be talked about by the characters.

I, of course, cannot include everyone's triggers in this list. I have tried to list the most common and most distressing triggers for people. Remember, I do write darker romance, therefore there are a lot of triggers on my work. Please also check the trope list for other things that you may want to use to curate your experience of reading my books.

This work features some sort of bigotry. This may be, but is not limited to, homophobia, queerphobia, ableism, racism, ageism, acephobia, nonbinary phobia, transphobia, misogyny, sexism, fatphobia, discrimination based on religion, nationality, or other personal factors, and anything degrading to a person.

This story has a character, either main or side character, that undergoes an abortion or threat of abortion. This may be consensual or non consensual abortion or attempted abortion. The actual act is not shown, however, there may be things done to the character by someone else to attempt to trigger an abortion.

This work features themes of abuse. This may include physical, emotional, financial, verbal, sexual, or psychological. The characters experience these and may have long reaching effects from these acts.

A death occurs in this story. The death is not necessarily that of a main character, but may be someone important to the main characters. The death may also be someone who dies at the hands of the main characters in a significant way. Deaths related to war or other situations may be included in this catagory.

In this story, there is a featured kidnapping of one of the main characters. This may lead to other triggers as it is rarely listed alone. Abuse and non-consensual acts are generally associated with the kidnapping of one of the characters.

Mental illness is depicted in this story. These illnesses can range from bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, and other disorders. These illnesses also include eating disorders, personality disorders, and tic disorders. Please note, neurodivergence is not included in this category. 

There are triggers in this story that are further individualized. There may be depictions of common phobias (spiders) or there may be more nebulous acts that someone should be aware of. When possible, this descriptor is given with details.

Story has no triggers to speak of. Mostly, poetry or non-fiction works will fall into this category, as most the fiction works I write will have one or more trigger warnings on them. This does not mean the content is happy.

One of the central themes in the story is around PTSD and the aftermath of trauma. The character may be dealing well with it or may be struggling. This may include panic attacks, flashbacks, triggers, and other things related to those that have PTSD as well as therapies for those with the disorder.

This story is one that features at least one graphic sexual encounter. This means it is not a closed door scene or fade to black. There are details, and it is specifically laid out for the reader. While most sexual content is focused on the emotional aspects, it is still graphic in nature about what is physically happening in the scene. 

When used, this trigger warning indicates that the character engages in some form of self harming behavior willingly. This can be due to a mental illness, stress, or trauma. This includes, but is not limited to, cutting, skin picking, eating disorders, and in general choosing to treat the self poorly as a result of these issues.

This category covers any type of sexual act that the character has not provided express consent for. This includes "dubious" consent where consent is not clear. Please note, rape is never romanticized in my books, and there are consequences for the actions of those that commit acts of sexual non consent. This does include things like blackmailed sex,  Stockholm syndrome sexual encounters, drunk sex, date rape, and many other issues.

One of the central themes in the story is around stalking. One of the characters is stalked by the antagonist or someone else. This can lead to kidnapping as well as other triggers, so it is rarely alone.

One of the characters is the victim of sex trafficking, either currently or in the past. If this is a past situation, the past is incredibly important to the present story and is influential to the character. Current sex trafficking situations will be resolved through the story.

Characters engage in the use of substances, either legal or illegal. This includes non consensual substance use, and includes alcohol, marijuana, prescription mis-use, and any illegal drug. This may include topics of addiction and overdose.

This is a general warning that the story contains violent acts perpetrated by someone in the story. These acts of violence may be genre typical (fantasy, science fiction, paranormal), or they may be more extreme that the typical ones seen in the genre. In general, this tag means there will be blood, and there will be deaths. This includes intimate partner violence and gun violence.

This category of triggers covers things like incest, age gaps, and power imbalances. There are certain taboos that will not be featured in my books, and those include underage sex and bestiality. There are other taboos I will not engage in but I will not detail them here. Psudoincest (relations between adopted family or relations between step family) will be categorized here. 

A character in this story attempts suicide. The character is not able to complete the act for some reason and is saved, generally by another character. Please note, there will never be a depiction of a completed suicide in my books.