Trigger Warnings and Explanations

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.

If you have any thoughts about triggers that should be added to this list, please feel free to use the contact form and let me know. 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 drug use of some kind, either consensual drug use or non consensual. There may be depictions of addiction, withdrawal, and other effects of drugs, as well as possible events relating to overdose or overuse of substances. Note: I include cigarette and alcohol use in this category along with misuse of prescription drugs.

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.

This work features the emotional abuse of someone important to the story, and may or may not be one of the  main characters. This abuse is shown on the page, and is not in the past. This abuse can be parental, or at the hands of strangers. May be combined with other triggers such as bigotry and physical abuse. 

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. 

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. 

There are depictions of a romantic or intimate partner being abusive in this story. The character may be a main character or a side character that is important to the story. The affected character may or may not leave their situation.

Mental illness is depicted in this story. These illnesses can range from bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, and other 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.

Someone in this story suffers physical abuse from another character. This is different than violence in that it is generally repeated and done intentionally. It has little to do with situations like war or entering a fight with another person, but is most often a longer term situation. Abuse may be currently happening or in the past. 

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.