Mental Health Awareness Month
Jen’s 2024 Diversify Your Romance Challenge
Mental Health Awareness Month
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. So I collected more books for you to read on this topic. I will never stop recommending the first one.
Beard in Mind (Winston Brothers, Volume 4) by Penny Reid, narrated by Angela Dawe & Chris Brinkley
Beau Winston is the nicest, most accommodating guy in the world. Usually.
Handsome as the devil and twice as charismatic, Beau lives a charmed life as everyone's favorite Winston Brother. But since his twin decided to leave town, and his other brother hired a stunning human-porcupine hybrid as a replacement mechanic for their auto shop, Beau Winston's charmed life has gone to hell in a handbasket.
Shelly Sullivan is not nice and is never accommodating. Ever. She mumbles to herself, but won't respond when asked a question. She glares at everyone, especially babies. She won't shake hands with or touch another person, but has no problems cuddling with a dog. And her damn parrot speaks only in curse words. Beau wants her gone. He wants her out of his auto shop, out of Tennessee, and out of his life. The only problem is, learning why this porcupine wears her coat of spikes opens a Pandora's Box of complexity - exquisite, tempting, heartbreaking complexity - and Beau Winston soon discovers being nice and accommodating might mean losing what matters most.
The Worst Guy by Kate Canterbary, narrated by Connor Crais, Natalie Duke
Eight weeks of forced proximity is a long time to hate someone you’re trying not to love.
Sebastian Stremmel doesn’t need another headache. He has enough of his own without Sara Shapiro, the noisy new reconstructive surgeon, stomping all around his surgical wing with her chippy, chirpy cheerfulness.
But Sebastian doesn’t usually get what he wants.
No one gets under his skin like Sara—so much so a heated “debate” and an exam room left in shambles later, they land themselves in eight weeks of hospital-mandated conflict resolution counseling. Now they’re forced to fight fair…which quickly leads them to playing dirty when no one’s looking.
They know it’s a mistake. They promise themselves it will never happen again. They swear they got it out of their systems. They didn’t.
Author’s Note: Grumpy/recovering people-pleaser sunshine. Introverts attract. Enemies-to-lovers in the workplace. Banter, bicker, and button-pushing foreplay. Don’t tell the friend group, get jealous when the friend group tries to fix her up.
Heat: Rip her clothes off before you get the front door open.
CW/TW: Chronic illness, absent/negligent parents, history of disordered eating.
Revenge Cake by Skyler Mason, narrated by Lauren Sweet & Tim Paige
Leilani
He wanted me instantly, pursued me relentlessly.
At first, I was cold and resistant to his warmth. But he wore me down with his beautiful face and self-deprecating charm. He made me feel like the center of his universe.
Until one day, I wasn’t.
The anxiety and the pills turned me into a different person. But did I deserve to be abandoned in the darkest moment of my life?
He shattered my heart into a million pieces, and now it’s time to make him pay. Revenge never tasted so sweet.
Logan
I was done with love until the night I saw her.
She opened that sassy, heart-shaped mouth and called me weak. And just like that, I was a goner. I knew she was the only woman for me.
And in a moment of weakness, I may have lost her forever.
I was tired of being ignored. I didn’t know what to do with her addiction to anxiety pills. But did I have to let it cost me my soulmate?
I won’t let my mistake ruin us. And if she thinks I’ll just stand by while she moves on, she’s got another thing coming.
CW/TW: Addiction to anxiety medication, Panic disorder, One instance of on-the-page infidelity
