Her Royal Spyness Royal Spyness Mystery Series, Book 1 by Rhys Bowen

Her name is Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie and she is daughter to the Duke of Atholt and Rannoch. She is thirty-fourth in line to the throne, and she has not money.  None.  She has no job, no training, and no prospects.  She can marry Fish-face, or Prince Siegfried of Romania.  Her aunt, the Queen has also offered her the chance to be a lady in waiting in her castle.  But Georgie doesn't want any of that.  She wants to have a career and be self sufficient.  

In order for a young lady with a title to get a job, she has to go undercover.  She creates a cleaning service and some of her clients are London's wealthiest.  They would also recognize her, so she has to be very careful.  

She also discovers some secrets - some secrets that someone wants to keep badly enough that he or she would kill to keep the secret.  She has always been clumsy, but after a series of near misses, she realizes that someone is trying to kill her -and that someone is a member of London's upper crust society.  

Will she find the killer in time?  Can she keep food on her table and a roof over her head in the meantime to survive?  While there is humor in this book, there is also a clear message of how difficult it can be to just keep a roof over your head and survive in hard times.  

Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow

Hope.  That is the message of this book.  Even if you feel like you are totally messed up, or you are in a hole too big to dig out, or you just can't seem to catch a break.  There is hope.  You can get better.  Hope.

Charlie finds herself in a facility because she has harmed herself by cutting into her skin.  This time the cuts were bad enough to nearly kill her.  All of the girls at the facility have something in common:  they either burn or cut their skin, or abuse their bodies with drugs or alcohol.  After a few months in the facility, Charlie's insurance company will no longer pay for her treatment and her mother doesn't want her and her problems back in her home.  She exits the facility with no job, no home, or any place to go. 

Charlie is seventeen years old, and her options are few.  Luckily, Charlie finds friends who understand and support her, and help her realize she is not alone.  They give her hope and strength.
She is not alone.

There are estimations that one in every two hundred girls between thirteen and nineteen will self harm themselves.  There are few statistics on boys, but they also self harm as well.  Self harm is a coping mechanism for people who suffer from depression or mental illness.  Is isn't necessarily a cry for help or a warning that someone is suicidal. 

Kathleen Glasgow was a cutter.  She found her voice and solace in writing.  She strongly suggests that you find your solace and don't ever stop doing it.  Find your tribe and your reason to be. 

"I swear to you, the other side will emerge, slowly but surely.  It's not always sunshine and roses over here, and sometimes the dark can get pretty dark, but it's filled with people who understand, and just enough laughter to get you through the next day.  So:  go."  Kathleen Glasgow 

Be you.  And remember, there is Hope.  Always.