Books like 'Drowning Instinct'
Readers who enjoyed Drowning Instinct by Ilsa J. Bick also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary romance mystery psychological realistic dark forbidden-love high-school drama age-gap
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In an Instant by Suzanne Redfearn
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 61 ratingsLife is over in an instant for sixteen-year-old Finn Miller when a devastating car accident tumbles her and ten others over the side of a mountain. Suspended between worlds, she watches helplessly as those she loves struggle to survive.Impossible choices are made, decisions that leave the survivors tormented with grief and regret... -
![Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman]()
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 54 ratingsLibrarian's note: An alternative cover edition can be found hereNo one’s ever told Eleanor that life should be better than fineMeet Eleanor Oliphant: she struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she’s thinking... -
![Convicted by Aleatha Romig]()
Convicted by Aleatha Romig
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsFrom New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Aleatha Romig comes the shocking third book of the Consequences series and the long-awaited, action-packed conclusion of Claire and Tony’s tumultuous relationship. Stick to your convictions. Against all odds, Claire and Tony have found their way back to one another, but it doesn’t mean a happy ever after. Not even close... -
![Identical by Ellen Hopkins]()
Identical by Ellen Hopkins
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsKaeleigh and Raeanne are 16-year-old identical twins, the daughters of a district court judge father and politician mother running for US Congress. Everything on the surface seems fine, but underneath run very deep and damaging secrets. When the girls were 9, Daddy started to turn to his beloved Kaeleigh in ways a father never should and has been sexually abusing her for years... -
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![Truth by Aleatha Romig, Esra Çetin]()
Truth by Aleatha Romig, Esra Çetin
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsFrom New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Aleatha Romig comes the thrilling sequel in the Consequences series: Truth, a game of deception, intrigue, and conspiracy where losing can be deadly.Claire survived the consequences. Through strength and compartmentalization, Claire Nichols captivated her captor... -
![Blue String by Tess Thompson]()
Blue String by Tess Thompson
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsShe's a single mom happily raising her son with the help of her family. He's a country music star reeling from tragedy. When he shows up on her doorstep asking for a safe place to hide from the world, will she let him into her heart and family?Costume designer Teagan Lanigan only has time to love her work and the young son she’s raising by herself... -
![Almost Broken by Portia Moore]()
Almost Broken by Portia Moore
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsLauren Brooks fell in love with Cal Scott at 21, married him at 22 and had her heart broken at 23 when he walked out of their marriage. At 25, though raising his daughter on her own, Lauren was finally moving on with her life. Until, she learned the reason for Cal's abandonment, the walls she’d carefully built around her collapsed. -
![More Than We Can Tell by Brigid Kemmerer]()
More Than We Can Tell by Brigid Kemmerer
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsRev Fletcher is battling the demons of his past. But with loving adoptive parents by his side, he’s managed to keep them at bay...until he gets a letter from his abusive father and the trauma of his childhood comes hurtling back.Emma Blue spends her time perfecting the computer game she built from scratch, rather than facing her parents’ crumbling marriage... -
![Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone]()
Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsIf you could read my mind, you wouldn't be smiling. Samantha McAllister looks just like the rest of the popular girls in her junior class. But hidden beneath the straightened hair and expertly applied makeup is a secret that her friends would never understand: Sam has Purely-Obsessional OCD and is consumed by a stream of dark thoughts and worries that she can't turn off... -
![Beautifully Broken by Portia Moore]()
Beautifully Broken by Portia Moore
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe conclusion to the If I Break Series. Cal’s back and his arrival changes everything. Lauren knew it was coming but what she didn’t think he’d bring with him was an ultimatum. A choice. One that Lauren feels trapped under. A choice she’s unsure will make a difference but could possibly change everything. The ultimatum isn’t the only thing Cal’s got with him but answers... -
![Night Road by Kristin Hannah]()
Night Road by Kristin Hannah
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsJude Farraday is a happily married, stay-at-home mom who puts everyone’s needs above her own. Her twins, Mia and Zach, are bright and happy teenagers. When Lexi Baill enters their lives, no one is more supportive than Jude. A former foster child with a dark past, Lexi quickly becomes Mia’s best friend. Then Zach falls in love with Lexi and the three become inseparable... -
![Nelumbo Nucifera by Cristina Slough]()
Nelumbo Nucifera by Cristina Slough
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsOn the surface, Gaby Parker has it all; however, behind closed doors, is a woman who lives in constant fear of the man who was supposed to love her: her husband, Kyle. Beaten, desperate, and broken, Gaby realizes the only way to escape from her violent husband is to kill herself — on paper... -
![Behind The Hands That Kill by J.A. Redmerski]()
Behind The Hands That Kill by J.A. Redmerski
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsEven professional killers need vacations, but for Victor Faust, his vacation in Venezuela is about more than relaxation and time alone with Izabel Seyfried. It is a chance for him to come clean to Izabel: to tell her the truth about why he sent her to Italy with his brother, the truth behind his interest in Nora Kessler, and about his knowledge of Izabel’s child with her former captor... -
![Before I Break by Portia Moore]()
Before I Break by Portia Moore
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsOut of the past six years of my life, I only remember about half of it. After a dozen doctors and thousands in medical bills, I was diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder--one that causes me to lose track of time. Sometimes it’s hours, days or even weeks with no recollection of anything. The good thing is it's been almost two years since I had my last ‘black out’... -
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![Four Score by Lili St. Germain]()
Four Score by Lili St. Germain
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsLove and hate aren’t all that different. Two sides of the same coin, the yin and the yang. Once upon a time, Jason Ross loved me. And now that he knows what I’ve done, I see the love and the hate warring within him. I see the way he looks at me. The way he wonders how I could do the things I’ve done. I hear it in the way he begs me to stop, to leave this life and run away with him... -
![Five Miles by Lili St. Germain]()
Five Miles by Lili St. Germain
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsMy father taught me the importance of an eye for an eye—a cardinal rule, ingrained in every club member.A life for a life.Seven lives in payment for an unimaginable list of sins.People might wonder why I’m doing this. If this vengeance is borne from some noble cause. If I’m trying to prevent others from suffering at the hands of Dornan Ross and his sons.But I’m no selfless vigilante... -
![Identity by Nora Roberts]()
Identity by Nora Roberts
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA new thriller about one man's ice-cold malice, and one woman's fight to reclaim her life.Former Army brat Morgan Albright has finally planted roots in a friendly neighborhood near Baltimore. Her friend and roommate Nina helps her make the mortgage payments, as does Morgan's job as a bartender... -
![In Her Father's Shadow by Quinn Avery]()
In Her Father's Shadow by Quinn Avery
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSienna Rivers’s aspirations for a normal childhood came crashing down the night they discovered her father was a serial killer. Once her mother’s illusion of a perfect family is destroyed, Sienna is sent to live with the only other “family” she knows... -
![Breakdown by Jack L. Pyke]()
Breakdown by Jack L. Pyke
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratings“Who’s been whispering to you, Jack?” ~ Doctor Halliday Jack Harrison has the evidence there in his hands—the DVD and notepad off D.C. Sanders that proves Gray supposedly played a part in tearing him and Jan brutally apart... -
![Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow]()
Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsCharlotte Davis is in pieces. At seventeen she’s already lost more than most people lose in a lifetime. But she’s learned how to forget. The thick glass of a mason jar cuts deep, and the pain washes away the sorrow until there is nothing but calm. You don’t have to think about your father and the river. Your best friend, who is gone forever. Or your mother, who has nothing left to give you... -
![If He Had Been with Me by Laura Nowlin]()
If He Had Been with Me by Laura Nowlin
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsIf he had been with me everything would have been different...I wasn't with Finn on that August night. But I should've been. It was raining, of course. And he and Sylvie were arguing as he drove down the slick road. No one ever says what they were arguing about. Other people think it's not important. They do not know there is another story. The story that lurks between the facts... -
![Between Now and Forever by Barbara Freethy]()
Between Now and Forever by Barbara Freethy
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFrom #1 NY Times Bestselling Author Barbara Freethy comes a romantic and suspenseful new novel in the popular family series, The Callaways. Nicole met Ryan when he was a handsome, cocky teenager with a desire to fly high above the clouds... -
![At the Edge of the Universe by Shaun David Hutchinson]()
At the Edge of the Universe by Shaun David Hutchinson
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom the author of We Are the Ants comes “another winner” (Booklist, starred review) about a boy who believes the universe is slowly shrinking as the things he remembers are being erased from others’ memories.Tommy and Ozzie have been best friends since the second grade, and boyfriends since eighth. They spent countless days dreaming of escaping their small town—and then Tommy vanished... -
![Shame by Rachel Van Dyken]()
Shame by Rachel Van Dyken
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratings#1 New York Times Bestselling author Rachel Van Dyken, brings you the third and final book in the internationally best selling Ruin series. This is a stand alone novel.Everything done in darkness, will eventually be brought into the light.I ran, but all it did was keep me one step ahead of my past. I tried to start over; new name, new identity. But you can't change your soul... -
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![Crank by Ellen Hopkins]()
Crank by Ellen Hopkins
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsIn Crank, Ellen Hopkins chronicles the turbulent and often disturbing relationship between Kristina, a character based on her own daughter, and the "monster," the highly addictive drug crystal meth, or "crank." Kristina is introduced to the drug while visiting her largely absent and ne'er-do-well father... -
![Broken Silence by Natasha Preston]()
Broken Silence by Natasha Preston
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFour years after Oakley left for Australia, the trial is ready to begin. After coming to the decision that she needs to face her abusers to finally be able to move on, Oakley and her family return to England to give evidence in person... -
![Shattered Lies by Winter Paige]()
Shattered Lies by Winter Paige
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsCostin can't remember a time in his life when he ever had a family, ever felt wanted, let alone loved. Until Eliana. The night he found her shivering and alone was the first time he ever saw true light. She would be his. Joshua does what he has to in order to survive. Until the moment he lays his eyes on Eliana. At last he finds something worth fighting for... -
![Curves Ahead by Andi Jaxon]()
Curves Ahead by Andi Jaxon
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsEveryone knows appearances can be deceiving, and in my case, even I’ve been fooled. The last thing I need is immature man-child, Alexander Bennet, trying to smile his way into my pants. I hate everything about him; his stupid smirk, his rumbling chuckle, and the way butterflies riot in my stomach when he aims them at me... -
![The Student by Skye Warren]()
The Student by Skye Warren
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWilliam Stratford is more than my professor.He’s my one-night stand. My secret. And my enemy.I have a plan for fighting him, along with the secret society that threatens the college. Despite his knowledge and his power, despite the sensual thrall he holds over me, when the bell rings, he’s the one who’s going to learn a lesson.At least that’s the plan.But Professor Stratford is older and wiser... -
![How It Ends by Laura Wiess]()
How It Ends by Laura Wiess
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFollowing her stunning and critically acclaimed novels Such a Pretty Girl and Leftovers, Laura Wiess crafts a riveting and emotionally powerful tale of beauty, destruction...and love.Seventeen-year-old Hanna has been in love with Seth for as long as she can remember, but now that she and Seth are in an actual relationship, love isn’t all it’s cracked up to be... -
![Heartsong Cottage by Emily March]()
Heartsong Cottage by Emily March
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsDaniel Garrett is no stranger to heartache or tragedy. Once a successful detective, his world fell apart with his son's murder and his wife's suicide. Leaving the police force, Daniel devotes his life to finding missing children, but when a case goes sour on the anniversary of his personal tragedy, he returns to Eternity Springs hoping for some of the town's fabled healing... -
![Alone by E.J. Noyes]()
Alone by E.J. Noyes
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsHalf a million dollars will be Celeste Thorne’s reward for spending four years of her life in total isolation. No faces. No voices. No way to leave. Since Celeste has never really worried about being alone, the generous paycheck she’ll receive for her participation in the solitary psychological experiment seems like easy money... -
![Backlash by Sarah Darer Littman]()
Backlash by Sarah Darer Littman
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsHe says: You're an awful person. He says: What makes you think I would ever ask you out? He says: The world would be a better place without you in it. Lara just got told off on Facebook. She thought that Christian liked her, that he was finally going to ask her to his school's homecoming dance... -
![Nocte by Courtney Cole]()
Nocte by Courtney Cole
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsMy name is Calla Price. I'm eighteen years old, and I'm one half of a whole. My other half—my twin brother, my Finn—is crazy. I love him. More than life, more than anything. And even though I'm terrified he'll suck me down with him, no one can save him but me. I'm doing all I can to stay afloat in a sea of insanity, but I'm drowning more and more each day. So I reach out for a lifeline... -
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![The Predator by RuNyx]()
The Predator by RuNyx
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsWhat happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object in the field of death? In the dark underbelly of the mob, Tristan Caine has been an anomaly. As the only non-blooded member in the high circle of the Tenebrae Outfit, he is an enigma to all - his skills unparalleled, his morality questionable, and his motives unknown. He is lethal and he knows it... -
![If There's No Tomorrow by Jennifer L. Armentrout]()
If There's No Tomorrow by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsLena Wise is always looking forward to tomorrow, especially at the start of her senior year. She's ready to pack in as much friend time as possible, to finish college applications and to maybe let her childhood best friend Sebastian know how she really feels about him. For Lena, the upcoming year is going to be epic—one of opportunities and chances... -
![The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand]()
The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsThere's death all around us.We just don't pay attention.Until we do.The last time Lex was happy, it was before. When she had a family that was whole. A boyfriend she loved. Friends who didn't look at her like she might break down at any moment.Now she's just the girl whose brother killed himself. And it feels like that's all she'll ever be... -
![Don't Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout]()
Don't Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsSamantha is a stranger in her own life. Until the night she disappeared with her best friend, Cassie, everyone said Sam had it all - popularity, wealth, and a dream boyfriend. Sam has resurfaced, but she has no recollection of who she was or what happened to her that night. As she tries to piece together her life from before, she realizes it's one she no longer wants any part of... -
![The Program by Suzanne Young]()
The Program by Suzanne Young
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 31 ratingsIn Sloane’s world, true feelings are forbidden, teen suicide is an epidemic, and the only solution is The Program.Sloane knows better than to cry in front of anyone. With suicide now an international epidemic, one outburst could land her in The Program, the only proven course of treatment. Sloane’s parents have already lost one child; Sloane knows they’ll do anything to keep her alive... -
![The Rise by Shari King, Shari Low]()
The Rise by Shari King, Shari Low
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhen we bury our secrets, they always come back to haunt us...Their rise was meteoric.Only a few years before, they had been three friends from Glasgow, just trying to survive tough lives of danger and dysfunction.But on one Hollywood evening in 1993, they were on the world’s biggest stage, accepting their Oscar in front of the watching world.That night was the beginning of their careers... -
![A Bend in the Road by Nicholas Sparks]()
A Bend in the Road by Nicholas Sparks
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsMiles Ryan's life seemed to end the day his wife was killed in a hit-and-run accident two years ago. Missy had been his first love, and Miles fervently believes she will be his last. As a deputy in the North Carolina town of New Bern, Miles Ryan not only grieves for Missy, but also longs to bring the unknown driver to justice. Then Miles meets Sarah Andrews... -
![Deadly by Ker Dukey]()
Deadly by Ker Dukey
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsDeadly (An Empathy Novella) 18 only. Normal is not something Ryan and Cereus have ever been, where’s the fun in normal? When Cereus’s dreams follow her into the waking hours, she has to come to terms with the fact, Ryan is not the only monster in her madness... -
![I Will Save You by Matt de la Peña]()
I Will Save You by Matt de la Peña
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsKidd is running from his past and his future. No mom, no dad, and there’s nothing for him at the group home but therapy. He doesn’t belong at the beach where he works either, unless he finds a reason to stay. Olivia is blond hair, blue eyes, rich dad. The prettiest girl in Cardiff... -
![A.C.H.E. by M. Never]()
A.C.H.E. by M. Never
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA is for ache. C is for choice. H is for his. E is for Everly. I have always gotten the short end of the stick when it came to my personal life. Drug addicted mother, obsessive step father, shitty upbringing, and one soul shattering, heart-wrenching relationship. But everything changed when I met Alec Prescott... -
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![The Other Sister by Leanne Davis]()
The Other Sister by Leanne Davis
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsGeneral Travis Bains has two daughters, one who is good, and one who is bad. Everyone knows Lindsey is the good one, and Jessie is the bad one. Jessie Bains is the other sister, the bad sister, which she has proven more often than not, until the day she gets kidnapped and brutally raped... -
![What I Lost by Alexandra Ballard]()
What I Lost by Alexandra Ballard
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsA searing yet ultimately uplifting young adult novel about a teenage girl's recovery from anorexia.Sixteen-year-old Elizabeth has honed a dangerous skill: starving herself. Even when her parents send her to a treatment center, she can't stop. Then she begins receiving packages from someone she doesn't know... -
![Tight by Alessandra Torre]()
Tight by Alessandra Torre
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsI was happy in my small town. In my life as a single, thirty-two year old woman. I had a good job, wonderful friends, my independence. I also hadn't got laid in three years. Hadn't been on a date in two. Had stopped counting calories and wearing makeup... a while ago. Then Brett Jacobs waltzed in... -
![Made You Up by Francesca Zappia]()
Made You Up by Francesca Zappia
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsReality, it turns out, is often not what you perceive it to be—sometimes, there really is someone out to get you. Made You Up tells the story of Alex, a high school senior unable to tell the difference between real life and delusion. Alex fights a daily battle to figure out the difference between reality and delusion... -
![The Pact by Jodi Picoult]()
The Pact by Jodi Picoult
Rated: 4.02 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsFor eighteen years the Hartes and the Golds have lived next door to each other, sharing everything from Chinese food to chicken pox to carpool duty—they've grown so close it seems they have always been a part of each other's lives. Parents and children alike have been best friends, so it's no surprise that in high school Chris and Emily's friendship blossoms into something more... -
![Hate List by Jennifer Brown]()
Hate List by Jennifer Brown
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsFive months ago, Valerie Leftman's boyfriend, Nick, opened fire on their school cafeteria. Shot trying to stop him, Valerie inadvertently saved the life of a classmate, but was implicated in the shootings because of the list she helped create. A list of people and things she and Nick hated. The list he used to pick his targets...
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