Books like 'The Protected'
Readers who enjoyed The Protected by Claire Zorn also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary romance psychological mystery family realistic coming-of-age bullying grief friendship
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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
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... -
Blue Ink by Tess Thompson
Rated: 4.75 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsCharlotte Wilde gives her heart to the wrong men. The last one left with her life savings and their nubile neighbor. Her first published cozy mystery is a flop. Her literary agent’s about to dump her. She has a serious case of writer’s block. And she’s dead broke. Which is how she finds herself in rural Idaho looking after her former boss's elderly mother-in-law. While Mrs... -
New Arrivals at Hedgehog Hollow by Jessica Redland, Emma Swan
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsBRAND NEW FROM THE TOP 10 BEST-SELLING AUTHOR OF 'NEW BEGINNINGS AT SEASIDE BLOOMS' AND 'FINDING LOVE AT HEDGEHOG HOLLOW.'With new arrivals comes new responsibilities. . . .The sun is shining, wild flowers are blooming and Hedgehog Hollow is officially open for business.For Samantha, the proud owner of this beautiful rescue centre, life has never been busier... -
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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... -
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
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... -
Nantucket Neighbors by Pamela M. Kelley
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratings**An instant USA Today Bestseller! #11 on top 150 list, week of September 5, 2019 Book your visit to the Beach Plum Cove Inn today.....meet widow Lisa Hodges and her four adult children, friends, and visitors to the newly opened waterfront bed and breakfast... -
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... -
Blue Moon by Tess Thompson
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsPlayboy Ciaran Lanigan was the party. Executive Bliss Heywood was the library. When they meet, sparks fly and so begins an uncontrollable attraction that neither is strong enough to escape, regardless that it’s fraught with lies, secrets and family complexities. But ‘party boy’ Ciaran isn’t everything he appears. Lurking beneath the surface of his charming grin is a man haunted by fears... -
Saltwater Studios by Amelia Addler
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe truth can set you free… or completely destroy you… Morgan Allen has neither the time nor the patience for shenanigans. Running her wedding photography business by day and searching for new evidence in the cold-case death of her mother by night leaves no room in her life for much else... -
Nantucket News by Pamela M. Kelley
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsCharleston native, Taylor Abbott, has just relocated to Nantucket for her dream job as a junior news reporter at the local paper. Ten years ago she was Abby Hodges college roommate and is looking forward to living near her best friend again.Until her rental cottage is available, she's going to stay at the Beach Plum Cove Inn, Abby's mother's bed and breakfast... -
The Patron by Tess Thompson
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsShe’s afraid to take risks. He’s an incurable daredevil. When tragedy throws them together, will it spark a lasting devotion?Crystal Whalen isn’t sure why she should go on. Two years after her husband’s death on a ski trip, she’s devastated when a fire destroys her quiet Colorado mountain home... -
One Too Many by Melody Anne, John Henley
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsJasmine Anderson, the firstborn grandchild of Billionaire Joseph Anderson, is determined to make it on her own... -
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Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas by James Patterson
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsBeautifully captures the joys of a new family as it builds to an overwhelmingly moving climax. This is an unforgettable love story, at once heartbreaking and full of hope.James Patterson has written a love story!--a powerfully moving and suspenseful novel about families, loss, new love, and hope. Katie Wilkinson has found her perfect man at last... -
All My Lies Are True by Dorothy Koomson
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFrom the bestselling author of Tell Me Your Secret and The Brighton Mermaid comes the breath-taking sequel to the iconic Sunday Times bestseller The Ice Cream Girls.Verity is telling lies...And that's why she's about to be arrested for attempted murder.Serena has been lying for years. . .And that may have driven her daughter, Verity, to do something unthinkable.. -
Improbably Yours by Kerry Anne King
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAn unusual inheritance leads to a life-changing journey in a novel of romance, secrets, and the treasure of found family.Blythe Harmon is on the fast track to a life she never wanted... -
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
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... -
To Provence, with Love by T A Williams
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsEscape to the south of France with this perfect feel-good summer romance! Anything is possible… Struggling writer Faye Carter just can’t believe her luck... -
The Day She Came Back by Amanda Prowse
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWhen her loving, free-spirited grandmother Primrose passes away, Victoria is bereft, yet resilient—she has survived tragedy before. But even her strength is tested when a mysterious woman attends Prim’s funeral and claims to be the mother Victoria thought was dead... -
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
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... -
Winter at Wishington Bay: A heartwarming, uplifting romance for winter 2020 by Maxine Morrey
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratings'A super sweet read guaranteed to warm any winter evening' Samantha TongeEighteen months ago, Sophia Jones finally walked out on her unhappy life. With a tricky divorce ongoing, money is tight and so when friends offer her a housekeeping job while they’re away travelling, she accepts... -
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Deadly Little Lessons by Laurie Faria Stolarz
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsCamelia Hammond's trying junior year of high school is finally over...but her troubles aren't. After she discovers a painful truth about her family, she escapes to a summer arts program in Rhode Island. Determined to put family - and boyfriend - drama behind her, she throws herself into her artwork.At the arts school, she gets caught up in the case of Sasha Beckerman, a local girl who is missing...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family female-mc friendship high-school action-adventure book contemporary -
What I Remember Most by Cathy Lamb
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn a new novel rich in grace, warmth, and courage, acclaimed author Cathy Lamb tells of one woman's journey of reinvention in the wake of deep betrayal.Grenadine Scotch Wild has only vague memories of the parents she last saw when she was six years old. But she's never forgotten their final, panicked words to her, urging Grenadine to run... -
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... -
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... -
Her First Mistake by Kendra Elliot, Stephanie Németh-Parker
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratings10 hours, 7 minutes When a very personal cold case murder is reopened, a detective’s secrets come to light in a novel of shocking twists and suspense by a Wall Street Journal bestselling author.Thirteen years ago, Assemblyman Derrick Bell was murdered in his home by an intruder. His wife, Noelle Marshall, was left for dead. The crime was unsolved, but it wasn’t forgotten... -
What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 45 ratingsAlice Love is twenty-nine, crazy about her husband, and pregnant with her first child. So imagine Alice’s surprise when she comes to on the floor of a gym (a gym! She HATES the gym) and is whisked off to the hospital where she discovers the honeymoon is truly over — she’s getting divorced, she has three kids, and she’s actually 39 years old... -
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... -
Riverstar by Tess Thompson
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAfter ending an affair with a married movie producer, feisty Hollywood makeup artist Bella Webber finds herself back in the quaint Oregon town of River Valley, the location of a famous director’s latest film... -
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... -
Chasing River by K.A. Tucker
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsArmed with two years' worth of savings and the need to experience life outside the bubble of her Oregon small town, twenty-five-year old Amber Welles is prepared for anything. Except dying in Dublin. Had it not been for the bravery of a stranger, she might have. But he takes off before she has the chance to offer her gratitude. Twenty-four-year-old River Delaney is rattled...Categorized as:
coming-of-age family female-mc friendship realistic action-adventure alpha-mc audiobook -
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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
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... -
The Passing Storm by Christine Nolfi
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsA gripping, openhearted novel about family, reconciliation, and bringing closure to the secrets of the past.Early into the tempestuous decade of her thirties, Rae Langdon struggles to work through a grief she never anticipated. With her father, Connor, she tends to their Ohio farm, a forty-acre spread that itself has enjoyed better days... -
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
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... -
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... -
Between You and Me by Carol Mason
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsIs her new husband really who she thinks he is?When young doctor Lauren Matheson meets Joe, an older divorced businessman, at a glittering poolside in California, it’s a chance encounter that seems life-changing for them both. Back home in London, their feelings only strengthen... -
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
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... -
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... -
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Surviving Ice by K.A. Tucker
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIvy Lee, a talented tattoo artist who spent the early part of her twenties on the move, is looking for a place to call home. She thinks she might have finally found it working in her uncle’s tattoo shop in San Francisco. But all that changes when a robbery turns deadly, compelling her to pack up her things yet again.When they need the best, they call him...Categorized as:
coming-of-age female-mc friendship humor realistic action-adventure alpha-mc asian-mc -
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... -
Susannah's Garden by Debbie Macomber
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWhen Susannah Nelson turned eighteen, she said goodbye to her boyfriend, Jake--and never saw him again. She never saw her brother, Doug, again, either. He died unexpectedly that same year. Now, at fifty, Susannah finds herself regretting the paths not taken. Long married, a mother and a teacher, she should be happy. But she feels there's something missing in her life... -
The Beach Trees by Karen White
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFrom the bestselling author of After the Rain, Sea Change, and The Color of Light...From the time she was twelve, Julie Holt knew what a random tragedy can do to a family. At that tender age, her little sister disappeared-never to be found. It was a loss that slowly eroded the family bonds she once relied on... -
The Newcomer by Mary Kay Andrews
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsMary Kay Andrews, the New York Times bestselling author and Queen of the Beach Reads delivers her next page-turner for the summer with The Newcomer.In trouble and on the run...After she discovers her sister Tanya dead on the floor of her fashionable New York City townhouse, Letty Carnahan is certain she knows who did it: Tanya’s ex; sleazy real estate entrepreneur Evan Wingfield... -
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...
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