Books like 'Believe Like a Child'

Readers who enjoyed Believe Like a Child by Paige Dearth also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.

contemporary  dark romance  mystery  tortured heroine

  • Lie To Her by Melinda Leigh

    Lie To Her by Melinda Leigh

    Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 2 of 5
    Behind closed doors [?] · 40 ratings
    Lies from the heart lead to a dangerously intimate case for Sheriff Bree Taggert in #1 Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh’s novel of revenge and fatal deceptions.When a digital marketer is found murdered in his backyard—hands bound and face smothered by plastic wrap—Sheriff Bree Taggert and criminal investigator Matt Flynn respond to the call...
  • Little Girl Vanished by Denise Grover Swank

    Little Girl Vanished by Denise Grover Swank

    Rated: 4.61 of 5 stars
    · 19 ratings
    Disgraced, ex-detective Harper Adams is perfectly content wallowing at rock bottom. She’s lost her job, house, and reputation, and it only gets worse when she’s forced to move back home to Jackson Creek, Arkansas, the one place she swore she’d never return. But everything changes when she gets chilling news...
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  • Heartbreak Bay by Rachel Caine

    Heartbreak Bay by Rachel Caine

    Rated: 4.47 of 5 stars
    · 29 ratings
    They’re hunting a killer so silent, so invisible, that his unspeakable crimes are the only proof he exists.A car submerged in a remote pond. The bodies of two girls strapped into their seats. The mystery of their mother, vanished without a trace, leads Gwen Proctor and Kezia Claremont into dangerous territory...
  • Can't Go Back by Debra Webb

    Can't Go Back by Debra Webb

    Rated: 4.47 of 5 stars
    · 30 ratings
    The past and the present collide in the final installment of USA Today bestselling author Debra Webb’s Devlin & Falco series, threatening everything these two detectives care about.Birmingham detectives Kerri Devlin and Luke Falco arrive at the scene of a double homicide to discover that nothing makes sense...
  • Unbreakable by Cari Hunter

    Unbreakable by Cari Hunter

    Rated: 4.58 of 5 stars
    · 13 ratings
    Dr. Grace Kendal never stands a chance. The injured woman comes out of nowhere, bleeding heavily and holding a gun. Compelled to help her, Grace is dragged into Elin Breckenridge’s nightmare. Their fight to survive will take them across the country and to the limits of their endurance...
    Categorized as:
    mystery  f-f  suspense  contemporary  dark  queer  length-medium
  • The Dark Bones by Loreth Anne White

    The Dark Bones by Loreth Anne White

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 27 ratings
    She’s come back to solve the mystery of her father’s death and confront her own dark past. When Detective Rebecca North left her rural hometown, she vowed never to return. Her father’s apparent suicide has changed that. The official report is that retired cop Noah North shot himself, knocked over a lantern, and set his isolated cabin ablaze. But Rebecca cannot believe he killed himself...
  • Olive Juice by T.J. Klune

    Olive Juice by T.J. Klune

    Rated: 4.47 of 5 stars
    · 15 ratings
    It begins with a message that David cannot ignore:I want to see you.He agrees, and on a cold winter’s night, David and Phillip will come together to sift through the wreckage of the memory of a life no longer lived.David is burdened, carrying with him the heavy guilt of the past six years upon his shoulders.Phillip offers redemption...
    Categorized as:
    mystery  m-m  contemporary  angst  dark  queer  length-novella
  • Killman Creek by Rachel Caine

    Killman Creek by Rachel Caine

    Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars
    · 59 ratings
    Every time Gwen closed her eyes, she saw him in her nightmares. Now her eyes are open, and he’s not going away.Gwen Proctor won the battle to save her kids from her ex-husband, serial killer Melvin Royal, and his league of psychotic accomplices. But the war isn’t over. Not since Melvin broke out of prison. Not since she received a chilling text…You’re not safe anywhere now...
  • Extreme Risk by Jane Blythe

    Extreme Risk by Jane Blythe

    Rated: 4.54 of 5 stars
    · 15 ratings
    Can she accept an offer of help from a patient she’s attracted to?Dr. Piper Hamilton is used to keeping on the fringes. She knows what it's like to be responsible for the death of someone you love and she'd do anything to protect herself from feeling that pain again...
  • Murder Girl by Lisa Renee Jones

    Murder Girl by Lisa Renee Jones

    Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    New York Times bestselling author Lisa Renee Jones returns with the second book in her electrifying series featuring Lilah Love, an FBI profiler who doesn’t fight her dark side—she embraces it. It’s Lilah Love’s job to inhabit a killer’s mind. The unapologetically tough FBI profiler is very comfortable there. But her latest case is making her head spin...
  • The Demon by Stella Andrews

    The Demon by Stella Andrews

    Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    They call me The Demon for a reason and Eliza Ortega is about to find out why.A runaway mafia princess who stumbled from one nightmare to an even bigger one.She has something I want and I intend on collecting.I will stop at nothing to deliver my promise and if there are casualties I will consider it a good day at the office.My hobby is testing limits...
  • Calamity by Elizabeth N. Harris

    Calamity by Elizabeth N. Harris

    Rated: 4.75 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    An abused child sought a home and discovered one in Rage MC. He was accepted, welcomed and finally found his place. He protected the old ladies, embraced Rages’ values and became their perfect prospect. Until the day he saw her. The Rage Princess nobody dared date. The moment he touched her, he knew she was his one. But they were too young, and he hadn’t earned his way. So he bided his time...
    Categorized as:
    mystery  contemporary  bikers  dark  length-short
  • Texas Bodyguard: Chance by Janie Crouch

    Texas Bodyguard: Chance by Janie Crouch

    Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    She has secrets she prefers to keep hidden.Too bad he’s so good at getting to the truth.When a violent attack puts Maci Ford in the hospital, security expert Chance Patterson learns that she’s carrying his baby. Even though she ended their relationship, he’s determined to do whatever it takes to protect her and their child...
  • Last Resort by Janie Crouch

    Last Resort by Janie Crouch

    Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    From USA TODAY Bestselling Author Janie Crouch. Previously published as Texas ChanceShe has secrets she prefers to keep hidden.Too bad he’s so good at getting to the truth.When a violent attack puts Maci Ford in the hospital, security expert Chance Patterson learns that she’s carrying his baby...
  • Layered Lies by Kaylie Hunter

    Layered Lies by Kaylie Hunter

    Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars
    · 13 ratings
    Two years after her son was abducted, Kelsey Harrison rebuilds a new life for herself. She opens a store, makes new friends, and settles into a peaceful existence. At least, that’s what she hopes the world believes.Behind closed doors, Kelsey hunts her enemies, living a life of lies. She hasn’t forgotten, hasn’t forgiven. She searches for answers still...
  • The Good Lie by A.R. Torre

    The Good Lie by A.R. Torre

    Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars
    · 46 ratings
    Six teens murdered. A suspect behind bars. A desperate father. In a case this shadowy, the truth is easy to hide.Six teenagers dead. Finally, the killer behind bars. But are the games just beginning?Psychiatrist Dr. Gwen Moore is an expert on killers...
  • Six Degrees of Separation by Taylor V. Donovan

    Six Degrees of Separation by Taylor V. Donovan

    Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars
    · 20 ratings
    *WARNING FROM THE AUTHOR: By Degrees is an ensemble serial with continuing story lines. Six Degrees of Separation is the second installment, and it must be read after Six Degrees of Lust. Thanks. In the sequel to Six Degrees of Lust, F.B.I. team leader Samuel Shaughnessy and bar manager Machlan O’Bannon are exploring a new phase in their non-relationship...
  • A Day of Ruin by Steph Macca

    A Day of Ruin by Steph Macca

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    What do my high school sweetheart, roommate and work associate have in common?They all loved me and now they hate me.My family used to run this town. Until that fateful night when my mother died, and an innocent man went to prison…And it was apparently all my fault.Not only did the entire town now hate me, but I was left with my mother’s secret crippling debt. And I had to face everything alone...
  • In These Words, Volume 3 by Kichiku Neko, Guilt Pleasure

    In These Words, Volume 3 by Kichiku Neko, Guilt Pleasure

    Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Shinohara Kenji implemented Asano Katsuya's plan to draw out the serial killer who'd been plagueing the police for years. The net was cast. However, Asano was unexpectedly ensnared in it. For six days, as Shinohara searched for him frantically - the doctor was forced to endure the pain of extreme love and hate for the killer. Then on the seventh day - everything crashed down in a devastating end...
    Categorized as:
    mystery  m-m  dark  contemporary  queer  horror  length-short
  • Never Look Back by Mary Burton

    Never Look Back by Mary Burton

    Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars
    · 38 ratings
    Expect the unexpected in this gritty, tense, and page-turning mystery from New York Times bestselling author Mary Burton.After multiple women go missing, Agent Melina Shepard of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation makes the impulsive decision to go undercover as a prostitute...
  • The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith

    The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith

    Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars
    · 45 ratings
    The latest installment in the highly acclaimed, internationally bestselling Strike series finds Cormoran and Robin ensnared in another winding, wicked case.When frantic, dishevelled Edie Ledwell appears in the office begging to speak to her, private detective Robin Ellacott doesn't know quite what to make of the situation...
    Categorized as:
    mystery  contemporary  suspense  death  dark  length-epic
  • A Reckless Note by Lisa Renee Jones

    A Reckless Note by Lisa Renee Jones

    Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars
    · 21 ratings
    “I can chase you, and I can catch you, but there is nothing I can do to make you mine.” ― Morrissey It all started with a note, just a simple note hand written by a woman I didn't know, never even met. But in that note is perhaps every answer to every question I've ever had in my life. And because of that note, I travel thousands of miles. I look for her, but find him...
  • Tangled up in Hate by Charlotte Byrd

    Tangled up in Hate by Charlotte Byrd

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 13 ratings
    Epic love requires an epic sacrifice… A long time ago, I borrowed money from a very powerful family. I paid my debt, but they have come for more. They want everything that I have built and they will hurt her if I refuse. Harley doesn’t understand why I have to break her heart. She hates me, but at least she’s okay…for now...
  • Tease Me: A Stark International Novel by J. Kenner

    Tease Me: A Stark International Novel by J. Kenner

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 13 ratings
    From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author J. Kenner comes a new story in her Stark International series…Entertainment reporter Jamie Archer knew it would be hard when her husband, Stark Security Chief Ryan Hunter, was called away for a long-term project in London. The distance is difficult to endure, but Jamie trusts the deep and passionate love that has always burned between them...
  • The Saint by Kimberly Kincaid

    The Saint by Kimberly Kincaid

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    His partner’s most trusted informant is his only hope…and his only weakness.When Detective Liam Hollister is assigned to an assault-turned-murder, he brings his signature three “C”s: control, calm, and composure. The “C” he wasn’t counting on? His partner’s informant, Carmen Desoto, who’s not only the key to unlocking his case...
  • Gabby's Protector by Janie Crouch, Regan Black

    Gabby's Protector by Janie Crouch, Regan Black

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    After a heart-shattering tragedy, Tony Marino bottled up his emotions and gave more than twenty hard years to the SEAL teams. Now, he’s enjoying a later in life career in paradise in the Ellington Cove special security office.The best part? Working with their research expert, Gabby Ladd...
  • Angel of Mercy by Cara Malone

    Angel of Mercy by Cara Malone

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    “Angel of mercy. It was the stuff of legend, and nightmares. The caregiver who was supposed to heal and protect, who chose instead to kill.”In her very first case with the FCPD homicide division, Tate Macawi is investigating a death at one of Fox County’s most upscale nursing homes...
    Categorized as:
    mystery  f-f  queer  dark  contemporary  suspense  length-short
  • Wishing Well by Lily White

    Wishing Well by Lily White

    Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    The perfect timing of a fairy tale is tied to its tragedy… Journalist, Meadow Graham, is invited to interview death row inmate, Vincent Mercier. Given three days to hear his sordid confession, Meadow seeks to learn why a wealthy hotel owner killed four people, including her twin sister...
    Categorized as:
    mystery  suspense  dark  contemporary  bdsm  length-medium
  • A Cry in the Dark by Jessica R. Patch

    A Cry in the Dark by Jessica R. Patch

    Rated: 4.37 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Deep in the Kentucky hills, three women have been found brutalized and murdered.But the folks in Night Holler have their own ways and their own laws.And they’re not talking…Led to an isolated Appalachian Mountain town by a trail of disturbing murders, FBI special agent Violet Rainwater’s determined to catch a serial killer with a twisted agenda...
  • Find Her by Lisa Gardner

    Find Her by Lisa Gardner

    Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars
    · 53 ratings
    * This is an updated cover of this Kindle edition. *Lisa Gardner's runaway New York Times bestseller—a fast-paced thrill ride featuring Detective D. D. Warren.Seven years ago, carefree college student Flora Dane was kidnapped while on spring break. For 472 days, Flora learned just how much one person can endure...
  • Whiskey & You  (The Kings of Texas Billionaires) by H.J. Bellus

    Whiskey & You (The Kings of Texas Billionaires) by H.J. Bellus

    Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars
    · 11 ratings
    Sometimes it’s the hero who ends up needing a lifeline… Jack Jarvis York is a ruthless and vindictive oil tycoon who knows no boundaries when he’s been double-crossed. Debtors beware. He’ll slit your throat for a nickel. And make no mistake, he will collect. You never screw with a man’s pride, money, or oil. It’s Texas Law. Unwritten, yet gospel...
  • The Last Party by A.R. Torre

    The Last Party by A.R. Torre

    Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars
    · 30 ratings
    A loving mother. A notorious murderer. They both have reasons to hide their secrets in a novel of escalating shock and suspense by New York Times bestselling author A. R. Torre.Perla Wultz lives with her husband, Grant, and their precious daughter, Sophie, in a gated Pasadena community. Affluent, sociable, and accomplished, Perla plays the part of loving wife and mother to perfection...
  • It's Our Secret by W. Winters

    It's Our Secret by W. Winters

    Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 3 of 5
    Open door [?] · 12 ratings
    From romance author Willow Winters comes a USA Today best-selling emotionally gripping, standalone, romantic suspense. Allison: It was only a little lie.That’s how stories like these get started.But with every lie I told, he saw through it.I think in his heart he knew I was broken; he felt my pain as if it was his.And that’s what changed everything.He’s the reason it all fell apart...
  • Blindsighted by Karin Slaughter

    Blindsighted by Karin Slaughter

    Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars
    · 64 ratings
    A small Georgia town erupts in panic when a young college professor is found brutally mutilated in the local diner. But it's only when town pediatrician and coroner Sara Linton does the autopsy that the full extent of the killer's twisted work becomes clear...
  • The Direction of the Wind by Mansi Shah

    The Direction of the Wind by Mansi Shah

    Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars
    · 37 ratings
    A heartfelt story that spans continents and generations, about a young woman who searches for answers about a mother she barely remembers.Sophie Shah was six when she learned her mother, Nita, had died. For twenty-two years, she shouldered the burden of that loss. But when her father passes away, Sophie discovers a cache of hidden letters revealing a shattering truth: her mother didn’t die...
  • If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino, William Weaver

    If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino, William Weaver

    Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars
    · 48 ratings
    If on a Winter's Night a Traveler is a marvel of ingenuity, an experimental text that looks longingly back to the great age of narration--"when time no longer seemed stopped and did not yet seem to have exploded...
    Categorized as:
    mystery  contemporary  dark  length-medium
  • Undone by Cat Clarke

    Undone by Cat Clarke

    Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars
    · 23 ratings
    Jem Halliday is in love with her gay best friend. Not exactly ideal, but she's learning to live with it. Then the unspeakable happens. Kai is outed online ... and he kills himself. Jem knows nothing she can say or do will bring him back. But she wants to know who was responsible. And she wants to take them down. A searing story of love, revenge and betrayal from a bestselling author...
  • Under Grand Hotel, Volume 02 by Mika Sadahiro

    Under Grand Hotel, Volume 02 by Mika Sadahiro

    Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    Sen Owari, a Japanese student formerly studying at Columbia University in New York, was sentenced to serve 80 years in prison at "Under Grand Hotel" for the murder of his lover's husband. While serving his time in jail, new evidence surfaces for Sen and sheds new light on the crime. It may prove to be his chance to be released early..
  • Deep by Susan Fanetti

    Deep by Susan Fanetti

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Nick Pagano is a leader in the Pagano Brothers organization. As their head enforcer, it has been his responsibility to mete out justice, to seek retaliation, to uncover the secrets of Pagano enemies by any means necessary, and to sink deep the evidence of those means. It is work that requires keen vision and perfect control. It is work at which Nick excels. It is work that has made him dark...
  • Wrath by Gwyn McNamee

    Wrath by Gwyn McNamee

    Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars
    · 7 ratings
    All I see is red.Blood.Pain.Rage.It consumes me.The moment he took her, wrath invaded my soul.I only have one purpose. End him and take back what’s mine. Love isn’t always clean, and wrath is the deadliest sin...
  • The Button Man by Davidson King

    The Button Man by Davidson King

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    A visit from Button Man means only one thing: someone wants you dead.Duke is born into the world a hired killer. It’s his birthright—all he knows, all he thinks he’ll ever be. Then one fateful night, the unthinkable occurs and in the most tragic of moments, a promise is made...
  • HAVOC by Ker Dukey

    HAVOC by Ker Dukey

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    My brother once told me, it’s not murder if your hand is forced.But he doesn’t know the secrets I keep.I wasn’t always like this. Angry. Rebellious. A killer.The world I was born into made me this way, pushed me to become what I am. Killers aren’t born,they're made.And do you want to know one of my secrets?I like it.The kill. The violence. The vengeance.It excites me. Empowers me. Feeds me...
    Categorized as:
    mystery  dark  contemporary  suspense  bikers  abuse
  • False Hope by Meli Raine

    False Hope by Meli Raine

    Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars
    · 19 ratings
    She thinks she’s fooled me. But I’ve known all along.Almost.Lily is hiding something, a secret so big, she came out of a year-long coma and her first instinct was to lie.Who does that? Someone who is afraid. No—not afraid.Terrified. And it’s my job to take that fear away.My partner and I have spent countless man-hours hunting down the cold-blooded killer who did this to her...
  • I'm Watching You by Karen Rose

    I'm Watching You by Karen Rose

    Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 3 of 5
    Open door [?] · 43 ratings
    I Know Their Crimes. Star prosecutor Kristen Mayhew has a dangerous secret admirer. He seems to know her every thought, her every move. He sends her letters. And he kills the criminals she herself is powerless to stop. I Hunt Down the Guilty...
  • Requiem & Reverie by Keri Lake

    Requiem & Reverie by Keri Lake

    Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars
    · 9 ratings
    From USA Today Bestselling author Keri Lake comes an intense and gritty romantic thriller that'll have you turning the pages well past your bedtime. It takes a killer to catch a killer. And no one understands the motives of ruthless murderer, The Sandman, quite like Rhett Voss. Having spent his childhood in the shadows of the deranged lunatic, he’s become an expert on the topic...
  • Shadow Man by Cody McFadyen

    Shadow Man by Cody McFadyen

    Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars
    · 32 ratings
    Once, Special Agent Smoky Barrett hunted serial killers for the FBI. She was one of the best–until a madman terrorized her family, killed her husband and daughter, and left her face scarred and her soul brutalized. Turning the tables on the killer, Smoky shot him dead–but her life was shattered forever. Now Smoky dreams about picking up her weapon again...
    Categorized as:
    mystery  contemporary  rape  dark  suspense  length-long
  • Buried Deception by Amanda McKinney

    Buried Deception by Amanda McKinney

    Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    In the pulse-racing first installment of the On the Edge series, a criminal psychologist teams up with a former marine on a deadly wildland mission. Not even their hearts can stay out of harm’s way.In the swamps of East Texas, alligators aren’t the only danger lurking in the shadows...
  • Crank by Ellen Hopkins

    Crank by Ellen Hopkins

    Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars
    · 105 ratings
    In 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...
    Categorized as:
    mystery  contemporary  pregnancy  rape  dark  abuse  length-long
  • A Faint Cold Fear by Karin Slaughter

    A Faint Cold Fear by Karin Slaughter

    Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars
    · 51 ratings
    An apparent student suicide has brought medical examiner Sara Linton to the local college campus, along with her ex-husband, police chief Jeffrey Tolliver. But a horribly mutilated corpse yields up few answers...
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