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Books Like The Hating Game

If The Hating Game by Sally Thorne worked for you, these indie books offer a similar reading experience. The comparison comes from AI analysis of each full manuscript (pacing, tone, tropes, and more), not from marketing copy.

Cover of Jillian's Island

Jillian's Island

Kimberly Webb

JILLIAN'S ISLAND Book 1 of The Castaways series Every paradise has a predator. A shipwreck. Seven castaways. A disaster that was no accident. Days after meeting Dr. Carter Buckley, Jillian is certain she's found someone worth holding on to. Then their luxury cruise ends in catastrophe, leaving seven strangers stranded on a remote Bahamian island with little hope of rescue—and no choice but to depend on one another. As the castaways fight to survive, strange discoveries reveal an unsettling truth: the shipwreck wasn't an accident. Someone wanted the cruise to end in tragedy, and the deeper Jillian and Carter dig, the clearer it becomes that the people responsible will do anything to keep the truth buried.

Romantic Suspense
Cover of Till the Tide

Till the Tide

K.C. Mitchell

Some love stories aren’t about finding someone else—they’re about finding yourself. Four years after losing her husband, Mia Montgomery is surviving, not living. A tropical escape brings her face-to-face with Greyson Williams. Their first meeting is awkward—Mia mistakes him for a server. When she learns he owns the resort, she’s mortified. Greyson, tired of shallow connections, is drawn to her. What begins as an uneasy encounter turns into something deeper. Greyson awakens a side of Mia she’s never known, while she challenges him to risk something real. But chemistry isn’t enough. Grief, fear, and their differences threaten to end everything before it begins. Till the Tide is a story of healing, courage, and two wounded hearts discovering that sometimes the tide doesn’t pull you under—it carries you back to life.

Contemporary
Cover of The Last Defense

The Last Defense

K.C. Mitchell

A reckless cowboy. A woman who refuses to be impressed. An enemy patiently waiting in the shadows. Corbin “Blaze” Lucas has always thrived on danger. With his cocky grin and take-no-prisoners attitude, he’s never met a risk he couldn’t handle. Until the danger—one he never could have imagined—starts following him home. What begins as pranks quickly turns deadly as the threats escalate. For the first time, Corbin realizes he may not be able to outmaneuver the enemy. Forced into hiding at a safehouse ranch, Corbin clashes with owner Raleigh Whitaker—a sharp-tongued psychologist who refuses to be charmed by his swagger or fooled by his defenses. She sees the man beneath the mask… and she’s not letting him hide behind his charm. But as tension ignites into something deeper, the danger finds them. Because the enemy hunting Corbin isn’t stopping. And when the truth finally comes to light, it won’t just destroy his defenses…It will unravel everything he thought he knew about himself.

Romantic Suspense
Cover of Too Late to Be Good

Too Late to Be Good

Harper Reynolds

A bourbon heiress. A reclusive mountain man. One brutal winter storm with no escape. Evie Ward runs to the mountains to escape the wreckage of her life. Instead, she ends up stranded in a remote lodge with Ryder Hale, a guarded ex-soldier with too many ghosts and no interest in letting anyone close. The storm traps them. The cold closes in. And the only thing more dangerous than the mountain is the way he looks at her. Ryder knows better than to want her. He’s built his life on distance, control, and never needing anyone. But Evie doesn’t scare easy. She sees past the walls he’s spent years hiding behind, and the longer they’re trapped together, the harder it is for him to pretend she doesn’t matter. Then the mountain lets them go. And reality comes crashing in. Because Evie’s past isn’t done with her. And Ryder Hale survived war, isolation, and the mountain. Evie Ward might be the one thing that finally ruins him. Tropes: Forced Proximity • Grumpy Sunshine • Age Gap • Wounded Hero • Runaway Heiress • Found Family Heat: Spicy Ending: Guaranteed HEA Uncover the fight for a love he’s sure he doesn’t deserve and she refuses to live without.

Contemporary
Cover of Playing for Keeps

Playing for Keeps

Lainey Davis

I accidentally married a stranger in Vegas, and now my hockey career is falling apart. As the rookie goalie for the Pittsburgh Fury, I should be focused on proving I belong in the pros like my father before me. Instead, I can't stop thinking about my wife—a stunning cellist whose music breaks down every defense I've built. She moved to Pittsburgh for me, fits perfectly with my rowdy family, and should be everything I never knew I wanted. But her controlling father is feeding lies to the press, my coaches are starting to believe them, and the team is icing me out. Was marrying her the biggest mistake of my life, or the best gamble I'll ever make?

Contemporary

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