Fans pick 100 books like Pretty Instinct

By S E Hall,

Here are 100 books that Pretty Instinct fans have personally recommended if you like Pretty Instinct. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Anna and the French Kiss

Bhavik Sarkhedi Author Of The Unproposed Guy

From my list on romantic teen reads for those who are single.

Why am I passionate about this?

Ever since I penned my first romantic tale Will You Walk A Mile?, I've been enamored with the complexities of young love. For me, writing isn't just a profession; it's akin to breathing. I live to write and write for a living, with a special fondness for narratives that explore the highs and lows of teen romance and human emotion. I have been that ‘teen guy’ next door. That same teenage wonder for love stories that first sparked my passion for writing has stayed with me, maturing into a deeper understanding.  to curate a list of teen novels that will tug at your heartstrings.

Bhavik's book list on romantic teen reads for those who are single

Bhavik Sarkhedi Why did Bhavik love this book?

The romance between Anna and Étienne had me captivated.

It spoke to the part of me that believes in the unpredictability of love. I found myself rooting for them like they were my real-life friends. The Parisian backdrop only intensified my love for this book, tapping into my own memories of youthful, globe-trotting romances.

By Stephanie Perkins,

Why should I read it?

6 authors picked Anna and the French Kiss as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

Can Anna find love in the City of Light? Anna is happy in Atlanta. She has a loyal best friend and a crush on her co-worker at the movie theatre, who is just starting to return her affection. So she's less than thrilled when her father decides to send her to a boarding school in Paris for her senior year. But despite not speaking a word of French, Anna meets some cool new people, including the handsome Etieene St. Clair, who quickly becomes her best friend. Unfortunately, he's taken - and Anna might be, too. Will a year of romantic…


Book cover of The Avery Shaw Experiment

Anna Katmore Author Of Seventeen Butterflies

From my list on super-sweet kisses and swoon-worthy book-boyfriends.

Why am I passionate about this?

Even before I became a romance writer, I already devoured young adult love stories like others eat sandwiches for dinner. It’s that innocent, sweet built-up to the very first kiss of the hero and heroine that would keep me reading or writing all through the night. I believe it’s a rare talent to craft the perfect tension and balance between hot and sweet. And as I’m writing my own love stories by now, I’m still on the hunt for those rare gems within the sea of novels out there.

Anna's book list on super-sweet kisses and swoon-worthy book-boyfriends

Anna Katmore Why did Anna love this book?

I practically inhaled this book when I first opened it!! The writing style of Kelly Oram is outstanding and what she does with her heroes is unique.

The book is about Avery Shaw who got dumped by her best friend since birth, Adrian Kennedy. To overcome her grief, she starts her own seven-stages of grief experiment, journaling every step of the way. But honestly, she would have never made it past step four without the wonderful help of Grayson Kennedy, Adrian’s older brother.

By spending time with Avery, he turns from a teenage heartbreaker to a determined lover. And while Avery stubbornly forges on with her experiment, Grayson gets on his own mission to win her heart.

By Kelly Oram,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Avery Shaw Experiment as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 14, 15, 16, and 17.

What is this book about?

When Avery Shaw's heart is shattered by her life-long best friend, she chooses to deal with it the only way she knows how-scientifically. The state science fair is coming up and Avery decides to use her broken heart as the topic of her experiment. She's going to find the cure. By forcing herself to experience the seven stages of grief through a series of social tests, she believes she will be able to get over Aiden Kennedy and make herself ready to love again. But she can't do this experiment alone, and her partner (ex partner!) is the one who…


Book cover of Daughters of Darkness

Anna Katmore Author Of Seventeen Butterflies

From my list on super-sweet kisses and swoon-worthy book-boyfriends.

Why am I passionate about this?

Even before I became a romance writer, I already devoured young adult love stories like others eat sandwiches for dinner. It’s that innocent, sweet built-up to the very first kiss of the hero and heroine that would keep me reading or writing all through the night. I believe it’s a rare talent to craft the perfect tension and balance between hot and sweet. And as I’m writing my own love stories by now, I’m still on the hunt for those rare gems within the sea of novels out there.

Anna's book list on super-sweet kisses and swoon-worthy book-boyfriends

Anna Katmore Why did Anna love this book?

It’s the second book of the Night World series, and Ash Redfern was my first-ever real book-crush. Heck, it lasted until today, 25 years later!!

The story is about three vampire sisters seeking refuge in a small town. Ash, their arrogant brother, arrives to bring them home but then he meets the adamant human girl, Mary-Lynnette. Until that day, he never believed in love, but it’s outstandingly beautiful to watch him fall for Mary-Lynnette and try to convince her to let him change her into a vampire, too, so they can be together forever.

I read the pages of their first kiss under the star-studded sky like 10 times before I could even continue reading the book!

By L. J. Smith,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Daughters of Darkness as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

Love was never so scary... The Night World is all around. It's beautiful - and deadly - and it's so easy to fall in love...



Three sisters with a secret, on the run from their cruel and ruthless brother. Can innocent Mary Lynette resiste his powerful charm - and save the sisters and herself from a deadly fate at the hands of a werewolf?


Book cover of Switched

Anna Katmore Author Of Seventeen Butterflies

From my list on super-sweet kisses and swoon-worthy book-boyfriends.

Why am I passionate about this?

Even before I became a romance writer, I already devoured young adult love stories like others eat sandwiches for dinner. It’s that innocent, sweet built-up to the very first kiss of the hero and heroine that would keep me reading or writing all through the night. I believe it’s a rare talent to craft the perfect tension and balance between hot and sweet. And as I’m writing my own love stories by now, I’m still on the hunt for those rare gems within the sea of novels out there.

Anna's book list on super-sweet kisses and swoon-worthy book-boyfriends

Anna Katmore Why did Anna love this book?

I read this book so many years ago and still remember what an awkwardly sweet guy Wesley was.

There were so many laugh-out-loud moments in this novel, all thanks to him. He and Kayla concoct a plan to break up their best friends, the couple Talon and Reagan. Although this doesn’t sound like a nice thing at the beginning, you’ll see that Kayla and Wes have the best intentions. And when they finally fall for each other, there’s this smitten sigh you can’t hold back any longer, promise! :)

Book cover of Electric Guitar Making & Marketing: How to build and market high-end instruments, from your workshop's setup to the complete business plan

R.M. Mottola Author Of Building the Steel String Acoustic Guitar

From my list on building stringed musical instruments.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been building guitars and related instruments since 1994. My enthusiasm for guitar construction led me to deeply explore all aspects of the art and to share as much information as I can with others via my lutherie information website, writing for American Lutherie, published books, and my research publications. I am fortunate to count myself among those that consider building stringed musical instruments to be one of the best things one can do.

R.M.'s book list on building stringed musical instruments

R.M. Mottola Why did R.M. love this book?

Electric guitars and basses are the most popular stringed musical instruments.

Many players dream of building their own instrument. This book provides step-by-step instructions for doing just that. The author is an enthusiastic builder himself, and is also a teacher of instrument construction.

The book is written in a direct and personal style, and anticipates all of the questions a novice builder will ask. This is amazingly confidence-building. For first-time builders of electric guitars, there is no better place to start than this book.

By Leo Lospennato,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Electric Guitar Making & Marketing as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This book tells you everything about making electric guitars following professional standards, phase-by-phase, step-by-step.

It's all about leaving your dent in the universe in the shape of the most beautiful, incredibly sounding guitar you can make—that's clear. But building guitars professionally starts before you even cut the wood: You need to setup your workplace, you have to define your identity as guitar maker, and decide the guiding principles of your endeavor as luthier. What kind of guitars will you build? For whom? What is going to be the winning characteristic of your instruments?

And then you have to sell the…


Book cover of Faking It With the Grump

Lark Holiday Author Of A Darling Handyman

From my list on wholesome romance with charming small towns.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always had a passion for small towns, both real and fictional. After living in a bunch of them myself (in real life, not my head), I decided to try creating my own picture-perfect places. Like most writers, my love of books started with reading. I have read hundreds of wholesome, small-town romance novels, and I hope to read hundreds more! This list has some of my recent favorites. Bonus: All the books on this list are the first in a series, so if you love them, more swoonworthy stories await! (PS The list is in no particular order, I love each book equally!)

Lark's book list on wholesome romance with charming small towns

Lark Holiday Why did Lark love this book?

Small town that you will want a realtor for: Hunter’s Creek, WA

Okay, not only is this book super sweet, but it’s hilarious. I felt like I was hanging out with friends as I laughed out loud throughout the story. You can bet Faking It With The Grump has a small town you’ll love just as much as the characters.

Not to mention, if you’re like me and fall for side characters just as hard as you do the main ones, you’re going to adore this book! Seriously, where is Hunter’s Creek exactly, and when can I visit it?

Book cover of Detransition, Baby

Tim Murphy Author Of Speech Team

From my list on LGBTQ+ characters who are a total mess.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a 54-year-old gay man who has led my own messy life here in New York City, marked as much by sex, romance, friendship, and culture as by drug addiction, relationship drama, mental illness and youthful trauma. I’ve published five novels, all of which contain queer characters who’ve not exactly been poster children for mainstream-world-approved LGBTQ behavior. I’m drawn to novels like the ones I’ve mentioned because they show queer people not as the hetero world often would like them to be—sanitized, asexual, witty and “fabulous”—but as capable of dysfunction, mediocrity, unwise choices and poor conduct as anybody else.

Tim's book list on LGBTQ+ characters who are a total mess

Tim Murphy Why did Tim love this book?

Like a hipster Brooklyn transgender Sex and the City, this novel is a chatty, hilarious, and moving look at queer folks grasping for parenthood and family in a world where all the rules have been thrown out.

The book’s narrator, transwoman Reese, takes us on this ride with such sardonic, poignant insight about the world she lives in that we begin to feel like we live in it, too. When Reese’s ex, Ames—who has detransitioned from his former transwoman identity, Amy—gets his straight female boss pregnant, the three of them begin negotiating how they might raise the child together.

But the novel’s true power lies in how Reese explains her life and her friends to us—bravely refusing to portray trans people as angelic role models and instead offering something deeper and more endearing: showing them as real people.

By Torrey Peters,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Detransition, Baby as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The lives of three women—transgender and cisgender—collide after an unexpected pregnancy forces them to confront their deepest desires in “one of the most celebrated novels of the year” (Time)

“Reading this novel is like holding a live wire in your hand.”—Vulture

Named one of the Best Books of the Year by more than twenty publications, including The New York Times Book Review, Entertainment Weekly, NPR, Time, Vogue, Esquire, Vulture, and Autostraddle

PEN/Hemingway Award Winner • Finalist for the Lambda Literary Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Gotham Book Prize • Longlisted for The Women’s…


Book cover of Take Two

Clare Ashton Author Of Meeting Millie

From my list on sapphic second chance romances.

Why am I passionate about this?

I think all romance writers have their favourite trope, and second chances has the strongest hold on me. I’m a person who makes mistakes, so I love to see equally fallible humans getting their second chance at a happy ever after too. People with a history always lend depth to a story too. At any point, you can pluck a moment from their past to show an element of their relationship. And angst. I love a good dose of angst. With second chances, it's likely been a rocky road. Then the clincher for me, that sense of fate and destiny of people who’ve gone separate ways but find themselves drawn back together.

Clare's book list on sapphic second chance romances

Clare Ashton Why did Clare love this book?

Stephanie Shea makes wonderful use of plucking out little bits of history and knowledge the characters have of each other in Take Two.

You get a super sense especially of Andy in this book – her physicality, the kind of human she is, and the enduring strength of Whitney’s attraction to her. This is a couple who are never going to be over each other – this comes across most strongly in this book for me.

I forgot to mention yearning in my intro. I love sapphic yearning, and in second-chance romances, the characters really know what they're missing and what they’re yearning for. And Stephanie has me totally convinced in this one.

I admire this author for word wizardry and flawed characters you can’t help loving. Take Two is book three of the wonderful Gia series but can be read standalone.

By Stephanie Shea,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Take Two as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


Book cover of The Wheels on the Bus

Steve Light Author Of Road Trip! a Whiskers Hollow Adventure

From my list on going on an adventure.

Why am I passionate about this?

As an author/illustrator of 26 books for children and a full-time teacher of 3 year old’s in a nursery school. I read 1-2 books to a classroom of little critics every day. I’m also a lover of adventure although most of my adventures take place in my mind, the library or museum! As a storyteller, I love seeing the adventures books can take young readers on. 

Steve's book list on going on an adventure

Steve Light Why did Steve love this book?

As a teacher of 3 year old’s in a nursery school, this is a classroom favorite. Most kids know the song already and here is a small adventure they have gone on – riding the bus. The illustrations are stellar with lots of little stories told only in the illustrations (the box of kittens!) If you put this out in the classroom, get two copies. Sadly the pop-ups don’t survive the love of the students! I keep one pristine in the cabinet to read to the class.

By Paul O. Zelinsky,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Wheels on the Bus as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this novelty book of a favourite children's song, the music of the song is also included at the end.


Book cover of Last Stop on Market Street

Terri Fields Author Of One Good Deed

From my list on create a world of kindness.

Why am I passionate about this?

There is much in the world that we cannot change. This is much that can make us feel sad or angry. So, is there nothing we can do about all of this? I believe in the depths of my being that we can all reach out, be kind, and do good deeds. Instead of just complaining about wrong things, we can do something to try to make the world a little better, a little brighter, even if it’s just for one other person. That’s why I wrote my book.

Terri's book list on create a world of kindness

Terri Fields Why did Terri love this book?

I loved the relationship between the boy and his grandmother, and I thought the message was poignant and wonderful. It’s good to let children know that though some people have more than others do materially, it does not make them better. And it is up to everyone to reach out to those who have less if they can help. 

By Matt de la Peña, Christian Robinson (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

10 authors picked Last Stop on Market Street as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 3, 4, and 5.

What is this book about?

Every Sunday after church, CJ and his grandma ride the bus across town. But today, CJ wonders why they don't own a car like his friend Colby. Why doesn't he have an iPod like the boys on the bus? How come they always have to get off in the dirty part of town? Each question is met with an encouraging answer from grandma, who helps him see the beauty and fun in their routine and in the world around them. This energetic ride through a bustling city highlights the love and understanding between grandparent and grandchild as the world comes…


Book cover of Anna and the French Kiss
Book cover of The Avery Shaw Experiment
Book cover of Daughters of Darkness

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