Book picks similar to
Kai by Jessica Santiago


mermaids
fantasy-paranormal-mythology
mermaid-mermen

Sea Swept


Erica Cope - 2014
    But something has changed. Lately she has found herself strangely drawn to the ocean. It's as though the sea is casting a spell over her, calling out to her, and she can't help but feel that it coincides with the arrival of the mysterious stranger in town.Addie's never had a reason to step foot in the ocean until one night she's forced to dive into the salty depths. There she makes a startling discovery and exposes a hidden threat looming beneath the surface. Now, Addie knows there is more to her lifelong fear of the water than she ever imagined possible—and that it may be the only thing keeping her from being swept away by the sea.

The Vicious Deep


Zoraida Córdova - 2012
    He was gone for three days. Sucked out to sea in a tidal wave and spit back ashore at Coney Island with no memory of what happened. Now his dreams are haunted by a terrifying silver mermaid with razor-sharp teeth. His best friend Layla is convinced something is wrong. But how can he explain he can sense emotion like never before? How can he explain he's heir to a kingdom he never knew existed? That he's suddenly a pawn in a battle as ancient as the gods. Something happened to him in those three days. He was claimed by the sea...and now it wants him back.

Ocean's Justice


Demelza Carlton - 2014
    A Scottish hero determined to protect her. Can they survive the storm? Cast adrift on the Indian Ocean, Maria carries a terrible secret. Wherever she goes, death soon follows, and she's powerless to prevent it. William McGregor boarded the SS Trevessa in search of adventure, but he gets more than he bargained for when he saves the mysterious Maria from the sea. She can't tell them her tragic tale, so the superstitious sailors make up their own stories - and some would sacrifice her to the waves to save themselves from the coming storm. When the sharks start circling and the storm closes in, are sirens more than just a myth?

Deep Blue


Jennifer Donnelly - 2014
    On the eve of the Dokimí ceremony, which will determine if she is worthy of the crown, Sera is haunted by a strange dream that foretells the return of an ancient evil. But her nightmare is forgotten the next day as she diligently practices her songspell; eagerly anticipates a reunion with her best friend, Neela; and anxiously worries about Mahdi, the crown prince of Matali, and whether his feelings toward her and their future betrothal have changed. Most of all, she worries about not living up to her mother's hopes.The Dokimí proceeds, a dazzling display of majesty and might, until a shocking turn of events interrupts it: an assassin's arrow wounds Isabella. The realm falls into chaos, and Serafina's darkest premonitions are confirmed. Now she and Neela must embark on a quest to find the assassin's master and prevent a war between the mer nations. Their search will lead them to other mermaid heriones scattered across the six seas. Together they will form an unbreakable bond of sisterhood as they uncover a conspiracy that threatens their world's very existence.

How to be a Mermaid


Erin Hayes - 2015
    So she takes a year off between high school and college to don a fake tail and tour aquariums across the country in a professional mermaid troupe.Everything's great until she meets a gorgeous real-life merman named Finn. Suddenly, what she thought was a dream turns out to be a nightmare -- she's turning into a mermaid herself. For real. Yet when she returns to the sea to seek out Finn and reverse her transformation, she finds herself in the middle of an impending war between the land and sea. Tara may have always wanted to be a mermaid, but now it's sink or swim. In order to survive, she has to learn how to be one, too.***Summer 2015, award-winning, and best-selling authors will bring you romantic tales of mermaids, sirens, sprites, and other creatures of the deep! Keep in touch as we reveal each title in our collection!

Hannah


Kathryn Lasky - 2009
    Book 1 is about Hannah, who spent her early days in an orphanage and is now a scullery maid in the house of rich, powerful family. She is irresistibly drawn to the sea and through a series of accidents and encounters discovers her true identity. Hannah realizes that she must keep the truth a secret but she also knows that soon she will have to make the choice - to be a creature of the land or the sea.

Convergence


J.R. Rain - 2017
    She's about to discover just how extraordinary she really is... The first thrilling book in the new paranormal mystery series by #1 bestselling authors J.R. Rain and Matthew S. Cox! Solstice Winters has spent most of her life halfway between normal society and the world of her magical parents. However, when getting caught between two worlds becomes more than metaphorical, being able to summon light or open locks might not be enough.Neither her love life nor her professional life are going anywhere in a hurry. Her boyfriend is successful and handsome, but she constantly has to compete with his job for affection. At thirty-two, she works as a photojournalist for The Spiritualist, a small paper dedicated to magic and the supernatural ― that most people regard as a tabloid. Desperate for that ‘one break,’ she’ll do almost anything to get that big story and get into a ‘real’ media outlet.Years of always not quite fitting in begin to make sense after an error at a particle physics laboratory alters the dimensional alignment of the world, strengthening magic and revealing an unexpected truth to Solstice.She’s not even human.In the wake of an event her boss at the paper is calling the Convergence, magical beings are appearing all over the Earth. Solstice doesn’t hesitate, racing to be the first to capture indisputable evidence of mythical beasts. Alas, being a magical creature herself, she soon winds up in the cross-hairs of not only a three-letter government agency, but an ancient sect of mages with dark intentions.Solstice is about to discover just how powerful she really is...

Lure


Stephanie Jenkins - 2011
    When she gets wasted at a party and investigates the ethereal tune, she almost drowns. Charlotte comes to with an overwhelming thirst for salt water, a new desire to eat fish, and a heartbeat of only seven beats a minute. She wakes up by the sea almost every day and dead men wash up hours later.But then Charlotte meets Lorelei, a siren. Lorelei reveals she saved her from drowning with the "Siren's Kiss"-a curse that made Charlotte a soulless immortal. Her role as a siren is simple: guide the souls of the dead at sea. Too bad taking care of the dead means being stuck in the middle of a war between a fertility goddess and the sirens . . . and losing her soul. If Charlotte wants to regain her mortality, she must find love with a mortal. And if she fails to secure it, she risks becoming a puppet to the gods.

Breathless


Cole Gibsen - 2012
    All she wants is to conform to her strict sergeant stepfather's rules long enough to make it to graduation day. But a boat accident threatens to unravel the life Edith has worked so hard to keep. After waking up in a hospital with a lacerated shoulder, Edith fakes amnesia. Because admitting she received her injuries from a blue-haired girl who breathes underwater is all the reason Sir needs to send Edith on the first bus to military school. Safe at home, Edith struggles to put the nightmare behind her. But the mysterious creatures that live in the ocean aren't about to let her forget. After meeting Bastin - a strange boy with silver hair and black eyes - on a secluded dock, Edith learns about the war raging undersea to end human existence. A war that Edith, unwittingly, has become the key to winning. In a world where death is an ever-present shadow and motives are as dark as the bottom of the ocean, Edith must decide if her life is worth risking for a love that can't survive past the shore.

Just Breathe


Heather Allen - 2012
    Out of the blue she has been dumped by her long time boyfriend, which is the ultimate of tragedies in her life. Little does she know that on that fated eighteenth birthday, she will have to make a choice that will change her life as she knows it, forever.A month before her birthday, Ever meets Jack, a mysterious new boy with mesmerizing eyes. He affects her like no one else. This meeting sets things into a whirlwind she never would have dreamed. With Jack's guidance she discovers a family line that leads her to the sea. She must make the ultimate choice, stay on land where life as she knows it, won't change, or go and live in the sea as a mermaid with Jack.Ultimately her choice sets into motion an even bigger decision, in which she has the fate of a race of people, in her hands. The people in the sea are in a feud, she will tip the balance. She must battle the ageless moral delimma of prejudice and race. Once she comes to terms with her life changing choices, she must ask herself, Did I make the right decisions? and Is Jack really who I think he is?

Forbidden Sea


Sheila A. Nielson - 2010
    . . is she coming to warn her, save her, or drag her down into the depths of the briny sea forever?When Adrianne comes face-to-face with the mermaid of Windwaithe Island, of whom she has heard terrible stories all her life, she is convinced the mermaid means to take her younger sister. Adrianne, fierce-willed and courageous, is determined to protect her sister from the mermaid, and her family from starvation. However, the mermaid continues to haunt Adrianne in her dreams and with her song.

Alabaster Island


M.S. Kaminsky - 2017
    Nobody under the age of eighteen has ever left to visit the mainland. The island and its strange customs are all that Marei and her friends know.For years, Marei dreaded The Binding. On that day, each teen must write his or her choice of life mate. But with childhood sweetheart drowned long ago, Marei has no boy in mind. And so she leaves her paper blank. This sets off a chain of events that ruptures the bedrock of her life and leads her to question the only home she’s ever had. She encounters a mermaid, beings thought to have gone extinct. The mermaid tells Marei to leave the island and offers to help. When a handsome teen from the mainland becomes stranded after a supply drop, Marei falls in love. Her secret plan to flee becomes an obsession. But the mermaid has a hidden agenda of her own. Now Marei must confront the shocking reality that lies beneath island life. The choices she makes threaten to upend her fate and that of her island community forever… but only if she can escape alive

Marked: Winter


Gwen Knight - 2016
    This is the world I live in. Being the baby sister in a family chock-full of slayers isn’t easy. My entire life, I’ve watched my brothers venture out into the darkness to hunt the things that prey on the innocent. Vampires are evil, they tell me, but they refuse to let me fight. Now, my best friend’s life is in danger. She’s racked up quite the debt, and the vampire she owes has come to collect. To save her, I need to go undercover as a blood courtesan and sell myself to the highest bidder. Enter Ethen Rune, an uncompromising bastard with a penchant for, well…me. My family says I shouldn’t trust vampires, that they would drain me dry rather than look at me. But to save Tessa, I need his money. I never expected to fall in love with him… …Or to become a monster myself.

The Mermaid Collector


Erika Marks - 2012
    The mysterious Mermaid Mutiny of 1888 has become legend for the residents of Cradle Harbor, Maine, honored by the town’s Mermaid Festival every August, when wind chimes are hung from seaside porches to drown out the alluring sound of mermaid song. For thirty-five-year-old Tess Patterson, the legend is more than folklore; it’s proof of life’s magic. A hopeless romantic who is profoundly connected to the ocean in which she lost her mother, Tess ekes out a living as a wood-carver and longs to find a love as mystical as the sea. But when she’s hired to carve the commemorative mermaid sculpture for the coming festival, a chance to win the town’s elusive acceptance might finally be in her grasp. For Tom Grace, life’s magic was lost at eighteen, when the death of his parents left him to care for his reckless brother, Dean. Now thirty-five and the new owner of Cradle Harbor’s prized lightkeeper’s house, Tom hopes the quiet town will calm Dean’s self-destructive ways. But when Tom discovers Tess working on her sculpture, an unlikely and passionate affair ignites between them that just might be the stuff of legend itself—even as it brings to the surface a long-buried secret that could tear everything apart.

The Markings


Catherine Downen - 2020
    When the day of her mother's execution arrives, Adaline discovers she's been a gifted in hiding all this time. Now it's not a matter of life or death, but freedom or enslavement.Aided by her best friend and a disloyal officer, Adaline runs from King Renon and the prison cell where she grew up. In an attempt to find a safe haven for the gifted, Adaline uncovers a family secret her father orchestrated. A secret that will change their entire world."My brain sees him as a threat, as the enemy, a guard at the castle, but my heart feels he is a friend. The question is, which one is right?"