Editors Reads
RomanceNew AdultContemporary Fiction

Colleen Hoover

American · b. 1979

14 books reviewed Avg rating 4.2 / 5Top rating 4.5 / 5

Colleen Hoover is an American romance and new adult author whose emotionally intense novels have built one of the most dedicated fanbases in contemporary popular fiction.

Colleen Hoover self-published her debut novel in 2011 and built a following through social media that eventually made her a publishing phenomenon — a backlist author whose older titles began topping bestseller lists years after their original release, driven almost entirely by the BookTok community. She is among the most commercially successful romance and new adult authors of her generation, and her ability to generate intense emotional responses in readers is undeniable. Her catalog is prolific: It Ends with Us, Verity, Reminders of Him, Regretting You, and Hopeless are among the titles in our catalog, each occupying slightly different territory within her range.

It Ends with Us is her most discussed book, a romance about a young woman falling for a charming man that pivots to address domestic violence with a directness rare in the genre. Some readers found this combination powerful and responsible; others have argued that the romance framework and the resolution send complicated messages about abusive relationships. Verity is a psychological thriller with genuinely unsettling moments — darker and more structurally inventive than her typical work. Reminders of Him and Regretting You are closer to emotional contemporary romance, trading in grief, second chances, and difficult family dynamics. Hopeless, from her earlier self-published period, deals with trauma in ways that feel rawer and less polished.

Hoover’s critics argue that her prose is often functional rather than literary and that her framing of difficult subject matter — especially in It Ends with Us — requires careful reading rather than face value acceptance. Her defenders point to her emotional honesty and her ability to give readers access to feelings they find difficult to process elsewhere. She is a writer who provokes strong reactions in both directions, and that ambivalence is itself part of what makes her worth discussing.


Reading Guides

14 Books Reviewed

Maybe Someday book cover

Maybe Someday

by Colleen Hoover

4.5

Sydney discovers her boyfriend has been cheating on her with her best friend. She moves in with Ridge — a musician and songwriter who happens to be deaf — and the two collaborate on music through written notes and an undeniable connection neither of them wants to acknowledge. A love story about the ethics of attraction and the power of music.

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Heart Bones book cover

Heart Bones

by Colleen Hoover

4.4

Beyah has grown up in poverty and been largely invisible to the world. When she spends one summer at a lake house where wealthy families vacation, she meets Samson — a boy carrying his own grief and secrets. A love story about class difference, survival instinct, and what it means to be truly seen for the first time.

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Layla book cover

Layla

by Colleen Hoover

4.3

Leeds and Layla fall in love, but after a violent incident at a bed and breakfast leaves Layla with a changed personality, Leeds returns to the B&B alone. There he meets a ghost named Willow — and the situation becomes stranger and more morally complicated than he anticipated. Hoover's most genre-defying novel.

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Slammed book cover

Slammed

by Colleen Hoover

4.3

After her father's death forces a move to a new town, eighteen-year-old Layken Cohen falls for her neighbour Will — until she discovers they can never be together. He is her teacher. Slam poetry becomes the language of both their grief and their impossible longing in Colleen Hoover's debut novel.

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Reminders of Him book cover
Bestseller

Reminders of Him

by Colleen Hoover

4.2

A young woman released from prison after a tragic accident tries to reconnect with her daughter and find forgiveness in the small town where everything went wrong.

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Hopeless book cover
Bestseller

Hopeless

by Colleen Hoover

4.1

A sheltered homeschooled girl falls for the mysterious boy next door, only to discover their connection runs deeper and darker than either of them could have imagined.

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Verity book cover
Bestseller

Verity

by Colleen Hoover

4.1

A darkly twisting psychological thriller in which a struggling writer discovers a disturbing manuscript hidden in the home of a bestselling author.

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All Your Perfects book cover
Bestseller

All Your Perfects

by Colleen Hoover

4.0

A married couple whose relationship has been hollowed out by infertility struggles must decide whether their love is strong enough to survive the life they never planned.

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Confess book cover
Bestseller

Confess

by Colleen Hoover

4.0

A young woman takes a job at an artist's studio and falls for the painter, not knowing that her anonymous confessions have been inspiring his artwork all along.

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Ugly Love book cover
Bestseller

Ugly Love

by Colleen Hoover

4.0

A new adult romance about two people who agree to a no-strings arrangement, only to discover that emotions are not so easily compartmentalised.

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Without Merit book cover

Without Merit

by Colleen Hoover

3.9

A young woman living in a converted church with her deeply dysfunctional family falls for a boy hiding his own secrets while navigating depression and family dysfunction.

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Reading Guides & Lists

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best Colleen Hoover book to start with?

It Ends with Us (2016) is the book that brought CoHo to mainstream attention and is the most common starting recommendation. For lighter fare, try November 9 (2015) or Ugly Love (2014). Verity (2018) is her darkest and most thriller-adjacent work.

Is It Starts with Us a sequel?

Yes — It Starts with Us (2022) is the direct sequel to It Ends with Us (2016). Read It Ends with Us first. The sequel picks up immediately after the events of the first book.

Are Colleen Hoover books connected?

Most of Hoover's books are standalone romances with no required reading order. The exception is It Ends with Us and It Starts with Us, which are direct sequels. Some books share minor character references, but these are supplementary rather than essential.

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