10 Best Colleen Hoover Novels
TikTok’s most favourite author, Colleen Hoover released the most anticipated novel of 2022 ‘It Starts With Us’ on October 18 and the world of CoHorts came to a standstill. The #1 New York Times Bestselling Author dropped the sequel to the 2016 release ‘It Ends With Us’.
The novel took over the world during the pandemic and it was for all the right reasons. Known for her emotionally driven stories that are met with insane plot twists, Colleen Hoover has released a bunch of novels over the last few years. Colleen is also known for giving readers exceptional book boyfriends who are perfect examples of the ‘Men written by women’ trope.
While her newest work, It Starts With Us is an exceptional second read (following It Ends With Us, the first part of the two-part series) for new Colleen Hoover fans to start with, the novelist has so many more intense stories that will keep avid readers gripped.
Here are our Top 10 recommendations for the best CoHo novels to read if you are a lover of emotionally jarring and plot twist fuelled romances.
Verity
Fans who have read Colleen Hoover’s past works will not be acquainted with the new genre the author experimented with in the 2021 release – Verity. The novel narrates the story of Lowen Ashleigh, a struggling writer who is on the brink of financial ruin.
As fate would have it for her, she lands herself the job of a lifetime when she is tasked with being a ghostwriter for a best-selling author named Verity Crawford. Verity’s husband, Jeremy Crawford tasks Lowen with the job of completing the remaining books of his injured wife’s successful novel series.
While going through Verity’s notes to find inspiration for the upcoming novels, Lownen finds an unfinished autobiography that the now-injured author never wished for anyone to read. The autobiography contains page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity’s recollection of what really happened the day her daughter died.
Lowen decides to keep the manuscript hidden from Jeremy, knowing its contents would devastate the already grieving father. But as Lowen’s feelings for Jeremy begin to intensify, she recognizes all the ways she could benefit if he were to read his wife’s words.
After all, no matter how devoted Jeremy is to his injured wife, a truth this horrifying would make it impossible for him to continue to love her. If that is not exciting enough, Colleen Hoover had only recently released a special edition of Verity with one new chapter.
Heart Bones
Released in 2020, Heart Bones tells the simple yet emotionally draining story of Beyah Grim’s life. Beyah experiences the most life-changing moment of her life when she loses her mother on the brink of turning 18. She is then forced to be taken in by her father who had abandoned her and her mother all her life.
Beyah barely knows anything about him and is catapulted from a land of poverty and hunger into the picture-perfect life her father lives with his family. Two short months in Texas turn out to be life-changing for Beyah when she meets Samson, her wealthy neighbour.
The two of them are nothing alike but only have one thing in common – they’re both drawn to sad things. Since they are both sad beings, they are also drawn to each other. With an almost immediate connection too intense for them to continue denying, Beyah and Samson agree to pursue a summer fling.
The fling, however, turns into something so intense and life-changing that ends up holding the potential to make or break Beyah’s life.
It Ends With Us
Colleen Hoover’s most successful novel to date, It Ends With Us released in 2016 and it tells the story of Lily Bloom, a young girl who has lived her entire life witnessing domestic violence. After moving to Boston – where everything is better, Lily finds true love in Ryle Kincaid, an assertive, stubborn and arrogant neurosurgeon.
Ryle is the typical ‘I Hate Everyone Else But Her’ personality when it comes to Lily. Ryle puts an end to his ‘no dating’ rule for Lily which is great for a while until Lily finds herself in a situation that she wanted to get out of for all of her childhood life.
Lily thinks back to her past as a teenager, she is reminded of Atlas Corrigan, her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened.
Ugly Love
Ugly Love was released in 2014 and tells the story of Miles and Tate. Love isn’t always pretty and sometimes you spend your whole life hoping for love to be something when it turns out to be the complete opposite. This is what Miles Archer, an airline pilot thinks about love.
But, when Miles is met with Tate Collins, he allows himself to pursue himself to have a commitment-free, passionate relationship with her. Miles knows that he cannot give her romance and Tate is too busy to make time for one.
With nothing coming in their way, Miles and Tate agree to have a sexual relationship as long as Tate can follow his only two rules – Never ask about the past and Don’t expect a future.
Tate agrees to his rules at first but eventually realises that she would like to break the rules. Things soon go south and love eventually gets ugly until Tate finds out why Miles kept himself from falling in love all this while.
Maybe Someday
The 2014 novel which turned into a three-part series, Maybe Someday is a controversial read for many who are not fans of cheating. The plot of the novel revolves around Sydney and Ridge, two people whose romance is forbidden in more ways than one.
Turning 22 is one of the most life-changing moments for Sydney when she finds out that her boyfriend of many years ends up cheating on her. To make matters even worse, the girl he is cheating on Sydney with is her roommate and best friend.
With her feeling betrayed on not one but two fronts, Sydney decides to pack up and leave but the only catch is that she has nowhere to go in the middle of the college year. She finds herself stuck with Ridge in the apartment in the complex across from where she lived with her cheating best friend and ex-boyfriend.
Ridge is a charming musician who befriended Sydney by playing the guitar for her across his balcony. With Sydney newly single, there is a possibility for her to make romance happen with Ridge. The only catch is, there is a lot that she does not know about the charming guitarist yet.
Hopeless
Released in 2012, Hopeless is a two-part series that narrates the romantic story of Sky and Dean. Sky is living a pretty casual life of anonymity with her single mother who has home-schooled her most of her life and kept her tech-free for reasons unknown.
Everything goes smoothly until Sky joins a public school where she meets Dean Holder – a guy with a reputation that rivals her own. There is also one thing about Sky and that is that she is asexual and that she is void of all sexual feelings towards her partner.
That is until she meets Dean who is the only boy that is able to invoke feelings in her, one’s that she has never experienced before. While this terrifies her on one hand, it also captivates her all the more. Sky struggles to keep him at a distance knowing he’s nothing but trouble, but Holder insists on learning everything about her.
After finally caving to his unwavering pursuit, Sky soon finds that Holder isn’t at all who he’s been claiming to be. When the secrets he’s been keeping are finally revealed, every single facet of Sky’s life will change forever.
Without Merit
The 2017 award-winning novel, Without Merit, deals with complex issues and revolves around the Voss family. There is nothing normal about them as they live in a repurposed church. The once cancer-stricken mother lives in the basement, the father is married to the mother’s former nurse, the little half-brother isn’t allowed to do or eat anything fun, and the eldest siblings are irritatingly perfect.
Then, there’s Merit. Merit Voss collects trophies she hasn’t earned by choice and secrets of her family by force. While browsing the local antique shops for her next trophy, she finds Sagan. His wit and unapologetic idealism disarm and spark renewed life into her — until she discovers that he’s completely unavailable.
Merit retreats deeper into herself, watching her family from the sidelines when she learns a secret that no trophy in the world can fix. Fed up with the lies, Merit decides to shatter the happy family illusion that she’s never been a part of before leaving them behind for good. When her escape plan fails, Merit is forced to deal with the staggering consequences of telling the truth and losing the one boy she loves.
Regretting You
The 2019 novel, Regretting You tells the story of Clara Grant who does not want to be anything like her mother Morgan. Afraid that her daughter will soon end up making the same mistakes as she did when she was her age, Morgan tries to direct Clara’s life.
However, what Morgan calls a mistake is nothing other than Clara herself. Morgan, on the other hand, put her life and dreams on hold by getting pregnant and married way too young. Clara doesn’t want to follow in her mother’s predictable footsteps and likes her mother’s sister as well as her father, Chris way better.
Morgan and Clara’s warring personalities make it extremely difficult for them to co-exist and the only person who can bring peace to the chaos is Chris. But, that peace is shattered when Chris is involved in a tragic and questionable accident.
One that ends up leaving heartbreaking and long-lasting consequences that reach far beyond just Morgan and Clara. With each passing day, new secrets, resentment, and misunderstandings make mother and daughter fall further apart. So far apart, it might be impossible for them to ever fall back together.
Reminders of Him
One of her more recent releases, the 2022 novel Reminders of Him narrates the story of Kenna Rowan, a troubled young mother who yearns for a shot at redemption. After serving five years in prison for a tragic mistake, Kenna Rowan returns to the town where it all went wrong in the first place.
Kenna hopes to reunite with her four-year-old daughter, with whom she has no relationship yet. It seems like Kenna’s past mistake is still not forgiven and she is shut out by everyone around her, no matter how hard she works to prove herself.
The only person who hasn’t closed the door on her completely is Ledger Ward, a local bar owner and one of the few remaining links to Kenna’s daughter. But if anyone were to discover how Ledger is slowly becoming an important part of Kenna’s life, both would risk losing the trust of everyone important to them.
The two form a connection despite the pressure surrounding them, but as their romance grows, so does the risk. Kenna must find a way to absolve the mistakes of her past in order to build a future out of hope and healing.
All Your Perfects
The 2018 novel, All Your Perfects tells the story of a perfect romance between Quinn and Graham. The couple has the most perfect love ever until they don’t. Colleen Hoover delivers a tour de force novel about a troubled marriage and the one old forgotten promise that might be able to save it.
Quinn and Graham’s perfect love is threatened by their imperfect marriage. The memories, mistakes, and secrets that they have built up over the years are now tearing them apart. The one thing that could save them might also be the very thing that pushes their marriage beyond the point of repair.
All Your Perfects is a profound novel about a damaged couple whose potential future hinges on promises made in the past. This is a heartbreaking page-turner that asks: Can a resounding love with a perfect beginning survive a lifetime between two imperfect people?
So there we have it, our picks for the 10 Best novels written by Colleen Hoover.
What do you think of our picks? Do you agree? Are there any notable omissions? Let us know in the comments below!