If you’ve even so much as glanced into the literary world, you’ll have heard of Colleen Hoover. Popular for her romances and thrillers, she’s an author who will rip your heart out and then gently put it back in its place. If you’re unsure where to start, or are looking for even more of her amazing books, read through our list of the 10 best Colleen Hoover books.
Who is Colleen Hoover?
Colleen Hoover is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, primarily writing for young and new adults in the romance and psychological thriller categories. The Queen of BookTok is known as CoHo by her avid fans.
Hoover’s best-known titles are It Ends With Us, an adult romance, Verity, an adult psychological thriller, and Ugly Love, an adult romance.
She is the founder of The Bookworm Box, a charity subscription service and bookstore. The subscription offers signed novels from an array of different authors, and all proceeds go toward supporting various charities each month.
Best Colleen Hoover Books
Let’s dive into this list of the best Colleen Hoover books, which follows Goodreads’ rating data. Hoover’s books have an average rating of 4.44 on a 5.0 rating system, with a total of nearly 5 million ratings.
If you’re looking for somewhere to start on your Colleen Hoover journey, this list is for you. Most are standalone novels in the New Adult age range, but please note that many of Colleen Hoover’s books deal with difficult subjects. A handful of trigger warnings have been noted, but remember to do your research before reading.
Here is our list of the 10 best Colleen Hoover books.
10. Layla
We all know that Colleen Hoover is great at writing romance, and Layla is full of it. But like Verity, this novel is a thriller. This book is dark, twisted, and entirely disturbing. It’s a ghost story you won’t want to put down, with a 3.81 rating by 106,181 Goodreads users.
The connection is instant when Leeds meets Layla, but when a vicious attack leaves Layla to fight for her life, the future he saw with her begins to crumble. After weeks of healing in the hospital, Layla returns home. While she appears fine physically, the emotional and mental damage is tearing her apart, and she no longer resembles the woman Leeds remembers.
Hoping to help her heal and reignite their love, Leeds takes her to the bed-and-breakfast where they first met. But upon arrival, Layla’s behaviour takes a dive and is followed by bizarre, inexplicable occurrences.
As he grows apart from Layla, Leeds begins to connect with another B&B guest, Willow. They share similar concerns, and Leeds is determined to help Willow find answers, but it conflicts with him caring for Layla’s well-being. Leeds must choose between the two women as he can’t help them both. But if he chooses wrong, he puts them all at risk.
9. Heart Bones
Heart Bones is the best Colleen Hoover book to read in the summer, given a 4.34 rating by 96,927 readers. Despite being filled with young love, sunrises, and summer fun, this book isn’t entirely a ray of sunshine. This story unravels past traumas, features a slow-burn romance, and Colleen Hoover’s signature: a plot twist.
Beyah has built a life for herself with no one to lean on. Her future stretches out in front of her, and in two months, she’ll be able to grasp it and escape her past. But when an unexpected death occurs, Beyah is left without a place to go during her interlude. With no other choices available, Beyah moves to Texas to spend the summer with a father she barely knows.
When Beyah meets her next-door neighbour, Samson, she’s convinced they have nothing in common. He is wealthy and privileged, never struggling a day in his life, and she comes from poverty and loss, always fighting to make it through each day. But both are drawn to sad things; thus, they are attracted to each other.
The two form a connection and agree to nothing more serious than a summer fling. But a summer storm is brewing, one capable of destroying her heart.
8. All Your Perfects
It isn’t a list of best Colleen Hoover books without All Your Perfects, with a 4.32 rating by 138,986 Goodreads users. This romance will break you apart and put you back together again, featuring a story of hope and perseverance. Please note that this is a raw and vulnerable book, with themes regarding infertility and its effect on a marriage.
Graham and Quinn had a perfect love story until they entered into their imperfect marriage. Every secret they’ve been bottling up over the years is starting to fray their love at the seams. But the very thing that could save their marriage could also be the breaking point.
7. Reminders of Him
Next on our list of best Colleen Hoover books is her newest release, Reminders of Him, with a 4.61 rating by 140,146 readers. This book is heartbreakingly beautiful, so prepare to destroy its pages with your tears.
After spending five years in prison, Kenna returns to town, hoping to reunite with her four-year-old daughter. But after all her mistakes, the people in her daughter’s life are determined to keep Kenna away and are uninterested in building bridges long destroyed.
Local bar owner, and final link to her daughter, Ledger, is the only person who hasn’t turned his back on her. But as their connection grows, they both know they’re at risk of losing the trust of those in their lives.
In order to reduce the risk and gain back all she’s lost, Kenna must prove herself worthy of regaining everyone’s trust, absolve her mistakes, and hope to build a future where everyone can heal.
6. Regretting You
Regretting You is another heart-wrenching novel on our list of best Colleen Hoover books, with a 4.24 rating by 158,736 Goodreads users. This story is told through two points of view and is filled with resilience, family drama, and long-lost romance.
Morgan is determined to keep her sixteen-year-old daughter, Clara, from repeating history and making the same mistakes she did. After getting pregnant and married too young, Morgan’s dreams and life were put on hold. Clara is unpredictable, spontaneous, and determined not to follow in her mother’s footsteps.
Chris, Morgan’s husband and Clara’s father, is the only person who can calm the war that Morgan and Clara constantly wage. With differing opinions, the two find it nearly impossible to coexist, but after Chris is involved in a tragic accident, the two must rebuild all that’s crumbled before them.
As things grow more difficult, Morgan seeks comfort from someone unexpected, and Clara turns to the boy she was forbidden to see. But as secrets form resentment brews, and mother and daughter grow estranged as the days pass. Will they ever reconcile, or has the divide grown too large to cross?
5. Maybe Someday
With a 4.22 rating by 225,805 readers, Maybe Someday is the first in a romantic and musical duology. This book features an album written and recorded to accompany the story. You can read the lyrics, listen to the matching songs, and enjoy this must-read love story with its soundtrack blasting.
Sydney has everything figured out. She’s doing well in school while working a steady job, lives with her best friend, and has an amazing boyfriend. Not to mention the wonderful music that flows through her window from the balcony opposite hers.
When Sydney discovers that her boyfriend is cheating, everything starts crumbling around her. But when she meets Ridge, the owner of the balcony music, she begins to wonder if she can let herself love again. As they write music together and their connection grows, Sydney must face what betrayal has done to her heart to move on.
4. November 9
November 9 is another beautiful romance on our list of best Colleen Hoover books, with a 4.34 rating by 270,336 Goodreads users. This novel is full of twists and turns, with a major plot twist at the end. I recommend reading this one after Ugly Love, as two favourite characters from that book make an appearance.
The day before moving cross-country, Fallon meets Ben, an aspiring writer. With an instant attraction to one another, they spend Fallon’s last day in L.A. together as Ben discovers that she’s an inspiration for his novel.
Despite living vastly different lives, the two still meet on the same day every year until Fallon begins to wonder if Ben is telling her the truth or fabricating the perfect lie to create the ultimate plot twist.
3. Ugly Love
Next on our list of best Colleen Hoover books is Ugly Love, with a 4.27 rating by 483,801 readers. This book is a romance containing the ever-popular “brother’s best friend” trope. A fair warning: this book does contain a fair bit of spice.
When Tate moves in with her brother and meets his best friend Miles, it’s far from love at first sight. Miles is infuriating, Tate is stubborn, and neither would call the other a friend. The one thing that they both have in common is their attraction to one another.
Once they get beyond their mutual dislike, they begin to realize that they have the perfect set-up. Miles isn’t interested in a relationship, something Tate doesn’t have time for anyway, which just leaves the sex.
Miles sets two rules: never ask about the past and don’t expect a future, two things Tate is sure she can stick to. But as their agreement progresses, both begin to realize how difficult it is to follow their set rules. Hearts shatter, rules break, and love gets ugly.
2. Verity
Verity is undoubtedly one of the best Colleen Hoover books to date, with a 4.42 rating by 581,544 Goodreads users. While containing romance, Hoover moves away from the romance genre and enters the world of thrillers. This book is unique because of the mystery she weaves and how every little thing could be a clue to solving it.
Lowen is a writer on the brink of financial ruin when offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Jeremy Crawford, the husband of the injured bestselling thriller author Verity Crawford, has hired her to write the remaining books in Verity’s successful series.
Lowen is staying in the Crawford mansion, searching through Verity’s notes and outlines, when she comes across an unfinished autobiography. This manuscript contains page after page of Verity’s dark and sinister admissions, including a horrifying chapter about what really happened the day her daughter died.
Knowing she can’t share this manuscript with a grieving Jeremy, Lowen keeps it to herself. But as her feelings for Jeremy intensify and a connection between them grows, Lowen begins to realize that she would benefit if he were to read it. Despite being devoted to his injured wife, Lowen knows that he could never continue to love her after admissions this horrifying.
Please note a few important trigger warnings for this book: murder, child abuse, death of children, attempted abortion, medical trauma.
1. It Ends With Us
It should come as no surprise that the top book on our list of best Colleen Hoover books is It Ends With Us. With a 4.44 rating by 871,330 readers, this book is guaranteed to pull at your heartstrings. While all her books are fantastic, this particular novel is her most important book. While often advertised as a romance, It Ends With Us is so much more than that, containing an important message and mature themes.
It Ends With Us alternates between the past and the present. Lily has never had it easy, but upon graduating college, she moves from her small town to Boston, where she starts her own business. Upon meeting a neurosurgeon named Ryle, Lily feels an instant connection.
Despite Ryle’s aversion to relationships, Lily can’t help but begin to fall. Ryle is stubborn but kind, often arrogant but intelligent, and as Lily becomes his exception, she begins to realize what caused him to create his “no dating” rule in the first place.
As Lily struggles to navigate her new relationship, the past comes back to haunt her in the form of her first love. Atlas Corrigan plagues Lily’s thoughts, and when he reenters her life, everything she’s built with Ryle begins to crumble.
Please note a few important trigger warnings for this book: domestic violence, sexual assault, violence.
Final Thoughts on the Best Colleen Hoover Books
And there you have it: our list of the 10 best Colleen Hoover books! Do you agree with our list? Is your favorite book missing?
To recap, here are the best Colleen Hoover books in descending order:
- It Ends With Us
- Verity
- Ugly Love
- November 9
- Maybe Someday
- Regretting You
- Reminders of Him
- All Your Perfects
- Heart Bones
- Layla
Colleen Hoover has the best pick-me-up books. In a reading slump? Reading too much fantasy? Want something lighthearted? She’s got it all. This list is a great starting point to get you into reading Colleen Hoover, or a great place to find more of her amazing novels.
Almost all of them are standalone and easy to get through, making them perfect, quick reads (and extremely helpful when looking to add a few more books to your Goodreads goal).
We hope you find an amazing book to read from our list!
Looking for more books lists?
Check out this list of the best Nora Roberts books.