10 books to read if you like Colleen Hoover (It Ends with Us, Verity)
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If you follow the world of books (especially on BookTok), Colleen Hoover is hard to avoid. She is one of the most popular authors right now and has a very extensive catalog of books.
That said, her books aren’t without their critics. (This Reddit thread explains why some readers think Colleen Hoover is controversial, especially in terms of how she portrays manipulative relationships and trauma.)
I’m not going to say what you should read (and honestly, any author that’s encouraging more people to pick up books is good with me.)
In this post, I’ve shared my best book recommendations if you’re looking for authors like Colleen Hoover and books like It Ends with Us and Verity.
(This post is also for you if you want to read similar books to Colleen Hoover’s, but with less problematic aspects.)
Many of these books are romances, others are thrillers. They don’t shy away from difficult themes. And some of them contain complicated relationships, too.
All of these books are a 4.0+ on Goodreads at the time of writing, and I think (dare I say it) that some of them are actually better than Colleen Hoover’s books. But I’ll leave that with you to judge…
The best books to read next if you like Colleen Hoover
Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan
Read Mad Honey if you like reading… gripping novels of crime and suspense with an unforgettable love story weaved in.
In this 2022 bestseller, Jodi Picoult has crafted a moving novel of suspense and love about what we choose to keep from our past and what we choose to leave behind.
After leaving behind her picture-perfect life in Boston – married to a brilliant cardiothoracic surgeon, and raising a beautiful son, Asher— Olivia McAfee has returned to the house she grew up in, taking over her father’s beekeeping business in a sleepy New Hampshire hometown.
This seems like the new start she needed… until Olivia receives a phone call that Lily, the new girl in town, is dead. When she hears that Asher is being questioned by the police, she questions if she really understands her son at all.
One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Read One True Loves if you want to read... the closest Taylor Jenkins Reid novel to a Colleen Hoover story.
Like Colleen Hoover, Taylor Jenkins Reid has become a hugely successful bestselling author in the last few years, best known for Daisy Jones & The Six and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.
TJR’s books generally stand on the outskirts of the romance genre, but that said, One True Loves has the closest vibe to a Colleen Hoover book.
Read this for a conflicted love story about a woman unexpectedly forced to choose between the husband she has long thought dead and the fiancé who has finally brought her back to life.
Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune
Read Meet Me at the Lake for… one of the best new romance books for 2023 by Carley Fortune, bestselling author of Every Summer After, offering warm summer days and rekindled love.
At thirty-two, Fern Brookbanks isn’t where she thought she’d be in life. Instead of living in the city, Fern’s back home running her mother’s lakeside resort. And she’s wasted far too much of her adult life thinking about Will Baxter.
Despite spending just twenty-four hours with Will in her early twenties, Fern has never forgotten the undeniable connection she found with this idealistic artist.
However, although Will promised to meet her one year later, he never showed up. At least, not until nine years later, with a suitcase in tow.
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
Read Big Little Lies if you want to read… the book behind the TV hit about what really happened to the body on the school steps – and the troubled relationships that lurk behind perfect facades.
If you’ve watched the enormously popular HBO adaptation of Liane Moriarty’s bestselling novel, you know what happens in Big Little Lies. But it’s still well worth reading. (I also read it after watching the show.)
As a book similar to It Ends with Us, it’s also about toxic relationships and domestic violence (and for that reason, it warrants a trigger warning).
But that said, Big Little Lies is also a book about friendship and the bonds that help victims through the most difficult times of their life.
Although these friends have their differences, together, they’re a force to be reckoned with – and when disaster strikes, they’ll stick together, no matter what.
Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren
Read Love and Other Words if you want to read… a perfect beach-read by the bestselling author duo in which love, loss, and the betrayals of the past collide.
In one of the most recommended books to read next if you like Colleen Hoover, Macy Sorensen is settling into an ambitious yet predictable routine as a new pediatrics resident.
All she wants to do is to work hard, marry a successful and financially secure man, keep her head down, and not think too much about what her heart really wants.
But when she runs into Elliot Petropoulos, the first and only love of her life, the bubble she’s carefully constructed is popped. Elliot was once Macy’s entire world – until he broke it.
The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker
Read The Simple Wild if you want to read… a contemporary romance set in Alaska with Colleen Hoover meets The Great Alone vibes.
In this contemporary romance, city girl Calla Fletcher finds herself torn between returning to the bustle of Toronto and isolated Alaska.
Initially, city girl Calla returns to Alaska just to reconnect with her estranged father; a man who’s been lost to her since her mother fled the extreme isolation and rural lifestyle, back when Calla was just two years old.
But when she meets Jonah, the rugged Alaskan pilot who keeps her father’s charter plane company operational, she sees her wild and remote birthplace from a whole new perspective.
Colleen Hoover shared on Goodreads: “This book was my favorite of hers and I’ve read them all.” This book is #1 in the Wild trilogy, so you can head straight to the sequel, Wild at Heart, if you love it.
These Tangled Vines by Julianne MacLean
Read These Tangled Vines for… a sun-kissed story of love, inheritance, and an American mother and daughter who, years apart, find themselves at the same winery in Tuscany.
I loved reading These Tangled Vines, especially because it feels like a vacation in a book. Amidst the lush vineyards and rolling hills of Italy, romance author Julianne MacLean weaves a tale of love, loss, and the power of family ties.
It’s the story of Fiona, who unexpectedly travels to Italy after being named in her biological father’s will. She didn’t know anything about this man until now, and the uncovered secrets might bring enormous riches, but also unravel everything.
The Five-Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand
Read The Five-Star Weekend for… a captivating, sunshine-filled story about friendship, love, and self-discovery from the bestselling author of The Hotel Nantucket. (Preorder for June 13)
In this anticipated beach read for 2023, Hollis Shaw seems to have the perfect life: she’s the creator of a popular food blog and married to Matthew, a dreamy heart surgeon.
Although the book is brimming with summer vibes, it begins with loss, exposing the cracks in Hollis’s marriage and relationship with her daughter, Caroline.
When Hollis hears about something called a “Five-Star Weekend”, she decides to host her own to get her life back on track, bringing together four friends from different stages in her life.
The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
Read The Housemaid for… an addictive psychological thriller about the secrets and danger that lurks beneath the surface in a gorgeous marble-floored home.
If you loved Verity or want to read a thriller with Colleen Hoover vibes, read The Housemaid.
Behind the elegant veneer of their beautiful home and lives, the Winchesters have dark and dangerous secrets. But the most overlooked and undervalued presence in their home is also hiding something: their housemaid.
Freida McFadden, the author of this top thriller (and its sequel, The Housemaid’s Secret) isn’t just a bestselling writer – she’s also a practicing physician specialized in brain injury.
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
Read The Kiss Quotient if you love reading… nerdy STEMinist romances about main characters discovering passion and themselves.
I love Helen Hoang’s books. Not only are they quirky and clever, but they also have autistic characters (inspired by Hoang’s own autism spectrum disorder).
Start with the first book in the series, The Kiss Quotient, in which you’ll meet Stella Lane, a wealthy and successful woman who happens to be on the autism spectrum.
For Stella, analysing data is easy, handling one-on-one dates painfully difficult. But she’s thought up the perfect solution: hiring a male escort to help her learn how to be a good girlfriend. That’s where Michael comes in.
To find even more books for fans of Colleen Hoover, head over to these collections next…
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