Ask five readers for their favorite Colleen Hoover book, and you will get five different answers, usually delivered with a lot of feeling.
The favorite Colleen Hoover books match what you want to feel when the last page closes, whether that is a good cry, a jolt of suspense, or finally learning what a character has been hiding.
I read across genres, so I came to these books as a reviewer first and a fan second, asking one question of each: who is it actually for?
Below, you’ll find what each does well, where it stumbles, and who will love it, with no spoilers. First, a quick look at the author behind them.
Who Is Colleen Hoover?
Colleen Hoover is an American author of romance and thriller novels who self-published her debut, Slammed, in 2012 and has since sold more than 35 million books, according to Forbes.
Her fans call themselves CoHorts, and her work has driven BookTok for more than a decade.
Hoover grew up in Saltillo, Texas, and her rise was unusual.
Slammed reached the New York Times best-seller list about seven months after release, and with Point of Retreat charting beside it she left her day job that summer to write full time.
In 2015 she and her family founded The Bookworm Box, a nonprofit bookstore and monthly book subscription service.
She has since published 27 books, 24 on her own and three in the Never Never series with Tarryn Fisher, and several of her novels have been adapted for the screen.
Best Sellers of Colleen Hoover
Colleen Hoover’s best sellers do not all sell for the same reason.
Some are record-setting print hits, some are award winners, and some are reader favorites that keep finding new audiences.
The five below show each kind. Goodreads averages shift over time and vary by edition, so treat the ratings as an October 2026 snapshot.
It Ends with Us
Book at a Glance
Author: Colleen Hoover
Published: 2016
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 376
Series: It Ends with Us, Book 1
Rating: 4.06/5 (Goodreads)
It Ends with Us follows Lily, a hard worker in Boston who falls for Ryle, a neurosurgeon, while her first love still lingers in her memory.
It is Hoover’s top seller, with more than two million print copies sold in 2022 alone, according to Publishers Weekly’s 2022 report.
Hoover based it on her parents’ relationship, and it won the 2016 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Romance.
The 2024 film pushed it back to No. 1 on the New York Times best-seller list, and Goodreads shows about 4.5 million ratings.
What happens when the person Lily trusts most becomes the one she cannot predict, and who walks back into her life at the worst possible moment?
Hoover saves the full weight of it for the final chapters, where one decision changes how the whole book reads, and that shift is clearest at the It Ends with Us ending.
Who should read this: Readers who want an emotionally heavy contemporary romance and are ready for a story about domestic abuse. Skip it if that subject is hard for you right now.
Verity
Book at a Glance
Author: Colleen Hoover
Published: 2018
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Pages: 314
Series: Standalone
Rating: 4.30/5 (Goodreads)
Verity follows Lowen Ashleigh, a struggling writer hired to finish a bestselling series for Verity Crawford, an author left unable to write after an accident.
While working in the Crawford home, Lowen finds an unfinished autobiography with disturbing claims.
Hoover first released it in December 2018 under her own imprint, and Grand Central Publishing reissued it in 2021.
It also topped two million print copies in 2022, per the same Publishers Weekly report, and Goodreads shows about 3.6 million ratings.
Amazon MGM Studios released the film on October 2, 2026, with Anne Hathaway as Verity and Dakota Johnson as Lowen.
Is the manuscript Lowen finds a confession, a piece of fiction, or something she was never meant to read, and what does she do once she cannot unread it?
Hoover lets the doubt build chapter by chapter, and it only settles in what Verity’s ending reveals.
Who should read this:Thriller readers, and romance readers who want a twist they will not see coming. Skip it if graphic or violent content bothers you, since this is the darkest book here and its film is rated R.
Ugly Love
Book at a Glance
Author: Colleen Hoover
Published: 2014
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 330
Series: Standalone
Rating: 3.98/5 (Goodreads)
Ugly Love pairs Tate Collins with airline pilot Miles Archer, who offers a no-strings arrangement with two rules: Never ask about the past, and don’t expect a future.
Chapters from Miles’s past alternate with Tate’s present, and the book was a 2014 Goodreads Choice nominee for Best Romance.
Reception is split across more than 2.4 million ratings, with 41 percent at five stars and 10 percent at one or two.
What happened to Miles six years ago that made him swear off love, and why does it change the meaning of every cold thing he says to Tate?
Hoover plants hints from the very first night, and they only click together once you know the Ugly Love plot twist.
Who should read this:Readers who like a guarded hero and a story that holds its answer back until late. Skip it if hot-and-cold dynamics frustrate you, since it includes explicit scenes and heavy grief.
November 9
Book at a Glance
Author: Colleen Hoover
Published: 2015
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 310
Series: Standalone
Rating: 4.1/5 (Goodreads)
November 9 begins when Fallon O’Neil meets Ben Kessler, an aspiring novelist, the day before she moves across the country.
They agree to meet every November 9 for five years, and the book follows each reunion.
It reached the New York Times best-seller list the month it came out, and Goodreads shows about 1.4 million ratings.
Who is Ben really, and what has he left out of every November 9 reunion?
Each meeting hands Fallon one more piece, and the whole picture only lands in the fifth year, the stretch where what happens on November 9 shifts for good.
Who should read this:Readers who enjoy romances told across years and a hook built on a promise. Skip it if you want a fast-paced story, since the book moves in yearly steps.
Confess
Book at a Glance
Author: Colleen Hoover
Published: 2015
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 306
Series: Standalone
Rating: 4.05/5 (Goodreads)
Confess follows Auburn Reed, 21, who walks into a Dallas art studio looking for work and meets Owen Gentry, an artist who turns anonymous confessions into art.
It won the 2015 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Romance, and a TV adaptation aired on the short-lived streaming service go90 in 2017. Goodreads shows about 640,000 ratings.
What is Owen hiding from Auburn, and can a confession repair what the truth has already broken?
The confessions he turns into art are not the only secrets in that studio, and Owen’s secret in Confess is the one that changes how the earlier scenes read.
Who should read this:Readers who like secrets and artistic settings in a contemporary romance. Skip it if twist-heavy plotting wears on you.
My Take on These Colleen Hoover Books
Having read all five, I would not recommend them in the order readers usually buy them.
It Ends with Us is the book people talk about, and it earns that attention for taking domestic abuse seriously, but its 4.09 average trails Verity’s 4.30, and it is the hardest of the five to read for pleasure.
Verity is the tightest piece of plotting here, built around a manuscript that keeps changing how you read everything around it.
Ugly Love is the most divisive. Its alternating timelines are Hoover’s cleverest structural idea, yet Miles’s coldness in the present leaves a real share of readers cold.
November 9 has the strongest hook, a yearly meeting that lets the romance unfold over five years, though its structure leans on timing some readers will find convenient.
Confess is the award winner, and its idea of turning anonymous confessions into art is memorable, but the secrets arrive faster than the characters can absorb them.
Ranked by Goodreads average, the order is Verity, November 9, It Ends with Us, Confess, and Ugly Love, which is a useful guide but not the whole story.
If you only read two, I would pick Verity and Ugly Love, because together they show her range from thriller to romance.
Conclusion
The favorite Colleen Hoover books on this list answer three different needs.
Start with Verity if you want a thriller, It Ends with Us if you want the book everyone discusses, and Ugly Love, November 9, or Confess if you want a romance built around a secret.
Sales and ratings measure different things, and several of these books carry heavy content, so check each “who should read this” note before you choose.
Pick the one that matches your mood, read the first chapter, and decide from there.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is It Starts with Us Worth Reading After It Ends with Us?
It suits readers who want more of the story, since it was published in October 2022 and continues from Atlas’s side. Its Goodreads average is about 3.84, below the original’s 4.09, so expect a more divided reaction.
What Age Are Colleen Hoover’s Books Appropriate For?
Most of her books are recommended for readers 17 and older, and seven titles, including Slammed, are suggested for 14 and up, according to Reader’s Warehouse as reported by Forbes. Verity is recommended for readers 21 and older, so it is the one to check first.
