Blake Lively's star power isn't the only reason It Ends With Us became the highest-grossing romantic drama in years. Colleen Hoover, the author behind the novel of the same name, has one of the most devout followings of any best-selling writer today. In just over a decade, the novelist affectionately dubbed "CoHo" by fans has racked up (count ‘em!) a whopping 26 titles, the sales for which overtook even the Bible in 2022.
Hoover's work remains more popular than ever, especially as several of her books get the big screen treatment. Her popular romance novel It Ends With Us marked the first of her titles to be adapted into a feature, arriving in theaters in August 2024. Led by Lively and Justin Baldoni, who also directed the project, the film earned over $300 million in global ticket sales against a budget of just $25 million (and has continued to stay in the press in the months since, given the ongoing legal drama surrounding the film). Whether the movie or its source material was your entry point into the writer, or you've already fashioned yourself a major CoHort, there are many other must-read Colleen Hoover books.
The author's written everything from steamy erotic novels and heartwarming love stories to gripping thrillers, so we took a deep dive into her five series and 10 standalone novels to see which are the best Colleen Hoover books. From Slammed, the 2012 self-published Amazon debut that started it all, to 2022's It Ends With Us sequel, It Starts With Us—which helped Hoover break a record as the author with the most titles on the New York Times Best Sellers list at one time—here are the best Colleen Hoover books, ranked.
Only diehard Hoover fans will go deep enough to take on Never Never: Part Three: It’s not listed on her website, it’s extremely rare to find it in print (you’re better off opting for Audible) and it’s a bit of a letdown compared to the other two books in the Never Never series. Still, it's worth a read if you’re the type that needs closure for the storyline, which sees two teens mysteriously devoid of memory.
Maybe Not is one of Hoover’s more obscure novels, and it shows. Perhaps it’s middle child syndrome (this is the second book in a three-part series), or maybe it's the downright raunchy, erotic novel-like dynamic between new roomies Warren and Bridgette (“too much sex” is a common complaint of Maybe Not on Goodreads), but this one hits more middle of the road.
Without Merit tackles a lot within its 386 pages—maybe too much. The novel is centered around Barnaby and Victoria Voss and their family, where drama is aplenty. Victoria is a cancer survivor who lives in the basement of the family’s church home, while upstairs, her ex-husband lives with Victoria No. 2—a.k.a. Victoria No. 1’s former nurse. (Is your head spinning yet?) But all that’s nothing compared to their kids. Daughter Merit has just shared the kiss of a lifetime with a guy who turns out to be her twin sister’s new boyfriend—and now he’s moving in. Oh. And did we mention the massive family secret Merit’s about to uncover?
The Slammed series concludes with This Girl, which, despite its title, gives the reader a better insight into male lead Will’s backstory and motivations. On the heels of two other novels that examine his relationship with Layken, however, it feels a bit redundant at times, with none of the mind-blowing plot twists and surprises that Hoover has come to be known for.
Never Never: Part Two clears up a lot of the cliffhangers fans were left with after Part One, and it flows easily enough, but there isn't enough newness being added to the plotline to earn it a higher spot on this list. As the second of a three-part series, it leaves no closure to Charlie and Silas’s story.
The follow-up to Maybe Someday and Maybe Not, Maybe Now checks in on characters from its preceding novels, but for many, it missed the opportunity for a new, better story: The budding romance between Ridge Lawson’s ex Maggie Carson and Jake, which doesn’t quite get its full due. *Shaking our fist at the sky*
Even though Finding Cinderella is the third installment in the Hopeless series, it tends to get less buzz than its predecessors and its subsequent All Your Perfects and Finding Perfects. Sure, the meet-cute between 18-year-old Daniel and the young girl who runs into him in the dark will make you smile (particularly in the epilogue, which has earned high praise from readers). But it’s not as gripping as the angsty heat between Sky and Dean that kicked the series off with a bang.
Similarly to It Ends With Us, Too Late sees heroine Sloan caught between two guys. There’s the one who’s no good for her (not only is Asa a drug trafficker, he’s also obsessed with Sloan, and not in a good way), and the one who can save her—if he doesn’t blow his cover as a DEA agent. The only problem? Asa’s been supporting Sloan and her brother financially, and he also happens to be pretty dangerous, putting both her and her new beau Carter at risk.
What do you get when you pair two New York Times best-selling authors with a penchant for mystery together? No. 18 on our list. Hoover teamed up with The Wives author Tarryn Fisher on this series, which follows childhood besties-turned-teenage lovebirds Charlie Wynwood and Silas Nash on a mysterious journey to regain their memories when they wake up with no recollection of their pasts—or each other.
It Ends With Us isn’t the first of Hoover’s books to bask in the glow of the Hollywood spotlight. Confess' Auburn and Owen were brought to life in a 2017 series adaptation (now available to rent on Prime Video). The book and the TV show center on the pair’s budding relationship, which hangs in the balance of a sordid confession Owen must make that could rock Auburn’s world. The real question, then, is is he brave enough to follow through?
When you think you’ve got Hoover’s formula down pat, she throws a ghost into the mix. A romantic ghost, but a ghost, nonetheless. And that’s not all: As if being dead wasn’t romantically challenging enough, this ghost has bewitched a man who’s already taken—and now he must choose between her and his living girlfriend.
Hoover writes of a more mature love in All Your Perfects. Quinn and Graham have built up a lifetime's worth of memories, but not all are good. Their marriage is troubled and flawed, but it makes for one of the most realistic love stories in Hoover’s catalog, sending it straight to the top of the New York Times Best Sellers list upon its 2018 release.
Layken and Will’s emotional entanglements continue with Point of Retreat, the second of three Slammed books. Faced with new hurdles to overcome from Will’s past, the young couple must decide if they’re ready to fight for the new love they’ve found, or if it’s better to “retreat” and throw in the towel—before they get themselves in any deeper.
Rarely does a Colleen Hoover novel rank higher at the close of a series than the beginning, but that’s exactly the case with Finding Perfect. While it's told from the perspective of Finding Cinderella's Daniel, the book also brings back several of Hoover’s previous characters, including those from Hopeless, Losing Hope, and All Your Perfects. The form gives a sweet wink (and all the feels) to the most loyal members of her fanbase.
Losing Hope is the continuation of Sky and Dean’s explosive Hopeless narrative. Like many of the books in Hoover's series, this second installment dives deeper into the characters’ relationship from another angle, giving us a greater understanding of Dean. Unlike some of Hoover's other attempts at dual perspectives, which can fall flat in the rehashing, she nails this one by offering new characters and information that feels fresh.
Okay, so the girl (Sydney Blake) falls-for-hot-and-mysterious neighbor (Ridge Lawson) trope isn’t exactly original (where do Hoover’s characters live?), but Maybe Someday, which kicks off the Someday series, has twist enough to keep it from becoming stale. There's also an accompanying original score that makes this love story that much more tangible.
Regretting You is a nice breather from the typical boy-girl dynamic in much of Hoover’s work. Rather than focus all of her energy on the romantic pairings found within the book, Hoover switches it up, zoning closely in on the dynamics between 16-year-old Clara and her mother Morgan, who jointly tell the story through (very) different points of view.
If the mother-daughter story sounds ripe for indie movie material, that’s because it is! Prepare for Allison Williams and Mckenna Grace to tug on your heartstrings, as they’ll play the two leads. Dave Franco and Mason Thames round out the cast, while Josh Boone (The Fault in Our Stars, Stuck in Love) is to direct.
While many were satisfied with the ending of It Ends With Us, others devoured this second installment of the two-book series, which approaches Lily and Atlas’ love story from his point of view. It also takes readers through Lily’s healing process as she navigates contact with Ryle, a man she's inextricably tied.
November 9 was a big enough hit to have its own merch on Hoover’s site, alongside It Ends With Us, Verity, and Ugly Love. The premise is unique: Ben and Fallon meet the day before Fallon is supposed to move cross-country. Rather than spending the rest of the book on a Sliding Doors-type scenario, however, Hoover explores what happens when Fallon leaves and lives her life to the fullest, becoming novelist Ben’s muse in the process—if she's telling the truth, that is.
Hoover singlehandedly broke the stigma that self-published books are of lower quality with her debut romance novel Slammed, which found its way to the Best Seller's list just seven months after its release (and consequently, a top 10 Hoover ranking). A tribute to young love, it introduces readers to a teenage Layken, who’s just lost her father, and her hot new neighbor Will, who has the potential to help her overcome her sorrow. For all the kinship they find in each other, there are also major roadblocks threatening to kill their relationship before it ever gets off the ground.
Beyah Grim’s life is on the precipice of greatness: She’s got a scholarship to Penn State and a ticket out of the Kentucky town she's grown up in. But before she can get there, life throws a harsh curveball that lands her in Texas with her estranged father and an irritating neighbor boy named Samson whom she can’t seem to ignore. While they agree to keep things casual between them, Beyah quickly learns that fate often has other plans.
Hoover launched her second series with Hopeless, and it didn’t disappoint, earning a spot in both the Best Seller’s list and fans' hearts. Centered on Sky Davis and Dean Holder, its main characters are deeply flawed individuals who find brief solace in each other before their inner demons threaten to destroy what they’ve found.
Loosely based on the life of Hoover’s mother, It Ends With Us was a smash success long before Blake Lively and co. came to be associated with it. Told from the perspective of flower shop owner Lily (played in the film adaptation by Lively), who has been swept up in the same domestically abusive patterns she watched her parents go through in her youth, she finds herself in a love triangle with the man she thought would be her future (Ryle) and one who just reappeared from her past (Atlas). Hoover has called it the “hardest” book she’s ever written, but according to Simon & Schuster, all that hard work paid off: The novel sold more than four million copies following its 2016 release and remained on the Best Seller list for 76 weeks.
Classic fairytale, this is not. Shortly after meeting, Tate Collins and Miles Archer agree to have a physical relationship—in which they don't ask any questions about their past or have expectations about the future. What’s left, you ask? Passion, the likes of which would make Christian Grey blush. And, since love never plays by the rules, heartbreak, too. Though this one was previously optioned for a movie, Hoover revealed in 2017 that the rights were returned to her, leaving Tate, Miles, and their epic love scenes to the readers’ imaginations.
2022’s Verity marked a sharp turn from the heartwarming romance novels that Hoover is known for, but it also proved that she might do thrillers even better. The plot is centered on a best-selling novelist named Verity Crawford with a mountain of skeletons in her closet—all of which are about to be unraveled by Lowen Ashleigh, the struggling writer who’s been hired to finish Verity’s outstanding novel in the wake of a serious injury. Hoover's diehards should know it still explores the theme of love—just through a distorted lens of blood, betrayal, and mystery.
Verity will be the second of Hoover’s novels to be adapted. A feature film is currently in the works, with Michael Showalter (The Idea of You, The Big Sick) on as director, Hoover among the producers, and a star-studded cast full of A-listers; Anne Hathaway will play the titular character, while Dakota Johnson plays Lowen and ‘90s movie heartthrob Josh Hartnett portrays Verity’s husband Jeremy.
Of all of Hoover’s novels, Reminders of Him has the highest rating on Goodreads and the staunchest Reddit fanbase. We'd have to agree with the fans' consense. The book begins with a heartbreaking tragedy that sends its protagonist, Kenna Rowan, to prison, separating her from her just-born daughter. Between Kenna’s mistake, her star-crossed love affair with Ledger Ward, who shares a connection to her past that makes their would-be future all but impossible, and her deeply flawed, deeply human quest for redemption, CoHos all but guarantee you’ll be ugly crying into your Kleenex before this one’s end. (Don’t say we didn’t warn you.)
You better save some tissues, too: Reminders of Him is also headed to theaters. While details are scarce, British filmmaker Vanessa Caswill will helm an adaptation set for release in 2026.
