7 Best Colleen Hoover Books Ranked by a Romance Book Blogger
However, It Ends With Us, does deal with some heavy topics that carry some trigger warnings for some readers so if you don’t want to read a book that deals with spousal abuse then my next choice would be to read Reminders of Him first as this too is one of Colleen Hoover’s top books and bestsellers and is a great representation of her work as an author.
5 Best Colleen Hoover Books Ranked by Top Fans
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By: Julianne Buonocore Posted on August 23, 2022 October 9, 2023 Updated on October 9, 2023If you’re wondering what Colleen Hoover book to read first or next, these are the best Colleen Hoover romance books beloved beyond all others by readers worldwide.
It’s no secret that Colleen Hoover is one of the most successful authors of our generation, writing unputdownable romance books that all feel very different, yet are all compulsively readable.
She’s great at getting the reader to care about the characters while also moving the plot along quickly.
(And she always holds a special place in my own heart because I was reading It Ends With Us on the beach when I got engaged.)
Methodology: As an avid reader of Colleen Hoover’s novels myself, I have my own personal favorite (revealed below), but in order to give you the fairest assessment of the best Colleen Hoover books, I also took into account: New York Times bestseller rankings, Amazon reviews, GoodReads reviews, Instagram posts, and Instagram poll of my readers, and TikTok posts — and the numbers were actually pretty clear how CoHo’s books stack up with readers generally.
Below are answers to a few frequently asked questions, followed by the five best Colleen Hoover books ranked according to all criteria set forth above, so that you can easily choose your next great Colleen Hoover novel to read.
Frequently Asked Questions About Colleen Hoover’s Best Books
What is Colleen Hoover’s best selling book?Colleen Hoover’s best selling book is It Ends with Us , a #1 New York Times bestseller (even years after its publication), a TikTok sensation with over one billion tags, and a GoodReads award-winning book that has been reviewed by over one million readers.
Which Colleen Hoover should I read first?Since It Ends with Us is Colleen Hoover’s best selling and most popular book with millions of readers around the world, you should read this book of hers first.
Which Colleen Hoover books are the best?The best rated Colleen Hoover books on the top book review and social media sites combined are:
1. It Ends with Us
2. Verity
3. Ugly Love
4. Reminders Of Him
5. November 9
Best Colleen Hoover Books Ranked
5. November 9
New York Times bestseller
I’m so happy that November 9 made this list of the best Colleen Hoover books ranked because I personally really enjoyed it and found it to be a unique love story. It also makes for a great book to re-share on social media every November 9th!
Fallon is a young woman escaping from a past that left both physical and emotional scars. The day before her big cross-country move, she meets Ben, an aspiring novelist.
Although their lives diverge onto different paths, they continue to meet on the same day each year, and the uniquely beautiful Fallon becomes Ben’s unexpected writing inspiration.
However, as Fallon copes with deeply rooted family issues, she also questions Ben’s true motives. The question becomes how their lives and his novel will end.
Related Post: Guide to November 9
4. Reminders of Him
Reminders of Him is a massive sensation on Amazon, GoodReads, and TikTok. A troubled young mother named Kenna is released from a five-year stint in prison with the hope of reuniting with her young daughter.
However, everyone shuns her except local bar owner, Ledger. As he becomes a bigger part of her life, they must hide their connection to maintain the trust of their loved ones.
It’s an emotional redemption story about maintaining the hope of healing fractured bonds and finding forgiveness and love through shared grief, and it delivers absolutely everything Hoover’s biggest fans crave.
3. Ugly Love
New York Times bestseller
Ugly Love is easily one of the most popular Colleen Hoover books, as well as a New York Times bestseller even years after its publication.
It’s the story of Tate and airline pilot Miles, who seemingly have nothing in common except their mutual attraction. This causes them to believe that a purely physical relationship between them may be the perfect solution for each of them, as he doesn’t want real love and she doesn’t have time for it.
But, when the past is revealed, the future comes into question, and their once uncomplicated physical love gets…ugly.
2. Verity
Verity is my personal top pick, as well as my readers’ top pick, for the best Colleen Hoover book and it’s, without a doubt, also beloved by MILLIONS of readers who couldn’t put it down and were left completely flabbergasted. I read it in ONE sitting, which I never do.
Lowen is a struggling writer who takes a job as a ghostwriter for a bestselling author who has been very seriously injured in an accident, Verity Crawford.
While sorting through Verity’s notes, Lowen finds Verity’s unfinished autobiography. Plot twist! It’s filled with shocking and disturbing details about Verity’s life, including the night she was injured.
Meanwhile, Lowen also develops feelings for Verity’s husband, and very strange things start happening around the house, scaring Lowen and leaving the reader questioning everything.
If you don’t mind a dark and twisted storyline, you’ve GOT to read this one. Of note, the age rating for Verity is Very Mature Adults aged 21 and over.
1. It Ends With Us
- #1 New York Times bestseller
- 2016 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Romance
It Ends With Us is the absolute best of Colleen Hoover books, achieving #1 New York Times bestseller status even YEARS after its publication and over ONE BILLION tags on TikTok. Likewise, over a million readers have reviewed it on GoodReads. It’s easily one of the most successful books of the DECADE, period.
The first in the It Ends With Us series, it’s about Lily, a college graduate who has moved to Boston and started a floral business.
She meets Ryle, a stunning neurosurgeon, and he quickly makes an exception to his “no dating” rule. But, everything is not all “roses” when she learns the devastating and dark secret about why he had such a rule.
Lily’s troubled relationship makes her think fondly about a male protector in her past, Atlas, but when Atlas re-emerges, tensions between the three become truly explosive.
It’s a gripping emotional story that sucks the reader in and puts him or her in Lily’s shoes, truly contemplating what he or she would do in a really difficult situation, and whether history is doomed to repeat itself. Just walking away isn’t always as easy as it seems in real life, after all.
7 Best Colleen Hoover Books Ranked by a Romance Book Blogger
Colleen Hoover books are all the rage and if you’re wondering which Colleen Hoover book is best or which is the top-rated Colleen Hoover book then I’ve taken out the guesswork and have ranked the best Colleen Hoover books for you!
*Disclosure: This post may include affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
As a romance book blogger devoted to the genre, I’ve got a good pulse on what is considered the best books worth reading.
But don’t worry, when it comes to the top Colleen Hoover books, I’ve also shared their Goodreads ratings and their New York Times bestseller ranking to help rank the best Colleen Hoover books.
Plus, if you’re considering diving into one of Colleen Hoover book series, this list will point you in the right direction as it includes the first book in each of her top-ranked series.
Best Colleen Hoover Books Ranked:
My ranked list above should get you started but if you want to know why I consider these the top Colleen Hoover books worth reading then read on.
The Best Colleen Hoover Book:
It Ends With Us
by Colleen Hoover
#1 New York Times Bestseller for 2022
4.29 of 2,289,682 ratings on Goodreads
Winner: 2016 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Romance
It Ends With Us Summary:
When Lily feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life suddenly seems almost too good to be true.
Ryle is assertive, stubborn, and maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily, but Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing.
As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts 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.
Why It Ends With Us is One of the Best Colleen Hoover Books:
It’s not hard to understand why It Ends With Us is Colleen Hoover’s most popular book and one of her best!
Drawing from her mother’s life, this story is not only a beautiful love story but also a pretty devastating one as well given the choices Lily has to make.
I consider this one of the best Colleen Hoover books because the writing is fantastic, the story progression is amazing, and it makes you really feel for ALL the characters.
It’s quite an author who can make you fall for two people in the same book and feel the same heartbreak as the heroine when she realizes one love is not to be.
2 nd Best Colleen Hoover Book
It Starts With Us
by Colleen Hoover
New York Times Bestseller – #4 New York Times Bestseller for 2022
3.98 of 701,912 ratings on Goodreads
2022 Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee for Best Romance
It Starts With Us Summary:
Lily and her ex-husband, Ryle, have just settled into a civil co-parenting rhythm when she suddenly bumps into her first love, Atlas, again.
After nearly two years separated, she is elated that for once, time is on their side, and she immediately says yes when Atlas asks her on a date.
But her excitement is quickly hampered by the knowledge that, though they are no longer married, Ryle is still very much a part of her life, and Atlas Corrigan is the one man he will hate being in his ex-wife and daughter’s life.
Why It Starts With Us is One of the Best Colleen Hoover Books:
I loved It Ends With Us but Colleen Hoover gave her readers a true gift with It Starts With Us.
It wasn’t hard to become captivated by Atlas and Lily’s relationship when they first met as teens but to see them finally gets their second chance at love was so beautiful.
Though I loved their second chance romance, it really was another side story to It Starts With Us that totally captured my heart as well made this one of the best Colleen Hoover books (I can’t explain more for fear of spoilers!). And that conversation in the car with Atlas that gave the book its title…WOW!
3 rd Best Colleen Hoover Book:
Reminders of Him
by Colleen Hoover
New York Times Bestseller – #7 New York Times Bestseller for 2022
4.46 of 796,807 ratings on Goodreads
2022 Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee for Best Romance
Reminders of Him Summary:
After serving five years in prison for a tragic mistake, Kenna Rowan returns to the town where it all went wrong, hoping to reunite with her four-year-old daughter.
But the bridges Kenna burned are proving impossible to rebuild. Everyone in her daughter’s life is determined to shut Kenna out, 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.
Why Reminders of Him is One of the Best Colleen Hoover Books:
Reminders of Him is one of the best Colleen Hoover books because of Kenna hands down.
She absolutely steals the show in this book as a young woman who has endured so much, lived through so much, and despite being continually knocked down, does not give up.
Colleen Hoover does such a great job flushing out each of these characters that you feel what they feel, understand what they feel, and yet wish so much more for all of them.
The best part of Reminders of Him for me was seeing Kenna’s strength, her growth, and her absolute devotion to the daughter that she never met. Simply the name that she chose for her daughter took my breath away making this one of the top Colleen Hoover books you must read.
4th Best Colleen Hoover Book:
Ugly Love
by Colleen Hoover
New York Times Bestseller – #5 New York Times Bestseller for 2022
4.14 of 1,262,671 ratings on Goodreads
2014 Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee for Best Romance
Ugly Love Summary:
When Tate Collins meets airline pilot Miles Archer, she doesn’t think it’s love at first sight. They wouldn’t even go so far as to consider themselves friends.
The only thing Tate and Miles have in common is an undeniable mutual attraction.
Once their desires are out in the open, they realize they have the perfect set-up. He doesn’t want love, she doesn’t have time for love, so that just leaves one thing.
Their arrangement could be surprisingly seamless, as long as Tate can stick to the only two rules Miles has for her.
They think they can handle it, but realize almost immediately they can’t handle it at all.
Hearts get infiltrated. Promises get broken. Rules get shattered. Love gets ugly.
Why Ugly Love is One of the Best Colleen Hoover Books:
Ugly Love is one of the best Colleen Hoover books because it pulls you in with characters you must know everything about. It’s why Miles still stays with me as one of the best romance heroes with wounded hearts.
They are characters that you completely fall for as they fall for each other and boy does your heart go through the wringer with this one. But no fear, Colleen Hoover patches it up again in the best way.
I legit ugly cried while reading this one but that’s what Colleen Hoover’s books do – make you feel and feel hard and I’m all for it which is why this is one of my top Colleen Hoover books.
5th Best Colleen Hoover Book:
Maybe Someday
by Colleen Hoover
4.10 of 373,021 ratings on Goodreads
2014 Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee for Best Romance
Maybe Someday Summary:
At twenty-two years old, Sydney has a great life: She’s in college, working a steady job, in love with her wonderful boyfriend, Hunter, and rooming with her best friend, Tori.
But everything changes when she discovers Hunter’s cheating on her–and she is left trying to decide what to do next.
Sydney becomes captivated by Ridge, her mysterious neighbor. She can’t take her eyes off him or stop listening to the passionate way he plays his guitar every evening out on his balcony.
When their inevitable encounter happens, they soon find themselves needing each other in more ways than one.
Why Maybe Someday is One of the Best Colleen Hoover Books:
This was actually the first Colleen Hoover book I read and I don’t think it gets enough attention like some of other books.
Maybe Someday is one of the best Colleen Hoover books because it’s just so unique. Forced proximity while living together as roommates definitely has a way of bringing two people together but its not simple at all when it comes to their growing feelings (again no spoilers – ah!!).
And that’s why this book is so good because you don’t know what they should do given their situation and growing feelings. It’s so complicated and yet so beautiful.
I also loved how they connected over music and how they became the best of friends surely making this one of the top Colleen Hoover books in my mind and among Coho fans!
6th Best Colleen Hoover Book:
Hopeless
by Colleen Hoover
4.28 of 438,013 ratings on Goodreads
Hopeless Summary:
Sometimes discovering the truth can leave you more hopeless than believing the lies. That’s what seventeen-year-old Sky realizes after she meets Dean Holder.
He terrifies her and captivates her all in the span of one encounter, and something about the way he makes her feel sparks buried memories from a past she wishes could just stay buried.
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.
Why Hopeless is One of the Best Colleen Hoover Books:
Hopeless is another one of the best Colleen Hoover books because there is so much more the story than what first appears on the surface. And isn’t that true for so many of Colleen Hoover’s books?!
You may think that Hopeless is just a coming-of-age story, high school romance from the book summary, but of course Colleen Hoover makes it so much more of an emotional read that you don’t see coming.
I thought Hopeless was very well written with great pacing and with a slow unraveling of their back stories and the climactic “aha” moment.
As one of Hoover’s earlier works, I definitely ranked it as one of the best.
7th Best Colleen Hoover Book:
Slammed
by Colleen Hoover
4.21 of 283,324 ratings on Goodreads
2012 Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee for Best Young Adult Fiction and Best Goodreads Author
Slammed Summary:
Eighteen-year-old Layken has moved to a new town after she lost her father. She’s just trying to keep it all together for herself and her family.
Then she meets her new neighbor Will, a twenty-one-year-old whose mere presence leaves her flustered and whose passion for poetry slams thrills her.
Not long after a heart-stopping first date their new relationship comes to a sudden halt when Layken walks into his classroom.
Daily interactions become impossibly painful and it’s only through the poetry they share are they able to speak the truth that is in their hearts.
Why Slammed is One of the Best Colleen Hoover Books:
It’s hard not to consider her first published novel as one of the best Colleen Hoover books because it’s where it all started.
Layken and Will have such layers to their characters which is something that Colleen Hoover brings to all of her heroes and heroines.
This book is one of the top Colleen Hoover books because it shows how she can create a beautiful love story that is not just boy meets girl and they live happily ever after.
Instead, you get connection and chemistry in this teacher student romance but also angst and problems and courage and strength wrapped in the perfect package.
Additional Colleen Hoover Romance Books Ranked by Goodreads and The New York Times:
To round out the rest of Colleen Hoover’s standalone romance books, the following top Colleen Hoover books are ranked according to their New York Times bestseller status and their rating on Goodreads which showcases their popularity among readers.
November 9
by Colleen Hoover
#9 New York Times Best Seller for 2022
4.22 of 751,353 ratings on Goodreads
Fallon meets Ben, an aspiring novelist, the day before her scheduled cross-country move.
Their untimely attraction leads them to spend Fallon’s last day in Los Angeles together, and her eventful life becomes the creative inspiration Ben has always sought for his novel.
Over time and amidst the various relationships and tribulations of their own separate lives, they continue to meet on the same date every year.
Until one day Fallon becomes unsure if Ben has been telling her the truth or fabricating a perfect reality for the sake of the ultimate plot twist.
Can Ben’s relationship with Fallon—and simultaneously his novel—be considered a love story if it ends in heartbreak?
Regretting You
by Colleen Hoover
4.19 of 406,125 ratings on Goodreads
2020 Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee for Best Romance
Morgan Grant and her sixteen-year-old daughter, Clara, would like nothing more than to be nothing alike.
Morgan is determined to prevent her daughter from making the same mistakes she did. By getting pregnant and married way too young, Morgan put her own dreams on hold.
With warring personalities and conflicting goals, Morgan and Clara find it increasingly difficult to coexist.
The only person who can bring peace to the household is Chris—Morgan’s husband, Clara’s father, and the family anchor.
But that peace is shattered when Chris is involved in a tragic and questionable accident. The heartbreaking and long-lasting consequences will reach far beyond just Morgan and Clara.
While struggling to rebuild everything that crashed around them, Morgan finds comfort in the last person she expects to, and Clara turns to the one boy she’s been forbidden to see.
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.
All Your Perfects
by Colleen Hoover
4.15 of 402,414 ratings on Goodreads
2018 Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee for Best Romance
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.
Confess
by Colleen Hoover
4.16 of 359,343 ratings on Goodreads
Winner: 2015 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Romance
At age twenty-one, Auburn Reed has already lost everything important to her. In her fight to rebuild her shattered life, she has her goals in sight and there is no room for mistakes.
But when she walks into a Dallas art studio in search of a job, she doesn’t expect to find a deep attraction to the enigmatic artist who works there, Owen Gentry.
For once, Auburn takes a chance and puts her heart in control, only to discover that Owen is keeping a major secret from coming out.
The magnitude of his past threatens to destroy everything important to Auburn, and the only way to get her life back on track is to cut Owen out of it.
To save their relationship, all Owen needs to do is confess. But in this case, the confession could be much more destructive than the actual sin.
Heart Bones
by Colleen Hoover
4.31 of 296,619 ratings on Goodreads
With only two short months separating her from the future she’s built and the past she desperately wants to leave behind, an unexpected loss leaves Beyah with no place to go during the interim.
Forced to reach out to her last resort, Beyah has to spend the remainder of her summer on a peninsula in Texas with a father she barely knows.
Beyah’s plan is to keep her head down and let the summer slip by seamlessly, but her new neighbor Samson throws a wrench in that plan.
Samson and Beyah have nothing in common on the surface. She comes from a life of poverty and neglect; he comes from a family of wealth and privilege.
But one thing they do have in common is that they’re both drawn to sad things. Which means they’re drawn to each other.
With an almost immediate connection too intense for them to continue denying, Beyah and Samson agree to stay in the shallow end of a summer fling.
What Beyah doesn’t realize is that a rip current is coming, and it’s about to drag her heart out to sea.
Without Merit
by Colleen Hoover
3.79 of 172,208 ratings on Goodreads
Winner: 2017 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Romance
The Voss family is anything but normal. 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 and secrets her family forces her to keep.
While browsing the local antiques shop 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.
Never Never
by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher
4.0 of 92,173 ratings on Goodreads
Charlize Wynwood and Silas Nash have been best friends since they could walk. They’ve been in love since the age of fourteen.
But as of this morning they are complete strangers. Their first kiss, their first fight, the moment they fell in love…every memory has vanished.
Charlize and Silas must work together to uncover the truth about what happened to them and why.
But the more they learn about the couple they used to be, the more they question why they were ever together to begin with.
Frequently Asked Questions about Colleen Hoover’s Best Books:
Which Colleen Hoover Book Should I Read First?
If you’re just starting out reading Colleen Hoover’s books then I highly recommend that you read It Ends With Us first. Not only it is her most popular book and bestselling book, but it was the TOP bestseller of all of 2022!!
However, It Ends With Us, does deal with some heavy topics that carry some trigger warnings for some readers so if you don’t want to read a book that deals with spousal abuse then my next choice would be to read Reminders of Him first as this too is one of Colleen Hoover’s top books and bestsellers and is a great representation of her work as an author.
What is Colleen Hoover’s Bestselling Book?
Colleen Hoover’s bestselling book to date is It Ends With Us. Though it was published in 2016, it was the #1 New York Times Bestseller of all of 2022 and has sold over 4 million copies.
What is the Best Order to Read Colleen Hoover’s Books?
I recommend reading the top Colleen Hoover books in order according to this list of best Colleen Hoover books ranked.
If you’d rather read Colleen Hoover’s books in order by publication or by book series, then you can check out those book lists too!
What did you think of my Colleen Hoover book rankings? Agree or disagree? Share what YOU think is the best Colleen Hoover book in the comments below – I’d love to hear it.
More Colleen Hoover Book Lists:
- Colleen Hoover Books in Order: The Ultimate Guide
- Colleen Hoover Book Series
- Authors Like Colleen Hoover
- Best Reminders of Him Quotes
- Best Ugly Love Quotes
- Books Like It Ends With Us
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