I have written a couple of articles on bestselling authors, most of whom have either slowed down their output or are no longer with us.
But this one’s still going strong and she will probably see this post, I hope.
It’s a Colleen Hoover special!
To her readership, Colleen is a drug! Better than cocaine (not that I have tried cocaine.)
And I sense they can’t wait for her new book scheduled for October 2022.
I’ll surely talk about that and more, but first, let’s discover who Colleen Hoover is before we take a look at her books.
Let’s get started.
Who is Colleen Hoover?
Colleen Hoover was born Margaret Colleen Fennell on December 11, 1979, in Sulfur Springs, Texas, to Vannoy Fite and Eddie Fennell.
She is a true Texan—born, raised, schooled, and still lives there. Colleen grew up in Saltillo, Texas, graduated from Saltillo High School in the late 90s, and graduated from Texas A&M University-Commerce with a degree in social work.
When Colleen was a little girl, Colleen told people that she wanted to be a writer when she grew up. However, her marriage to her high school sweetheart, Heath Hoover, and the time-engulfing chore of raising their three kids got in the way of her dreams.
On an ‘unserious note,’ she was taking care of four boys, so it is almost impossible to juggle the demands of both writing a book and being available for all four boys.
Instead, she decided to pursue a career in social work and worked various social work and teaching jobs for about 10 years.
However, in 2011, she decided to pursue her childhood dream and in November of that year, Colleen began her first novel, Slammed.
This restored purpose was inspired by lyrics from an Avett Brothers song, Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise:
“Decide what to be and go be it.”
Slammed was later reviewed and given 5 stars by book blogger Maryse Black, and that was the first of many successes that Colleen Hoover’s books were going to achieve.
Colleen Hoover’s novel, Confess, won the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Romance in 2015. Then in 2016, It Ends With Us, won the Choice Award for Best Romance.
Another award followed in 2017, when her book, Without Merit, won the best romance award.
In the same year, Confess, a drama television series filmed by Awestruck, based on Colleen Hoover’s novel with the same title premiered on Go90. It is available on Prime Video and Roku.
Although Colleen Hoover is published by Montlake Romance and Atria Books, she also has several self-published books including Verity.
What Kind of Books Does Colleen Hoover Write?
Colleen Hoover has written twenty-two novels and novellas—and most of them fall into the New Adult and Young Adult contemporary romance categories, as well as mystery, thriller, and suspense.
Unlike other writers who fail to vary their usual genre or try something new, Colleen Hoover has successfully branched out from her regular genre of romance and given her readership something emotional and creepy such as Verity.
Colleen’s books have spent a total of 120 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller list and she stands third on the Goodreads most-followed authors of all time—only Stephen King and Bill Gates have bigger followership.
How Did Colleen Hoover Achieve Her Success?
While more than half of her success can be attributed to her raw talent, dedication, and hard work, it is fair to say that she owes part of this success to social media platforms such as TikTok.
It Ends With Us has been a hit since it was first published in 2016, selling tens of thousands of copies a week. This success can be partially attributed to the book’s popularity on #BookTok, TikTok niche where users discuss their new favorite books or analyze their preferred literary tropes.
Authors have benefited a lot from the platform and Colleen Hoover happens to be high on that beneficiary list.
If you come across the CoHo hashtag, that’s Colleen Hoover—and videos with her hashtags (#CoHo, Colleen Hoover) have over 441 million views on TikTok. Colleen has caught the attention of several celebrities and influencers including Hailey Bieber and Kylie.
The Best Colleen Hoover Books
Colleen Hoover’s books have unique storylines with good depth, unique characters, and she always tries to make every novel an emotional roller coaster with a shocking plot twist.
She has not limited herself to one genre, but she still succeeds at making you want to read all the different genres and tropes.
Out of her 22 published novels, I put together a five-book list of my favorite Colleen Hoover books—and I think you are going to them too.
1. Verity
Colleen believes that she is a dark person, something she wants to continue to portray in some of her books (i.e., Verity). In Verity, Hoover included issues such as child abuse, abortion, and even death.
Verity Crawford is a best-selling novelist who is unable to complete her famous book series due to a tragic accident.
A struggling writer, Lowen Ashleigh, gets the offer of a lifetime when Verity’s husband, Jeremy, decides to recruit another writer to finish the series.
Lowen moves in with the Crawfords to sift over Verity’s notes and outlines, hoping to find enough to get her started.
While in Verity’s office, Lower stumbles upon some sort of autobiography, something that Verity never wanted anyone to see.
What she finds in there is much more than she bargained for. How will she use the information that she just found?
2. It Ends with Us
A hard-working Lily Bloom isn’t happy in her career and decides to quit her job at a marketing company in Boston.
She wants to do what she loves, so she follows her passion and opens a flower store.
When she meets a good-looking but enigmatic neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, she believes that her life is taking a turn for the better. They fall for each other hard—and way too fast—but she’ll soon find out that there is something more to Ryle’s “no dating” rule.
As her doubts about Ryle begin to flood her thoughts, her mind drifts to her memories of Atlas Corrigan, her first love.
Her relationship with Ryle is completely turned on its head when Atlas suddenly reappears. What will happen next in this glorious, powerful, and touching story?
3. November 9
Fallon has lunch with her father before departing Los Angeles to pursue her ambition of becoming a Broadway performer.
Their uncomfortable conversation catches the attention of Ben, an aspiring novelist, who decides to intervene and pretends to be Fallon’s boyfriend,
Fallon’s dad finally leaves, and the two continue to chat.
They spend Fallon’s last day in Los Angeles together, and the experience provides the creative inspiration Ben had been looking for, inspiration for his novel.
Colleen’s genius mind is at work again!
Instead of just boring us with a straightforward romantic story, she decides to throw in other relationships and sad happenings in between their yearly meetings.
What will happen after Fallon starts to doubt what Ben has been telling her? Read the books to find out the ending of this gripping piece.
4. Ugly Love
Tate Collins first meets her neighbor, Miles Archer (who also happens to be her brother’s friend and a commercial pilot), she doesn’t think it is love at first sight.
Miles has a traumatic past and—because of that— he doesn’t want to fall in love, and Tate is always too busy as a nurse.
Although that’s the case, Tate and Miles can’t help but notice that there’s a mutual attraction.
So, they decide to have a mutually beneficial casual-sex arrangement with two rules:
Never ask about the past.
Don’t expect a future.
But the casual arrangement soon gets messy, or should I say ugly. Feelings develop, rules get ignored, and someone is bound to get heartbroken.
5. Hopeless
I love the twists/revelations in this story, it will leave you agape with wonderment.
Sky Davis has been homeschooled all her life but joins a public school—with her mom’s blessing—for her senior year.
That’s when she meets Dean Holder, one of the most attractive young men in town who also has a bad boy image.
He terrifies her and captivates Sky, but his unrelenting persistence and enigmatic smile melt down her barriers, increasing the intensity of their relationship.
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.
After that, it’s revelation after revelation.
First, Sky discovers that Holder and his twin, Lesslie, were her childhood friends. Sky was kidnapped when she was five years old.
Her real name was Hope, not Sky, and Karen confesses to kidnapping Hope because she knew she was being sexually abused by her father.
By the way, Karen is Sky’s aunt.
Wow, too much information. Too many spoilers. Read the book here to find out the rest of the story.
Colleen Hoover Books in Order
Standalone Novels
- Ugly Love (2014)
- Confess (2015)
- November 9 (2015)
- Too Late (2016)
- Without Merit (2017)
- All Your Perfects (2018)
- Verity (2018)
- Regretting You (2019)
- Heart Bones (2020)
- Layla (2020)
- Reminders of Him (2022)
Slammed
- Slammed (2012)
- Point of Retreat (2012)
- This Girl (2013)
Hopeless
Maybe
Never Never (with Tarryn Fisher)
It Ends With Us
- It Ends With Us (2016)
- It Starts With Us (Scheduled for October 2022)
Short Stories
- A Father’s Kiss from The Kiss (An Anthology of Love and Other Close Encounters)
- Saint from One More Step
- Two More Days
Final Words on Colleen Books in Order
As one of the most famous bestsellers of the last decade, Colleen Hoover has managed to become one of the most influential voices in contemporary literature.
She has achieved a lot while carving her own path and staying true to her passions. With just a little over 22 titles in circulation, Hoover has already built a dream writing career.
Combined, her books have spent over 25 months (2 years) on the New York Times Bestseller over the past decade. And… she keeps on trending on several social media platforms,
This woman, ladies and gentlemen, is a legend in the making.
