Saddleback College’s library. Maren Schwartz/Lariat

If you have never heard of Colleen Hoover, pick up the phone! Hoover is a New York Times bestselling author of 24 novels and novellas. Her books fall into the New Adult and Young Adult contemporary romance genres and psychological thrillers. 

Hoover is trending all over social media for her spicy, easy-to-read romance novels that suck you into the story immediately.

 Here are some of her must-reads if you want to get into the romance genre or reading as a whole. 

“Ugly Love” (2014)

“Ugly Love” is the eighth novel by Hoover and an incredible standalone book. 

Tate Collins, a nursing student who moves to San Francisco with her brother to finish nursing school, meets Miles Archer, an airplane pilot. Miles is mysterious and one of her brother’s friends, and immediately, it is everything but love at first sight. 

They would not consider themselves friends, but they can both acknowledge their mutual attraction. 

Miles has clear intentions from the beginning, and there are no signs of wanting love, which works perfectly for Tate, who has no time for love. Miles has two rules for Tate: do not ask about the past and do not expect the future, which seems surprisingly easy for Tate in the beginning. 

Read more to see if their love turns ugly. 

“Hopeless” (2012)

“Hopeless” was published in 2012 as Hoover’s third novel. 

The novel is about a high school senior, Sky, who has no internet access and meets Dean Holder, a boy with a reputation for fighting and landing in jail. Something immediately attracts Sky to Holder when they meet for the first time outside a grocery store, where he is convinced he knows Sky from somewhere. 

After the interaction, Sky cannot get her mind off him and sees him outside her house when she arrives home. 

“Hopeless” shows real, true love from many angles and will leave you wanting to read the whole book and its sequel, “Losing Hope,” all in one sitting. 

“It Ends With Us” (2016)

“It Ends with Us” was Hoover’s 16th novel published, but the book changed her career. “It Ends with Us” has over four million copies sold. By far, this book is her most famous novel, and it got most people into her books in the first place. 

Lily, a flower shop owner, meets Ryle Kincaid, a gorgeous neurosurgeon, on top of his apartment building one night. They immediately click, and their relationship starts out normal, but with time, Ryle shows his true colors. He has a complete aversion to relationships, is arrogant and is deeply insecure. 

“It Ends with Us” flips back and forth between modern-day life for Lily and high school journal entries during her relationship with a boy named Atlas. Atlas will always have Lily’s heart; one day, when he reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is jeopardized.

The story is heart-wrenching but unable to be put down. In 2022, Hoover released “It Starts with Us,” a prequel to “It Ends with Us.” 

“All Your Perfects” (2018)

“All Your Perfects” is her 18th novel, and it has a back-and-forth perspective between then and now. 

Then, Quinn meets the love of her life outside her fiance’s front door one day, where they instantly click and never look back.

Now, Quinn and her husband Graham have been married for seven years and struggle with infertility, which causes deeper marriage issues. 

The novel flips back and forth in every chapter, where the reader sees how their relationship started and how it may end. 

This book can be read as a standalone novel or as the fourth book in the “Hopeless” series, after “Hopeless,” “Losing Hope,” and “Finding Cinderella.” The final novel in the series is “Finding Perfect”. 

“November 9” (2015)

“November 9” is Hoover’s 13th novel released, a story about a girl named Fallon and a boy named Ben, who meet on the anniversary of an accident that caused Fallon to be scarred on one side of her body. Fallon had just planned on moving to New York City to pursue theater despite her looks. 

Ben and Fallon fall in love, but the timing could not be worse. They decide to meet up every year on Nov. 9 in the same restaurant without contacting each other throughout the year. Their love can grow but also fade. 

Colleen Hoover has many more well-written novels, and this just skimmed the surface of the world of romance. Her books are easy reads; if you consider reading, she is a great introduction.

Comments

comments