Chances are, if you are heading to a beach vacation or simply looking to enjoy a saucy love story, then you've probably heard of Colleen Hoover. Hoover has written several young adult romance novels, and is a New York Times best-selling author, holding six of the 10 top spots. Her list of books is quite extensive, with 25 separate novels and novellas, to be exact. She began publishing in 2012 and is showing no signs of slowing down. In fact, she has suspense novels set to come out in 2025 and 2027 with Grand Central. She's also set to publish two romance novels with Atria in 2024 and 2026. The woman is busy.
Even though she has two dozen books to her name, it was her stand-alone novel, Verity and series, It Ends With Us, that catapulted her into a fiction heroine. Peruse any social media app like Instagram or TikTok, and Hoover's name and novels are trending. One search for the hashtag #BookTok and Colleen Hoover novels make the best of lists time and time again. If that's not enough, she sold more copies of her books than the Bible in 2022. That's right...the actual Bible.
One of her most popular books, It Ends With Us, is even being turned into a highly anticipated movie, set for release on February 9, 2024. Blake Lively will star as the main character, Lily, alongside Justin Baldoni (Ryle, as well as the film's director). In an interview with Today, Hoover was over the moon on finding out Lively would be portraying the main character. Hoover said, "I didn't believe it...I have been obsessed with Blake Lively since 'Gossip Girl' days — I'm just a huge fan of hers, and of course of her husband."
With 25 books to date, several of them series, it can be a bit daunting knowing where to start. If you want to read the books, you'll have to make sure you read them in the correct order, otherwise, you could be starting in the middle of the series or giving yourself some serious spoilers. We've broken down the order you should read them, starting with the standalone novels, followed by her series.
Colleen Hoover's Series
Colleen Hoover has four separate series, each with a differing number of books. When it comes to her series, you want to make sure you read them in order, as the characters remain the same, as well as the plot. The series remained contained within themselves, meaning there isn't a correct order to read each separate series. You can pick one, and go from there. To make it easy, we've sorted the series in chronological order, starting with the oldest. We've also outlined her standalone books in publishing date order.
Colleen Hoover's Standalone Series
To make things as seamless as possible, we've broken down her standalone books based on chronological order, from earliest publishing. These are her books as follows:
- Ugly Love (2014)
- Confess (2015)
- November 9 (2015)
- Too Late (2016)
- Never Never (2016)
- Without Merit (2017)
- Verity (2018)
- Regretting You (2019)
- Heart Bones (2020)
- Layla (2020)
- Reminders of Him (2022).
Since no previous knowledge is needed for these books, readers can choose any story that speaks to them in the moment. While most of her books fall into the Romance category, Verity is her standout psychological thriller.
Verity focuses on the life of Lowen Ashleigh, a struggling writer, who accepts an incredible opportunity to write for renowned author Verity Crawford. Verity was injured and unable to complete her books, so her husband, Jeremey, reaches out to Lowen for help. During her research, she finds Verity's secret autobiography, filled with devastating secrets. Lowen develops feelings for Jeremy, feeling if he knew the secrets, she may have a chance to tear him away from his wife.
The Slammed Series
- Slammed
- Point of Retreat
- This Girl
Slammed was Hoover's first novel that focuses on 18-year-olds Layken and Will. After Layken's father passes away, she relocates to a new town and meets Will. Layken takes an interest in slam poetry, as does Will, and the two embark on a complicated love story.
The Hopeless Saga
- Hopeless
- Losing Hope
- Finding Cinderella
- All Your Perfects (Optional)
- Finding Perfect
The first three books in the series are meant to be read in order because it follows the love story of high schoolers Sky and Dean. Hopeless is written from Sky's perspective, while Losing Hope digs into Dean's troubled past. Finding Cinderella is actually a novella, focusing on two teenagers, Daniel and Six. While it doesn't focus on Sky and Dean, the story focuses on the prior books' supporting characters.
All Your Perfects was written as a standalone novel that focuses on an adult married couple, Quinn and Graham. However, it technically is part of the series, as it refers back to parts in the other books in the series.
The final book, Finding Perfect, manages to weave together all the stories in the saga, while telling the story of Daniel and Six's relationship from Daniel's perspective.
The Maybe Trilogy
- Maybe Someday
- Maybe Not
- Maybe Now
Even though this is a series, Hoover herself has said that Maybe Someday is a standalone novel. On her website, she writes, "Book 1 is a standalone. Book 2 is a spinoff and can be read separately. Book 3 is recommended after you read books 1 & 2." The first book focuses on Sydney, who seems to have it all, until she finds out she's been cheated on. She has to reevaluate her life going forward, including some major changes. Maybe Not focuses on two side characters' relationships from Maybe Someday. Maybe Now manages to weave together the relationships from the other books, with a new character, Maggie.
It Ends With Us Series
- It Ends With Us
- It Starts With Us
Even though there is a six-year gap between the release of the two novels, It Starts With Us picks up exactly where It Ends With Us leaves off. It Ends With Us tells the story of Lily, a young woman who falls in love with a neurosurgeon named Ryle. Even though she appears to be head over heels, she can't get her Atlas off her mind. When Atlas appears, it could damage her new relationship.
It Starts With Us picks up with a more in-depth look at Lily and Atla's history, alternating being told from the perspective of Lily and Atlas.
