7 Emotional Colleen Hoover Books That Wrecked Me

I’ve read nearly every one of Colleen’s twenty-two books, and IT ENDS WITH US has always been my favorite. Lily Bloom, who works at a marketing company in Boston, realizes she isn’t happy in her career and quits her job to follow her passion and open her own florist shop. When I first read this book, I was also living in Boston and working at a marketing agency with dreams of starting my own business, so maybe that’s why I felt as though I related so strongly to this character. When Lily meets the handsome but enigmatic Ryle Kincaid, a neurosurgery resident at one of the best hospitals in the city, she starts to think that her life is taking a positive turn. Sparks fly, and they fall for each other hard and fast. But their relationship isn’t all sunshine and flowers: the pressure of their jobs starts to take a toll, and Ryle is unable to control his temper. Lily knows that she shouldn’t stay with him, but she can’t imagine a life without him anymore. Spoiler alert/trigger warning: This book deals with domestic violence and abusive relationships.

Check out our list of 7 Heart-Wrenching Books for Fans of IT ENDS WITH US

Tate Collins first meets her neighbor Miles Archer when he’s passed out in front of her brother Corbin’s apartment. She soon finds out that Miles is her brother’s friend and a commercial pilot who’s constantly on the move. Due to his traumatic past, he doesn’t want to fall in love, and, as a nurse, she doesn’t have a lot of time for love either—but they can’t resist their attraction. They decide to pursue a casual-sex situation with two rules: Never ask about the past, and don’t expect a future. But like most situations that start out casual, this one ends up being quite messy—or ugly, as the title suggests. When Tate starts to have feelings for Miles, she can’t understand why he won’t open up to her, but we as readers uncover the trauma he’s still trying to sort through. This book made me yell, laugh, and shed a few tears. Spoiler alert/trigger warning: Tragedy related to a baby.

This book throws you right into the story. Fallon meets her father for lunch before leaving Los Angeles to move across the country and pursue her dreams of being a Broadway actress. Her dad is a royal jerk, and Fallon escapes to the restaurant’s bathroom. When she returns, her father continues to be an ass, which catches the attention of the guy in the booth behind them. He saves Fallon from having to continue dining alone with her father by pretending to be her boyfriend, Ben. They keep up the ruse until her dad finally leaves, after which they continue to chat, hitting it off. Since Fallon is moving soon, they decide to meet again the following year on the same date. They continue to meet up each year, sharing stories and catching up with each other. I started to wonder how their love story would last for long when they met only once a year, but Colleen Hoover knows just how to build the tension. During one of their meetups, Fallon becomes unsure whether Ben has been telling her the truth and starts to question him. This book was uniquely gripping and full of angst, but the ending was so satisfying.

Owen Gentry is an artist in Dallas, Texas, whose recent work was inspired by confessions left by strangers on scraps of paper in a box outside his studio. On the night of his next showing, his girlfriend/employee breaks up with him and quits, leaving him to set everything up and manage the event on his own. Luckily, Auburn Reed walks past his studio just as Owen is running out of options, and he hires her on the spot to help him with the gallery showing. After the event goes off without a hitch, the pair grab a drink and get to know each other a little better. Auburn agrees to continue helping Owen with his monthly shows. Her motivations for doing so become clear once we discover her reason for moving to Texas. As with Colleen’s other novels, this one has a bunch of emotional ups and downs. CONFESS captivated me not only with its characters and plot but also with the art that’s sprinkled throughout the novel. Colleen worked with artist Danny O’Connor to depict the confessions of the novel in real paintings. I fell so in love with the artwork that I ended up buying a few prints from the artist to hang in my apartment.

This was the first Colleen Hoover book I ever read. It was a heavy hitter, but the way she wrote the characters had me racing through the pages. Sky Davis has been homeschooled her whole life, but when she turns seventeen, she convinces her adoptive mom, Karen, to let her attend public school for her senior year. That’s when she meets Dean Holder. Dean has a reputation around school for being a bad boy, but he’s also one of the most attractive guys in town. Dean is captivated by Sky; something about her draws him in, but he can’t quite put a finger on it. Sky tries to keep him at a distance because of his reputation, but he insists on getting know her better. The pair begin to spend more time together, and Dean realizes that he knows something about Sky’s past that could destroy her. He tries to protect her from the truth, but when the secret is revealed, her trust is shattered. Spoiler alert/trigger warning: This book deals with sexual abuse, suicide, and other sensitive subjects.

Colleen definitely took a dark turn with this book, but I’m here for it! Verity Crawford is a bestselling author who, after a terrible accident, is no longer able to finish her successful series. Her husband, Jeremy, and her publisher decide to hire another writer to complete the series. That’s when Lowen Ashleigh comes into the picture. Lowen is a financially struggling writer when the opportunity to finish the Noble Virtues series falls into her lap. She heads to the Crawford home to review Verity’s notes so that she can start writing the next book. While digging through Verity’s office, Lowen comes across the manuscript of what appears to be Verity’s autobiography. Lowen can’t resist reading it, thinking it could help with the writing of the new novel, but she soon discovers shocking secrets that the Crawfords may never want revealed to the world. This book left me spiraling for days. I had to find someone to talk to about the story’s twists and turns, especially the one at the end. This novel is great to enjoy with your book club! Spoiler alert/trigger warning: This book deals with child abuse, abortion, and other sensitive issues.

Continuing the theme of dark romance, Colleen presents TOO LATE, a book that’s a bit spicier than some of her other novels. This story is told from the points of view of three different characters—Asa, one of the most notorious drug dealers on campus; Sloan, a young college student who’s dating Asa; and Carter/Luke, an undercover cop who’s working to take Asa down. Asa is toxic. He lies, cheats, and steals, and has some serious mental-health issues. But he’s also charismatic and manipulative. His illegal dealings bring in a lot of money, enough to cover the medical costs for Sloan’s ailing brother, Stephen. Carter goes undercover at the university and meets Sloan while attending classes. Though he doesn’t initially realize that she’s involved with Asa, he quickly finds out that she’s a victim of Asa’s crazy manipulations and isn’t affiliated with the drug trade. Carter and his partner, Dalton, know they need to find a way to get Sloan out of the situation safely, but Carter makes a mistake—he starts to fall for Sloan. Spoiler alert/trigger warning: This book deals with domestic violence, rape, and other sensitive issues.