Colleen Hoover is a #1 New York Times best-selling author and as of now, has three books on the Bestseller list, with It Ends with Us having been on the paperback trade fiction list for over 60 weeks. Part of the reason why is because Hoover’s books have taken TikTok or #BookTok by storm.
Not only this, the book-tokers and Hoover’s fanbase, who call themselves CoHorts, have successfully manifested a movie adaptation of this romance novel into reality. Blake Lively has found her next big movie role in the film adaptation of Hoover’s book, alongside Justin Baldoni, and we couldn’t be more excited!
It Ends with Us tells the story of Lily, a woman from a small town who has worked hard to become successful in Boston. She then stumbles upon a neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid and there are instant fireworks between them. Ryle is dead set against dating and romantic love of any kind, but he’s drawn to Lily and they begin a fragile relationship.
While she worries about incidents from his past that have turned him into a sceptic, her ex-flame and first love, Atlas Corrigan, springs into her life unexpectedly and threatens her new relationship. Now she is faced with one of the most difficult decisions of her life.
Loved the book? Find more to love with these books similar to It Ends With Us.
Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams
Resting on the edge of the New Adult genre, this book follows the story of Queenie Jenkins, a 25-year-old Jamaican British woman living in London, who is in a constant state of comparison and self-doubt. She can’t help but draw comparisons between herself and her white co-workers, the two cultures she grew up in, and her life to her family members’.
After a messy break-up with a long time boyfriend, Queenie makes a series of impulsive decisions and hooks up with men who don’t add much to her life. This behaviour sends her spiralling with existential questions and pushes her to get some clarity, do some reflecting and turn her life around. If you liked the journey of self-discovery Hoover’s characters go on, you’ll enjoy reading Queenie.
Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren
Macey Sorensen is a new paediatric resident, who is ambitious in every aspect of her life except where her heart is concerned. She’s living a carefully and deliberately constructed life and is in the midst of planning her perfect wedding with a safe, financially stable older man. She is sure she wants a life with no surprises and where her heart is safeguarded. But when she runs into Elliot Petropoulos, the one and only love of her life, the walls she has built around herself begin to slowly crumble.
Years ago, nerdy, gangly Macey had fallen hard for Elliot during a time when her heart was already hurting after losing her mother. Although he gently helps her process her grief and encourages her to take a chance on love by confessing his feelings for her on the same night, he ends up breaking her heart. This romance story is perfect for readers who can’t get enough of the ‘slow-burn-second-chance-love’ trope.
Written In The Stars by Alexandra Bellefleur
In this delightful romance, one of the main characters has doubts about love, just like Hoover’s Ryle. When Darcy goes on a terrible first date just to get her brother off her case about dating, she lies and says the date was a success. Elle, on the other hand, is desperately searching for true love and is convinced that it’s not Darcy. When Elle’s new business partner turns out to also be Darcy’s brother, she’s shocked to hear him excited about her and his sister’s budding romance. She goes along with it because Darcy pleads with Elle to do so, and also because she needs her business to thrive. But this fake relationship has a firm expiration date: New Year’s Eve. As the end of the year draws near, they begin to realise that their fake relationship is giving rise to real feelings.
Wish You Were Here by Renée Carlino
If you love Hoover’s writing style, you’ll love Renée Carlino’s novel for the way the narration builds and comes together beautifully, and for the plot that reels you in until you’re bleary-eyed at 3 a.m. While this book definitely doesn’t get as dark as Hoover’s, it still has similar story developments that’ll keep you hooked. The story revolves around Charlotte, who has a one-night stand with Adam, and is left stunned and rejected when he’s distant and cold the next morning.
She moves on to a new relationship—with Seth—but her perfect night with Adam is still embedded in her heart, confusing her and halting any forward progress. When she begins to search for answers, she realises that Adam’s closed-off nature is a lot more complicated than she could’ve imagined. Like Lily Bloom, Charlotte is on the cusp of following her passions, but heartbreak and difficult choices wreak havoc on her plans.
Dating Dr. Dil by Nisha Sharma
If love-phobic doctors are your thing after reading It Ends With Us, then you’re going to love Dr. Prem Verma, host of the Dr. Dil Show. Kareena Mann is a hopeless romantic who is trying to dissuade her parents from selling her childhood home. They agree to hand over the house to her if she gets engaged, but she only has four months to find her soulmate. In the midst of all this, the last thing she needs is the negative attention she receives from an argument with Prem Verma going viral online. Prem needs the proceeds from his show to fund his community health centre, but the bad publicity ends up hurting his fundraising goals.
When Kareena’s meddling aunties offer to fund the clinic if he convinces her they belong together, it’s a deal he can’t refuse. In a classic enemies-to-lovers arc, at first, the duo seem to disagree on everything. But the more time they spend together, the more their feelings change. They have to admit that the passion they feel for each other isn’t burning with hate any longer.
It Starts With Us by Colleen Hoover
And if you want even more Atlas and Lily content, get on to reading the sequel from Colleen Hoover, which was released in October last year. In this book, Lily and her ex-husband, Ryle, have just settled into a civil coparenting 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. Revealing more about Atlas’s past and following Lily as she embraces a second chance at true love while navigating a jealous ex-husband, it proves that no one delivers an emotional read like Hoover.
