10 Authors Like Colleen Hoover
It’s no secret Colleen Hoover has made it to the best sellers list again and again over the last decade. Many pick up her books and cannot stop until they finish them all. When they do, they go searching for other authors like her. If this sounds like you, you might be wondering what exactly you should pick up next. Well, here are 10 authors like Colleen Hoover you can pick up immediately and devour.
Now, if you are looking for authors like Colleen Hoover, you might also be looking for a range of genres since she writes in a few. You might like her YA and New Adult romance, psychological thrillers, and, to borrow a phrase from Book Riot’s When in Romance podcast, domestic fiction. Her books have always done well, but it is impossible to deny the effect TikTok has had on boosting the sales of Hoover’s backlist. Her fans, affectionately dubbed the CoHorts, love her books, even if they make them cry, and it shows in her sales.
You may be Hopeless, and you are not Without Merit for feeling like Maybe Someday, Maybe Now, you might be able to find other authors like Colleen Hoover. When it comes to recommending books like Colleen Hoover, there is a bit of a difference between recommending books like It Ends With Us and books like Verity. I Confess, that this list of Colleen Hoover read-alikes is not complete. Still, it does contain other authors that tackle big emotions, messy interpersonal situations, and heart-stopping, life-altering plot points in their novels.
The Best Authors like Colleen Hoover
Courtney Milan
Courtney Milan’s The Cyclone Series is the right fit for fans of Colleen Hoover’s new adult books like Slammed. The Cyclone Series centers around Cyclone Technologies, a billion-dollar Silicon Valley technology company run by founder and CEO Adam Reynolds, whose partner recently passed away. Now that his son, Blake, is old enough, he has begun to take on more responsibilities at the company he will inherit one day. At college, he meets Tina Chen — who struggles to pay her rent, send money to her family, and take her classes — and winds up trading lifestyles. Each book in Courtney Milan’s series has all the unexpected twists, troubling family relationships, and messy characters you would do anything to protect that you would expect to find in a Colleen Hoover book.
Kris Ripper
The characters in many, if not all, of Colleen Hoover’s books often balance their daily struggles with their mental health conditions, so naturally, Kris Ripper came to mind. Ze is not afraid of placing queer protagonists with mental health conditions at the center of Zir romances. While I could choose many books in Kris Ripper’s backlog, The Hate Project is the perfect place to start. Oscar has anxiety, and when he is fired from his job answering phones, which frequently makes things worse, he has the opportunity to professionally clear out a home instead. Even if it is for a man he constantly bickers, argues, and hooks up with. Kris Ripper just might have the Colleen Hoover read-alike you have been looking for if you need a romance book with significant emotional range.
Andie J. Christopher
Andie J. Christopher has to be one of the queens of unlikable female protagonists in contemporary romance. Of course, she came to mind immediately when I came up with a list of authors like Colleen Hoover, a woman known for her own unlikable protagonists in books like November 9. One of Andie J. Christopher’s unlikable female protagonists even falls for unavailable men like the local priest in Hot Under His Collar. Although her books tend to be a bit funnier in tone, her characters will not disappoint fans of Colleen Hoover’s books.
Alyssa Cole
If you were a fan of Colleen Hoover’s move into the romantic psychological thriller space with Verity, Alyssa Cole is the author for you. Specifically, her thriller, When No One Is Watching, is a psychological one that answers the question: Where do people in the neighborhood go when gentrification pushes them out? Hoover’s book takes the reader through the troubling research behind the life of a person, not a neighborhood like Cole’s. However, the slow, unsettling revelations that develop over documents and histories in both books are sure to keep you captivated.
Alisha Rai
Alisha Rai is an author who delivers complicated romantic relationships again and again. If you read Reminders of Him and were drawn to the forbidden relationship, Alisha Rai’s books might be for you. The Forbidden Hearts Series has a Romeo-and-Juliet-esque star-crossed lovers book (Hate to Want You), a “he was my brother-in-law but now I love him” romance (Wrong To Need You), and a big brother’s friend romance (Hurts To Love You). All three books live up to the forbidden title and if the secrets do not capture your heart, the romance surely will.
Helen Hoang
Helen Hoang is a legendary writer who centers autistic protagonists in her romances and domestic fiction. Readers of Colleen Hoover’s books will love the way she works through romantic setups that appear doomed from the start, like the arranged marriage in Hoang’s The Bride Test. If you can persevere and cry through a Colleen Hoover book, you will love to be emotionally devastated by Helen Hoang.
Alexa Martin
If you liked the former football players in Reminders of Him, you will love Alexa Martin. While The Playbooks Series as a whole would be a great place to start, Fumbled by Alexa Martin has a plot line where a child is introduced to his biological father and hits similar emotional beats to Colleen Hoover’s book. Alexa Martin’s books are inspired by her experience as a professional writer married to a former professional football player. She writes about the real issues people face when they are trying to find a balance between the professional, romantic, and platonic lives they craft for themselves based on their unique life experiences.
Cole McCade
Cole McCade has a deep backlist of queer romance, science fiction, fantasy, and horror books that will hit all the right notes for CoHorts everywhere. I would like to specifically direct your attention to his queer romance novels like his Albin Academy series, where teachers at a private high school deal with dangerous secrets and even more dangerous romances. His writing style is emotion-forward, where the reader feels like they are experiencing the emotional states of the characters alongside them. In Just Like That, “His heart felt like it would burst, the walls worn thin as paper and ready to shatter.” Simply put, when I read Colleen Hoover’s writing, her paragraphs remind me of Cole McCade.
Casey McQuiston
When thinking about Colleen Hoover’s many twenty-something hot messes, I can’t help but think of Casey McQuiston. Their work tends to have more jokes and fan references, but her characters, more often than not, have some tragedy that makes me go “oh sweetie, no” at some point during the reading experience. A classic example is the tragic revelations of a woman reflecting on her teen detective upbringing in One Last Stop. Colleen Hoover fans who like the epistolary chapters will also be happy to find McQuiston’s emails, letters, and notes. Sad twenty-something vibes have been achieved in both bodies of work.
It Ends With This Set of Authors like Colleen Hoover
Once you have finished all these authors like Colleen Hoover, you might just need another specific book recommendation. Book Riot’s Tailored Book Recommendations Service, or TBR, is a book recommendation service that pairs you with a qualified book nerd to find you your next pile of expertly-curated books. TBR bibliologists help any reader looking for any kind of book identify the one for them. All you have to do is pick up your next book and read away.
