If You Loved It Ends With Us
The raise of the new adult romance trend – the queen of romance, Colleen Hoover
Guess what. Just like all of you big Hoover fan out there, we DID love It Ends With Us! And we love all of the attention that this 2016 backlist gem is getting, thanks to the major motion picture (in theaters now!) starring the incomparable Blake Lively.
Of course the very FIRST thing that you should read after It Ends With Us is the 2022 follow-up, It Begins With Us. This book brings the story of Atlas and Lily into focus and examines the difficulties of parenting with an ex-partner when new romantic leads enter the picture. I didn’t get to this until recently, and I wish I hadn’t waited so long! It is a lovely ending (or beginning) and will close every wound that It Ends With Us left on our psyches. We highly recommend the audiobook if you get your reading in during chore time.
There are plenty of must-read titles in this vein, here is a quick list of our current top faves. Clear your calendar before you dive into any of these all-consuming reads!
Hopeless – Colleen Hoover
Yes, another Colleen Hoover book! But we loved this one so much that we had to include it on our list. We actually loved the whole series, there are five books in total. Don’t miss any of them!
In the first installment, a promiscuous high school senior named Sky meets a guy with a body count that rivals her own. He is terrifying. She is captivated, and despite her absolute intention to avoid Dean Holder entirely, something about him feels so familiar that parts of the past that she’s always kept buried are starting to rear their heads.
As Dean’s pursuit of her heats up, Sky’s defenses melt and the bond between the two of them grows. But he has been keeping secrets too, and Sky’s ability to trust might wind up being another victim of the past he’s tried so hard to keep secret! A passionate love story, an all-consuming attraction: would you want to know the truth? Or would you rather keep believing the beautiful lies?
WHAT THE MEDIA IS SAYING:
A book that will make readers feel every emotion known to man. – Nikki H. Rose, The Riveting Review
This book will bring you on a rollercoaster ride of finding love and healing trauma in so many different ways. The only thing I know for sure after this emotional experience. I will never not read. – Heidi Dischler, heididischler.com
One True Loves – Taylor Jenkins Reed
It is not often that a book can actually shock me, but this one did. I actually gasped out loud, which I don’t think has happened while I was reading since like 2017. It’s also not often that I don’t see the ending coming (time in the publishing industry will do that!), but I had no clue on this one.
Emma’s husband disappeared on their first wedding anniversary. Jesse was in a helicopter over the Pacific, and….that was it. He was gone. She quits her job, moves back to their hometown, and tries to put her life back together.
Emma never thought that she would be able to love another man. But a reunion with an old friend results in a second chance of happiness, and years later, she and Sam are engaged and there is another bright future in sight.
Except.
Except it turns out that Jesse is alive. He’s been waiting for the chance to return home – and to Emma – for years. Now Emma has a husband AND a fiancé, which she certainly had ever expected. What do you do when faced with both of the loves of your life?
The thing I loved most about this book was that both Sam and Jesse were both really great guys! It was an actual struggle for Emma to choose, because both men were generous, kind, and loving. It seems like an impossible decision, but Emma DOES make one! Who would you choose?
WHAT THE MEDIA IS SAYING:
“Reid does such a good job of leading us through Emma’s emotional journey – I was as ambivalent as she was for a while, and then really invested in the ending. There’s some pretty deep truths in this, too.” ― BookRiot
“[Reid] is so skilled at creating complex, likeable characters that you’ll find yourself struggling to root for one man over the other.” ― Real Simple
“I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see who Emma would give her heart to.” ― First for Women
“If you read this title and thought to yourself, ‘Hey wait, isn’t that a typo?’, Reid’s heartwarming tale of a choice between two loves might just convince you otherwise.” ― Brit+Co
Neon Gods – Katee Robert
“He was supposed to be a myth.” How’s that for an opening line?!
This sexy retelling of the timeless tale of Persephone and Hades takes place in an ultra-modern version of Olympus where Persephone’s mother springs a surprise on her. And not a good one. Zeus, the source of power for Olympus, is going to be her husband.
Persephone has no choice but to flee her mother’s trap. She takes refuge in the forbidden undercity, where she meets a beautiful man who she’d always thought was a myth. Not only is Hades real, he’s vindictive. He’s petty. He is smokin’ hot. And now that he’s fallen in love with Persephone, he is ready to go to war with Zeus himself to keep her close. He’s spent his entire existence hiding in the shadows, and he’s ready to step into the light if that means eternal love. And sweet revenge.
WHAT THE MEDIA IS SAYING:
“Deliciously inventive…Red-hot.”—Publishers Weekly STARRED
“This modern-day retelling of the story of Hades and Persephone has lots to offer for romance fans looking for a slightly darker romance.” – Library Journal
“I get shivers just thinking of their interactions. SHIVERS.”—Mimi Koehler for The Nerd Dailey
Serendipity – Becky Chalsen
I absolutely LOVED 2023’s Kismet, so I was thrilled to see a new Becky Chalsen book! Chalsen is a film/TV development pro, and that makes sense. You can see the action unfolding in front of you like a movie as you read!
Serendipity checks all of my boxes for a beach read: complicated friendships between a group of women, the unexpected return of an ex-lover, and a sultry location that offers our protagonists the promise of good times to come.
Maggie ditched her hometown friends in a pretty epic way when she left her hometown with screenwriting dreams in her eyes. Six years later, life happens, and Maggie moves her life from LA back to New York. There are a lot of people she hopes to avoid, including her ex-boyfriend and her ex-best friend, Liz.
After an awkward yet bound-to-happen run-in with the old gang, Maggie accepts an invitation from her former friends to join their summer share house. For three weekends, the formerly inseparable group will reopen old wounds, fix old mistakes, and make new ones.
One notable thing about Serendipity is that the friendships are just as important to the story as the romantic connections – that is an oft-missing plot element in beach reads but this strikes a great balance!
WHAT THE MEDIA IS SAYING:
“With the friend group dynamics of The Big Chill and the romance of Emily Henry’s Happy Place, Serendipity is the perfect summer romp.”—Bustle
“Serendipity is as unforgettable as the perfect beach rental. Absorbing and deeply relatable, this book sparkles with the textured truth and complications of long held relationships. A coming-of-age, romantic comedy, and dazzling ode to friendship all in one. As to be expected with Chalsen, this book is a thoughtful meditation on the choices, pain and love that come for a person in their 20s, wrapped up in a radiant, beachy sweetness. The Serendipity House gang will stay with me for a long time.”—Cat Shook, author of If We’re Being Honest
“Chalsen name-checks “How I Met Your Mother”…and this book gives off that show’s vibe. Many of the plot points will resonate with readers reminiscing about those postcollege years.”—Booklist
A Novel Love Story – Ashley Poston
THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!
Most Anticipated by Parade – Buzzfeed – Harper’s Bazaar – Elle – She Reads – The Seattle Times – BookRiot and more! “Perfect for those who loved It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover.”
Eileen Merriweather’s favorite thing is to get lost in a good book with a perfect, happily-ever-after ending. Fictional men can’t hurt you. They can’t leave you at the altar. They can’t ruin your life.
Eileen is looking forward to her book club’s annual retreat. All she wants is a few laughs with good friends and a few glasses of cheap wine. But car trouble strands her in a quaint town that feels very familiar.
The familiarity is bad enough, but the fact that the town is REAL is freaking her out. She could swear that she is standing in the precious town of her favorite romance series. Every thing is perfect there in the fictional town of Eloraton, except for the fact that Eileen cannot figure out WHY she is there. Can she somehow help the people there to find perfect endings of their own? Eileen hopes so, because it is starting to feel like her own fate is intertwined with the town’s.
There is only one character that Eileen isn’t able to connect to one of the books in her favorite series. He has beautiful, minty-green eyes, a sexy mouth, and top-notch taste in books. And of course he owns the town bookstore! What does he know about her arrival in Eloraton? Is he keeping secrets of his own?
This book is absolute, pure joy! What should be a familiar trope is fresh and comes to life in fun new ways!
WHAT THE MEDIA IS SAYING:
“She’s making all our biggest book dreams come true…yes, you’re totally going to wish that this plot was happening to you!”—Cosmopolitan
“Ashley Poston has done it again. I fell into these pages just as effortlessly as Eileen tumbles into Eloraton. Whimsical, emotional, and tender, A Novel Love Story is another enchanting romance from Poston.”—B.K. Borison, author of Business Casual
“Stranger Than Fiction meets Virgin River in this incandescently clever meta rom-com from Poston. Poston gracefully walks the line between women’s fiction and romance—with just a hint of magic—providing an inspirational story of personal growth and second-chance romance alongside a fascinating exploration of transformative fiction, how readers and writers cocreate and share stories, and the value and purpose of escaping into one’s favorite novels. Readers will want to escape into this one again and again.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
The Air He Breathes – Brittainy Cherry
“Stay away from him,” people said. “He’s cruel. He’s cold. And he’s damaged.”
You may have seen this one on Booktok, where it is consistently named as a “Books That Make You Ugly Cry” must-read. A quick scan of reviews shows that other readers found it “devastating” and “heartbreaking,” and “angsty”, all of which echoed my sentiments exactly.
Tristan is struggling to find a reason to keep living after he loses his wife and young son in a tragic fatal accident. Elizabeth is consumed with memories of her late husband, and she is struggling to balance the joys of motherhood with the pain of grief. The two of them start out using each other, each looking for memories of their late spouse through physical sensations. But as they begin to experience true emotional intimacy, neither can find solace in the promise of moving on. And talk about a plot twist! You might have to close the book and walk away for a bit.
After you finish the book, and if you can handle twice the emotional devastation, stream the 2024 movie on Passionflix. It wrecked me but try it if you dare!
“Brittainy Cherry’s books are vivid and beautifully emotional.” — Elle Kennedy, NYT Bestselling Author
Of course, this list is just the tippy-tip of the iceberg, there are tons of options for all you CoHorts out there! What books do you recommend to people with an It Ends With Us hangover?
Want more genres other than books by Colleen Hoover if you loved It Ends With Us? Check out more of our romance book recommendations with reviews!