Yes, I’m a single pringle who’s terrible at mingling. Hence the nonexistent dating life. But I feel like I need some sort of cheesy/romance thing in my life to survive, and that’s why I watch a lot of rom coms and now read a lot of books. I actually picked up the habit of reading during quarantine and I have not stopped. I have probably read more books during this time than I have in the past 7 years of my life (insert eye emojis).
One of the reasons I love Colleen’s books is because she kind of creates this universe with all her characters in it. When the story is over her characters still keep on living, and she incorporates them into her other books. (In the honorable mentions list I let you know which ones to read first so you can see the repeat of characters and so one story doesn’t spoil another).
I need to warn you that some of her stories can get a bit heavy, and maybe you might want to look even further into what the novels are about. I would hate to recommend a book that can bring a bad experience/memory back to light (and that’s on childhood trauma). I read some reviews of her books, and some people critique them for having not the strongest female leads, which I can totally understand. Maybe her novels aren’t for you then. But with that critique, I think that knowing who I am (which is a strong, but helpless romantic/hearts and flowers/crazy lady), I also know that I am so much more than how a guy makes me feel, ya know? I read her books for entertainment and not a guide for my love life (because I have none- as stated by my mother).
Over quarantine, I re-read Ugly Love and that is what started my Colleen Hoover binge, and figured I would share with you some of my favorites.
Ugly Love
This was the first Colleen Hoover novel I ever read, and it’s still one of my favorites (could be the nostalgia talking since I read this when I was 16). Ugly Love is about Tate Collins, a nursing student who recently moves in with her pilot brother. There she meets Miles Archer, one of her brother’s friends and a fellow pilot, who lives across the hall. They have this sexual tension, which they eventually act on. Miles wants to have an FWB relationship (without the whole friendship part) with Tate. She agrees to it because she doesn’t have time for a relationship with her school and work schedule. Of course, to help make things easier on them (and by that I mean the exact opposite), Miles has two rules to their endeavor: 1) don’t expect a future, and 2) don’t ask about my past. So I feel like I don’t need to say much more about the plot of the story because if I do, I quite possibly could spoil the book. What’s interesting is that the book is split into both Tate and Miles’ perspectives. Tates chapters are in the present and most of Miles’ are in the past because you are learning why he has this aversion to relationships. Also, his parts are written in poetry. Since reading this book, I may or may not have a thing for pilots. (I definitely don’t search for them when I’m at the airport…)
It ends with us
Most of Colleen’s books make me cry, but this one… I think my tears could have filled a small lake. This story is about Lily Bloom, a young recent college graduate who quits her job to start her own flower shop. Lily runs into a handsome neurosurgeon on the rooftop of a building, Ryle Kincade, and they instantly are attracted to one another. With the evolution of their “relationship,” Lily flashes the reader to her past when she reads from her journal from her teenage years and her love story with Atlas Corrigan. This one I highly recommend, and I think you might want to get a head start because it is apparently going to be adapted into a film, directed by Justin Baldoni (who starred in “Jane the Virgin”). There is so much more to this story, but if I say anymore, it could potentially spoil it, and honestly with her books, the less you know the better because they’re so plot twisty.
Hopeless
Ugh… Hopeless just rips my heart into a million pieces and then puts it back together again. In this novel, Skye has been homeschooled her entire life. She is best friends with her next-door neighbor, Six, who is not homeschooled. It’s their senior year and the girls finally convince Skye’s mom to let her go to public school, but Six isn’t going to be in school with her because she will be studying abroad. This leaves Skye to navigate the tortures of high school and the rumors about her and Six all by herself. And then there’s Dean Holder, rumored bad boy, who for some reason is interested in Skye. This story juggles Skye navigating high school, while also learning about her past.
Honorable Mentions
All Your Perfects (read Hopeless first)
November 9 (read Ugly Love first)
Finding Cinderella (read after all your perfects)
Finding Perfect (read after finding cinderella)
Verity (This one is WILD)
I hope you LOVE them!