Colleen Hoover
Colleen Hoover
b. December 11, 1979 · From United States- Books
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About
Colleen Hoover was born on December 11, 1979, in Sulphur Springs, Texas, and grew up in nearby Saltillo. She earned a degree in social work from Texas A&M University–Commerce in 2004 and worked in social work, latterly as a counselor for the federal WIC nutrition program. She began her first novel, Slammed, on a borrowed laptop in 2011, originally intending it as a Christmas gift for her mother, and self-published it in 2012; its word-of-mouth success led to a publishing deal with Atria Books.
She writes emotionally intense contemporary romance and women's fiction that frequently addresses domestic abuse, grief and mental health, alongside psychological thrillers such as Verity. Never Never was co-written with Tarryn Fisher. Hoover won the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Romance in three consecutive years — for Confess in 2015, It Ends with Us in 2016, and Without Merit in 2017.
It Ends with Us, published in 2016, reached a far larger readership several years later after circulating widely on BookTok, and had sold more than 10 million copies worldwide in print, audio and ebook by September 2024, the year of its film adaptation; her publisher reported more than 32 million copies of her books sold in all formats at the same date. In 2023 she was named to Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
In 2015 Hoover co-founded The Bookworm Box, a charity bookstore and book subscription service in Sulphur Springs that donates its profits to charity. She lives in Texas.
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Romance Fiction Contemporary Literature New Adult Romance Contemporary Romance
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Frequently asked questions
Hoover self-published her debut novel, Slammed, on Amazon in January 2012 after writing it as a Christmas gift for her mother. The book spread entirely through online reader communities without traditional marketing, and within months she had secured a publishing deal with Atria Books — while the book was still self-published.
She worked as a social worker in Texas. Several of her novels reflect this background in how they portray cycles of abuse, family dysfunction, and the emotional labor of surviving difficult circumstances — particularly It Ends with Us, Without Merit, and Hopeless.
The Bookworm Box is a monthly book subscription service Hoover co-founded that donates 100% of its proceeds to rotating charities. It was based in Sulphur Springs, Texas, and has raised millions of dollars for charitable causes since its founding.
The novel was originally published in 2016 and performed well, but it went viral on BookTok — TikTok's book community — in 2022–2023 when readers began sharing emotional reactions and discussions about its portrayal of domestic violence. The viral moment drove it to #1 on the New York Times list, where it remained for over two years, with sales exceeding 20 million copies globally.
Yes — It Ends with Us was adapted into a major film released in August 2024, starring Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. Reminders of Him became a Netflix film in 2025. Confess was adapted as an Amazon Prime Video web series in 2017. Verity was in development for a film adaptation as of 2024.
Confess won the Goodreads Choice Award for Romance in 2015 (for books published in 2015, awarded in early 2016). Ugly Love won the same award in 2014. Both wins were voted by Goodreads readers and helped significantly expand her mainstream readership.