12 Books Like It Ends With Us That Will Wreck You in the Best Way

Looking for books like It Ends With Us? These 12 emotional contemporary romances deliver the same heartbreak, hope, and unforgettable characters that wrecked you the first time.

The best books like It Ends With Us include It Starts With Us, Reminders of Him, and Regretting You by Colleen Hoover, plus Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren, Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score, and Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez. Each pairs swoony romance with real emotional stakes and characters you can’t stop thinking about.

Colleen Hoover’s It Ends With Us became a phenomenon because it refused to look away from hard truths. Beneath the love triangle of Lily, Ryle, and Atlas sits an unflinching story about domestic abuse, generational cycles, and the courage it takes to choose yourself. If you finished the last page raw and reaching for tissues, the books below scratch the same itch: contemporary romance with heart, heartbreak, and hope in equal measure.

For more recommendations, explore our guide to authors like Colleen Hoover, the best romance authors worth adding to your shelf, and the best enemies-to-lovers books. You can also browse our full author guides for more writers worth your time.

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Books to Read Similar to It Ends With Us

1. It Starts With Us by Colleen Hoover

It Starts With Us is the long-awaited sequel that picks up exactly where It Ends With Us leaves off. Told from both Lily and Atlas’s perspectives, it gives readers the resolution they were desperate for after the first book’s devastating ending.

If you closed It Ends With Us wanting more of Lily and Atlas, this is the most obvious and satisfying next read. It carries the same emotional honesty while finally letting hope take the lead.

2. Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover

In Reminders of Him, Kenna Rowan returns to the town where everything fell apart, hoping to reconnect with the daughter she’s never met. The whole world seems set against her, and she has to fight for a second chance at the life she lost.

This standalone delivers the same emotional gut-punch as It Ends With Us, with a flawed heroine you can’t help but root for. Hoover again proves she can make you ache for characters who’ve made impossible choices.

3. Regretting You by Colleen Hoover

Regretting You follows Morgan and her teenage daughter Clara as a sudden tragedy fractures their relationship and forces both into new romances. Hoover splits the narrative between mother and daughter, layering two love stories over one shared grief.

Fans of It Ends With Us will recognize the signature blend of family drama, slow-burn romance, and emotional whiplash. It’s a reminder that Hoover’s books are as much about love between family as between partners.

4. Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover

Ugly Love traces the no-strings relationship between Tate and Miles, an airline pilot carrying a grief so heavy he refuses to talk about his past. The alternating timelines slowly reveal the wound at the center of his guardedness.

Like It Ends With Us, this is a story about how the past shapes love, with a twist that recontextualizes everything. It’s one of Hoover’s most heartbreaking standalones, and an easy recommendation for readers who crave that emotional intensity.

5. November 9 by Colleen Hoover

In November 9, Fallon and Ben agree to meet on the same day each year, building a relationship one annual encounter at a time. What begins as a charming premise turns sharply emotional as secrets surface.

This standalone showcases Hoover’s gift for the rug-pull twist that recasts the entire romance. If the emotional surprises of It Ends With Us hooked you, November 9 delivers a similarly devastating payoff.

6. Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren

Love and Other Words tells the second-chance story of Macy and Elliot, childhood sweethearts torn apart by a tragedy neither has fully processed. The timeline weaves between their teenage closeness and their tense adult reunion.

Christina Lauren brings the same emotional depth and heartbreak as Hoover, but with a tender, literary touch. Readers who loved the second-chance ache of Lily and Atlas will find a perfect match here.

7. Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score

Things We Never Got Over follows runaway bride Naomi as she lands in small-town Knockemout and collides with surly barber Knox. What starts as friction becomes a slow-burn romance complicated by family secrets and a vulnerable child.

Lucy Score balances grumpy-sunshine banter with genuine emotional stakes, much like Hoover balances swoon with substance. It’s a heartfelt, addictive read for anyone who wants romance with real weight.

8. Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez

In Part of Your World, ER doctor Alexis falls for a younger small-town carpenter, even as the shadow of a controlling past relationship lingers. Jimenez handles difficult themes with warmth and wit.

This novel pairs the emotional honesty of It Ends With Us with a more uplifting, hopeful ending. Jimenez is a go-to author for readers who want to feel deeply but land softly.

9. The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas

The Spanish Love Deception stars Catalina, who recruits her insufferable coworker Aaron to pose as her boyfriend at her sister’s wedding in Spain. The fake-dating setup slowly melts into something painfully real.

While lighter than It Ends With Us, this novel shares Hoover’s talent for emotional tension and characters who feel achingly authentic. It’s a warm, swoony pick for fans who want romance with heart and humor.

10. It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey

It Happened One Summer follows Hollywood it-girl Piper, exiled to a Pacific Northwest fishing town, where she clashes with gruff sea captain Brendan. The opposites-attract pairing hides surprising emotional depth.

Tessa Bailey writes steamy, big-hearted romance with characters working through real insecurities, much like Hoover’s flawed leads. It’s a satisfying, feel-good read for fans craving emotion alongside the chemistry.

11. Every Summer After by Carley Fortune

Every Summer After chronicles six summers and one weekend in the lakeside romance of Persephone and Sam, whose first love ended in heartbreak. The dual timeline slowly reveals the betrayal that drove them apart.

Carley Fortune captures the bittersweet ache of first love and second chances that defines so much of Hoover’s appeal. It’s a nostalgic, emotional read perfect for a single tearful afternoon.

12. Ugly Love readers’ next stop: A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

For readers who valued the emotional devastation of It Ends With Us above all else, A Little Life goes deeper and darker. Yanagihara follows four college friends across decades, centering on Jude, whose hidden trauma shapes every relationship in his life.

This is literary fiction rather than romance, and it is far heavier than Hoover’s work, so approach with care. But if what gripped you about It Ends With Us was its unflinching look at trauma and survival, this is one of the most powerful novels you’ll ever read.

Why These Books Capture It Ends With Us’s Appeal

These twelve books succeed because they understand what made It Ends With Us unforgettable: the willingness to pair swoony, page-turning romance with real emotional stakes. Each one builds flawed, fully human characters and refuses to pretend that love is ever simple.

Whether you want more of Lily and Atlas, another Colleen Hoover gut-punch, or a slightly softer landing with a hopeful ending, these novels deliver the heartbreak-and-hope balance that defines the genre. They prove that the appetite for emotional contemporary romance is stronger than ever, and that the best love stories are the ones that make us feel everything.

For your next reading session, any of these books will leave you turning pages late into the night, reaching for the tissues, and falling in love with a new cast of characters, just as It Ends With Us did the first time you met Lily Bloom.