American · b. 1979
Colleen Hoover self-published her first novel, Slammed, in 2012 while working as a social worker in Texas. Within a decade she became one of the bestselling authors in America. Her 2016 novel It Ends with Us—inspired by her mother's experience with domestic violence—sold modestly at first, then exploded on BookTok in 2021, eventually selling over 10 million copies. The sequel, It Starts with Us, broke sales records. Hoover writes romance that refuses to stay comfortable; her books deal with abuse, addiction, grief, and the messiness of love. Critics sometimes dismiss her work as melodramatic; millions of readers disagree. She runs The Bookworm Box, a subscription service that donates to charity, and has turned her platform into a book-club empire. She lives in Sulphur Springs, Texas.