10 Spiciest Colleen Hoover Books Ranked
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10 Spiciest Colleen Hoover Books Ranked
Rising to fame through booktok with her well-known novel It Ends With Us, Colleen Hoover, a New York Times best-selling author has written many books and a lot of them are spicy!
She has explored writing for different audiences such as young and new adults with her spice levels also ranging widely, so it can get overwhelming to choose the right book.
To make things clear and help you pick the perfect CoHo novel that you’ll be comfortable reading, I’ve put together this list of ten books with varying levels of spice in order from least to most spiciest.
Read more on Colleen Hoover:
- Colleen Hoover Books In Order (Masterlist & Mindmap)
- 22 Books Like It Ends With Us By Colleen Hoover
- 15 Mind-Blowing Books Like Verity
- 10 Heart-Breaking Books Like Reminders of Him
- Sign up for a free trial of Audible: Get 30 days of free access to thousands of audiobooks, and one free premium title of your choice. Perfect for listening on the go!
- Sign up for free trial of Kindle Unlimited: Get 30 days of free access to unlimited ebook reading on any device. You will unlock access to over two million titles instantly!
- Sign up for free trial of Amazon Prime: Get 30 days of a free trial offering free two-day shipping on all purchases, plus access to hundreds of new ebooks each month.
- Receive 2 audiobook credits with my code: BREWING on Libro.fm!
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Spice Level Of Colleen Hoover Books
Open-door romance is when the readers get to read about detailed steamy romance scenes between characters.
Close-door romance scenes are like the name suggests, “behind closed doors”. Readers do not get to read about most of what happens intimately between two characters.
To rate their spice levels, I’ll be using a star system to grade them from one to five. One being the least spicy and five being the most spicy.
⅕ Stars: Suitable for 14+ readers, as it’s a young adult novel and does not contain explicit romance scenes.
⅖ Stars: Suitable for 14+ readers. There are closed-door romance scenes, not much details are given.
⅗ Stars: Suitable for 16+ readers as there are a few explicit romance scenes.
⅘ Stars: Suitable for 18+ readers because there are a few open-door romance scenes .
5/5 Stars: Suitable for 18+ readers strictly. The novel has multiple open-door steamy romance scenes specifically meant for an older audience.
10 Spiciest Colleen Hoover Books Ranked
10. Without Merit
Spice Level: ⅕
This Goodreads choice 2017 winner is a must-read if you’re looking for a captivating story about a dysfunctional family. Living in a repurposed church nicknamed Dollar Voss, the Voss family is anything but normal.
The mother who won a battle against cancer lives in the basement, and the father remarried her former nurse. The brother is forbidden from taking part in fun activities and his elder siblings are strangely perfect.
At the centre of this, we meet Merit Voss. She collects trophies she doesn’t earn and family secrets she doesn’t like. While on a trophy hunt in a local antique shop, she runs into Sagan. A very charismatic boy who sparks a flame of interest in Merit.
Turns out, he is completely unavailable which leaves Merit feeling lonelier than ever. Tired of her twisted life she decides to run away but that fails, leaving her to deal with the consequences.
I’ve decided to give this standalone ⅕ stars for spice as it’s a young adult novel with light romance.
This is a coming of age story, focusing on Merit’s journey as she tries to untangle herself from the web of lies her family has spun. It is perfect if you want to read a Colleen Hoover romance novel but aren’t sure if heavy romance is for you!
9. Regretting You
Spice Level: ⅖
Regretting You is about dealing with grief and loss as we follow Morgan Grant and Clara, her sixteen-year-old daughter. They want to be nothing like each other.
Morgan had Clara when she was young and wild, so she wants Clara to avoid making the same mistakes she did and stay away from a certain boys, but her rebellious daughter isn’t cooperative.
The only person who can handle these two girls is Chris, Morgan’s husband. The only one who deeply cares about mending this broken mother-daughter relationship.
Things take a turn for worse when a sudden accident shatters their fragile peace, leaving Morgan and Clara to drift further away from each other and experience life through a new lens.
The book mainly focuses on misunderstandings, family tragedies and forbidden romance.
I’d give this ⅖ stars for spiciness as the novel has around two closed-door romance scenes and they aren’t as graphic as Hoover’s other books so this standalone can be read by fourteen-year-olds.
8. Heart Bones
Spice Level: ⅖
Beyah Grim never had a healthy relationship with her parents, but that doesn’t stop her from achieving great things in life.
Her plans are all set and in two months her future will be secured too. Preparing for college, she is ready to face the world.
An unexpected death leaves her homeless and despite every bone in her body screaming at her, she returns to her father she barely recognises.
While on this peninsula in Texas where she’s forced to stay until the end of summer, she meets Samson. Samson comes from a privileged household whereas Beyah is the complete opposite. He seems to be a rich kid with a great ego, or so she thinks.
Every encounter challenges the prejudices they have against each other. Before they realize it, both are drawn to each other.
This book is about self-love and dealing with damaged relationships along with finding love in the least expected places, readers loved these messages. Plus if you like reading opposite attract romance tropes, this book is for you.
I’ll give this novel a solid ⅖ on the spice meter with its swoon-worthy romance scenes and loads of angst. Overall this contemporary romance is suitable for young adults.
7. Confess
Spice level: ⅗
Confess is a Goodreads Choice 2015 winner, being one of the best Colleen Hoover romance books with its captivating characters and storyline.
Auburn Reed is ready to pick up the broken pieces of her life and move on. In desperate need of a job, she stumbles into a mysterious Dallas art studio.
Here we meet its fascinating artist, Owen Gentry and they are instantly drawn towards each other.
However, danger lurks around the corner threatening to destroy their new relationship as Auburn is unaware of Owen’s dark past he wishes to bury forever.
Auburn needs to stay away from Owen if she wants a secure and peaceful future but will she be strong enough to move on and never look back?
I’ll give this contemporary romance novel ⅗ stars for spiciness because there are a few steamy scenes but the romance is more sweet than spicy in this Colleen Hoover book.
6. Maybe Someday
Spice level: ⅗
This is the first book in the Maybe Someday trilogy followed by Maybe Not and Maybe Now. However, you can read the first book as a standalone. Check out Colleen Hoover’s books in orders here.
Sydney is living her best life. College is going smoothly along with having a great job. Her loving boyfriend, Hunter, and her best friend, Tori are by her side and it couldn’t get any better.
Just when she thought everything is fine, She learns Hunter has been cheating on her. Absolutely heartbroken, Sydney needs to plan her next move carefully.
On the other hand, her hot neighbour, Ridge’s guitar melodies captivate Sydney. She can’t stop sneaking glances his way.
Soon glancing turns into small interactions and before they realise it, they are in this too deep. This book talks about betrayal and friendships and delivers a great story you wouldn’t want to miss.
I’ll give this ⅗ stars for spiciness, and it’s suitable for 16+ readers. Many CoHo fans rave about this series. However, do take note of cheating being a trigger warning.
5. Reminders of Him
Spice level: ⅗
Kenna Rowan returns to her town after five years of serving in prison. This tragedy-painted town isn’t welcoming and shuts Kenna out, keeping her away from her four-year-old daughter Diem.
There is one person who’s willing to help her, Ledger Ward, a local bar owner and someone with ties to Kenna’s past.
To win back the custody of her daughter she’ll do anything and so Ledger and Kenna form a silent alliance.
While they spend time together, they start to form a deeper connection and Kenna can’t deny her feelings for Ledger anymore but pursuing them would mean losing the trust of people they know.
This heartbreaking journey of a mother who seeks redemption and love again is truly inspiring. Colleen Hoover proved to everyone with this novel that everyone deserves a second chance.
I’ll give this ⅗ stars for spiciness as there are a few great steamy scenes here. The chemistry between the characters is amazingly written. Readers above the age of sixteen can read this.
Read More: 10 Heart-Breaking Books Like Reminders of Him & 15 Reminders of Him Book Club Questions & Guide
4. November 9
Spice level: ⅘
Fallon has decided to move across the country and settle down and on her last day, she meets Ben, an aspiring writer. Their initial attraction leads them to spend the whole day together in Los Angeles.
Ben starts looking at Fallon as the perfect inspiration for his novels, his unanticipated muse. Her eventful life seems very interesting to him.
Things seem to work out and they promise to meet on the same date every year (November 9) until they turn 23.
Both Fallon and Ben have their respective trauma and this challenges their relationship across a span of 6 years.
Just like most of the spiciest colleen hoover books, we see lots of push and pull between Fallon and Ben. The novel has a great plot twist too!
Overall, I’ll give this ⅘ stars for spiciness. The steamy open-door romance scenes in this novel are suitable for readers aged eighteen and above.
Read More: November 9 Summary and Review (Non-spoiler & Spoiler)
3. It Ends With Us
Spice level: ⅘
It Ends With Us, needs no introduction. It is one of the best works of Colleen Hoover as it had the whole booktok community under its spell. It went viral and made other CoHo books go viral as well. We can say that this book started the Colleen Hoover craze first.
Lily Bloom wants a fresh start in Boston, maybe open up her floral shop and live peacefully but then Ryle Kincaid walks in. A successful neurosurgeon and ladies’ man, Ryle instantly feels a spark between him and Lily.
He promises he doesn’t want anything more than a one-night stand so after days of begging Lily finally agrees. Their feelings start to grow and soon they are fully committed to each other.
Then Atlas shows up again in Lily’s life. Atlas, who used to be homeless, is now a famous chef. He was also Lily’s first love.
We get to see Lily navigate through life and try to avoid the mistakes her mother made.
We also get to see domestic abuse survivors in a new light with this novel. It does a great job of putting so many thoughts and emotions survivors go through on paper.
Fans wanted more from It Ends With Us, so Colleen Hoover delivered! Check out the new squeal It Starts With Us.
I’ll give this ⅘ stars for spiciness. Definitely for a mature 18+ audience as some romance scenes were quite steamy. Yet again Hoover proves herself to be a great writer especially when it comes to the romance.
2. Verity
Spice level: 5/5
Showing us how versatile her writing can be, CoHo wrote this thought-provoking thriller. A struggling writer, Lowen Ashleigh meets Jeremy Crawford who has a great offer for her.
He needs her to write the rest of the books left in a series his wife Verity started.
Since Verity can’t continue it herself, Lowen takes over, and that too for a huge amount of money that’ll solve most of her problems.
Moving into the Crawford residence where she can go through Verity papers and important notes on the series, she finds an abandoned manuscript that’s about to change her life forever.
Lowen learns of what truly happened on the day Jeremy’s daughter died. The Crawford family has already suffered through many losses and tragedies but something tells Lowen there is more trouble to follow.
A bonus chapter is out now in the new Verity special edition! To find out what happened after that cliffhanger ending make sure to check this out.
I’ll give this 5/5 stars as it’s easily one of the spiciest Colleen Hoover books with a dark twist. There’s steamy scenes in every couple of chapters (personally, at one point, I got tired reading about it).
The story gets extremely spicy as we read about Verity and Jeremy’s backstory. The multiple romance scenes are very graphic and clearly written for an 18+ audience.
Read More:
- 15 Mind-Blowing Books Like Verity
- 25 Best Verity Quotes by Colleen Hoover
- 30 Verity Book Club Questions For Colleen Hoover Fans
1. Ugly Love
Spice level: 5/5
When thinking about the spiciest Colleen Hoover book, Ugly Love wins the top spot on the list!
Tate Collins doesn’t have time for love or any of the responsibilities that come along with it, but that’s completely fine with Miles Archer.
Miles is an airline pilot, and when he meets Tate they both know it’s not love at first sight, they can’t even be good friends.
However, what they can’t deny is the attraction they feel towards each other. They decide to become friends with benefits only if Tate agrees to follow Miles’s 2 rules; never inquire about his past and don’t expect a future together.
Seems easy enough at first but they soon learn that strange pasts can haunt people too.
If you’ve read Ugly Love, check out these books similar to Ugly Love.
I’ll give this a solid 5/5 for spiciness. The main trope is friends with benefits so the novel heavily focuses on full open-door romance and is definitely for a mature 18+ audience as Colleen Hoover herself has said.
FAQ: Colleen Hoover Spicy Books
Is It Ends With Us Spicy?
Yes, It Ends With Us is Spicy. It has a spice level of 4/5 as there are multiple open door romance scenes in this book.
Is Verity Spicy?
Yes, Verity is spicy. It is one of the spiciest colleen hoover book you’ll ever get your hands on as it has a spice level of 5/5 and open-door romance scenes in every couple of chapters.
Is Reminders of Him Spicy?
Yes, Reminders of Him is spicy. It has a spice level of 3/5 with multiple open-door steamy scenes.
Is Ugly Love Spicy?
Yes, Ugly Love is spicy and is the spiciest book Colleen Hoover has ever written. It is meant for an 18+ audience because of its friends with benefits trope and open door romance.
Is It Starts With Us Spicy?
Yes, It Starts With Us is Spicy. It has a spice level of 3/5 as it only has two spicy chapters which are chapters 22 and 28.
Get Your Romance Reading Journal
(Functional, Minimal & Aesthetic)


Are you a romance reader trying to keep track of all the books you’ve read and want to read but there’s just too many books to think about?
Think no more, journal instead!
Wrap Up: Best Colleen Hoover Books Ranked by Spice
These were Colleen Hoover books ranked by spice!
I hope you can now decide from these 10 amazing books ranked from least to most spiciest, and find the perfect one just for you.
Listing Hoover’s young adult and new adult books, along with trilogies and stand alones, I hope I covered a good range of books that’ll suit any reader!
One last thing I’d like to add is that please check trigger warnings for any book you select as Colleen Hoover’s books often cover heavy topics such as trauma and abuse.
Get these spicy Colleen Hoover books here:
- Sign up for a free trial of Audible: Get 30 days of free access to thousands of audiobooks, and one free premium title of your choice. Perfect for listening on the go!
- Sign up for free trial of Kindle Unlimited: Get 30 days of free access to unlimited ebook reading on any device. You will unlock access to over two million titles instantly!
- Sign up for free trial of Amazon Prime: Get 30 days of a free trial offering free two-day shipping on all purchases, plus access to hundreds of new ebooks each month.
- Receive 2 audiobook credits with my code: BREWING on Libro.fm!