11 Books Like 'It Ends with Us' That Will Break Your Heart (and Mend It)

If you've just closed the final page of 'It Ends with Us' and you're still thinking about Lily's impossible choice, you know exactly what we're talking about. That ache in your chest. The way Colleen Hoover made you understand something you never wanted to understand.

You're probably searching for books like 'It Ends with Us' that deliver that same emotional punch — stories about first love and second chances, breaking cycles and finding your way back to yourself. This list brings you 11 romance novels that explore these themes. Each book asks hard questions about what we're willing to accept for love and what we're finally ready to walk away from.

And if you want to get insights from powerful books without the time commitment, download Headway and access 15-minute summaries of the best self-development books. Learn smarter, grow deeper, and keep your BookTok list overflowing — all from your phone.

Quick answer: What are the best books like 'It Ends with Us' to read now?

1. 'It Starts with Us' by Colleen Hoover: Pick up exactly where Lily's story left off and finally get Atlas's side.

2. 'Ugly Love' by Colleen Hoover: A story about a pilot with a tragic past and a nurse who wants more than he can give.

3. 'The Notebook' by Nicholas Sparks: The ultimate story of enduring love that refuses to fade.

4. 'Love and Other Words' by Christina Lauren: Childhood best friends torn apart, reunited years later with unfinished business.

5. 'The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo' by Taylor Jenkins Reid: A legendary actress reveals the truth about her seven marriages and one great love.

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11 best books like 'It Ends with Us' about love, loss, and starting over 

Heart-wrenching books by Colleen Hoover

If you loved 'It Ends with Us,' add these titles to your book list. But be prepared — Colleen Hoover (aka CoHo) writes about complicated love in ways that feel painfully real.

1. 'It Starts with Us' by Colleen Hoover

This bestseller picks up with Lily rebuilding her life as a single mother. She's running her flower shop, raising her daughter Emmy, and trying to move forward.

Then Atlas walks back into her life. The boy who saved her in high school is now a successful restaurateur. He never stopped thinking about her. And now there's nothing standing between them — except Ryle, who isn't ready to let go.

Similarities between the books:

• Continues Lily's journey of healing and growth

• Explores co-parenting after leaving an abusive relationship

• Finally gives you Atlas's perspective on everything that happened

If you found yourself reflecting on how love can heal after trauma, 'Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love' by Dr. Sue Johnson offers a real-world counterpart. It explores the psychology of attachment and emotional safety — the very foundations Lily and Atlas work to rebuild — showing how secure love isn't just possible, but learnable.

2. 'Ugly Love' by Colleen Hoover

Miles Archer is a pilot who doesn't do relationships. He has his reasons, buried six years deep. Tate Collins is a nursing student who just moved in with her brother — right across the hall from Miles.

The attraction is instant. The rules are simple: no asking about the past, no expecting a future. Just right now. Tate agrees because she thinks she can handle it. She can't.

Similarities between the books:

• Features a male protagonist carrying emotional scars

• Explores the difference between physical connection and emotional intimacy

• Shows how trauma can make people push away the ones who care

3. 'Verity' by Colleen Hoover

This one's different. Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer in New York City when she gets the opportunity of a lifetime. She's hired to complete a bestselling thriller series for Verity Crawford, an author who can't finish after a mysterious accident.

Lowen travels to Vermont to study Verity's notes. What she finds instead is an autobiography. And it reveals things about Verity — about her marriage, her children, her husband Jeremy — that change everything. The problem? Verity is still in the house, supposedly unable to move or speak. But Lowen isn't so sure.

Similarities between the books:

• Features a strong female protagonist making impossible choices

• Explores the dark sides of love and obsession

• Leaves you thinking about it long after the last page

If 'Verity' exposed the dangerous power games hidden in love, 'The Dance of Anger' by Harriet Lerner shows how women can transform that same emotional intensity into self-awareness and healthier relationship patterns. You can explore its key lessons in a few minutes on Headway. Learn how to break toxic cycles before they begin.

Soul-stirring books by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Taylor Jenkins Reid is another bestselling author who writes about complicated women and the loves that define them. These book recommendations feel intimate, like secrets shared over a cup of coffee.

4. 'The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo' by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Aging Hollywood icon Evelyn Hugo finally decides to tell her story. But she wants unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant to write it. Nobody understands why. Including Monique.

Evelyn reveals the truth about her seven marriages. Monique discovers a story of ambition and a forbidden love. This book isn't just about romance. It's about living in a world that demands you hide.

Similarities between the books:

• Centers on a woman who made impossible choices for love and survival

• Explores the difference between the love you show the world and the love you keep hidden

• Celebrates the strength it takes to finally tell the truth

5. 'One True Loves' by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Emma Blair married her high school sweetheart, Jesse. They built a life of adventure together, traveling the world. Then Jesse's helicopter disappeared over the Pacific. He's presumed dead.

Three years later, Emma has moved home and fallen for Sam, her first love from before Jesse. They're engaged. She's ready to start again.

Then Jesse calls. He's alive. He's coming home.

Similarities between the books:

• Forces the protagonist to choose between two men she genuinely loves

• Questions whether we can have more than one great love in a lifetime

• Shows that sometimes the hardest choice is the one with no wrong answer

6. 'Daisy Jones & The Six' by Taylor Jenkins Reid

It's 1977. Daisy Jones is a beautiful mess of talent and chaos. The Six is a rock band on the edge of something big. When they join forces, they create music that defines a generation.

They also create a connection between Daisy and lead singer Billy Dunne that threatens to destroy everything. Told through interviews, this book reads like a documentary about a band that burned too bright to last.

Similarities between the books:

• Explores the magnetic pull between two people who maybe shouldn't be together

• Shows how love and creativity can intertwine and combust

• Features characters making hard choices about what matters most

Bittersweet  books by Nicholas Sparks

Nicholas Sparks built his reputation on romance novels that make you believe in love again. We picked three New York Times bestsellers that explore devotion, loss, and the power of first loves that never truly end.

7. 'The Notebook' by Nicholas Sparks

Noah reads to Allie every day. He reads their story — how they met one summer in 1940s North Carolina, how her parents disapproved, how he wrote her 365 letters that she never received, how they found each other again after years apart.

Allie doesn't remember most days. Dementia has stolen much of her memory. But sometimes, when Noah reads, she comes back to him. And for those precious moments, they're young again.

Similarities between the books:

• Celebrates the kind of love that endures despite everything

• Shows young love tested by outside forces and difficult circumstances

• Explores what it means to truly commit to someone "in sickness and in health"

If you'd like to experience another take on this story, watch the 2004 film adaptation of the same name, directed by Nick Cassavetes. And if you want to explore love and resilience from a more introspective angle, read 'Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar' by Cheryl Strayed. 

8. 'The Best of Me' by Nicholas Sparks

Dawson Cole and Amanda Collier fell in love in high school in their small North Carolina town. They were from different worlds — he came from poverty and violence, she came from privilege and expectations. But they found something real together.

Then tragedy tore them apart. Twenty-five years later, they're summoned back home for a funeral. Seeing each other again ignites everything they tried to forget. It's a story about second chances and whether you can recapture first love.

Similarities between the books:

• Explores how childhood trauma shapes adult relationships.

• Features a protagonist from a troubled background trying to break free

• Centers on a second chance at a love that never really ended

Emotionally devastating books by Christina Lauren

Christina Lauren (the writing duo Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings) creates romance books with heart, humor, and characters that feel like friends.

9. 'Love and Other Words' by Christina Lauren

Eleven-year-old Macy Sorensen met Elliot Petropoulos at her father's weekend house. They became best friends, bonding over books and favorite words. As teenagers, that friendship turned into something more. Then everything fell apart on the night Elliot told her he loved her.

Now Macy is a pediatric resident engaged to someone safe and dependable. When she runs into Elliot after a decade apart, all those buried feelings come rushing back. The book alternates between past and present, slowly revealing what really happened and whether they can find their way back.

Similarities between the books:

• Uses past and present timelines to reveal emotional truths

• Shows a protagonist who chose safety over passion after being hurt

• Centers on Macy, a character learning to open her heart again

What if healing a broken heart isn't about finding the right person but learning to love without fear? 'The Mastery of Love' by Don Miguel Ruiz expands on that idea and teaches how to mend old wounds with self-love.

10. 'The Soulmate Equation' by Christina Lauren

Jess Davis is a single mom and statistician who trusts data more than dating. When her best friend convinces her to try GeneticAlly — a DNA-based matchmaking service — Jess thinks it'll be good for a laugh.

Then the results come back. Jess is a 98% match with Dr. River Peña, one of the company's founders. The highest compatibility score they've ever seen. There's one problem: Jess already knows River from the coffee shop, where they've had exactly one terrible interaction.

The company offers to pay Jess $30,000 to date River for three months as they prepare to launch publicly. She needs the money. He needs the publicity. What could go wrong?

Similarities between the books:

• Features a single mother protecting her daughter while opening her heart

• Explores the tension between logic and emotion in relationships

• Centers on Jess Davis building a new relationship while co-parenting

11. 'All Your Perfects' by Christina Lauren

Quinn and Graham's love story started perfectly. They met by chance, fell hard, and married, believing nothing could touch them. Now, years later, they're holding on by a thread.

The intimacy is gone. The conversations have stopped. Infertility has opened a wound that won't heal, and they're both drowning in blame and disappointment. The book alternates between their perfect beginning and their broken present, asking whether love is enough when life takes everything else.

Similarities between the books:

• Explores the painful reality that love doesn't solve every problem

• Features characters who must decide whether to fight or let go

• Handles difficult topics (infertility, grief, depression) with honesty and compassion

Ever wondered what happens after the passion fades and communication breaks down? 'Have a New Husband by Friday' by Dr. Kevin Leman offers a grounded answer, showing how small shifts in words and habits can completely transform a relationship.

Start your next chapter with Headway

These must-read books remind us that we're capable of more than we think. But if you're drawn to these themes of growth, resilience, and breaking patterns, there's a way to keep that momentum going.

Explore books on relationships, emotional intelligence, and breaking unhealthy patterns. Headway gives book lovers insights from experts who study why we choose the partners we do and how to build healthier connections. 

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