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Quick answer: If you loved Reminders of Him, try It Ends with Us, Regretting You, November 9, Confess, Where the Crawdads Sing and The Last Letter from Your Lover. Each one is an emotional romance or family story about grief, guilt, second chances and forgiveness.
Colleen Hoover's bestseller follows Kenna Rowan, who returns to the town she left after serving five years in prison for a tragic accident. She wants to reconnect with the daughter she has never met, but the girl's grandparents refuse. Kenna's one ally is Ledger, a bar owner who has his own reasons to hate her. Readers love the tears, the slow forgiveness and the fierce love of a mother. These books share its heartbreak and its hope.
Table of Contents
Quick Picks at a Glance
| Book | Author | Heartbreak level | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| It Ends with Us | Colleen Hoover | High | readers who want Hoover at her most powerful |
| Regretting You | Colleen Hoover | Medium | readers who like mothers and daughters |
| November 9 | Colleen Hoover | High | readers who like yearly romance |
| Confess | Colleen Hoover | High | readers who like secrets and guilt |
| Where the Crawdads Sing | Delia Owens | Medium | readers who like outcast heroines |
| The Last Letter from Your Lover | Jojo Moyes | Medium | readers who like long-lost love |
| Me Before You | Jojo Moyes | High | readers ready for a good cry |
| The Light We Lost | Jill Santopolo | High | readers who like long-term what-ifs |
| Small Great Things | Jodi Picoult | Medium | readers who like big moral questions |
| The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry | Gabrielle Zevin | Medium | readers who want a gentle story |
| The Great Alone | Kristin Hannah | High | readers who like mothers and survival |
| Before We Were Yours | Lisa Wingate | High | readers who like family separation stories |
| A Little Life | Hanya Yanagihara | Very high | readers ready for something devastating |
| Things We Lost in the Water | Eric Nguyen | Medium | readers who want an immigrant family story |
| The Five-Star Weekend | Elin Hilderbrand | Low | readers who want something lighter |
1. It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
A young woman falls for a surgeon, then faces a painful pattern from her childhood.
Best for: readers who want Hoover at her most powerful.
2. Regretting You by Colleen Hoover
A mother and daughter grieve and learn a devastating secret after a crash.
Best for: readers who like mothers and daughters.
3. November 9 by Colleen Hoover
Two people agree to meet on the same date every year, and hidden secrets emerge.
Best for: readers who like yearly romance.
4. Confess by Colleen Hoover
An art gallery shows anonymous confessions, one of which ties two people together.
Best for: readers who like secrets and guilt.
5. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
A girl raised alone in a North Carolina marsh falls under suspicion for a murder.
Best for: readers who like outcast heroines.
6. The Last Letter from Your Lover by Jojo Moyes
A journalist finds a love letter from the 1960s and traces its story.
Best for: readers who like long-lost love.
7. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
A young caregiver falls for a man who has given up on his life.
Best for: readers ready for a good cry.
8. The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo
A woman looks back on a love that began on September 11.
Best for: readers who like long-term what-ifs.
9. Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult
A Black nurse goes on trial after a white supremacist's baby dies in her care.
Best for: readers who like big moral questions.
10. The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
A grieving bookseller's life changes when a toddler is left in his shop.
Best for: readers who want a gentle story.
11. The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
A family moves to wild Alaska and faces the danger within its own home.
Best for: readers who like mothers and survival.
12. Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
Children are stolen from their family by a corrupt Tennessee orphanage.
Best for: readers who like family separation stories.
13. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Four college friends in New York are shaped by one man's terrible past.
Best for: readers ready for something devastating.
14. Things We Lost in the Water by Eric Nguyen
A Vietnamese mother and her sons rebuild in New Orleans.
Best for: readers who want an immigrant family story.
15. The Five-Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand
A woman invites best friends from each stage of her life for a weekend.
Best for: readers who want something lighter.
How to Choose
Stay with Hoover if you want the closest match, and choose It Ends with Us for the most tears or Regretting You for the mother-daughter angle. If what moved you was Kenna's fight to be a mother, The Great Alone and Small Great Things explore how love survives under pressure, and Picoult also brings in a courtroom. For Ledger's slow change of heart, November 9 and Confess have the same mix of secrets and yearning. If you want something quieter, try The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry. A Little Life is the book people mention when they want even more grief, but it contains severe abuse, so please check the content warnings first. The Five-Star Weekend is the gentle choice when you need a break.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is Reminders of Him about?
After five years in prison, Kenna returns to the town she left and tries to reconnect with her young daughter.
Is Reminders of Him sad?
Yes. Most readers cry, but it ends with a sense of healing and hope.
Is Reminders of Him a romance?
Yes, but the mother-daughter story is just as central as the love story between Kenna and Ledger.
Is Reminders of Him spicy?
It has some open-door scenes, though less than in several other Hoover novels.
Is Reminders of Him connected to other books?
No. It is a standalone novel.
Is Reminders of Him being adapted?
Yes. A film adaptation has been in the works, so check for the latest release news.