15 Books Like Verity by Colleen Hoover You Need to Read

Verity is a standalone romantic thriller from The New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover. The novel came out back in 2017 and now it is getting its second wind, thanks to the #BookTok trend on TikTok. We follow Lowen Ashleigh as he is invited to ghostwrite the latest book from bestselling author Verity Crawford after she ends up in a coma. Lowen comes to Verity’s house, hoping to work. But instead of that, she finds secrets, mystery, and a hidden, autobiographical manuscript that has Verity’s most terrible secrets.

Verity is thrilling and full of twists and it leaves the reader wanting more. The novel has only 287 pages and is a very quick read, as you can’t put it down when you start. It is very different from most of Colleen’s other novels, but still, there are some steamy, romance scenes. So if you are looking for something similar here are 15 books like Verity by Colleen Hoover you need to read.

1. November 9 by Colleen Hoover (2015)

We start off our list of books like Verity with November 9. If you are looking for a different kind of romance novel look no further than Colleen Hoover’s 2015 novel November 9. It is a refreshing take on the one-day-a-year trope. A juicy read with slow-burning love infused with serendipity. The story of November 9 starts when Fallon meets Ben, an aspiring novelist, just a day before her cross-country move.

Their undeniable and untimely attractions lead Fallon to spend her last day in L.A. with Ben. After that, over time and amidst various relationships and life-changing changes in their separate lives, they continue to meet on the same date every year. In the book November 9, Colleen poses the question can a love story be called a love story if it ends in heartbreak?

2. Layla by Colleen Hoover (2020)

Layla is another novel by Colleen Hoover, that is a similar genre as Verity. Layla is a paranormal romance, covering themes of eternal love and the afterlife. Leeds and Layla are convinced that they will spend the rest of their life together. But after a terrible attack, Layla is for her life in the hospital. After weeks she recovers physically, but not emotionally.

Desperate Leeds takes her to a bed and breakfast where they first met. In the bed and breakfast, things take a turn for the worse. Layla’s behavior becomes bizarre and there are several inexplicable occurrences. Soon, Leeds finds solace in Willow, who is a reflection of what Layla used to be.

3. Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris

Behind Closed Doors is a dark and twisted domestic thriller that will have you hooked from the beginning. Even though this is B.A. Paris’ debut novel, the book was an international phenomenon. Behind Closed Doors tells a story about the “perfect marriage”.  Jack has looks and money, Grace has charm and grace. He is an unbeatable attorney, she is a diligent homemaker who takes care of her disabled sister.

They are newlyweds, whose picture-perfect life is so inviting. But, there are a few cracks in the perfect portrait. Why does Grace never answer the phone? Why she can never meet for coffee, even though she doesn’t work? And why there are such high-security metal shutters on all the downstairs windows? What goes on in that house after the dinner guests leave?

4. The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen (2018)

The Wife Between Us has characters just as fascinating as Verity and this is also a domestic thriller that dives into the complexities of marriage. Vanessa is freshly divorced and totally obsessed with Nellie, the woman who stole her husband from her.

This book will make many assumptions. It will make you assume you are reading about a jealous ex-wife. You will assume she is obsessed with her replacement. Also, you will assume you know the anatomy of this tangled love triangle. Well, assume nothing. And read between the lines!

5. The Last Mrs. Parish by Lynne Constantine (2017)

Colleen Hoover’s strong suit is writing real and complex female characters. If you like that, you will love the novel The Last Mrs. Parish. Just like Verity, this book is a mystery thriller full of incredible twists and chilling plot lines. Meet Amber Patterson, she is tired of being a nobody. A plain, invisible woman who blends into the background, but she deserves more.

She deserves money and power, just like the goddess Daphne Parrish, who takes it all for granted. Amber has the perfect plan, but there are secrets that can make it all fall to pieces. On the other hand, a long time ago, Amber was Daphne’s closest confidante, traveling to Europe with the Parrishes and their lovely young daughters, and growing closer to Jackson.

6. The Maidens by Alex Michaelides (2021)

The Maidens is an evocative thriller, just like Verity. It is a psychological thriller, that follows a male protagonist-Edward Fosca, a beloved Cambridge professor, and a murderer. Or is he? Mariana Andros is almost certain he is. He is a brilliant but troubled group therapist who becomes fixated on The Maidens when one member, a friend of Mariana’s niece Zoe, is found murdered in Cambridge.

There are too many questions and few answers. Why would the professor target one of his students? And why does he keep returning to the rites of Persephone, the maiden, and her journey to the underworld?

7. Too Good to Be True by Carola Lovering (2021)

If you are looking for a book full of unexpected surprises, just like Verity, you will love Too Good to Be True by Carola Lovering.  Too Good to Be True is about one love story, two marriages, and three versions of the truth.

Our protagonist, Skye Starling, has been struggling with OCD since her mother passed. The OCD puts a strain on her relationship with her fiance, Burke Michaels. Expect, nothing is as it seems. Burke is happily married and using Skye for her inheritance. Without spoiling any more riveting plot twists, the most important thing you should know is that there is more than one way to spin the truth.

8. Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica (2021)

What happens when a woman goes missing in a peaceful, safe community? And not long after her, another woman goes missing with her six-year-old daughter, Delilah. Are these events connected? After an extensive search, the case eventually goes cold. Until, after 11 years, Delilah returns. Local Woman Missing takes domestic secrets to a whole new level, showing that some people will stop at nothing to keep something buried.

Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica is a chilling thriller, with suspenseful storylines that have been cleverly put together with many nail-biting narrations, just like Colleen Hoover’s Verity. Are you ready for what you will find out?

9. The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley (2022)

Lucy Foley is a New York Times bestselling author, who brings you this new locked room mystery The Paris Apartment, set in the city of lights, Paris. In this Parisian apartment building, every resident has something to hide. Jess wants a fresh start, so he leaves everything behind and decides to move to Paris to live with her half-brother, Ben.

The apartment building is much nicer than Jess anticipated, but she can’t figure out how Ben can afford all of this. Everything starts going downhill when Ben goes missing and Jess decides to start asking questions. Too many questions. Everyone’s a neighbor. The socialite, the nice guy, the alcoholic, the girl on the verge, the concierge. Everyone’s a suspect. And everyone knows to keep their mouth shut. Jess is a likable heroine, just like Lowen in Verity.

10. The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides (2019)

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides was The Goodreads choice 2019 winner. This novel has a special tone to it because it portrays the unnatural tranquility of a woman who just shot her husband five-time in the face out of the blue. Alicia Berenson has it all, a seemingly perfect. She is a famous painter married to a fashion photographer, she lives in a luxurious house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. She refuses to talk, or give any explanation.

This domestic tragedy becomes something much grander, a mystery that captures the imagination of the public, and Alicia becomes notorious. The price of Alicia’s art skyrockets, and she is hidden away from the tabloids at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London. Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia, the silent patient. His determination to get her to talk threatens to consume him… This spellbinding thriller is a perfect book after Verity.

11. Lock Every Door by Riley Sager (2019)

The next book on our list of best books like Verity is Lock Every Door. When a broke girl, Jules Larsen, founds a new job as an apartment sitter at the Bartholomew, a building in Manhattan, the only rule is that she can’t ask questions. The apartment’s residents are one of the most famous and wealthy individuals in town. Her co-worker Ingrid tells Jules about Bartholomew’s dark secrets.

Jules pays no attention to the secrets, but the next day, Ingrid disappears. Jules decides to investigate the disappearance of Ingrid, and she discovers that Ingrid is not the first apartment sitter to go missing at Bartholomew. All of this pits Jules against the clock as she races to unmask a killer, expose the building’s hidden past, and escape the Bartholomew before her temporary status becomes permanent. A nail-baiting novel, just like Verity.

12. The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz (2021)

The Plot is a new novel by the author of The Undoing, which is now a smash hit HBO TV series starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant. This novel is just as unsettling as Verity. In the past, Jacob Finch Bonner was a promising young novelist with a respectably published first book. Now, he’s teaching in a third-rate MFA program and struggling to maintain what’s left of his self-respect.

He hasn’t written or let alone published anything decent in years. When Evan Peters, Jacobs’s most arrogant student, tells him he doesn’t need his help, because the plot of his new book is a sure thing. Jacob doesn’t pay him much attention until he hears the plot. Some time passes, and he is wallowing in self-pity and waiting for Parker’s brilliant book to be published. Everything takes a turn when he discovers Parker has died, without finishing the book- so Jacob needs to finish it. In a few short years, Jacob has it all, fame, wealth, and acclaim. But, everything comes crumbling down, when an e-mail comes saying: You are a thief.

13. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier (1938)

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier is a classic. Verity was clearly influenced by this romance suspense classic. There was also a recent movie adaptation with Lily James and Armie Hammer that came out in 2020. This story is set in the wilds of Cornwall, in a large country house called Manderley. The author refuses to name her heroine, the first-person narrator, known only as the second Mrs. de Winter. She is a shy, awkward young woman who meets Maximilian (Maxim) de Winter.

He is a wealthy widower whose wife, Rebecca, drowned in a sailboat accident. After a whirlwind courtship, they get married and settle at Manderley. The narrator begins to feel progressively inferior to Rebecca, who personifies glamour and gaiety, and she does not think that she can compete with her for Maxim’s love. Mrs. Danvers, the sinister housekeeper, especially tortures the narrator by constantly mentioning how much Maxim had loved, and would always love, Rebecca.

14. Confessions by Kanae Minato (2008)

Confessions by Kanae Minato is an incredibly shocking thriller with an unnerving twist to fill a void after Verity. After ending her engagement in a wake of a tragic revelation, Yuko Moriguchi had nothing to live for except her only child, four-year-old Manami. Sadly, Manami is killed on the grounds of the middle school where Yuko teaches. Now, she’s tendering her resignation.

But, she is not leaving before delivering one last lecture. Yuko tells a story that shatters everything her students ever thought they knew about two of their peers, and sets in motion a maniacal plot for revenge. This book is special because in narrated in alternating voices, with twists you will never see coming. After this book, you’ll never look at a classroom the same way again.

15. Long Black Veil by Jennifer Finney Boylan (2017)

Long Black Veil is a novel about a woman whose family and identity are in danger, because of the secrets from her past. Everything is set in motion when Judith Carrigan friends’ body is discovered 20 years after her disappearance in Philadelphia’s notorious and abandoned Eastern State Penitentiary. Now, Judith is the only witness who can testify to the innocence of her friend Casey, who had married Wailer only days before her death. The only problem is that now Judith is a very different person from the one she was 20 years ago.

She needs to defend her old friend and uncover the truth of Wailer’s death, in order to do that  Judith must confront long-held and hard-won secrets that could cause her to lose the life she’s built for herself and her family.