So I tried out Colleen Hoover in 2022, since many women I liked and respected suggested her to me. There were some low lows (see Ugly Love), but this was a high. I think because the focus wasn’t solely on romance or getting a man, I was more invested. Plus, I didn’t want everyone to die in a fiery car crash, so that helped! Merit Voss is the main character, and she’s pretty quirky. She lives in an old converted church with her family, which includes an identical twin, a brother, divorced parents, and a stepmom. It’s all a bit weird – mom lives in the basement, they routinely take in strays (people), and they’re wildly dysfunctional. Although I said it’s not focused on romance, there is a meet cute at the beginning where Merit meets a guy she eventually finds out is her twin’s boyfriend. She does have a crush on him, but the story doesn’t revolve around that.
This is more of a family drama with buried secrets and misconceptions and all of that. I liked the characters, and I liked the setup. Like I said, it’s not a typical Colleen Hoover book, which is why I think I liked it. Just a note though, there is some talk of sexual assault, and a suicide attempt. I felt like they were both handled delicately and added to the story. Merit breaks open the family vault of secrets in a kinda assholey way, but it does end up bringing the family together.