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Erica Jean

In some ways, author Colleen Hoover’s life mirrors that of Lily Bloom’s, the central character in her novel It Ends with Us.
Like Bloom, Hoover’s father physically abused her mother. While their similarities end there – Bloom’s mother stayed, while Hoover’s parents divorced and her mother later remarried – the impact of domestic abuse left a lasting imprint on both their lives, albeit in different ways.

While Bloom would go on to experience similar abuse, Hoover found herself at the centre of a heated debate over whether the novel and its film adaptation, starring Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively, romanticise such experiences.
Amid the ongoing drama between Baldoni and Lively, Hoover, who had previously deactivated her Instagram, returned to the platform and deleted all posts featuring the two actors.
Here’s what you need to know about the controversial author.
Colleen Hoover never imagined writing could be a career

Born on December 11, 1979, in Sulphur Springs, Texas, Hoover yearned to write before she could even pick up a pencil. In a 2022 Zoom call with Elle magazine, she recalled her four-year-old self feeling envious of her older sister, who could scribble words on paper. “I remember feeling back then like I had stories to tell,” she explained.
She wrote her first story, “Mystery Bob”, a year later, which is about a man searching for five rings. Between managing schoolwork and helping out at her parents’ dairy farm, she continued to write, telling those around her that she wanted to be a writer when she grew up. In reality though, she never truly believed she could pursue it as a career, she said in an interview with Bloomsbury’s Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook.
Instead, she attended Texas A&M University, graduating with a degree in social work in 2004 and going on to work in social services. It wasn’t until 2011, while living in a single-wide trailer with her husband – who was a long-distance truck driver at the time – and their three sons, that she began writing again, per The New York Times.
Her first book was meant as a Christmas gift for her mum

Using a laptop borrowed from her mother, per New York Times, Hoover worked on Slammed, a story about a teenager grappling with her father’s death, whenever she could.
“I [worked] 11-hour days, and my son was in a play with the community theatre and had play practice three hours a day, five days a week. So I wrote during his play practice,” she shared with Writers & Artists in 2013. “Then I went home and wrote some more. I probably averaged four hours of sleep per night for three months.”
While Slammed was initially only intended as a Christmas gift for her mother, Hoover wanted other friends and family to have access to it too, so she decided to self-publish on Amazon. To her surprise, the book began to gain traction.
“[Colleen] called me and she said, ‘Six people I don’t even know bought my book.’ And I’m, like, ‘You are kidding!’” Hoover’s mum recalled in a conversation with NPR. “And then a couple weeks later, she said, ‘Sixty people bought my book. I think I can pay my light bill.’ I’m, like, ‘Oh my God, Colleen, that’s crazy!’ And then it just blew up from there. Just blew up.”

Seven months later, Slammed hit The New York Times bestseller list, and Hoover used her royalties to pay back her stepfather for the family’s trailer. Since then, she has quit her job to write full-time and has published 26 novels, many of which have become bestsellers.
Her novels address many real-life issues women face

While her works span various genres – including romance, thrillers and dramas addressing issues like domestic violence, drug abuse and poverty – her fan base remains fiercely loyal. This connection may stem from her ability to approach heavy subjects that resonate with many readers in a fresh and engaging way.
“Her writing helped me laugh, cry, fall in love,” a reader who struggled with post-partum depression told The New York Times in 2022 at Hoover’s annual charity romance convention. “The books helped me learn how to feel again.”
Her son was accused of sexual harassment

Colleen shares three sons with her husband William Heath Hoover: Cale, Levi and Beckham.
In 2022, Levi, 24, came into the public eye after harassment allegations of a minor surfaced against him on social media. The alleged victim came forward on X (formerly Twitter) in February 2022 to write: “Her [Colleen’s] son also sexually harassed me and she blocked me when I spoke up about it to her.” The tweet has since been deleted.
“Long story short, we were friends on [Snapchat] and s*** and like every day we would message cause we’re friends right,” they further elaborated in a second tweet. “And like this was when I was 16 and he was fully aware of how old I was [because] I always talked about the fact I was still in school.”
The victim also shared now-deleted screenshots of an Instagram text exchange with Colleen, further proof of her friendship with Levi, and a screenshot of his Snapchat handle.
Defending her son

Colleen came to her son’s defence in November 2022, refuting the allegations in a private Facebook group called Colleen Hoover’s Cohorts.
“Things being said about my son aren’t accurate. People are commenting that I blocked a girl for informing me that my son sexually assaulted her when she was 16. This absolutely did not happen, and this is not even initially what was said by this person,” she wrote in the statement.
She continued, “My son and a girl were online friends for several months. They never met in person. He said something to her in a message that made her uncomfortable (he asked her to send him a pic), so she messaged me about it. I did not read this message, but she thought I did, and it understandably upset her that I didn’t respond. She then posted on Twitter that my son asked her for a pic. As soon as I found out about this months ago, I reached out to her.”


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Hoover’s novels often touch upon contemporary issues such as domestic abuse and drug use – but before her international bestseller, she didn’t think she could have a writing career


Hoover’s novels often touch upon contemporary issues such as domestic abuse and drug use – but before her international bestseller, she didn’t think she could have a writing career.
