Verity by Colleen Hoover is a romantic novel which was published a few years ago, but has continued to be pretty popular. Although Hoover is primarily known for her heartwarming romances, Verity is a romantic novel with a dash of suspense & thrill which keeps readers on their toes. The romance in Verity is all the more exciting because of the element of mystery.
This book is extremely graphic when it comes to sex and there is a lot of it. If you’re not into that sort of thing, this isn’t the book for you. However, if you don’t mind or even enjoy reading explicit material, then this book might be right up your alley. It’s definitely the most graphic book we’ve read so far by Colleen Hoover.
Summary Read Time: Less than 4 minutes
Actual Book Length: 335
First Published in: 2022
Below is the detailed yet quick summary of the book:
Part 1
Lowen Ashleigh is the struggling writer who is offered the job of completing the last three novels of a popular book series. The original author, Verity Crawford, was in an accident that left her alive but unresponsive. The accident happened soon after the deaths of Verity’s two twin daughters.
Lowen moves into the Crawford house to investigate Verity’s notes and ends up falling for her husband, Jeremy. She also begins to suspect that Verity is faking her medical condition due to strange occurrences.
Lowen begins reading Verity’s series of books called The Noble Virtues. These books are all written from the perspective of the antagonist. In Verity’s office, Lowen also stumbles upon an autobiographical manuscript that Verity had written which uncovers Verity’s dark side.
In the manuscript, Verity describes feeling resentment towards her daughters because Jeremy loves them more than he loves her. Verity also admits to loving one of her daughters, Chastin, more than the other one, Harper. She even has a dream in which Harper someday kills Chastin.
Part – 2
Chastin died from her peanut allergy at the age of 8. Chastin and Harper had been at a sleepover together when it happened. Verity then admitted to murdering Harper six months later. She purposely took Crew and Harper out on a canoe, caused it to capsize and then only saved Crew.
Although Lowen is hesitant, she ultimately decides to tell Jeremy about the manuscript, knowing it will only hurt him more. At this point, she and Jeremy are sleeping together and discussing a possible future together. However, when Lowen thinks she sees Verity move, she tells Jeremy in order to protect him and Crew.
Jeremy confronts Verity who finally admits to faking it. Jeremy then attacks Verity, and Lowen at first tells him to stop, but then she advises him to make it look like an accident. Verity is killed. Months later, Lowen is pregnant and they all move into a new house. As they clean out the old house, Lowen discovers a letter that Verity wrote after her accident.
The letter from Verity to Jeremy reveals how the manuscript was written as a writing exercise to help her sharpen her antagonistic point of view – which she uses for her novels. She also explains how Jeremy knew about the manuscript and forced her into the “accident” because he wanted it gone.
Lowen destroys the letter after she reads it. However, the book ends with her being unsure as to whether the letter was true or just another manipulation from Verity.
