after anna todd took the internet by storm. she quickly made her way from the pages of the web into the hands of book readers everywhere and has since inspired two film adaptations. If you have a hardin-sized void in your life after finishing this series, here are 14 books just like it that you should definitely read next.
about after anna todd
after is a new adult contemporary romance novel that takes place in an academic setting. Tessa is our main protagonist. She’s a nice girl who has a trustworthy boyfriend back home, but when she moves into her freshman’s dorm she meets Hardin.
You are reading: Books similar to after
hardin is tessa’s polar opposite. she’s attracted to her British accent, her tattoos and her pierced lip, but he’s completely different than what she’s used to. and he’s also incredibly rude.
But in this romance from enemies to lovers, the attraction is too much to deny. When Tessa and Hardin find themselves alone in her room one night, sparks fly.
even though tessa doesn’t like the way he treats her lightly, calling her beautiful, but then disappearing, she needs to dig under his tough guy exterior. he tug-of-war only entwines them more and makes Tessa wonder if this could be love.
After is written by Anna Todd and is the first book in a five-book series. Before it was published in print, Todd initially wrote this story as fanfiction and posted it online. it was a phenomenal success with over a billion reads.
Its release in print was in 2014 on a simon & Schuster has since made the book into a 2019 film starring Josephine Langford as Tessa Young and Hero Fiennes Tiffin as Hardin Scott.
There have been two subsequent movies made from the next two books: After We Collided and After We Fell. After Ever Happy, based on the fourth book in the series, is expected to be released on Amazon Prime on September 7, 2022, with August release dates for select international countries.
The after series has been translated into more than 30 languages.
14 books like anna todd’s after
part of the allure with tessa and hardin is the drama that they don’t want and the inevitable attraction from enemies to lovers. If you’re looking for books like this that you should read below, we’ve compiled a list of 14 that we think you’ll love.
Most of the books on this list take place in an academic or workplace setting, as disputes between colleagues cause much of the same tension as classmates. but all the books on this list deliver on being a contemporary romance with lovable characters and irresistible attraction.
1. the deal for elle kennedy
if you loved hardin’s bad boy attitude and the college vibe that followed, then you’ll love elle kennedy’s offering. it’s the first in her off-campus series.
hannah wells has finally found someone to turn her on. But while she may be confident in every other area of her life, she is carrying a whole set of baggage when it comes to sex and seduction.
If you want to get your crush’s attention, you’ll have to step out of your comfort zone and make him notice…even if it means teaching the annoying, childish, cocky captain of the hockey team. in exchange for a simulated date.
Garrett Graham’s dream is to play professional hockey after graduation, but his plummeting GPA threatens everything. If helping a sarcastic brunet make another guy jealous will help secure his position on the team, he’s up for it.
But when an unexpected kiss leads to the wildest sex of their lives, it doesn’t take long for Garrett to realize that faking it isn’t enough. now she just has to convince hannah that the man she wants looks a lot like him.
2. colleen hoover ugly love
If you love romance, chances are you’ve heard of Colleen Hoover. many of his books have similar themes to after, but we’ve chosen ugly love to top our list. Unlike our previous recommendation, this book stands alone.
When Tate Collins meets airline pilot Miles Archer, she knows it’s not love at first sight. they wouldn’t even go so far as to consider themselves friends.
The only thing Tate and Miles have in common is an undeniable mutual attraction. once their wishes are out in the open, they realize they have the perfect setup.
He doesn’t want love, she doesn’t have time for love, so that just leaves sex. Her arrangement could be surprisingly perfect, as long as Tate can stick to the only two rules Miles has for her. never ask about the past and don’t expect a future.
They think they can handle it, but realize almost immediately that they can’t handle it at all.
3. punk 57 by penelope douglas
this recommendation for books like after is another independent one. features two characters who have a deal that works well for both of them, until matters of the heart come into play. this novel also features an epistolary element, which adds to its charm.
In fifth grade, Misha’s teacher paired them with pen pals from a different school. Believing that Misha was a girl, based on her name, the other teacher paired him with Ryen. Misha’s teacher, believing Ryen to be a boy like Misha, agreed.
It didn’t take long for misha and ryen to realize the mistake, but soon after they were arguing about everything. a friendship blossomed through letters and for the next seven years, that was enough.
until misha finds a picture of a girl online that matches everything she knows about ryen. she now she needs to meet her.
ryen is distraught as misha’s letters end. but what she doesn’t know is that he could be right under her nose and she wouldn’t even know it.
4. beautiful mess by jamie mcguire
Like Tessa, Beautiful Disaster’s female lead enters college with a solid plan of action. travis is the perfect accountant for her, just like hardin is for tessa. This novel is the first in the beautiful series by Jamie McGuire.
the new abby abernathy is a good girl. she doesn’t drink or swear, and she has the right amount of cardigans in her wardrobe. She Abby believes that she has enough distance from the darkness of her past.
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But when she arrives at college with her best friend, her path to a fresh start is quickly challenged by a college one night stand back east.
Slim, trim, and covered in tattoos, Travis Maddox is exactly what Abby needs (and wants) to avoid. he spends his nights making money in a floating wrestling ring, and his days as the ultimate college campus charmer. Intrigued by Abby’s resistance to her attractiveness, Travis tricks her into getting involved in her daily life with a simple bet.
If you lose, you must remain abstinent for a month. If Abby loses, she must live in Travis’s apartment for the same amount of time. Either way, Travis has no idea that she’s found her match.
5. to all the boys i’ve loved before by jenny han
This novel has become a cult classic in recent years. The series has been adapted into a series of films starring Lana Candor and Noah Centineo. is the first book in the series of the same.
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is the story of Lara Jean, who has never openly admitted her crushes. Instead, she wrote each child a letter about how she felt, sealed it, and hid it in a box under her bed.
But one day, Lara Jean discovers that somehow her secret box of letters is out, causing all the crushes from her past to confront her about the letters: her first kiss, the boy from summer camp, even her sister’s ex-boyfriend, jose.
As she learns to come to grips with her past loves, Lara Jean discovers that some good may come from these letters after all.
6. the chase of elle kennedy
elle kennedy makes our list twice, because her books address the same themes as todd’s, making them the perfect after books. the chase is the first book in her briar u series. presents two opposites with an undeniable mutual attraction that makes the reader support them from the first page.
everyone says that opposites attract. And they must be right, because there’s no logical reason why summer would be so drawn to Colin Fitzgerald.
usually doesn’t like the tattoo-covered, gamer, hockey-player nerd-jock type; especially not those who think she is frivolous and superficial. her narrow view of her is only her first blow against him.
It doesn’t help that he’s friends with summer’s brother either. and that her best friend is in love with her. and that she just moved in with them.
But it doesn’t matter if they’re roommates. Fitzy has made it clear that he’s not interested, even though sparks between the pair could set the house on fire. The fact is that summer is not one of those girls who chase a man and it’s not going to start.
summer has her hands full dealing with a new school, a sleazy teacher, and an uncertain future. So what if her sexy brooding roommate takes notice of her and realizes what she’s missing? he knows where to find her.
7. sally thorne’s hate game
unlike after, this novel takes place in a workplace between two colleagues. but the warmth and chemistry between these two make it perfect for our list of after books. The Hate Game was also adapted into a movie recently starring Lucy Hale and Austin Stowell.
lucy hutton has always been sure that the nice girl can get the corner office. she is charming, accommodating and proud to be loved by everyone at bexley & gamin. everyone except joshua templeman, coolly efficient, impeccably dressed, and physically intimidating.
and the feeling is mutual.
Stuck in a shared office together 40 (well, 50 or 60) hours a week, they’ve entrenched themselves in an addictive and ridiculous endless game of self-improvement. there is the game of looks. the mirror game the time game.
lucy can’t let joshua beat her to anything, especially when a big new promotion comes around.
If Lucy wins this game, she will be Joshua’s boss. if she loses, she will quit. so why does she suddenly have passionate dreams about joshua and dress for work like she has a hot date?
After a perfectly innocent elevator ride ends with a momentous kiss, Lucy begins to wonder if she messed up with Joshua Templeman. maybe lucy hutton doesn’t hate joshua templeman. And maybe he doesn’t hate her either.
or maybe this is just another game.
8. I’ll wait for you by Jennifer L. trout
Another romance with an undeniable attraction that takes place on a college campus, Wait For You introduces us to Avery and Cameron. It is written by Jennifer L. armentrout and initially published under his alias of j. lynn is also the first in the series of her waiting for you.
Traveling thousands of miles from home to get into college is the only way nineteen-year-old Avery Morgansten can escape what happened at the Halloween party five years ago. all she needs to do is get to her classes on time, make sure the bracelet on her left wrist stays in place, stay inconspicuous, and maybe make some friends.
The only thing you don’t need is to grab the attention of the one guy who could shatter the precarious future you’re building. Because Cameron Hamilton is a swoon-worthy six-foot-three-inches, complete with a pair of striking blue eyes and a remarkable ability to make her want things she believed had been irrevocably stolen from her.
avery knows she needs to stay away from him, but the cute and clever camera is everywhere. starting something with him is dangerous, but ignoring the underlying tension that arises every time they are together becomes impossible. he brings out a side of her that he never knew existed.
But then Avery starts receiving threatening emails and phone calls that force her to confront a past she wants to silence. She now has no choice but to admit that someone refuses to let her leave behind that night when everything changed.
When the devastating truth comes out, will he resurface this time with one less scar? and can cam be there to help her or will he be dragged down with her?
9. start over by mona kasten
Next, we have a book that injects the roommate trope into a contemporary romance set on campus. Furthermore, Kaden, like Hardin, is covered in tattoos with a careless attitude. starting over is the first book in the starting over series.
A fresh start is the only thing keeping Allie Harper going, so she packs her bags and moves across the country to Woodshill, Oregon. She is about to start college and is desperate to put the ghosts of her past behind her. even if it means she will never speak to her parents again.
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Now for the hard part: finding an apartment before school starts. Just when it looks like she’s going to have to live in her car, Allie visits one more place. it’s beautiful.
with one exception: can she handle being roommates with campus bad boy kaden white? sure, kaden is sexy with his tattoos and sloppy attitude of his, but he’s also an arrogant jerk. However, with nowhere else to go, Allie moves away.
The first thing kaden does is create a set of rules. Allie obeys or leaves. she can’t talk about her girl problems, she has to keep her mouth shut if kaden brings someone home, and they definitely can’t hook up.
Pretty easy, allie thinks. who would want to start something with a brute like kaden? but the more she gets to know him, the more she sees past his gruff facade.
He also hides some painful secrets. For Kaden and Allie, it’s getting harder to ignore the sparks between them. and the lines between the rulers begin to blur.
starting over is a beautiful romance that shows us how possible it is to start over. to find freedom in heartbreak and love in the most unlikely places.
10. the beth reekles kissing booth
you’ve probably also heard of the next book on our book list as an after. Beth Reekles’ Kissing Booth is the first in the series of the same name. It has also been made into a popular TV movie series starring Joey King and Jacob Elordi.
rochelle evans is pretty, popular and has never been kissed. Noah Flynn is tough, volatile, and a total gamer. he’s also the older brother of elle’s best friend, which marks him as theoretically off limits.
But when Elle decides to open a kissing booth for the school’s spring carnival, she makes out with Noah and her whole life is turned upside down. her head says to stay away, but her heart wants to get closer. This romance seems to be far from fairy tales and she is headed for heartbreak, but will she make them happily ever after?
11. dear ava by ilsa madden-mills
This next recommendation is a standalone novel featuring enemies as lovers, a secret admirer, and a high school romance.
Rich and popular Sharks rule at prestigious ivy-covered Camden High School. Once upon a time, ava wanted to be a part of her world, until she was destroyed. Now, the last thing she expects is an anonymous love letter from one of them.
even though ava hates them all for what they did to her, she needs to know who wrote the letter. It was Knox, the scarred quarterback; dane, his twin brother; Or by any chance, the ex who dumped her?
12. beautiful bastard by christina lauren
Like after, this next recommendation started on the internet pages. What began as fanfiction quickly gained more than two million reads online and was edited for print publication as the first in the Beautiful Bastards series. Christina Lauren is a pseudonym used by authors Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings.
It starts with an ambitious intern, a perfectionist executive, and a lot of name-calling.
Smart, hard-working, and on her way to an MBA, Chloe Mills has only one problem: her boss, Bennett Ryan. he is demanding, direct, inconsiderate and completely irresistible. a beautiful bastard.
bennett has returned to chicago from france to play a vital role in his family’s huge media business. he never expected that the assistant who had been helping him from abroad would be the beautiful, innocently provocative, utterly infuriating creature he now has to see every day. despite rumors, he’s never been one to have a workplace connection.
but chloe is so tempting that he’s willing to bend the rules, or just break them, if it means he can have her. throughout the office. As their mutual appetites build to breaking point, Bennett and Chloe must decide exactly what they’re willing to give up to win each other over.
13. lost & found by nicole williams
Our next recommendation flips the bad boy/good girl trope on its head. In this reading, Rowen is the bad girl with dark secrets in her past, and Jesse is the bright, shining star. this is the first novel of the lost & nicole williams found series.
It’s complicated. and there’s rowen sterling.
After numbing the pain for the past five years with boys, alcohol, and general apathy, she finds herself on a Greyhound bus to nowhere in Montana the summer after she graduates from high school. Ella’s mom agreed to top the bill for Rowen’s dream art school, but only if Rowen proves she can work hard and stay out of trouble at Willow Springs Ranch. Preparing breakfast at dawn for a couple dozen ranch workers and cleaning out the horse stalls are the last things in the world Rowen wants to do during the summer.
until jesse walker walks into her life wearing a pair of painted jeans, a cowboy hat, and a smile that makes something in her chest she thought was frozen go boom-boom. Jesse is like no one else, and certainly nothing like her. he is bright and shiny to her dark and jaded.
rowen knows there is no happily ever after for the golden boy and the wayward girl, even happy right now is an exaggeration. so she tries to forget and ignore the guy who makes her feel things she’s not sure she’s ready to feel.
but the further you push him away, the closer he gets. the more she convinces herself that she doesn’t care, the more she falls.
When her dark secrets refuse to stay locked behind the walls she’s kept up for years, Rowen realizes she doesn’t just need to be honest with everyone else. is herself
14. truth by erin mccarthy
Our last recommendation in your search for books like after is true. This is the first book in the True Believers series. just like after, it features a tattooed bad boy who finds himself hopelessly attracted to the good girl as love blossoms on a college campus.
Rory Macintosh’s roommates discover that their studious and shy friend has never been with a boy. Which leads them to decide that, as an act of kindness, they’ll help her lose her virginity by hiring self-assured, tattooed bad boy Tyler Mann to do the job… without Rory knowing. p>
tyler knows he’s not good enough for rory. she’s smart, doctor smart, while he’s barely surviving on her emt program. just hoping to get his younger siblings out of the hell their drug addict mother has left them in.
But she can’t resist inviting her roommates over for a chance to get to know her better. there’s something about her honesty that makes him come back when he knows he shouldn’t…
Torn between common sense and desire, the two find themselves locked in a passionate relationship. But when Tyler’s broken family threatens to destroy his future and hers, Rory will have to decide whether to sever her ties to her risky world or follow her heart, no matter the cost.
final thoughts on books like after
there are 14 books like the following that you should absolutely read if you loved anna todd books. Have you read any of the books on this list?
if you fell in love with hardin, these books will describe a new tattooed bad boy that you will fall in love with. And if you loved reading about sparks flying amid the stressors of college and classes, there’s sure to be something here to delight you. We hope this list has helped you find your next great read.
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