If Verity has you craving more erotic thrillers, you’re not alone. The Colleen Hoover adaptation starring Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, and Josh Hartnett topped the box office upon its Oct. 2 premiere — proving audiences’ appetite for stories that imbue steamy affairs with an undercurrent of suspense and downright danger.
Fortunately, there’s no shortage of spicy page-turners with twists. Here are five books like Verity to get you started.
Woman Down by Colleen Hoover
If you vibed with Verity, it only makes sense to keep exploring Hoover’s catalog. In her latest, Woman Down, once-beloved author Petra Rose flees to a remote cabin after facing fan backlash from her film adaptation. While away, she finds a new muse — and passionate connection — in a local detective who isn’t quite what he seems.
Perfect Strangers by J.T. Geissinger
Another author on a quest, Olivia Rossi is reeling from a different kind of devastation when she moves to Paris for the summer and strikes up an affair with a dashing mystery man. Soon, their connection is complicated by layers of metatextual twists that will make you put the book down and wonder (in the best way)… Wait, what?
The Wife Before by Shanora Williams
Samira’s newlywed bubble bursts when she finds concerning journal entries penned by her husband’s late wife, prompting a dangerous reckoning with her seemingly perfect partner.
Twisted Love by Ana Huang
Ava and her brother’s billionaire best friend, Alex, embark upon a passionate forbidden romance, but that delightfully trope-y conflict is the least of their worries when Alex’s secret quest for revenge comes into play.
Blood Moon by Sandra Brown
True crime producer Beth Collins and Detective John Bowie investigate the gone-cold disappearance of a teenage girl — a quest that uncovers even more shocking crimes and, along the way, a surprising chemistry they’re desperate to indulge.
