The Voss family is anything but normal. They live in a repurposed church, newly baptized Dollar Voss. The once cancer-stricken mother lives in the basement, the father is married to the mother’s former nurse, the little half-brother isn’t allowed to do or eat anything fun, and the eldest siblings are irritatingly perfect. Then, there’s Merit.
Merit Voss collects trophies she hasn’t earned and secrets her family forces her to keep. While browsing the local antiques shop for her next trophy, she finds Sagan. His wit and unapologetic idealism disarm and spark renewed life into her—until she discovers that he’s completely unavailable. Merit retreats deeper into herself, watching her family from the sidelines, when she learns a secret that no trophy in the world can fix.
Fed up with the lies, Merit decides to shatter the happy family illusion that she’s never been a part of before leaving them behind for good. When her escape plan fails, Merit is forced to deal with the staggering consequences of telling the truth and losing the one boy she loves.
Poignant and powerful, Without Merit explores the layers of lies that tie a family together and the power of love and truth.
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9 books in catalog
Contemporary romance and psychological thriller fiction reached massive audiences through emotional narrative structures that blend heartbreak, personal redemption, and intense interpersonal drama, led by the success of the 2016 novel It Ends With Us. Author Colleen Hoover built a prolific bibliography spanning more than twenty-four novels and novellas that bridge New Adult and Young Adult fiction.
Her releases, including the bestselling sequel It Starts with Us and the psychological thriller Verity, frequently top national bestseller lists and are published by Atria Books, Grand Central Publishing, Montlake Romance, and HarperCollins Publishers.
Born Margaret Colleen Fennell on December 11, 1979, in Sulphur Springs, Texas, she worked as a social worker before embarking on her writing career. Many of her early works were initially self-published before being acquired by traditional publishing houses. In 2015, Hoover and her family founded The Bookworm Box, a non-profit charity bookstore and book subscription service located in Sulphur Springs, Texas. The charity hosts an annual book signing convention called Book Bonanza featuring over 200 authors, alongside an annual auction raising funds for food banks and charities across the nation. To date, The Bookworm Box has donated over $1,000,000 to help those in need.
In addition to publishing, Hoover expanded into media production as a scriptwriter, producer, and co-founder of the production company HeartBones Entertainment. Her novel Confess was adapted into a series by Awestruck, available on Amazon Prime Video and iTunes, starring Katie Leclerc and Ryan Cooper. In 2023, Hoover was named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world. She resides in Texas with her husband and their three sons.
Hoover's bibliography spans New Adult contemporary romance, Young Adult fiction, and dark psychological thrillers. Her storytelling relies on fast-paced narrative arcs, alternating character perspectives, and unexpected plot twists. Her narratives focus on vulnerable character relationships, high-stakes emotional dilemmas, and complex romantic choices.
Recurring themes across her work include healing from past trauma, second-chance romance, family secrets, and moral ambiguity. Books such as Ugly Love, November 9, and Reminders of Him: A Novel focus on characters navigating grief and romantic conflict, while works like Verity explore psychological suspense and unreliable narration.
