The following version of the novel was used to create this study guide: Hoover, Colleen. November 9. Atria Books, November 10, 2015. Kindle.

In the romance/psychological thriller November 9 by Colleen Hoover, O’Neil believes she could fall in love with Benton “Ben” James Kessler, but she has decided to follow her mother’s advice not to date seriously until she is 23. She and Ben agree to meet every year on November 9 and spend the day together. November 9 is the day they first met and the anniversary of tragedies in both their lives. Ben challenges Fallon to date and audition for roles in plays, even though she is self-conscious about the severe scarring on the left side of her body as a result of a house fire. Fallon challenges Ben to write a novel. As they continue to meet each year, Fallon learns that she is connected to Ben in a way that makes her question everything she believed about him and everything he taught her.

On November 9, the anniversary of a house fire that left Fallon scarred and destroyed her acting career, Fallon meets her father, Donovan O’Neil, for lunch to tell him she is moving to New York. Ben hears her father criticizing her decision and telling her she no longer has the looks to have an acting career. Ben interrupts their lunch and pretends to be Fallon’s boyfriend. He argues that Donovan should support Fallon’s attempts to return to acting. After Donovan leaves, Ben and Fallon spend the rest of the day together. They discover that they do have a mutual attraction, but Ben encourages Fallon to go to New York anyway.

The following November 9th, Ben fears he has been stood up because Fallon is two hours late. She finally gets in touch with him to tell him that her flight was late. They meet at Ben’s house instead of at the airport. While at Ben’s house, his brother, Kyle, punches him in the face after seeing him with Fallon.

On the next November 9th, Ben had planned to go to New York to see Fallon. He calls to tell her that Kyle has been killed in a car wreck. Fallon makes the decision to fly back to Los Angeles to see him. The visit becomes complex when the two are intimate for the first time. Fallon agrees to a relationship, and Ben plans to sell the house and move to New York.

Fallon learns that Kyle’s widow, Jordyn, who is expecting a baby in a few months, does not want to move back in with her mother. She and Kyle have been living with Ben in the house where brothers Ben, Kyle, and Ian grew up. Jordyn hopes Ben and Ian will agree to let her stay there and help with the baby. Fallon breaks Ben’s heart when she tells him they cannot start a relationship at that point. She argues that Jordyn needs Ben. Ben believes Fallon is saying she does not love him and is abandoning him when he needs her most.

On the fourth November 9th, Ben brings his nephew, Oliver, to meet Fallon. Fallon is heartbroken when she realizes that Ben and Jordyn are a couple.

The next November 9th, Fallon leaves the house to go to a club with her new boyfriend, Theodore, only because her best friend insists that she do so. Ben tracks her down at the club and insists that she go home with him. She learns that he has broken off the relationship with Jordyn and is living in an apartment.

Ben and Fallon mend their relationship. The following morning, Fallon discovers Ben’s manuscript in his closet. Curious about why Kyle hit Ben, Fallon flips to that portion of the novel. She is at first angry when she reads that Ben is claiming he set the fire that caused her burns. When she talks to Ben and realizes he did start the fire, she leaves without allowing him to explain.

The next year and the final meeting on November 9, Ben leaves a copy of his manuscript on Fallon’s front step. He asks her to read it; instead, she goes to bed. When Fallon wakes, she discovers her mother is there and that she has read the novel. Her mother convinces Fallon to do the same.

Fallon learns that Ben’s mother died by suicide on the same day as the fire. Ben believed his mother died because she was distraught when the man she was dating, Donovan O’Neil, broke up with her. Angry, Ben drove to Donovan’s house where he saw Donovan washing a classic car. He believed Donovan cared for the car more than he had Ben’s mother. After Donovan went inside, Ben doused the car with gas and set it on fire.

Later, Ben learned the fire spread to the house. Fallon had been airlifted from the scene with burns over 30 percent of her body. Ian also shared with Ben that their mother did not die because of the relationship. She had been diagnosed with non-treatable cancer. She did not tell her sons what she had decided because she did not want them to talk her out of her decision. Ben was overcome with grief because he had lashed out and ruined the life of an innocent girl. He spent the next two years trying to escape that guilt by drowning his feelings with alcohol and girls.

Ben writes Fallon a letter to convince her that he never lied to her about his feelings for her or his belief that she was beautiful. He says his only lie was a lie of omission. He plans to wait for her at their restaurant in hopes that she will forgive him.

Fallon arrives at the restaurant at three minutes until midnight. She tells Ben she cannot forgive him because there is nothing to forgive. She explains she should be asking him to forgive her because she doubted him. They confirm their love, and Ben promises that he will propose to her the following November 9.