Author Guide
Ali Hazelwood Books in Order
Complete reading list — from the viral debut The Love Hypothesis to Love on the Brain, Check & Mate, and every STEMinist romance since.
About Ali Hazelwood
Ali Hazelwood holds a PhD in neuroscience and uses it in service of arguably the most enjoyable possible mission: writing romance novels about scientists. Her debut, The Love Hypothesis, began as fan fiction before finding its way to a traditional publishing deal — a origin story that BookTok loves. Hazelwood has coined the term "STEMinist" romance for her specific niche: stories featuring academically overachieving heroines in labs and universities, paired with clueless but utterly devoted love interests who are powerless against competent women. Her books are warm, funny, and surprisingly emotionally grounded for something that presents itself as light entertainment. The science is real, the banter is fast, and the slow burns are achingly effective. Based in the US, she continues to write full-time after leaving academia.
Start Here: First-time reader? Begin with The Love Hypothesis — it is the book that defined her voice and turned thousands of readers into devoted fans. If you have already read that one, Love on the Brain is the natural next step. Her books are all standalones; no required reading order.
Full-Length Novels
Ali Hazelwood's main romance novels — all standalones, all set in STEM worlds.
1
The Love Hypothesis
2021
PhD student Olive Smith needs a fake boyfriend to convince her best friend she has moved on — so she impulsively kisses the most intimidating professor in the building, Adam Carlsen. A fake-dating romance set in a biology lab that launched a thousand BookTok posts. Originally written as fan fiction; now one of the best-selling debut romances of its era.
2
Love on the Brain
2022
Neuroscientist Bee Königswasser is assigned to co-lead a NASA project with Levi Ward — the man she has despised since grad school. Enemies-to-lovers in a NASA engineering context, with Hazelwood's characteristic warmth and impeccable slow burn. Beloved by readers who finished The Love Hypothesis in a single sitting and immediately needed more.
3
Check & Mate
2022
YA Romance
Hazelwood's YA debut. Mallory Greenleaf swore off chess after burning out — until she plays a tournament on a dare and beats the world's top-ranked player, Nolan Sawyer, who subsequently becomes obsessed with her. A chess romance that is sharper and more emotionally honest than it sounds, with real competitive tension and a love interest who is endearingly unhinged about the heroine.
4
Bride
2024
Hazelwood's first foray into paranormal romance. Misery Lark is a vampire who has been exiled by her clan and must enter into a political marriage with Lowe Moreland, the Alpha of the were-community. A fantasy romance with the same emotionally intelligent slow burn and prickly-but-devoted heroine Hazelwood readers love, now with fangs and pack dynamics.
5
Not in Love
2024
Rue and Eli have one rule: no feelings. A friends-with-benefits arrangement between a food-tech scientist and a venture capitalist whose firm is trying to acquire hers — morally murky, emotionally devastating, and a deliberate departure from Hazelwood's sunnier early work. Her most mature novel to date.
Novellas
Shorter reads set in the same STEM-romance world — great for between full novels.
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Under One Roof
2022
Novella
An environmental scientist and an oil lobbyist are forced to share a house left to them jointly by their mutual mentor. Opposites-attract tension in novella form — fast, funny, and full of Hazelwood's trademark bickering-that-is-secretly-longing.
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Stuck with You
2022
Novella
A hockey player and a sports journalist are trapped in an elevator together. What could go wrong — or right? Lighter and faster than Hazelwood's full novels but no less charming.
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Below Zero
2022
Novella
A climate scientist stationed in Antarctica and the engineer sent to repair their equipment are stuck together at the end of the world. Cold outside; warm inside. Part of the three-novella collection published alongside Under One Roof and Stuck with You.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Ali Hazelwood's books connected?
Her full-length novels are all completely standalone — no shared characters or required reading order. The three novellas (Under One Roof, Stuck with You, Below Zero) were published together as a collection and share a loose thematic link, but each can be read independently.
Is The Love Hypothesis based on fan fiction?
Yes — The Love Hypothesis originated as a piece of fan fiction posted online before Hazelwood revised and sold it as an original novel. The bones of the story — the fake-dating setup, the grumpy professor, the PhD-student heroine — were preserved in the transition. This origin is part of why it resonated so strongly with BookTok audiences, many of whom come from fan-fiction communities.
What order should I read Ali Hazelwood's books?
Publication order works well: start with The Love Hypothesis (2021), then Love on the Brain (2022), then dip into the novellas if you want something shorter, then move to Check & Mate, Bride, and Not in Love. There is no story-level dependency between any of them — it is purely about experiencing her growth as a writer.
Are Ali Hazelwood's books spicy?
Yes, with some variation. The Love Hypothesis and Love on the Brain are moderately spicy — the romantic tension is the main event, with a few well-written intimate scenes. Not in Love is notably spicier and darker in tone. Check & Mate, as a YA novel, is not explicit. The novellas are on the lighter end.
What makes Ali Hazelwood different from other romance authors?
The science is real and the heroines are genuinely brilliant — not just "said to be smart" but shown doing credible scientific work that matters to the plot. Her love interests are reliably of the "quietly, devastatingly devoted" variety rather than the charismatic rake type. And she has a gift for writing female friendships and workplace dynamics that feel true to the experience of women in academic and research environments.