Ali Hazelwood is an Italian romance novelist and neuroscience professor best known for her works featuring women in STEM fields and academia. She is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Love Hypothesis and has recently published the paranormal romance Bride (2024).
Born and raised in Italy, Hazelwood has lived in Japan and Germany before moving to the United States to pursue her Ph.D. in neuroscience. Her academic journey, focused on brain simulation and cognitive neuroscience, has profoundly influenced her writing. After working as a professor until 2023, Hazelwood decided to focus entirely on her writing career.
Hazelwood's literary debut, The Love Hypothesis (2021), began as Star Wars fan fiction about Rey and Kylo Ren, which she first published on Archive of Our Own in 2018. After being approached by a literary agent in 2020, the story became a novel.
The Love Hypothesis spent over 40 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Reflecting on this, Hazelwood said, "I always found it hard to let go of characters and stories I loved, so I found myself trying to write more about them."
Following this success, Hazelwood published her second novel, Love on the Brain (2022), as well as three novellas: Under One Roof, Stuck with You and Below Zero. In 2023, these novellas were collected in a single volume entitled Loathe to Love You. In the same year, she published her third novel, Love, Theoretically, and her first young adult novel, Check & Mate.
The latest work by Hazelwood, Bride (2024), is a paranormal romance. The novel, a tribute to her favourite authors such as Kresley Cole and Nalini Singh, explores the dangerous alliance between a vampire bride and an alpha werewolf.
In addition to her novels, Hazelwood is known for her three feline companions and her slightly less feline husband.
Photo credit: alihazelwood.com