Deep End

Ali Hazelwood is an American author who has published all of her novels under this pen name. Originally from Italy, Hazelwood has also “lived in Japan and Germany,” after which she “moved to the US to pursue a Ph.D. in Neuroscience” (“About.” Ali Hazelwood). In a divergent career step, Hazelwood self-published her debut novel The Love Hypothesis in 2018 on Archive of Our Own, an online open-source collection of fan fiction. Originally meant as a work of Star Wars fan fiction, The Love Hypothesis was later picked up and republished by Berkley Books in 2021. It was an instant New York Times bestseller and stayed on the bestseller list for roughly 40 weeks. Hazelwood went on to teach at the collegiate level but put her professorial career on hold to focus on her writing career.

The success of The Love Hypothesis established Hazelwood in the literary world, particularly in the contemporary romance scene. Since the Berkley Books publication of The Love Hypothesis, Hazelwood has published several other full-length novels, including Love on the Brain (2022), Love, Theoretically (2023), Check & Mate (2023), Bride (2024), Not in Love (2022), Cruel Winter with You (2024), Two Can Play (2024), and Deep End (2025). The Love Hypothesis, Love on the Brain, Love, Theoretically, and Not in Love combine elements of science and romance and take their inspiration from the world of STEM (an interdisciplinary field combining science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and Hazelwood’s scientific background.

Hazelwood broke away from her fictionalized STEM worlds with the publication of her books Check & Mate, Cruel Winter With You, Bride, and Two Can Play: Check & Mate is Hazelwood’s first YA novel; Bride is her first work of romantic fantasy; Cruel Winter with You is her first holiday romance; Two Can Play is her first video game romance; and Deep End is her first sports romance. Hazelwood has also published the Loathe to Love You series, a collection of three novellas: Under One Roof (2022), Stuck with You (2022), and Below Zero (2022).

Hazelwood’s expansive catalog captures her breadth as an author and storyteller. While her narrative worlds span from the science lab to the swimming pool, all of Hazelwood’s titles feature strong female leads. She is known for using her stories to advocate for healthy, balanced sexual relationships. Via her STEM-inspired novels, she also creates awareness surrounding women in the workplace, particularly in scientific fields. With the exception of Not in Love, most of Hazelwood’s novels are written from the point of view of her female protagonists—a technique that disrupts genre conventions and formally enacts Hazelwood’s efforts to prioritize women’s perspectives and experiences.

Hazelwood’s novels are in conversation with other works of contemporary romance including Hannah Grace’s sports romance novels Ice Breaker and Wild Fire, Tessa Bailey’s holiday romance Wreck the Halls, Elsie Silver’s workplace romance Wild Eyes, and Christina Lauren’s adventure romance Something Wilder. Like Grace, Bailey, Silver, and Lauren, Hazelwood combines elements of romance, personal challenges, and self-exploration to create complex characters and swoon-worthy stories.