Ali Hazelwood Books in Order (Updated March 14, 2026)

Ali Hazelwood is easier to read than her bibliography can make it look. Most of her books are standalones, but she also has two genuine linked duologies, one novella trio, and a growing set of short-form extras. So the key is not “read everything in one strict universe order,” but “know which books actually belong together.”

For most readers, the cleanest rule is this: read the main novels in publication order, keep the Bride books together, keep the Not in Love pair together, and decide separately whether you want the novellas and anthology pieces.

The shortest possible answer

1. If you want the book that launched her breakout run, start with The Love Hypothesis.
2. If you want the most “classic Ali Hazelwood” lane, read the adult contemporary novels in publication order.
3. If you want the only clear paranormal sequence, read Bride before Mate.
4. If you want the linked biotech/romance lane, read Not in Love before Problematic Summer Romance.

Ali Hazelwood books in publication order

1. The Love Hypothesis (2021): A fake-dating academia romance between PhD student Olive Smith and professor Adam Carlsen, and still the clearest starting point for Hazelwood’s STEM rom-com voice.
2. Under One Roof (2022): An enemies-to-lovers novella where an environmental engineer is forced to cohabit with an infuriating lawyer, starting the STEMinist novella trio.
3. Stuck with You (2022): A second STEMinist novella, built around an elevator trap, an old wound, and a civil engineer stuck with the man she most wants to avoid.
4. Below Zero (2022): The third STEMinist novella sends a NASA engineer into an Arctic rescue setup, making this the most overtly survival-driven of the trio.
5. Love on the Brain (2022): A NASA-centered enemies-to-lovers novel where Bee Königswasser has to co-lead a dream project with Levi Ward, the man she believes she already hates.
6. Loathe to Love You (2023): A print collection of the three STEMinist novellas, useful if you want that whole mini-sequence in one volume rather than as separate releases.
7. Love, Theoretically (2023): Rival physicists, fake dating, and academic politics collide as Elsie Hannaway tries to secure the job that could finally stabilize her life.
8. Check & Mate (2023): Hazelwood’s YA novel, following former chess prodigy Mallory Greenleaf as competition, family strain, and Nolan Sawyer pull her back into the game.
9. Bride (2024): A paranormal romance about Vampyre outcast Misery Lark and Alpha Werewolf Lowe Moreland, and the first book that clearly opens a separate supernatural continuity.
10. Not in Love (2024): A secret biotech workplace romance between Rue Siebert and Eli Killgore, written as a sharper and more adult contemporary than Hazelwood’s earlier STEM rom-coms.
11. Cruel Winter with You (2024): A holiday short story about former childhood friends snowed in together, best treated as a standalone seasonal extra.
12. Deep End (2025): A college sports romance pairing diver Scarlett Vandermeer with champion swimmer Lukas Blomqvist, with Olympic pressure and a private arrangement at the center.
13. Problematic Summer Romance (2025): A destination-wedding romance in Sicily between Maya Killgore and Conor Harkness, and the direct follow-up to Not in Love.
14. Hot for Slayer (2025): A paranormal short story in which a vampire slayer with amnesia ends up dependent on the vampire he has hunted for centuries.
15. FIRST (2025): Hazelwood’s dystopian romance novella for the After the End collaborative project, separate from her contemporary and paranormal lines.
16. Bound (2025): A dark academia audio novella about art forgery, secrets, and a dangerous professor-student-adjacent entanglement, separate from the main contemporary novels.
17. Mate (2025): A companion novel to Bride, centered on Serena Paris and Northwest pack alpha Koen Alexander, and the one Hazelwood book that clearly should not be read before its predecessor.
18. Two Can Play (2024 audio / 2026 print): An enemies-to-lovers gaming novella about rival designers Viola Bowen and Jesse Andrews; it first appeared in audio in 2024 and then in print/ebook in 2026.

The books that actually go together

The Bride books

This is the clearest true series in Hazelwood’s catalog so far.

1. Bride (2024): The Vampyre-Were alliance marriage setup introduces the political and species tension that defines this continuity.
2. Mate (2025): A companion novel that expands the same world through Serena and Koen, and works best once you already know the supernatural landscape from Bride.

Recommended order: publication order.
Why it matters: this is shared-world paranormal romance, not two unrelated standalones with matching vibes.

The Not in Love books

This is a smaller linked pair rather than a long-running series.

1. Not in Love (2024): Rue and Eli’s biotech-company conflict sets up the Killgore orbit and the tone of this continuity.
2. Problematic Summer Romance (2025): Maya Killgore’s story lands better after Not in Love, because the family and character context is already in place.

Recommended order: publication order.
Why it matters: the second book is readable alone, but the character web makes more sense if you start with Not in Love.

The STEMinist Novellas

These three are linked by tone, format, and friendship structure more than by one continuous plot.

1. Under One Roof (2022): Cohabitation and inheritance tensions give the trio its first grumpy-close-quarters setup.
2. Stuck with You (2022): This keeps the rivalry energy but compresses it into a locked-space reunion romance.
3. Below Zero (2022): The trio closes with the highest external stakes, sending the emotional payoff into a rescue scenario.
4. Loathe to Love You (2023): This is the collected edition, not a fourth story.

Recommended order: 1-3, then read Loathe to Love You only if you want the omnibus format.
Why it matters: readers often accidentally count the collection as a separate extra book in the sequence, but it is mainly a repackaging of the three novellas.

The standalones

These are the books you can pick up without needing another Hazelwood title first.

• The Love Hypothesis (2021): The best all-purpose entry point if you want fake dating, academia, and the book that defined her breakout appeal.
• Love on the Brain (2022): Best for readers who want a workplace-science romance with NASA and stronger enemies-to-lovers friction.
• Love, Theoretically (2023): Best for readers who want academic politics and a heroine juggling multiple versions of herself just to survive.
• Check & Mate (2023): Best for readers who want YA, competition, and Hazelwood outside the adult STEM-romance lane.
• Deep End (2025): Best for readers who want college sports romance rather than labs, departments, or biotech firms.
• Cruel Winter with You (2024): Best read as a seasonal bonus, not as a core stop in her bibliography.
• Bound (2025): Best treated as a separate dark-academia experiment, especially because it is positioned as audio-first on Hazelwood’s official site.
• Two Can Play (2024 audio / 2026 print): A gaming-world novella that stands alone perfectly well and does not need to be folded into any broader sequence.

Optional extras and anthology appearances

These are real Ali Hazelwood works, but they are not central to a standard “books in order” path.

• Hot for Slayer (2025): A paranormal Halloween short story, separate from the Bride world and best read as a quick bonus.
• FIRST (2025): A dystopian romance novella created for the After the End collaboration, and not part of Hazelwood’s main commercial novel sequence.
• From a Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi (2023): Hazelwood is one contributor in this forty-author Star Wars anthology, so it belongs on a completist list but not on a core reading-order shelf.

Best reading paths

If you want the safest starting point

Read:

1. The Love Hypothesis
2. Love on the Brain
3. Love, Theoretically

That gives you the cleanest version of her early-to-middle contemporary romance lane.

If you want only the linked books

Read:

1. Bride
2. Mate
3. Not in Love
4. Problematic Summer Romance

That path skips the standalones and keeps you in the books where continuity matters most.

If you want everything without overthinking it

Read in this order:

1. The Love Hypothesis
2. Under One Roof
3. Stuck with You
4. Below Zero
5. Love on the Brain
6. Loathe to Love You
7. Love, Theoretically
8. Check & Mate
9. Bride
10. Not in Love
11. Cruel Winter with You
12. Deep End
13. Problematic Summer Romance
14. Hot for Slayer
15. FIRST
16. Bound
17. Mate
18. Two Can Play

That is not a shared-universe order. It is simply the least confusing way to move through the catalog as it was released.

Latest release status

Ali Hazelwood’s official site and publisher pages show an active catalog through 2026. Mate released in October 2025, and Two Can Play received its Berkley print release on February 10, 2026, after first appearing as an audio release in 2024. At the moment, Bride remains the clearest ongoing paranormal line, while the contemporary novels are still mostly being published as standalones or loose companion books.

FAQs

What is the best Ali Hazelwood book to start with?

The Love Hypothesis is still the safest starting point. It is the cleanest introduction to her voice, tone, and romantic structure.

Do Ali Hazelwood books need to be read in order?

Usually, no. Most are standalones. The main exceptions are Bride → Mate and Not in Love → Problematic Summer Romance.

Is Loathe to Love You a separate novel?

No. It is the collected edition of Under One Roof, Stuck with You, and Below Zero.

Is Check & Mate connected to the STEM books?

No. It is a YA chess novel and works as its own lane.

Is Two Can Play a 2024 or 2026 book?

Both dates matter. It debuted in audio in 2024 and then got a Berkley print/ebook release in 2026.

Final recommendation

If you want one clean answer, start with The Love Hypothesis.

If you want the best “read everything important without getting lost” path, go from The Love Hypothesis through Love, Theoretically, then branch to Bride, Not in Love, Deep End, and the linked follow-ups.

If you are a completist, add the short-form extras last. They are real parts of Hazelwood’s bibliography, but they are not the books that define her main reading order.