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The global bestseller and TikTok sensation. A quote from New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh on Bride reads: ‘Passionate and witty and primal in its intensity.’
PRAISE FOR ALI HAZELWOOD
“Another Hazelwood home run.”
— People on Bride
“A literary breakthrough. . . . The Love Hypothesis is a self- assured debut, and we hypothesize it’s just the first bit of greatness we’ll see from an author who somehow has the audacity to be both an academic powerhouse and [a] divinely talented novelist.”
— Entertainment Weekly
“Bride is a delight! Passionate and witty and primal in its intensity, Ali Hazelwood’s paranormal debut introduces a world as intriguing as its characters. I absolutely adored this read.”
— New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh
“Ali Hazelwood finally gives us paranormal, with her trademark humor, twisty plot, and spice that doesn’t quit— buckle up.”
— New York Times bestselling author Hannah Whitten on Bride
“Hazelwood unleashes her sparkling voice and wit on a paranormal Romeo and Juliet.”
— New York Times bestselling author Ruby Dixon on Bride
“Ali Hazelwood is a romance powerhouse and she’s put me firmly back in my werewolf era.”
— #1 New York Times bestselling author Hannah Grace on Bride
“Everything I want and more in a paranormal romance novel.”
— New York Times bestselling author Lauren Asher on Bride
“Contemporary romance’s unicorn: the elusive marriage of deeply brainy and delightfully escapist. . . . The Love Hypothesis has wild commercial appeal, but the quieter secret is that there is a specific audience, made up of all the Olives in the world, who have deeply, ardently waited for this exact book.”
— New York Times bestselling author Christina Lauren
“It’s official. There’s nothing Ali Hazelwood can’t do brilliantly when it comes to writing. LOVED it.”
— #1 New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult on Bride
“Whenever I want a sexy, witty, delicious romance, told in a fresh and intelligent voice, I read Ali Hazelwood. Prepare to get addicted. Each book is pure joy.”
— New York Times bestselling author Simone St. James
“Funny, sexy, and smart. Ali Hazelwood did a terrific job with The Love Hypothesis.”
— New York Times bestselling author Mariana Zapata
“The romance that blooms from a marriage of convenience is both tender and foxy, indisputably sexy, and brimming with heart.”
— USA Today bestselling author Isabel Cañas on Bride
“Gloriously nerdy and sexy, with on-point commentary about women in STEM.”
— New York Times bestselling author Helen Hoang on Love on the Brain
“STEMinists, assemble. Your world is about to be rocked.”
— New York Times bestselling author Elena Armas on Love on the Brain
ALSO BY ALI HAZELWOOD
The Love Hypothesis
Love on the Brain
Love, Theoretically
Bride
Not in Love
Deep End
Problematic Summer Romance
ANTHOLOGIES
Loathe to Love You
NOVELLAS
Under One Roof Stuck with You
Below Zero
Two Can Play Cruel Winter with You
YOUNG ADULT NOVELS
Check & Mate
MATE
ALI HAZELWOOD
SPHERE
Frst published in the United States in 2025 by Berkley,
an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC
First published in Great Britain in 2025 by Sphere
Copyright © Ali Hazelwood 2025
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
Book design by Daniel Brount
Penguin Random House values and supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin Random House to continue to publish books for every reader. Please note that no part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner for the purpose of training artificial intelligence technologies or systems.
All characters and events in this publication, other than those
clearly in the public domain, are fictitious and any resemblance
to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
A CIP catalogue record for this book
is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-1-4087-2272-5
Sphere
The authorised representative
An imprint of
in the EEA is
Little, Brown Book Group
Hachette Ireland
Carmelite House
8 Castlecourt Centre
50 Victoria Embankment
Dublin 15, D15 XTP3, Ireland
London EC4Y 0DZ
(email:
[email protected]
)
An Hachette UK Company
www.hachette.co.uk
www.littlebrown.co.uk
To LiveJournal users tehdirtiestsock, the_miss_lv, and
pianoforeplay, as well as the anonymous prompters.
I hope you’re thriving, wherever you are.
CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
PROLOGUE
THE CHILD HAD BEEN TRAINED WELL— NOT BY HER FAMILY, BUT by life.
When the door broke down and she ran for her mother, it wasn’t to seek comfort, but to provide it. Come with me, she wanted to beg, but since the words wouldn’t come out, she tugged at her sleeve. Come with me. It’s better this way.
But the mother freed herself and didn’t spare a single glance for the girl, who had no choice but to retreat upstairs, alone. There was a man sleeping in the bedroom, a cruel, nasty Were who scared her nearly as much as the people breaking in. Still, she shook him awake to warn him.
