Books
‘After the End’: Everything We Know About Ali Hazelwood’s Next Romance Project
Ali Hazelwood fans are getting fed this month! Not only was it announced that the movie adaptation of The Love Hypothesis is officially underway, but the romance author just dropped more details about her next book — and it’s unlike anything she’s written before.
Readers know that Hazelwood has made a name for herself primarily in the contemporary genre, à la Love, Theoretically and Problematic Summer Romance. Last year, she branched out with her paranormal romance, Bride, and her portfolio is about to become even more diverse with After the End.
Hazelwood, Adriana Herrera, and a batch of other romance writers have contributed to After the End, an upcoming collection of dystopian novellas. We can hardly wait to get our hands on it, especially after reading the blurbs of each story. Scroll to find out everything we know about the project, including the author lineup, release date, and more.
What is After the End?
It’s eight novellas in a four-volume collection. The first set is authored by Hazelwood and Herrera (who’ve nicknamed themselves AH²). They dreamed up the project in early 2024 over empanadas and margaritas, according to After the End‘s website.
“Ali felt nostalgic and was missing some of the most collaborative aspects of being in fandom,” it says. “We were both buzzing with new story ideas, and wanted to write something set in a post-apocalyptic world. A few (many) margaritas in, the convergence of all our interests, dreams, and desires became apparent.”
They brought together “some of [their] most beloved storytellers,” as well as artists, designers, editors, and creatives to bring their vision to life. “[After the End is] the first of what we hope will be many collaborative projects,” the website says. “As long-term, rabid romance readers, we feel privileged to work with authors and artists who are masterful in their craft, innovative in their storytelling, and constantly bringing fresh, unique ideas to the genre.
The second set of novellas is penned by Nikki Payne and Nina Saxena, the third is by Claire Kent and Elizabeth Stephens, and the last is by Cate C. Wells and Sherry Thomas.
View this post on Instagram
What are the After the End stories about?
Though each of the eight novellas are different, they all have a few things in common: a dystopian premise, romance, and happily ever after.
First up is Herrera’s BAIT, which centers on a woman who’s spent 29 years in her bunker, under the assumption that the world ended. When she’s forced out, she discovers she was mistaken. In Hazelwood’s FIRST, a general wants to teach a nobleman a lesson by using his bride, but after they meet, he decides to steal her away for himself.
The next two are Saxena’s M.A.Y.A. and Payne’s SKYN. The former’s description reads: “In an effort to escape a war-torn dystopian planet where she would be used as a weapon to hurt innocent people, MAYA searches for a way to stop her captors by fleeing through one of six dimensions in a hidden bunker. There, she meets a pack of shifters and an alpha determined to claim her as his fated mate.”
In the latter, a woman has just been dumped by her ex, who strikes up a relationship with her stepsister instead. That drives her to make a deal: find dirt on an Elite family, and she can leave the Underground for good. Things get complicated when she has to marry to a machine, who turns out to be obsessed with her skin. (Quite a mouthful.)
In Stephens’ novella, TAKEN, a woman wakes up after being kept in stasis for 5,000 years. Humanity has fallen, and the world has been overrun by monsters, and one of them holds her hostage. Kent’s story, BROOD, takes place in a bunker, and one of its inhabitants has been promised to a young man since childhood. But when an older man’s wife dies, she gets paired up with him instead.
Thomas’ blurb for PRIMA reads: “A handsome prince comes across a beautiful woman on the open sea. She is lying on a primitive-looking raft, almost entirely naked. What is he to do?”
That volume goes with Wells’ TRADE, in which a bunker woman is traded to a scavenger for sex, and she learns that everything she’s been told about the world isn’t true.
When is After the End coming out?
The authors have posted a Kickstarter campaign, which launches on September 2 and ends on September 23. During that time, readers will be able to sign up for e-book, paperback, hardback, audiobook, and special edition copies. Digital and audiobooks will be delivered two weeks after the campaign ends, but if you want to get your hands on a printed copy, the current estimate is that it’ll ship in June 2026. But right now, you can sign up for updates on Kickstarter! That way, you can make sure you won’t miss it.
Which novella are you most excited for? Let us know in the comments!
