Hannah Brown on How Her ‘Bachelorette’ Ending Inspired Her Latest Love Story
The romance author opens up about weaving her reality TV history into 'Reasons to Be Loved by You.'
Raise your hand if you’ve ever found out that your fiancé was secretly dating another woman the entire time you were together, and years later, that woman married your brother. Anyone? Nope. Turns out that is an experience completely unique to former Bachelorette lead Hannah Brown — and Nikki, the leading lady of her new novel, Reasons to Be Loved By You (out now), which Hannah instantly admits to Swooon, is inspired by a chapter in her life’s story.
While you don’t need to know anything about Hannah’s backstory to fall in love with Reasons to Be Loved by You, Season 15 of The Bachelorette was one wild ride. Here’s the SwooonNotes: After her windmill moment (iconic) with Peter Weber and moving a podium to get Luke Parker out of her face during what has since been dubbed “the rose ceremony from Hell” (even more iconic), Hannah gave Jed Wyatt her final rose, and the two left engaged.
Unfortunately, the drama didn’t end there. She found out at the same time as the rest of the world that Jed had a girlfriend back home. Devastated by the whole situation, Hannah sent Jed packing on-camera before the finale aired. In a true twist of fate, Jed’s then-girlfriend, Haley Stevens, later met and married Hannah’s brother, Patrick Brown.
Over seven years later, Hannah is happily married to Adam Woolard, a model, entrepreneur, and health coach from outside of the reality TV sphere. Former LovedBy (a.k.a. faux The Bachelor) lead Nikki, on the other hand, is still looking for her happily ever after — for now — when Reasons to Be Loved by You starts.
Reliving the Final Rose
While Jed may not have been Hannah’s Mr. Right, she lived to tell the tale — literally.
That said, it’s not a fictionalized version of her relationship with her final rose recipient that takes center stage in Reasons to Be Loved by You. It’s her rivalry-turned-friendship with his ex — yes, the infamous “other woman” of the narrative — that finds itself at the heart of the story. After all, the Hannahverse is all about female friendships!
“Nikki’s story is very much tied to my own real-life emotional experiences,” Hannah tells Swooon. “Nikki was on this reality dating show, thought she had found her forever, to find out that it was all a lie, and that he had a girlfriend back at home.” Similar to Nikki, Hannah’s brother is now married to her ex-fiancé’s ex. She explained, “I haven’t really talked about that much publicly, but I remember going through it, and I was like, ‘Man, this is some good content. This is stranger than fiction.'”
So, why write this story now? Hannah spills, “We are in such a good place as a family, and that’s why I wanted to really dive into it in the book and make it even more dramatic than maybe how it exactly presented in real life… I have a niece now, they’ve been married for a couple of years now, and our family’s just gotten so much stronger.”
Don’t worry, Hannah also makes it clear that she did not try to sabotage Patrick and Haley’s wedding like Nikki does to her soon-to-be sister-in-law, Cara, and her younger brother in the book.
“When I first had this idea of Nikki as a character, it was years ago, and a lot closer to my own personal experiences, but now, years later, being able to write Nikki’s character from a place of gratitude and knowing what’s ahead was really cathartic,” Hannah explains. “The only way that I was going to be able to write the book the way it is now is to have a little space in between my own experiences that are so similar to Nikki’s, and being able to come at it from a different lens.”
A Tale of Two Happily Ever Afters
Of course, Nikki’s brother and ex-fiancé’s ex aren’t the only ones to find their happily ever after in Reasons to Be Loved by You. While Cara’s introduction to the family is incredibly jarring for Nikki, she brings a welcome guest: her brother, Nate, whom Nikki had briefly (and flirtatiously) met before Cara introduced them.
Photographer: Avery Thompson
Seeing as Nikki so closely resembles Hannah, one would think that Nate would mirror Hannah’s real-life love, Adam. Turns out, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Instead, Hannah’s self-insert leading man was modeled after everyone’s ideal partner: Nick Miller from New Girl.
Honestly, Hannah, no one can blame you for that one.
“Nate has probably been one of my favorite characters to write. When I was thinking of inspiration for him, it’s really not from anyone I’ve ever dated before. It’s actually from Nick Miller from New Girl,” Hannah admits. “I just love that goofy guy who’s charming without really knowing it, and that’s really who Nate is, and I think why he’s so perfect for Nikki… Nate allows her to loosen up to be able to accept herself.”
Still, there is a little bit of her husband, Adam, in there. “Even though Nate is not really much like my husband in physical form,” Hannah told Swooon, “The way that he loves me, even in my worst moments— I think every woman should have that love, and Nikki has never experienced that before.”
As a romance author, Hannah makes it clear that she draws from her own love life for all of her love stories. “When I’m writing these romance novels, what I think is romantic or what I think is swoonworthy really comes from my relationship with my husband,” she confessed. “What makes me feel safe, what makes me feel accepted, because that’s really where I feel like love blossoms, and it becomes true love. The thing that is so similar about Nate and my husband is just really allowing that ability to be fully yourself, fully seen, be goofy, be unkempt, and still feel loved and feel beautiful, even when you don’t look beautiful, or you get something messed up, or you’re just a little out of sorts. That is really something that I’m so thankful that I have in my husband, and love that Nikki gets to experience with Nate.”
While Nikki’s happily ever after looks a little different than Hannah’s in real life, the outcome is the same. When asked whether those who have fictional counterparts in the story have read the novel, Hannah shares, “[It] was so important for me to tell a story of true love and acceptance when it comes to yourself, to your family, and that’s been true for me in my life. To be able to write that from a place where there’s a lot of integrity for my family, but then also like having a lot of fun with the shared experience that we all have.”
Turns out, reliving the tale may have been the best way to close that chapter.
Reasons to Be Loved By You by Hannah Brown is available now.
