Hannah Brown Says Her Third Romance Novel Is the One That Is 'Most Directly Reflective' of Her Personal Life: 'It Was Really Fun'

Hannah Brown's third romance novel, Reasons to Be Loved by You, is the one that is "most directly reflective" of her own personal experiences.

"I've had a lot of people ask, 'Why wasn't this the first book?' But I really wanted to prove myself as a writer with my own creative ideas and these characters, who all have a part of me. Most writers write from a place of feeling or emotion or parts of themselves, and that goes into all the characters they write. But Nikki is very much a character based on some of my own personal attributes and experiences," the star, 31, exclusively tells OK! while talking about her new book, which was released on June 23.

"I thought it was important for me to establish myself as a romance writer before I went into creating something off my own life — but I loved the idea. It was an idea I've had from the very beginning because some of the things I've experienced are stranger than fiction, so I might as well use them to my own benefit and write really interesting stories. I've had some very interesting things happen in my life, and being able to write Nikki at this time was perfect because there's been so much distance between the similarities in our lives that I could write it in a way where I was detached from it, but knew this person so well. It was really fun," she continues.

In the tome, former reality TV star Nikki tries to stop her brother from marrying her ex-fiancé's ex, finding an unlikely ally in the bride's brother, Nate, leading to a witty, enemies-to-lovers romance filled with family drama and self-discovery.

"Even some of the parts of Nikki's life that directly correlate to mine, I really haven't spoken about publicly that much. So it was fun for it to be through Nikki's experience where I could touch on things from my own life — like, my brother is married to my ex-fiancé's ex," she says of her brother, Patrick Brown, marrying Haley Stevens, who is the ex-girlfriend of Hannah's ex-fiancé, Jed Wyatt, whom she met on The Bachelorette.

Though the dynamic can be tricky, Hannah says they're "in such a great place now."

"I have a beautiful niece. It was fun to write about that type of experience for Nikki and have her process it and go through all the emotions. People will just have to wonder if that's how I handled things or not. People will never know. That was probably the most fun part to write and process in a way," she says.

The book isn't totally based on the blonde babe's life, though it's not far off.

"It was fun to process that and write it in this fun way. Like I said, there's been so much that's happened in my life since those experiences. It was honestly just so much fun to not have emotional attachments to it anymore. It really was the perfect time to write this book. It wasn't this therapeutic thing. It was truly fun. I could see the happily ever after for Nikki because I'm in that place now. Yes, there's drama and tension, but I know what it takes to get to the other side. So it was fun to know that for Nikki the whole time while writing her character who's thinking, 'What is happening to my life?'" she says.

This is hardly Brown's first time putting pen to paper.

Brown published her debut romance novel, Mistakes We Never Made, in 2024, and then the follow-up, The Four Engagement Rings of Sybil Rain, one year later.

She also released her personal memoir, God Bless This Mess: Learning to Live and Love Through Life's Best (and Worst) Moments, in 2021, with God Bless This Messy Journal: A Guide to Embracing the Beautiful, Messy You, releasing in 2022.

"Writing a memoir, you're not having to be super creative. It's your life. It's figuring out how to tell your story in a way that connects with other people while still telling your truth. It's raw, vulnerable, and hard because you're sharing things you maybe haven't shared before. I remember writing chapters and thinking, 'Oh, I've never talked about this before, but I'm going to write it down for thousands or millions of people to read.' With romance novels, it's hard because you're creating something and wondering if people are going to connect with it or like it. That's the scary part," she notes.

"The vulnerability is different. Both are hard, but writing romance has been really fun and a different way to connect with my audience. Most people know me from The Bachelorette, and if you love that show, you believe in happily-ever-afters but also want some fun drama in the mix. Becoming an author and focusing on romance aligns with where I've come from and where I am now. It's pursuing the dream I have now while bringing along the people who've supported me the whole way," she adds.

For now, Hannah is enjoying her life with her husband, Adam Woolard.

"We're doing what people say is one of the hardest things in your first year of marriage — we're renovating a home together. Engagement season was so hard for me. I didn't enjoy all the planning and people asking every day, 'Are you so excited?' I was like, 'I was a few hours ago, but now this happened.' The wedding was amazing. The honeymoon was amazing. Being married does feel different. We're approaching one year of marriage, but we've hit the ground running. In the last three weeks, we've already moved three times. We're going to be out of our house for seven months. It's crazy, but it'll be worth it. One day we'll look back and say, 'Wow, we really did the most in our first year of marriage,'" she quips.

"We have a 1905 historic home. It's charming and quirky. We're trying to make it work for us in this season of life. We'll hopefully be back in before the holidays, which is really exciting. This summer is going to look very different. Normally we're traveling a lot, but our vacation budget went to things like our kitchen range and drapes. That's okay because we're going to have a house we'll enjoy for years to come," she concludes.

Purchase Reasons to be Loved by You now!