Hannah Brown’s novel ‘Mistakes We Never Made’: Easter Eggs Uncovered

Hanna Brown proved that writing what you know can come in many different forms, especially with her debut novel, Mistakes we never made.

The book, released on Tuesday, May 7, follows the story of Emma Townsend, a 28-year-old interior designer who ends up on a road trip up the West Coast with Finn Hughes, a childhood crush and former fling, with whom she does not always agree .

“I like the Taylor Swift Easter eggs and I tried to add a little bit of that. I will say there is one [few] Easter eggs in there, but really loosely based on things,” Brown, 29, shared We weekly exclusively prior to the novel’s release. “I would say this whole book is a fiction book, and I didn’t have this experience with Emma and Finn at all, but their feelings and their doubts and the miscommunication between two people, which was definitely inspired by things I’ve experienced. experience in my life.”

Bachelor Nation fans familiar with Brown’s story could certainly pick out excerpts from the book that served as real-life inspiration for The Bachelorette alum.

Keep reading to discover some Easter eggs from Brown’s Mistakes we never made novel:

The State School Connection

Brown’s main character, Emma, ​​was born in Texas and attended the University of Texas – Hook ‘Em. As Bachelor fans know, Brown was introduced Colton Underwood‘s season in 2019 as an Alabama native who graduated from the University of Alabama – Roll Tide.

Brown’s former career choice

Before Brown became a reality star, podcast host and author, he was an interior designer. In fact, she still does interior design. (Brown was recently seen on ex Tyler Cameron‘S Going home with Tyler Cameron as his design partner.)

In Mistakes we never mademain character Emma is also an interior designer.

A subtle ‘bachelorette’ mention

One of Emma’s best friends in the book, Nikki, was on a reality dating show called BelovedBy. At one point, the character made it clear that she “wasn’t here to make friends.” Sounds familiar?

Just call her Hannah ‘Beast’ Brown

At several points in the novel, Emma is referred to as experiencing “Beast Mode.” During her time on The Bachelor, Brown earned her own nickname, “Beast.”

Brown’s trouble making toast

Brown famously threw her toast at Underwood’s Bachelor education season, where we chose to say “Roll Tide” before everyone took a sip of their drink. It seems like she took that moment and put it right into it Mistakes we never made.

At one point in the novel, Emma reveals that she hates giving toast, recalling a moment from her mother’s birthday dinner.

“I tried to say a few words about how much she means to me, but ended up getting so flustered that I just muttered, ‘Hook ’em,’ and threw up the side of the horns,” Brown wrote in the novel.

An allusion to her “Bachelorette” breakup

Emma’s other friend Sybil had a number of appointments during her time, as expressed in the book. Nikki, meanwhile, fell in love with a man named Aaron during her stay BelovedBy. However, he lacked “integrity and reliability” as stated in the book – which led to their split.

Brown, for her part, had a failed engagement after accepting a proposal Jedd Wyatt during her Bachelor party season finale in 2019. During their engagement, a woman was mentioned Haley Stevens came forward claiming that Wyatt only went on the show to further his career. Stevens also claimed that she and Wyatt had a relationship before Brown’s Bachelor party season started filming. Wyatt has since denied that he had a girlfriend when he left for the reality show, but he and Brown have still called off their engagement.

Brown’s battle with anxiety

Brown has spoken out about her anxiety issues and how it affected the lead-up to the now-fiancée’s proposal Adam Woolard. (She had a “complete nervous breakdown” prior to his August 2023 proposal.)

Her main character, Emma, ​​experienced a similar situation when she decided to get into a relationship with Finn. By means of Mistakes we never madeFinn is always by Emma’s side and offers her tools to deal with anxiety. It’s safe to assume that those parts of Finn might have been inspired by Brown’s real-life fiancée.