It might be a coincidence that the timing of Hannah Brown’s second novel coincides with her Bachelor Nation return — but her main character, Sybill Rain, is navigating similar things to the women Hannah is giving advice to on the beaches of Costa Rica.
“Obviously, I wrote this book a while ago, but with me being on Bachelor in Paradise [in a new role], I was like, ‘This checks out for this world that I’m in,’” Hannah, 30, told Us Weekly exclusively while promoting The Four Engagement Rings of Sybil Rain, released on Tuesday, June 24. “I just love reading books where people have to figure out how to navigate tension.”
The novel tells the story of the titular Sybill Rain who called off her wedding at the end of Hannah’s 2024 summer release, Mistakes We Never Made. Hannah teased that she “thought it was fun” for her protagonist to confront the past.
“If you’ve ever seen Forgetting Sarah Marshall, it definitely gives those vibes of trying to go on a vacation and then you run into your ex,” Hannah told Us. “But for Sybil, it’s exes on the beach. It’s a really fun read that gives you more insight to who this Sybil character is and why she would do some of the things that she does.”
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Hannah referred to the character as “very messy” but “really relatable,” explaining the “really special” experience of pulling from her own life to craft the character.
“Sybill is an exaggerated version of myself that sometimes I can be a little bit ashamed about. She’s really entertaining and fun, but then on the other side, it’s like, ‘You’re life decisions make your life entertaining for other people, but how is it actually like affecting you?’” Hannah explained. “Being able to write her story has been really cool for me because I feel like I’ve kind of gone on this journey of growth and having to understand why I do the things that I do and also learning to love myself.”
While Sybill details the stories of her exes throughout the novel, she also faces some hard truths about herself — one of which explains why she and Jamie last-minute called off their wedding in Hannah’s first book.
“It was important that the stakes be high for her because she ran away from her wedding. There had to be something that she believed was so wrong that she would have to, kind of, blow her whole life up,” Hannah explained. “I had to pull from, maybe, thoughts and fears I have for my own life. I have not had the same exact experiences as Sybil … but women feel a lot of pressure as to what they should be in their future, and how it’s supposed to go.”
Hannah promised that the story is “layered with fun” but really focused on the real meaning of Sybill’s choices when writing.
“Truly, the inside of the book, what it’s really about, is learning how to love yourself to be able to step into the future and the love that you deserve,” she said. “You have to do some work for yourself. It’s a really fun book, but also has a lot of depth.”
