Sally Thorne – Author Biography
Early Life
Sally Thorne was born and raised in Canberra, Australia, where she still lives. Growing up in the suburb of Weston Creek, she snuck Harlequin romance novels off relatives’ bookshelves before she was thirteen, developing an early love for romance tropes — especially forced proximity and enemies-to-lovers. A creative writing course at the Canberra Institute of Technology helped turn that love into craft.
Career
Thorne worked as a public servant, drafting contracts and funding submissions by day while writing fiction by night. A friend’s challenge — write a story using the prompt “nemesis” — led her to draft The Hating Game in just six weeks. After connecting with romance authors online, she secured a New York literary agent and a two-book deal with HarperCollins. Her debut, The Hating Game (2016), became a USA Today bestseller, sold in more than 25 countries, and was adapted into a 2021 film starring Lucy Hale and Austin Stowell.
Major Works
The Hating Game (2016), 99 Percent Mine (2019), and Second First Impressions (2021). The Hating Game was named one of the top 20 romance novels of 2016 by the Washington Post and was a Goodreads Choice Award finalist.
Writing Style and Themes
Thorne writes romantic comedy with unusual intensity — her couples spar, sizzle, and ache in equal measure. Her signature is the slow-burn enemies-to-lovers dynamic charged with witty banter and longing. Beneath the comedy, her books explore vulnerability: prickly heroines who use sharpness as armor, and heroes patient enough to wait for the armor to come off. Her Canberra home, filled with vintage toys and a famously haunted dollhouse, reflects the playful-gothic sensibility of her fiction.
Legacy
Thorne is credited with helping reinvigorate the romantic comedy genre in the late 2010s, and The Hating Game became a BookTok-era staple that introduced a new generation to rom-com. She remains one of Australia’s most successful contemporary romance exports, with a devoted international readership awaiting each new book.
