Rachel Bilson (Zoe Hart) and Wilson Bethel (Wade Kinsella) appeared together in the TV show 'The O.C.', playing Summer Roberts and Brad respectively. Rachel was a recurring (later main cast) and Wilson only appeared in one episode ('The Telenovela').
In the 1982 novel "Shoeless Joe" by W. P. Kinsella, the (fictional) main character, Ray Kinsella, goes on a road trip to find the (real) writer J. D. Salinger, author of "Catcher in the Rye," because Salinger had a real-life habit of using the last name "Kinsella" for his characters and Ray wants to find out why. In "Hart of Dixie," the character of Wade Kinsella is played by Wilson Bethel, whose mother, the writer Joyce Maynard, had a very well-publicized relationship with J. D. Salinger.
Zoe picks up The Notebook by Nicholas Spark from her nightstand. The other book beneath it is Beach Music by Pat Conroy, a novel about a Southerner unearthing their family legacy.
Both 'Hart of Dixie' and Gilmore Girls' were filmed in the same location. Wilson Bethel (Wade Kinsella) has appeared in the TV show 'How to Get Away with Murder' with Liza Weil, playing Charles Mahoney and Bonnie Winterbottom respectively. Liza previously played the character of Paris Gellar in 'Gilmore Girls'.