When it was announced Ali Hazelwood, bookstagram darling herself, would be releasing a paranormal romance, well... I couldn't contain my excitement. A forbidden -- but fated -- romance between mortal enemies? SIGN. ME. UP. I was more than ready to relive my team werewolf/team vampire (or rather, *vampyre*) high school days.

And that's why I'm so disappointed that BRIDE just didn't work for me. At all. The fantasy element is very barebones (vampyres can go out in the sun, it's uncomfy though; plenty of werewolves are able to refrain from shifting during a full moon), it felt as though Ali did the minimum to reach her target audience. I was also a bit baffled by Misery's utter confusion to ordinary things she would have encountered everyday while growing up about humans: she can't tell the difference between a ladle and a spatula, she calls out strawberries for being straw-less. From the time she was 8 she was raised by and lived among humans, she shouldn't have been so out of her element.

This book will find plenty of fans, I'm well aware I'm in the minority here! I'll admit though, I would have 100% believed Misery and Serena were lovers and was absolutely convinced of this until Misery mentioned they were sisters.

WOWOWOWOWOW this was my first Ali Hazelwood experience and I will definitely be coming back for more!!

As soon as I heard this had knotting my paranormal-loving self was all in. And Ali did NOT disappoint. Misery is such an iconic FMC and watching her slowly grow into more of a people-person (or Were person, as it were) was hilarious and heart-warming.

One of my favorite things was the little Lowe snippets as chapter headers--they were like a trail of breadcrumbs leading to a HEA and I ate each one UP with a giddy smile. I can't recommend this enough tbh!!

thank you Berkley & Netgalley for the eARC.
unfortunately this is my least favorite Ali Hazelwood read so far, coming in at a whopping 2.75 stars.

this is her first venture into paranormal romance but otherwise fits the same Ali Hazelwood formula— small quirky girl, big ol guy, STEM specialties (she is a digital hacker tech girlie), fast-paced quirky dialogues, and lots of spice.

however, these few things just didn’t work for me:
- the way the “fated mate” trope was used here was boring and overdone and obvious imo
- the omegaverse smut … this was my first omegaverse experience and i didn’t expect it, would have preferred to be a bit more prepared going in
- Lowe is a boring MMC. he’s supposed to be an alpha 😭 but misery is the one initiating EVERY romantic or sexual interaction. def my least favorite of her MMC’s
- third act conflict 🫠 (that was sooo gross imo Lowe was a grade A asshole during it tbh like imagine f*cking someone and then turning around and being like “I could live without you bye” ????)
- miscommunication / withholding information from the main character as a HUGE plot device

overall, the plot and world building that is necessary for a “paranormal omegaverse fated mates” romance was kinda… lacking here.
felt pretty juvenile.

I liked but did not love this. I liked misery as a character but felt that Lowe was a bit flat, however i enjoyed the twist with her bestie. Ana Is just delightful. I felt the story could have had more depth and been longer and i deeply wish our main character was more powerful. Big omegaverse vibes with this one, almost wish she’d just gone all the way in on that.

This is so outside of what I normally read but if anyone can drag me into the world of werewolves, it's Ali Hazelwood. Misery is the daughter of the most powerful Vampyre councilman. She has been used as a pawn in his political games again and again; first as collateral when she was a child, and now as a bridal alliance to Lowe, the Alpha of the Weres in their territory.

Things I liked: Misery is SUCH an awesome character. Even though this is different from Ali Hazelwood's steminist books, there are still echoes of her writing. Misery is smart, nerdy, and independent. She doesn't change anything about herself for love. Misery's relationship with Ana and Serena. The spice 🥵 Definitely a step further than previous Ali Hazelwood books.

Things I didn't like: not much. Again, I would read a pharmaceutical disclaimer if Ali Hazelwood wrote it.

Thanks to Berkley and NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Vampires. Werewolves. Oh my...Oh YES!

Marriage of convenience between the Vampires and Werewolves.
Forbidden love.
Witty banter.
Undeniable chemistry.
NEW SERIES

Two worlds collied for a love story, a mystery and an intoxicating paranormal read.

Thank you, Berkley Publishing.

I am a fan of Ali Hazelwood's STEM centric romances. I love a strong, intelligent, independent female main character and even more so a male main character who respects and supports her. Hazelwood does that pretty well. As for Bride, I have some mixed feelings.

First, I loved the main story. Misery is wedded to Lowe to create a resemblance of peace between the werewolves and vampyres. She is sent to live in Were territory while her werewolf counterpart is sent to vampyre territory. For her the marriage is more than politics, it gives her the opportunity to investigate the disappearance of her roommate, best friend, and sister in spirit, Serena. Unfortunately, there are other issues at play to include Lowe's little sister Ana being in danger and the constant concern for Misery's safety. All this creates a really engaging mystery with some nice twists and turns along the way.

With the story, the characters are also a lot of fun. The dynamics within the relationships makes for some really entertaining reading. I really enjoyed how the side characters were as interesting as the main characters and worked really well to support the story.

With all that I loved, there are a few things that really didn't work for me. Primarily I struggled with the world building. As a fan of fantasy, I think that my experience in reading some top quality world builders may have caused me to become impatient with Bride. The first part of the book is world building. Instead of being shown the world and having it build through the book, there is some pretty heavy infodumping. All this is done through Misery's thoughts and some discussion with her father. In addition, there are some choices such as the color of vampyre and werewolf blood that isn't really rooted in anything. It's pointed out several times in the book, but didn't see to really be connected to anything that would make it necessary. That being said, some of the political construct was interesting as well as the cultural and relationship differences. I'm glad I pushed past it especially given how engaged I was in the overall story.

Overall, I was pretty mixed. I loved parts of the books, others not so much. I think it has some real potential and I look forward to reading any sequels. The heat and the spice is there as well as plenty of emotional drama and even a little bit of betrayal. Given the book was an ARC, I will probably read it again to see if any changes were made upon publication to round out some of the world building. I think this is a change for readers of Hazelwood's other books. Like the STEM centric books, all the romantic and heat filled elements are there as well as story that is equally engaging.

This is not Ali Hazelwood's usual upbeat STEMinish romcom, but it is just as fantastic as I had hoped! Weres and Vampyres, and fated mates are definitely out of my vocabulary, but I caught on quickly and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Misery, the daughter of the most powerful Vampyre councilman in the region, has always been used as her father's pawn in maintaining stability and peace between the Vampyres and the Weres. Once again, she is to be used, this time as the bride to the Southwest Were's Pack Alpha. Lowe has worked his way up to being Alpha and when Misery joins the pack, he tracks her every move. But not for the reasons Misery thinks.

This enemies-to-lovers, fated mates, forbidden romance book is SO GOOD. This is definitely out of my usual genre and I was surprised how much I loved it. The banter between Misery and Lowe and the wonderful side characters add so much to this story.

This is a fantastic fantasy debut by Ali Hazelwood and just confirms to me that no matter what she writes, I will read it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Romance for the digital copy. My review is honest and voluntary.

-4.5 stars-

I am not going to lie - it took me the first 15-20% for me to get invested. but once I was invested, I was SO invested. like you could not take this book out of my hands, invested. and that is why she's getting 4.5 stars!

misery and lowe - mY SEXY BABIES. they had SUCH incredible and juicy tension. I wanted to take their heads together like as if they were gloves and make them kiss. oh my GOD! ms Ali Hazelwood knows how to write a book with a man obsessed also. like HELLOOOOO. what more could we want!!!!! I would give it alllll up for Lowe. truly.

if we do not get book 2 after that epilogue I WILL RIOT.

read if you like
- vampire x werewolves
- slow burn
- marriage of convenience/arranged marriage
- LOTS of "my wife" and "husband" comments!!

tysm to berkley romance for the arc!! <3 <3

“I would take anything she chose to give me—the tiniest fraction or her entire world.”

I really liked this one! I’ve been wanting to read a Vampire and Werewolf book and this gave me just that!
Misery is a Vampyre bride who has to marry Lowe, a werewolf Alpha, for an alliance with the Were’s. She wouldn’t have agreed but when she found out his name she had to. Because that name somehow could be a connection to her best friend who’s been missing for 3 months. And she will do anything to find her.
I loved Misery. She always has quick witted responses full of sarcasm. And I couldn’t help but slowly start to fall in love Lowe. He’s caring and will do anything for his pack. This is a slow burn romance with arranged marriage, world building, politics and FATED MATES. Be sure to pick this one up on February 6!

For the author's first paranormal romance, this was definitely cute! Misery was hilarious. The plot was chaotic, fun, and adventurous - but still easy to follow. And let's be real, am I ever going to pass up a book where werewolves and vamps fall in love...even if the description of said vamps sound an awful lot like Illyrian fae...

But yes, this one was fun! While I do think it ended a bit abruptly and we are left with a few questions - um, hello?! mating mark, anyone?!? - I still enjoyed this read. I also think some of Lowe's perspective was a bit stunted - I needed a bit more eloquence or thought from them? However, especially with the epilogue, I am excited to see where the author takes this series!

I haven't read a book by Ali Hazelwood that I didn't love! And Bride delivered. It was quite different from her other contemporary romances, but I enjoyed the forced marriage trope and thrilled that Misery and Lowe worked together to build a community. I would highly recommend!

Thank you to PRH/Berkley for an ARC of this book!

I have loved everything Ali has written, and this is no exception. I am a sucker for vampire/werewolves and pretty much all the tropes in this book.

-enemies-to-lovers
-marriage of convenience
-...some other things

ANYWAYS this book was amazing. I loved Misery and I think Ana comes in as my second favorite character followed by Owen. And of course Lowe and Serena and Koen. Honestly, there is a whole great cast and it absolutely would be lovely to get more of their stories.

This book had a pretty even amount of plot to romance ratio, and is a true PNR. I get shivers thinking about it, because I definitely adored it and the world that Ali Hazelwood built for this book. We do have the typical factions, but I think it was well done in a way that was slightly different than we've seen before.

Also, as always, there were some amazing one liners in this book that had me laughing. I honestly, truly loved this book, and it has seeped into my brain and will not come out. Obsessed.

This book shows she can write in any genre and still do an amazing job! I don't want to spoil the book for anyone, but just know this was a great book and if you're a fan of PNR/spicy romance this will definitely be the book for you!

3.5 stars

I had fun, but... I kinda regret reading BRIDE after LOVE, THEORETICALLY and CHECK & MATE, both of which were career highlights for AH. For reasons I can't ascertain, the romance in BRIDE is... hollow. I wasn't bothered by the ridiculous hand-waving worldbuilding because that's amusing. But I honestly felt more invested in the Misery-Serena friendship/mystery compared to the main couple dynamics. I will give the author points for attempting interesting wolf/vampire characteristics, as opposed to writing a thinly-veiled all-human omegaverse.

Ali is still fantastic at writing dialogue so I easily flew through the audiobook. But am I going to remember any of this? Nope. I will read the sequel (I really, really liked the next heroine's setup for the sequel bait). Read via audio (narrated by Thérèse Plummer and Will Damron).

Disclaimer: I listened to a free audiobook from the publisher (PRH Audio App) in exchange for an honest review.
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So snarky and funny and spicy; Misery Lark was a delight and I had a lot fun reading this.
My first Ali Hazelwood but it won't be my last!

*I received an e-arc via NetGalley as part of a blog tour. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

5 stars

This is one of my most anticipated releases of 2024 and it did not disappoint! Ali Hazelwood has continued to prove to me that she can write romance and succeed in so many ways! Contemporary, YA, paranormal. I have loved every single book she has written.

Misery and Lowe were the marriage of convenience trope that I needed and I wasn’t expecting the little bit of mystery subplot that was woven in, but it brought the two of them together. Talking about the spice in this book, I think it is some of the best that Ali Hazelwood has written and I had multiple jaw dropping, blush filled moments.

The epilogue, especially the last page, had me wondering if there is potential for a companion sequel. I would love to be back in this world and I hope Ali Hazelwood is considering it with what she had written on that final page.

Overall, Ali Hazelwood is a consistent auto-buy author for me and is solidly considered one of my favorite authors. An absolute five star read from me!

A full video review will be posted on my YouTube channel after release. Thank you again to the publisher for inviting me to the blog tour.

I had pretty high hopes going into this one as Hazelwood’s “woman in STEM” schtick got pretty old pretty fast for me, but despite the paranormal setting, she hasn’t steered too far from her usual pitfalls.

For a quick synopsis: Misery is a vampire who grew up among humans, and upon her return to the world of vampires, she is forced to marry a Were alpha to keep the vampire-were relations peaceful in a sort of… mutual assured destruction way? The Were alpha Lowe is sullen, and just as unenthused as Misery about this union. Meanwhile, the marriage will serve as an opportunity for Misery to investigate the disappearance of her best friend Serena.

And there is where we run into issues. The plot of this book is Misery looking for her best friend and not the romance between Lowe and Misery. The flimsiness of the actual fated mates plot is truly abysmally funny because you don’t need to read a single word beyond their first meeting as to why Lowe is so stand-offish with Misery. While there is banter and dry humor that is executed really well, the book is a satisfying story without a single second of the romance taking place, which makes it feel ham-fisted. The second main character of this book isn’t Lowe, it’s Serena who is missing for 90% of the story.

The real frustration I have with this (and most single first person POV romances) is that the MMC most often gets left behind to have the personality of a mysterious or a taciturn love interest who confuses the FMC seemingly simply because the author took the easier way out of character building. We only see him through the eyes of the (dim-witted) FMC who seems to be willfully oblivious, making him a flat stereotype. Had we had Lowe’s POV, I would have been far more interested in the actual romance of the story. Lowe’s sister and her cat had more personality than he did.

The pacing of the story felt like a first draft, unfortunately. The first 30%ish is extremely heavy exposition told from Misery’s POV and it feels like a cheap copout for actually building a world with more complexity than lol vampires and weres amirite??? Using her POV for the world-building also made her feel kind of thin as a character as most of her internal monologue was either expo or missing her best friend (EVEN DURING SPICY SCENES?). The plot really picks up at about 70% and then it feels like plot is smashed into the last third.

HOWEVER, Hazelwood’s writing has improved from my last attempt at reading her books and I actually enjoyed the humor that was introduced in this one. Must better effort than the ~quirkiness~ of e.g. The Love Hypothesis. I am intrigued about the hinted-at follow up that is teased at the end – hopefully to come with better pacing and two POVs I AM BEGGING.

Thank you to Berkley Romance Influencer Program for an eARC of this copy. All opinions in this review are my own.

I struggled to get into this one but stuck with it in hopes that it would turn around. I immediately had issues with the main character Misery. Her character felt all over the place and her humor isn't funny. It almost felt like the author was trying too hard to be funny. The pacing started out slow but it did start to pick up towards the middle. But the overall plot didn’t make sense and there were no real stakes which also made me struggle to get more invested into the story. I was excited to read a romance between a vampire and werewolf but the romance fell flat. There was zero chemistry between them and I hated all of the miscommunication. Overall, this author is very hit or miss for me so if you like them then I’d recommend you give it a try. I know I will most likely be in the minority with this opinion.

Thank you so much @prhaudio for my gifted copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

🧛‍♀️ What’s it about?

Misery has been her Vampyre family’s bargaining chip since she was a child. At first she was sent to live with the Humans as mutually assured destruction collateral, and now, as an adult, her councilman father is marrying her off to the Weres’ new alpha as collateral. At first she protests, but then realizes that Sabrina,her missing human (and only) friend, may be connected with Lowe, the new alpha.

Post wedding, Misery is surrounded by Weres who hate her: all except for one little girl, Lowe’s sister, Anna. The longer Misery is in exile though, the closer she grows to both Anne and Lowe and is able to trust them to help her find her missing friend. And the new Alpha has a secret of his own…

🐺 My thoughts:

I’ve decided that Ali Hazelwood is incapable of writing a bad book. Bride is so much fun. I loved Misery and her knack for IT and hacking. I adored Lowe’s insistence on doing good despite the world’s circumstances. I wanted to snuggle sweet little Anna.

The chemistry in this book is absolute fire. This is much spicier than Ali’s other books, and given the nature of the creatures, I think it’s perfect.

There’s forbidden love, fated mates, mystery, intrigue and found family. Really this book has all my favorite things. And I am so glad Ali sets this one up for another in the same universe!

All the stars!

i've said it before and i'll say it again: ali hazelwood could publish her grocery list and charge me $19.99 to read it, and i'd throw my money at her. i'm gonna be an ali hazelwood stan till the day i die.

that being said, this is my least favorite of hers so far. in no way does that imply that this is a bad book - just that it had a few more bumps in the road (imo) compared to her other books. my main qualms were that it took a good number of chapters for me to get into the book (it started off rather info dump-y) and that the third act 'breakup' felt uninspired (bc i mean, really?). those are the only reason this was not an automatic 5-star read for me.

but those issues, at the end of the day, are so minor. why would i fixate on that when i could fixate on lowe moreland growling 'my wife' at anyone who looks at misery funny? i was going feral over the chemistry between the two of them. i find that hazelwood's books are usually light on the spice but this one? i was praying for the lord to give me strength bc my knees were buckling. i loved their relationship, and their tenderness towards each other. and the characters as individuals were AMAZING.

so happy to say this is another ali hazelwood slay. thank you berkley for the arc!