This is definitely a departure from Ali Hazelwood's usual STEMinist romance novels, but I think she does a really good job with her first foray into paranormals.

Misery Lark is the daughter of a powerful Vampyre councilman, and to keep the peace between the Vampyres and the Weres (werewolves), she is to be married off to the Alpha Were, Lowe Moreland. After having spent most of her childhood serving as a symbol of peace between Vampyres and Humans (in a sort of long-term-child-hostage exchange situation), she is really not interested in becoming collateral again. However, her childhood best friend Serena has recently gone missing, and Misery suspects the Weres of having something to do with it, so she agrees to the marriage, thinking this will be her chance to do some snooping in Were territory and discover what happened to her friend. It's clear that the Weres don't trust her, and Misery will have to keep up her guard to protect both her life and her heart as she spends more time with Lowe and starts to see another side of the Alpha.

I love a good arranged marriage romance and this one has all the Hazelwood hallmarks--strong female characters, witty dialogue, slow-burn romance, and lots of steamy scenes. I really enjoyed the contemporary romance setting, and while parts of the paranormal world weren't terribly well-explained, I didn't have any trouble following the plot. There's a lot of very cute scenes with the male main character's little sister, and some other secondary characters that were really enjoyable. The romance is definitely slow burn, even with the "fated mates" trope included, but the book was fast-paced and enjoyable. She sets the scene for more books in the series, and I'll definitely be watching for those.

Thank you for the eARC.
Publication date: Feb 6th, 2024

Okay okay OKAY.
I don't know what happened. I've never read Ali Hazelwood because contemporary romance isn't my genre but I saw werewolves and vampires and decided.... yes.

This is great for fans of Twilight and bonus points because no one falls in love with a baby. You can also expect:

• found family
• fake marriage
• plenty of humor
• fated mates

The structure could have been less formulaic but you know what? It was still fun. Here's for straying outside of your comfort zone.

This book really piqued my interest! Vampires and werewolves; say LESS i’m SAT!! This book was filled with classic silly elements, typical for a paranormal romance, and of course the cliché but noticeably Ali Hazelwood characters.

A political marriage between an Alpha Werewolf and a Vampyre councilman’s daughter makes for an interesting…. relationship. When they discover that they have a common goal, they quickly become unlikely allies, and their marriage becomes one of… more than convenience.

Misery Lark has never really felt like she’s belonged, after spending much of her life hidden among the humans, being thrown into the world of werewolves isn’t that different. I really did like Misery, her character had a lot of potential that I felt wasn’t fully developed, especially regarding how she feels like an outcast. She was strong and resilient after being underestimated by those around her, her whole life, and I wanted the best for her!!!

Alpha Lowe Moreland has recently stepped up into his role as leader among the packs. He learns early on that maybe his new vampyre bride is more than he bargained for. I enjoyed Lowe as the love interest and would have enjoyed reading more of the story from his POV, especially his feelings throughout. I enjoyed the chapter headers from his POV, it helps build the dynamic and I would have liked for him to have more of a voice, I felt like he wasn’t a strong enough character, especially with the way his actions towards Misery could have been more prevalent!!

This story was such a good concept and I was really giggling at the start. However I felt that the plot developed slowly and I was waiting, waiting, waiting for some action to develop. I see how this was meant to be a bit of a slower burn than previous Hazelwood titles, but it felt like the relationship wasn’t truly developing until about the halfway point.

I did very much enjoy the friendship and teamwork that Misery and Lowe reached as they shared a common goal. I think this was a fun paranormal twilight-esque romance that actually felt innovative and like it can stand as its own. My only few downfalls came with the pacing.

Thank you Berkley and Netgalley for the advanced copy.

This book took a while to start up, but once the plot got started up, it was so interesting. The romance, the drama, and the mystery! It was so much fun to enjoy.

Bride was only my second Ali Hazelwood book (after The Love Hypothesis), and while I could not get past the cringe in Love on the Brain, I DEVOURED Bride in less than 24 hours. It was my exact same scenario with The Love Hypothesis, so I don't know if it was the perfect time to read this or if it had the same writing drug—who knows. I just know I couldn't put it down. I couldn't stop myself. I think this genre was meant—destined for—Ali in a really interesting way. There's still a hint of stem in the book too, and Ali's focus and details in this supernatural world was fascinating. Is it the next high fantasy 10/10 world building? No. But it was a super fun ride that I look forward to experiencing it again, especially after that epilogue scene.

Now Bride follows Misery "Missy" Lark as she's tasked with forging an alliance between the Vampyres and the Weres, specifically by marrying the Alpha of the Weres, after the alliance with the Humans and Vampyres starts to crumble. In the past. Missy has been the Vampyre Collateral to the Humans for nearly all of her childhood, so this task is not much different because she's used to being in enemy territory. But on her wedding day, Missy doesn't realize that her future husband Lowe Moreland maaaaay have some extremely complicated feelings towards her... *wink wink*

The characters are truly what shine in this book the most along with the hearty romance. I could not stop laughing at Missy's wit, nor could I stop loving Ana (Lowe's younger sister) for even a second. The characters simply made this book and enhanced the romance in a superbly, wonderful way. Also, I'm VERY intrigued to see the hinted at sequel involving Serena (Missy's best and only friend) and Koen (friend & his role model in Lowe's youth). For one thing, Serena was only in the last 15%, maybe 10%, of this book, and I loved those few precious pages with their friendship. The whole reason Missy accepts the marriage when her father tells her about it is because Serena has gone missing, and Missy saw Lowe's initials in Serena's notes in their friendship code. If it wasn't for Serena, the relationship between Lowe and Missy would probably not have been as successful initially because Missy would not have gone into it as willingly. When we do meet Serena, she immediately reminded me of my own best friend, so I'm craving more interactions of them. Same goes for Koen and Lowe, honestly.

Finally, let's gush about this romance for a second. Readers know nearly from the get go due to the heavy hinting from Ali that Misery and Lowe are mates. Lowe has this very visceral reaction upon seeing her, feeling her presence, but Missy misinterprets this reaction for revulsion instead. It's definitely the miscommunication trope in a way, but it actually did not bother me as much as this trope usually does. Now on the flip side, I did hate Lowe for lying straight to Missy's face when she confronts him about being mates. THAT was very upsetting. I was enraged for sure. It knocked him down a few points for doing that because it just was a stake through the heart.

Anyway, Lowe and Missy give off such a heartwarming vibe throughout this book. They're both so empathetic and compassionate to not only their own loved ones but the people around them too, villains even. They both have such healthy, open views on the world, and you can tell that they'll usher in a new era of peace between the Humans, Weres, and Vampyres. Their external experiences with the human world specifically formed them into these versions of themselves where they can love another species as their partner. There's a lot of subliminal messaging of how we ourselves could be better at uniting humankind around the world in this more supernatural setting.

The steamy scenes were in fact jaw dropping. I don't know if it's the fact that I've only read Ali's debut book or the fact that this is a supernatural book... But Ali did not COME TO PLAY with this smut. My jaw was on the floor as I read, and my cheeks were cherry tomato red. She certainly did not hold back in the slightest, which was quite interesting to read. The marking and blood feeding during sex was something I expected. It makes sense for both Weres and Vampyres to do this in intimacy, and Ali was VERY successful at conveying the feelings of attraction, euphoria, and pleasure whenever Missy bit Lowe. Honestly, one of my favorite scenes is when Emery and her Weres find them together in the office while Missy is feeding from Lowe. It was truly the most genius decision the two could make to not get caught bugging Emery's office, and it was our first taste of their intimacy. Truly genius on a comical, cunning, and intimate level. I definitely think I missed a couple of the supernatural trends and tropes like werewolf knots because I'm not as well versed in this genre, but I'm excited that I started with this book in this specialized genre first. It's opened the doors for me in terms of other supernatural romance.

As you can see from this review, I will definitely recommend this book to not only my audience but romance friends. I really want to see what happens in a second book surrounding Serena and Koen because Ali Hazelwood is certainly not done with this world. Maybe she'll make a Ali Hazelwoodverse and have Bride crossover with her Stem romances. Who knows what she has in store?

Thank you to Berkley, Berkley Romance, and NetGalley for the eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I liked Ali Hazelwood's first couple books but then I felt like they were very similar and repetitive. I loved Check and Mate because it was a little different. This one was VERY different, as it was fantasy! I liked it a lot and it was really different than her usual books.

Rating: 4.25 stars

Misery Lark wants nothing more than to live anonymously among the humans, but her father thwarts that plan by requesting her presence. He’s a powerful Vampyre councilman, and he needs his outcast daughter to take one for the team. They need someone to form an alliance with the Weres, and Misery sees no other choice but to agree, despite them being mortal enemies. Lowe Moreland is the Alpha of the Weres. He doesn’t trust Misery, but he can’t help but be captivated by her.

Ali Hazelwood has become an auto-buy author for me. Although I preordered a copy of Bride, I jumped at the chance to read an early copy. I’ll admit I was skeptical of how this story would pan out, but I ended up being very impressed! Ali does such a wonderful job world-building and creating dynamic characters. I couldn’t help feeling extremely sad about Misery’s circumstance and still wanting to shake her sometimes. As for Lowe, he is a formidable and likeable Alpha. Yet, he also has flaws. These characters balance each other out well, and I really enjoyed the banter between the two of them.

While I’m typically not a fan of slow burn romance either, but the angst in this story had me all the way dialed in. When it finally came to a head; it was sweet, and worth the wait! The other characters in the story were great as well! There’s a bit of mystery in this read, and it was nice to see it get solved. As for the ending, I did not see it coming. I’m hoping that means we’ll get another chance to see these characters again!

Overall, I think this was a really strong paranormal romance. I cannot wait to get my finished copy next year.

Thank you to Net Galley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC!

As if I wasn't already a huge fan of Ali Hazelwood, she goes and steps into the paranormal world, creating a story I had a splendid time reading! She even managed to sneak in a female main character with nerd-like tendencies... a big reason I gravitate to this author so much!

🧛🏼❤️🐺

Somebody called this a Jacob x Renesmee fanfic and I could definitely pick up on the Twilight vibes, so now I can't unsee it! Misery and Lowe, our love interests at the forefront of this story, had so much fun banter and an evolving romance that I was hooked from the get-go. We went from enemies to lovers, with the back half of this story becoming horny as hell. 🌶️🔥🥵 There were a few times I had to put my Kindle down and take a deeeep breath before I jumped back into the romance scenes. Ali wrote a wonderful character in Lowe, a patient, loyal, and wonderful Alpha!

A fun addition I wasn't expecting with this book was the mystery aspect that transpires between the Weres, Vampyres, and Humans. I like that this allowed for a story line for the secondary characters that didn't overpower the paranormal romance that this book is advertised as but also added just enough of a plot that the reader was entertained. The whole ordeal made me like Misery a lot more as a character and the found family trope left me very satisfied in the end! I also wonder if the little cliffhanger Ali leaves us with indicates a possibility of an additional story in this universe.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing and Netgalley for an early peek at this new story by Ali Hazelwood. I can't wait to pick up a physical copy when this comes out on my birthday in February!

Listen up, vampire lovers: when I tell you that BRIDE is an unmissable addition to the paranormal canon, I mean drop everything now and sink your fangs into it. In BRIDE, sisterhood and found family are thicker than blood; the romance that blooms from a marriage of convenience is both tender and foxy, indisputably sexy and brimming with heart. I adored it.

This book has it all! An interesting story, fantasy elements, solid world building, good "show, don't tell", a genuine romance, spice, and a great plot. Usually, I find it difficult to have a fantasy story with romance and good writing, but Hazelwood nailed it with Bride. It was also set up nicely for a sequel, which I'm really excited about.

There was a miscommunication trope here that I didn't *love*, but it definitely worked in the story and wasn't drug out for too long. Misery was an interesting MC with a sharp wit that didn't feel overdone or pushed too far. Lowe makes for an excellent love interest and I really adored sweet Ana.

Overall, I would recommend Bride to romance and fantasy readers. This will be especially popular with the rise of romantasy and I can definitely see this being a BookTok favorite! It gets a 5/5 from me.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review Bride. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Misery Lark is just a normal vampyre living amongst the humans. After serving the majority of her life to help her kind, she has decided life is just easier with the dull boring humans. Thankfully she has her best and only friend by her side every step of the way. That is until Serena goes missing and Misery will do just about anything to find her. That includes marrying the Alpha of the Were’s, Lowe, and living with him as collateral.

It is clear to Misery that Lowe can’t stand her. But all she needs to do is try to find more information on Serena. But while snooping around the Were home, she ends up becoming attached to Ana, Lowe’s little sister. What started as a search mission quickly turns into more when she discovers Ana and Serena are connected. She is even more surprised to find out the Alpha she married isn’t as terrible as she thought he would be.

Review
At first the world building in Bride felt a little hard to follow. There are three species in the novel, Were’s, Vampyre’s and Humans. These three species are all mortal enemies and have created “collateral alliances” to help keep the peace between their kinds. Understanding how the Were’s and Vampyre worlds, their alliances and their genetic makeup was a journey Ali did a great job building the world and the details that went into it. The different species even had different blood types.

I love when a fantasy world has “mates”. There is something so pure and enticing about there being one true mate for someone. Misery’s character was my favorite of Ali’s MFC. Her inner dialogue had me grinning from ear to ear. Her personality was relatable and funny. I also adored Lowe, he was truly the perfect leader of the pack. His kindness and patience just goes to show why fictional characters are so amazing.

This book was not just a romance but a whole fantasy experience. Some of the twists and turns I did see coming, while others threw me through a loop. I loved the ending and look forward to more books in this fantasy world. Ali has definitely shown us she can rock writing romances with women in STEM, young adult novels and now fantasy worlds.

Will post to chapterswithchan.com in February!

I was so thankful to receive this highly anticipated ARC, and to read my first novel by Ali Hazelwood. I've been curious about her other books, and was excited to pick up her first paranormal romance.

I'll begin by saying that I think this book will be very popular, and I think it will be a great read for readers who are new to paranormal romance because it's a very approachable introduction to vampires and shifters.

Maybe it's because I am very familiar with Shifter romances and have read other books that I enjoyed more, but this felt very surface level for me. I felt the whole thing could have been dialed up a bit – especially the mystery aspect, the vampire/werewolf tension, and the Shifter instincts.

𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘥:
⟡ Quick and easy read
⟡ While this book was single POV, I did love that there were one-liners of the MMC's thoughts as the headers for each chapter so we do get a glimpse into his headspace
⟡ The MMC is raising his younger sister, which is adorable. I love a Cinnamon Roll.

𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦:
⟡ Use of big words that felt forced
⟡ Predictable plot points
⟡ I felt like a huge aspect of Shifter qualities weren't utilized to their full potential

While I didn't love this book, I did enjoy it and would especially recommend to contemporary romance readers who want to dip a toe into paranormal romance. Look for this book in February 2024!

While I am a sucker for any vampire story, I am also incredibly critical of them. But I have to give BRIDE 5 stars. I devoured the book in one day, absolutely enamored with the two main characters and the tension/chemistry between them. The banter and evolution of their relationship is enjoyable, supporting characters are fleshed out, and Hazelwood brings some of her STEM roots to the creature origins.
Side note: as soon as I saw the dedication I thought, "No, she did knot...." But yes. Yes she did.

OK ALI. I see youuu!!!!!! Fantasy romance by Ali hazelwood? Sold. It was everything I wanted it to be. The vibes were immaculate, Misery was so so so funny, Lowe’s pack had great personalities, and Lowe…. My sweet tender alpha male 🤌🏼😍 he was so sweet and attentive to Misery and what can I say? I’m a sucker for a feral werewolf 🤌🏼 thank you to Berkley romance and Netgalley for providing me the arc! 4/5 ⭐️’s

Ali Hazelwood has entered the fantasy chat and it was STUPID fun 🤪 I had such a good time reading this I literally could not put my kindle down.

Misery Lark is the outcast, sassy, uses-sarcasm-as-a-way-to-cope-with-her-feelings heroine of my dreams and Lowe! Moreland! can! get! it! He is a devoted other brother to his eight year old sister, FIERCELY loyal to his pack, walks around with the weight of the world on his shoulders, and a man who is truly there to worship his “wife” 😮‍💨🤪🤠 We stan 💅 I ADORED Misery and Lowe together and the way they seamlessly begin to grow to trust and rely on one another, and there was no shortage of protective “MY WIFE” moments that had me giggling and kicking my feet.

There was a really engaging political/who dunnit subplot throughout the whole book that blends together the world building and Misery and Lowe’s need to work together so seamlessly. I cant lie it honestly made me feel like i was reading crescent city if crescent city was a fun silly romcom. The vibes and the atmosphere felt so similar to me and it ate it up.

ANYWAYS I have once again completely
adored a book that ali hazelwood has written. I feel like she DEFINITELY has more books planned in this universe tho. I won’t say much, but the ending is giving interconnected standalone romances and I’m here for that

Thank you @berkleyromance @netgalley @alihazelwood for this eArc!! 🫶🏼

This book was fantastic! This is the first omegaverse book I’ve ever read. And I for sure didn’t know I needed a book about werewolves and vampires but this was in fact EXACTLY what I needed. Not only is it different than Ali Hazelwood’s other books, it’s different from what I usually read but not SO different where I wasn’t going to be into it. It was a little more heavy on the mystery and paranormal elements, the romance was VERY much a slow burn.

The world building was so good. Everything was so complicated between the Humans, Weres, and Vampyres. And while it was sometimes a little hard to sort through and somethings could have been explained better, I thought it was mostly easy to follow!

I am in love with Misery. She was so funny and witty and honestly someone pretty functional for being used as literal collateral for the majority of her life. She’s a Vampyre but lived most of her life with Humans, and now she’s off to be married to a Were.

ALSO MISERY AND LOWE. Perfection. I loved watching them figure each other out, questioning each other, teaching each other things, becoming comfortable with someone who is seemingly an enemy. They were GOOD together.

I also loved Lowe so much. He is the softest alpha, in my very limited knowledge of alphas but like the man cuts the crust of his sandwiches I mean COME ON. He cares SO much. About the pack, about Ana, about Misery. I loved watching Misery notice how much he sacrifices and tries so hard to help him. I WISH we had actual Lowe POV chapters, but I did LOVE the little chapter subheadings that were his thoughts so much.

And a very special shout out to Ana because that little girl has my WHOLE HEART.

Thank you so so much to Berkeley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review! This is the first book I’ve read since being accepted into their 2024 romance influencer program and I am so excited for this year!

Absolutely ADORED this book. Ali Hazelwood’s first paranormal romance and she crushed it. I read this book in two sittings.

The FMC was a breath of fresh air & the MMC was swoon-worthy. I could read 10k words of them just chatting.

Addicting. Fun. Everything I want in a romance.

I’m not going to lie, when I heard that Ali Hazelwood was writing omegaverse paranormal romance I was a little skeptical. But Bride surprised me in a really good way.

The first ~13% of the book definitely felt a little fanfic-y, but once I got to the meat of the story the writing significantly improved. I’m hoping that that’s the section that got the most work between ARC distribution and publication.

The little bits of species science stuff was pretty interesting, the steam and the spice were WORKING for me, and the cultural differences between species were pretty well developed. I also really liked the characters, and (hopefully) look forward to seeing more of them in potential future books.

Despite the beginning feeling a little silly, I read this book in one sitting. I will never doubt Ali Hazelwood again. 4.5 stars

I will post my review to Instagram in early February, and post it to Amazon on publication day.

#NetGalleyArc I wasn't sure what to expect with this book, it's definitely different from what Hazelwood usually writes...but also not. Once I got a few chapters into it I really enjoyed the book. I thought the characters were a bit predictable but they're also very likable. Will I buy it for my HS library? Probably not. There were a few times that I just got a little bit icked by the terminology/vocabulary used and it made me cringe a little bit. Overall though it was a fun read and I did enjoy it .

"I f*c*ing love your scent."

And I f*c*ing loved this book! An arranged marriage between a vampire and a werewolf that turns into so much more. The story line was so entertaining, the chemistry so good, and the spice so hot! Misery's character was funny, fearless and unapologetic! And Lowe, he took the whole scent thing to another level! 🥵 It was one of those books that was good from start to finish!