The Wrong Bride is an addictive, tension-filled ride. With gripping twists, sizzling chemistry, and rich world-building, Elle and Callen’s love-hate dynamic kept me hooked. I couldn’t put it down—and now I need more.

Its been a while since I've read a shifter book & this one did not disappoint. I loved the body swap plot & the accents!

Description
Vacationing in Scotland, schoolteacher Elizabeth “Elle” Darcy anticipates picturesque landscapes, castles of old and kilt-wearing charmers, not awakening in someone else's body. Worse, that someone just married enigmatic billionaire Callen Bruce. Though that’s not the biggest problem. To the rest of the world, her new “husband” runs an elite empire. But behind his public persona, he’s a king of berserkers locked in an ancient, supernatural war with wolf-shifters.
Determined to reclaim her normal life, Elle will do anything necessary to switch back with Callen’s real wife. First, she must ditch the disciplined warrior. An impossibility when he refuses to relinquish the bride chosen for him by fate, even though he despises her. Or does he? The growing heat in his eyes says otherwise. Not that it matters. There’s no way this temporary queen will fall for the moody, broody secretive warrior who belongs to another woman. Nope. Not Elle. Not ever. Probably.

Thanks to NetGalley & Dreamscape Media for the ALC of this book!

The Wrong Bride
by Gena Showalter; Jill Monroe
Narrated by Mhairi Morrison
Book 1 of Kings of Fury
Dreamscape Media

I enjoyed this story, the narration was at times, wonderfully entertaining, and at other times, mundane. Or perhaps it was the writing. I wound up liking the story for the last 1/3 of the book more than the first 2/3s of the story. It was entertaining and extremely predictable, following the traditional troupes to a T.

With that said, I did enjoy the story overall, and will probably pick up the sequel. I may not have been impacted by this story, but it was entertaining and I was engaged throughout the audio book.

This innocent teacher from Oklahoma is unexpectedly body swapped with a b!tch in Scotland on her last day of vacation. When she wakes up she's in a new body and just married to an angry beef cake of a man. She soon learns her husband is king of berserkers and she has to come to terms with her situation quickly if she wants to survive long enough to get back to her old life.

I enjoyed the main character, Elizabeth “Elle” Darcy, and her constant ability to stay calm and assess her suroundings. The pacing was perfect and I enjoyed the lore and hidden fantasy world. If you're lookin for a Freaky Friday between strangers and a high stakes romance this one is for you!

The Wrong Bride written by Gena Showalter; Jill Monroe and narrated by Mhairi Morrison.

Initially, I was *very* annoyed with the narrator’s tone, but it grew on me.

The Wrong Bride was such a good read. A very light sprinkling of fantasy in with a Scottish tale of romance and fated mates. Minimal spice but delivers a delightful dose of romance.

Don’t we all wish for a Scottish adventure like Elle.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

It is exactly what you think it is. Just read the description. This novel is great for those who finds comfort in cliché and predictable stories. And I highly recommend the audiobook, the narrator's Scottish accent is very satisfying

Thank NetGalley, the author, the publisher and audio narrator for providing me with 13-hours-long enjoyment

No spice but lots of tension. Easy fun read about body switching. Gives old school highland romance vibes in new times.

Book review: 4/5 ⭐️
Genre: paranormal romance
Themes: berserkers, fated love, body swaps
📖 Read if you like: Bride

When I saw that the MC was name Elizabeth Darcy I was instantly interested. Then I found out this was a story taking place in Scotland with an immortal band of warriors and a healthy case of body swapping and mistaken identity to round out my intrigue. So thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for a chance to review this audiobook.

Elle Darcy is on a dream vacation in Scotland when a chance encounter with an impossibly beautiful and commanding woman in a pub changes her life. Before she knows what is happening, she’s been drugged and married off to roguish billionaire Bruce, but that’s not the worst of it! She wakes up in someone else’s body and her enigmatic husband is actually king of the immortal berserkers locked in a deadly feud with shape shifting wolves.

Sound like a lot, but somehow it all comes together wonderfully in this rather fun romance of fated mates overcoming all obstacles. The twist at the end was unexpected and I liked the paranormal mystery layered over the budding romance. There was adequate motivation to keep the plot moving and the band of supporting characters really made it feel like a family. Already looking forward to book 2 in this series!

There were a few distractions that took me out of the story at times. For starters, I had a hard time placing this book in time. It felt like this society was trying to inhabit both the present and the past, but it was a little confusing at time. Secondly, having hiked all over Scotland I had to laugh out loud over the concept of breakfast burritos in the highlands. While readily available in major cities, finding a tortilla in a remote castle really threw me. I know this story isn’t supposed to be realistic giving the paranormal element, but you those details that just stick out like a sore thumb? This was one for me. And lastly I had to look up what a berserker was! Given how much fantasy I read I was a little surprised I hadn’t come across this term before. I found that it was just thrown around as a known and I was struggling to figure out what Bruce was for some time.

🎧 I listened to this as an audiobook and at first I wasn’t sure if I liked the narrator. The pace is slower than I am used to and I felt like the voice was trying to seduce me in a way. Yet as time went on it seemed to be a good fit for the story. And all the accents were excellent.

3.25 ⭐

It was better than expected !
Yes it was a bit messy but sometimes messiness means fun time

❖ Berserker / wolf MMC
❖ Human FMC
❖ Soul switching
❖ Fated Mates
❖ Scotland and clan setting

This book follows Elizabeth as she is tricked into a soul swap with a woman who is set to marry Callen, the king of the Berserkers. It was an interesting idea for a story, but the writing style made it come off more as a Wattpad story instead of a well thought out book. The banter between Ellie and Callen was great, and Ellie was very likeable at times, and definitely made the most of her situation, while other times, she was written and described like every other "relatable" FMC that I've read in a book, making her a character that didn't really stand out. Callen was fine but there wasn't really anything that he did that made him high up on my list of best MMCs.

Thank you to Gena Showalter, Jill Monroe, Dreamscape Media, and NetGalley for the audioARC of this book. This is my honest review.

This book has a unique premise and a captivating storyline - and I really wish I liked it. It is a cheesy modern romance with questionable execution -- BUT I finished the book in 2 days, so take for that what you want.

Before I share all of this, it's important for me to say that I just finished reading one of my favorite suspense-filled enemies-to-lovers duologies of all time. And that duology was so chef's-kiss-perfect that my opinion is a bit skewed at the moment.

Conceptually, I think this book would be really hard for any survivor of domestic abuse, or an adjacent survivor to read. The premise is that only there is only one fated mate that can calm his rage and prevent him from an outburst that would kill a lot of people. I silently cringed every time it came up. It's just such a dangerous idea to introduce in a romance book. And whatever the right way to bring a concept like this forward might be, the execution did not land.

Also, there are several scenes that feel plucked out of other books that don't really fit with the story as a whole. I think it's meant to be for character development, but it weirdly feels like a set of random skills that she demonstrates which are actually useless towards the plot or the story as a whole. It would have made more sense to lean into the main female character's direct professional skills (as a kindergarten teacher), which are referenced a lot, and just keep to those. It's just so obviously written for her to be relatable and it could have been done a lot better.

A couple of points that really stood out for me:
- The characters are inconsistent and the writing around the female lead was not well developed. It feels like the authors did a key word search for "relatable female" and just put a bunch of word soup into book form. If a person can be relatable to everyone, she has no actual personality.
- Ideas are presented and not followed through (non-spoiler examples: she's excited for the gym, works out once, never goes back and it's never mentioned again; she is apparently a great cook, cooks one thing and never does it again).
- There is a lot of telling rather than showing which is really distracting.
- The way people speak is sometimes normal and sometimes an old fashioned words or phrases, which does not fit given the story takes place in present day (there are cell phones).
- Important / complicated plot points are glossed over so quickly that it's confusing, despite the fact that it's a very simple book.

All that being said, the suspense was good and I liked it enough to finish it and had some interest in seeing how it unfolded. The tension between the two characters is good and the chemistry is interesting. It would be a 3.5-star rating, but the flair of domestic abuse went too far, so it's a 2.5-star. And I'm still not disappointed that I read it.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced reader copy!

I very much enjoyed this story and thought it was very cute and well written. I love how the author wrapped up their story so I don't feel like I have a huge cliffhanger waiting for the next one.
I did not care for this narrator. I found that she had a lot of pauses that felt like she was reading very slow, but her actual words were spoken at a normal rate so speeding up the narration only made the speech clipped and even more robotic sounding. She did very well with her Scottish parts and they sounded far more natural which is not a surprise as she is Scottish. The Oklahoma accent that she was trying for was missed and the majority of her reading time was difficult for me to sit through.
All in all I am excited to see other works from this author and I think I would have liked it a lot more if I had just read it myself.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ARC

Unfortunately I didn't vibe with this book. I found the FMC annoying and too oblivious. The insta love was cringey and gave no sense. I also disliked all the turns the book took towards the end.

This was so fun and full of intrigue and plot it was romantasy with powers a great audio book. The characters were so different and the culture of the beserkers was interesting

Oh, how far we've traveled since the smoldering, sinfully delicious days of Gena Showalter’s Lords of the Underworld series — but fret not, because her partnership with Jill Monroe in The Wrong Bride is a ravishing renaissance of fun, fantasy, and fiery chemistry. The first installment of their Kings of Fury series had me enchanted from word one — literally, since I indulged in the audiobook (because who can resist a Scottish accent?).

Let’s set the scene: your dream vacation morphing into a waking nightmare. Sounds dramatic? Oh, that’s just the appetizer. What follows is a supernatural spin on a Freaky Friday — but with more swords, more sass, and a love/hate dynamic so intense it could scorch the pages. Or, in my case, my poor headphones.

Elle, our delightfully chaotic heroine, is a walking comedy show, her inner monologue brimming with enough wit to make even the most cynical reader chuckle. And Callen? The broody, complicated king who bounces off Elle like flint to steel. Their story crackles with tension — the kind of tension that had my emotions whiplashing between squeals and groans. And the angst? Off. The. Charts. If emotional torment were a sport, these two would be Olympic gold medalists.

But let’s not forget the world-building, which is nothing short of captivating. The paranormal elements are woven seamlessly into the narrative, adding an extra layer of intrigue to an already addictive tale. And while the audiobook narration was a tad slow for my liking (thank goodness for playback speed controls), the voice acting, especially the lilting Scottish lilt, added a delicious authenticity to the experience.

In sum? I devoured this book, and I’m already salivating for the next chapter in this series. Showalter and Monroe have crafted a tantalizing, turbulent romance that refuses to be put down — and honestly, why would you want to? I, for one, am ready for another wild ride with these queens of contemporary fantasy romance. Bring on book two!

Rating: 5 out of 5 dramatic gasps and one slightly singed device.

Had a fun time listening through this one! Imagine getting body swapped with someone so they could get out of the marriage they didn’t want. And now you are thrust into a world of immortals?! That hate your guts?! Because the body you now inhabit was a cold, hard, manipulative jerk to everyone in your new circle, especially your SUPER HOT new husband!
Elle is having a hard time in this new world of immortal berserkers and wolves and politics that she doesn’t understand, and her body-napper is being so unhelpful. Lucky, Elle can survive, and brings her kindness into every interaction to try and bridge the divide. But, like, y'all. Use your damn words and tell the truth first! We allllll know that it’s way more pain later!
I am curious about more of the lore and background of this world and would definitely consider reading a sequel!
Normally, I’m a 1x speed audiobook girly, but found I had to crank it up a little to 1.25-1.5x to really enjoy the performance!

The Wrong Bride is a fun, fast-paced paranormal romance with a unique twist. Elle Darcy’s vacation to Scotland takes an unexpected turn when she wakes up in the body of a stranger who’s just married billionaire Callen Bruce. As if being trapped in a strange life isn’t enough, Elle soon discovers Callen’s secret: he’s a berserker king caught in a supernatural war.

The chemistry between Elle and Callen is intense, filled with tension, humor, and a slow-burn romance that will keep readers hooked. The supernatural world-building adds intrigue, and Elle’s determination to reclaim her life is relatable and engaging. While the plot leans into some familiar tropes, it’s a fun, entertaining ride with plenty of twists. A solid read for fans of paranormal romance with a dash of humor and heat.

🎧 Audiobook: The Wrong Bride-Kings of Fury #1

✍🏾 Author: Gena Showalter and Jill Monroe

📅Publication date: 2/25/25 | Read: 2/25/25

Genre: Paranormal Romance, Fantasy

Tropes: forced proximity, slow burn, fated mates, marriage of convenience, secret identity, grumpy H berserkers, wolf shifters

🗣️Narrator: Mhairi Morrison voices all the characters with standouts from Elle, Callen, and Isobel. The reading style brought the text to life, and the author and narrator worked together perfectly. The pacing and flow allowed me to get lost in the story. The narrator paused and announced new chapters and there was a table of contents which helped me follow along.

🏃🏾‍➡️Run Time: 12:18

🌎 Setting: Scotland

👆🏾POV: 1st person, single-Elle

⚠️TW: kidnapping

Summary: Elle is on her way home to OK after her dream vacation in Scotland. She meets Isobel at the airport who switches bodies w/ her because she doesn't want to be married to Callen-a berserker. Elle has to live as Isobel, Callen's wife, while trying to make it home. As long as Callen's berserker is tamed by his mate's presence, Elle is safe.

👩🏾 Heroine: Elizabeth "Elle" Darcy-27, a special education schoolteacher, a book lover

👨🏾 Hero: Callen Bruce-King of Berserkers

🎭 Other Characters:
*Isobel Campbell-Callen's wife
*Roderick-Callen's brother (deceased)
*Mirren-Callen's daughter, 6 yrs.old
*Tavish-King of the wolves
*Gavinia-Mirren's aunt/ Sorcha's sister
*Sorcha-Mirren's mother, went missing 2 years ago

🤔 My Thoughts: This reminds me of another great PNR Lothaire by Kresley Cole. I loved the idea of berserkers as I've never read about them finding mates. Elle kept Callen calm and made everyone (his staff & daughter) like her. I saw his rough exterior soften to Elle even though she looked like Isobel whom he despised. I loved seeing Callen as a single father like most men who melt when they see their daughters.


Rating: 4/5 ✨
Spice level 3/5🔥kissing only, fade to black

🙏🏾Thanks to NetGalley, Dreamscape Media, and Gena Showalter & Jill Monroe for this ALC! I voluntarily give my honest review, and all opinions are my own.

4.25 stars, rounded up

This one is about Elizabeth "Elle" Darcy, a teacher from the US who is traveling in Scotland when she meets a mysterious red-headed woman at a pub. The woman starts saying some very weird things, and the next thing Elle knows, she's woken up in a strange room, in a castle, with red hair... her and the woman have been body swapped! She soon learns that the red-head, Isabelle, is generally loathed by everyone around her, and was set to marry Callen Bruce, rich businessman by day, a king of supernatural Berserkers by night. Isabelle wanted nothing to do with Callen or the life of a Queen of Berserkers, so she performed some VERY illegal magic in order to soul-swap with Elle. Elle is now married, and unable to escape her possessive and protective new husband. But are they really married if she's trapped in the wrong body? And what happens when she starts to develop feelings for her handsome and cold captor?

I enjoyed this book, and it was a very easy audiobook to binge. The FMC was a bit of a contradiction at times, making some questionable choices, but in true romance fashion, it works out for her. I liked the way she would use her "teacher voice" to handle certain situations that required a level head, it was cute. The MMC starts out very cold and distant, but eventually warms up to Elle, who is a complete 180 from haughty and cruel Isabelle. I also definitely recommend sticking around for the denouement, as there were some pretty great twists at the end. Some things to keep in mind for this book: It's a slow burn and does not have any spice, other than some kissing. It also has the single dad trope.

I found the narration to be quite slow, so I listened to this one at 1.75x speed, which is a bit faster than my normal. I'm wondering if that was intentional, as the narrator used a Scottish accent for the MMC and staff, and it would likely be easier for people to understand if they are not accustomed to that accent. Overall I thought that the narration was great (single POV, one voice actor).