I have a confession to make, I am not typically a fan of Vampyre/Warewolf stories so I was hesitant to read this. However I am a HUGE fan of Ali Hazelwood so I took a leap and requested and ARC of this story and I am so glad I did.
Overall the story had a slow start, it took a while to build the world the Misery and Lowe inhabit. However, once the setting was established the story really hooked me and I found myself thinking about these characters when I wasn't reading!
Misery is a lovable heroine with a complicated upbringing and some complex family dynamics. She agrees to marry a Ware, seemingly to help the Vampyres maintain diplomacy. However her story is so much more complicated. While Misery was a fabulous heroine, I adored Lowe even more-swoon! He's layered and complex and a true Alpha male, without being obnoxious.
The enemies vibe between these two and the protectiveness of Lowe led to some sizzling chemistry. This book definitely had a hefty dose of spice, much more than I expected! There were so many wonderful characters, and by the ending, I believe Ms. Hazelwood must have a sequel (or multiple) planned. With the world building established, I can only imagine the next book will be action packed and I am here for all of it!!
Pick this one up if :
~you are open to urban fantasy with Vampyre/warewolf
~you are into romance packed with spicy scenes
~you enjoy complex characters with a blend of humor and heart
4.5 stars

Ali Hazelwood's novels never fail to disappoint with her swoon-worthy romance and lovable characters you can’t help but fall for along the way. Bride had all that and more with subtle (but incredible) Twilight references, a tension-filled marriage of convenience love story, and an adorable found family pack that had me giddy and falling in love with this story.

Vampires and werewolves have been mortal enemies for centuries. So when Misery agrees to an arranged marriage to the new alpha of the werewolves, she’s thrown into a world full of new discoveries, friendships, and maybe even love.

Hands down, I LOVED this book! From beginning to end, it was so hard to put this story down and come back to the real world. I adored the witty banter and cinnamon roll-like persona that was Misery. Her inner commentary had me laughing and chuckling throughout her journey, and also empathizing with her during her struggles and hardships.

And this ROMANCE. Whew!! Sparks flew, then simmered into a precious friendship, then a super sweet partnership and love story. I especially loved the theme of found family in this novel and how Hazelwood showed it in different ways, from childhood friends to siblings to enemies becoming unlikely allies. It was a very beautiful, heartfelt addition to the story.

This fun paranormal romance is a new favorite by Hazelwood, and it’s the perfect read for February.

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.*

Short answer? I loved Bride. Hazelwood could publish her shopping list and I would still read it.

Long answer? Bride felt very much like baby’s first vampire/werewolf romance. I am not a big fantasy reader, so the topic of werewolves and vampires in a modern fantasy setting had me a little nervous, but I knew if Hazelwood was writing it, I would find some enjoyment in it. Similar to Love, Theoretically, I enjoyed the politics of the world. I felt that Hazelwood did a great job in expanding and explaining the lore and the history of vampires, werewolves, and human relations.

I was a little too young for Twilight and never got into other fantasy books like the ACOTAR series, so I loved this dip into fantasy romance. The emotions and the relationship between Lowe and Misery shine through everything, which makes this such an enchanting read as they transform from political enemies to husband and wife. It’s cheesy and dramatic at times, but Hazelwood is so talented at writing romance and relationships that I care about that I couldn’t put this book down.

Misery is so different from Hazelwood’s other protagonists, and I loved it. Intelligent, quick on her feet, emotionally cold, with a dry sense of humor, unlike the overly bubbly or incredibly awkward Steminist heroines of past works. My one gripe with this book? I did not like her name. It was explained in the novel why her name is Misery, but I never got used to it, and it stuck out like a sore thumb when her twin’s name is Owen.

I feel like Bride might divide fans and casual readers of her other romance novels. It is so different from her previous works. Fans of fantasy romance will instantly fall into the rhythms of this world, but if you are not a fan of fantasy, then you might not love this book. Fantasy, especially fantasy romance books, take a level of suspension of disbelief to immerse yourself into the world.

Until now, I’ve only known Ali Hazelwood for her contemporary romances highlighting women in STEM—usually in an enemies-to-lovers setup. But Bride breathes new life into her love stories, both with its paranormal world and characters and with its new romance trope: a marriage of convenience. Sure, Misery Lark and Lowe Moreland are technically from two different species that have been rivals for centuries. But they only first meet during their wedding to each other, and despite some initial distrust (especially on Misery’s part), they get a tentative slow burn romance within their unconventional and politically motivated marriage.

I’ve only just started reading paranormal romances in the past few months, so I can’t speak to how Bride stacks up against the major books within the genre. But personally I really enjoyed this. It’s not trying to present too much that’s new; rather, it’s working within the scope of well-known paranormal beings, in this case Vampyres and Weres (vampires and werewolves). The setting is a contemporary southern United States, in a world where Humans, Vampyres, and Weres have lived side-by-side for centuries, though not necessarily harmoniously. Misery spent 10 years of her childhood as a Collateral living with the Humans—basically, a hostage meant to keep relations between the two species benevolent. Now she gets to repeat that experience, albeit under a new title: wife of the Were Alpha. While she’ll spend a year living in Were territory, a Were Collateral will be living with the Vampyres for the same duration (though apparently not as a bride).

While I went into this expecting it to be focused on the romance, Bride also surprised me with some extra plot points. Misery’s main reason for accepting this position as wife of a Were is so she can look into the mystery of her missing best friend. Something happened to her childhood friend, and Misery thinks Lowe (her new husband) may have some secret knowledge about that. Misery plays detective, snooping as much as she can whenever the Weres aren’t guarding her too closely. I enjoyed the mystery element throughout Bride, including the eventful ending sequence when all is revealed.

Despite the paranormal aspects and the inclusion of some mystery, Bride is still identifiable as an Ali Hazelwood romance. It still has her signature sense of humor and lightness. Misery is an engaging first-person narrator throughout the novel, and she has some background in STEM, making her a bit more familiar to devoted readers. The love story between Misery and Lowe unfolds differently from previous novels by the author, making it refreshing and all the sweeter. I also loved the relationships between siblings and friends here, bolstering the cast and giving it a sense of found family in addition to romance.

Bride is an engrossing and quick-paced romance, with mystery and paranormal activity and politics to fill it out. There’s a certain sweetness to it (though it does get steamy…complete with biting), and I enjoyed the whole story from start to finish. While I will absolutely keep reading Ali Hazelwood’s contemporary romances, I hope she’ll also continue writing paranormal romances and even explore other genres, too—her talent translates well to new kinds of stories, and I’ll follow wherever her writing takes us.

As a long-time fan of both Ali Hazelwood romance and paranormal romance, I was excited to read her foray into a world of Vampyres and Weres. Ali did not disappoint, giving readers plenty of paranormal lore while simultaneously building a steamy, yet fragile, relationship between the main characters.

For most of her life, Misery has been on the sidelines. Relegated to the role of glorified bargaining chip in order to keep the peace between the Vampyres and the humans, Misery spent most of her childhood apart from her family and her own kind. So when her father offers her up - this time through marriage - to the local Were Alpha, Lowe, she doesn’t expect her experiences to be anything to write home about. But life with Lowe and the Weres isn’t at all what Misery was expecting. Instead of the cold, cutthroat world of the Vampyres, Misery finds familial love and pack bonding with the Weres. And she finds more than she ever imagined with the stranger she married.

As a paranormal fan, I really enjoyed Hazelwood’s take on Vampyres and Weres and what they were capable of. It’s always fun to see where an author’s first foray into paranormal romance will take them, and I thought Bride perfectly combined paranormal elements with the types of romance that we’re used to seeing from Ali Hazelwood.

Bride had some wonderful world-building, and it was easy to picture the world that Misery and Lowe inhabited as well as the dangers they faced just because of what, and who, they are. Outside of the world building, Hazelwood writing came through with so many memorable and highlight-able passages. Lowe and Misery’s dynamic relationship hooked from the very first page, and I loved every up and down they experienced on the way to their happily ever after.

Thank you Berkley for the early copy! I absolutely ATE this one up. Holy crap everyone needs to read this book. I am DEEP in my warewolf era, and this was perfect. Ali Hazelwood can actually write anything and I will fall in love. Also the spice was GIVING.

This was my first book by this author and captured everything I enjoy about a paranormal romance - great worldbuilding, interesting complex characters and the complications of inter-species communication and relationships. Definitely a contender for my top ten of the year, and a super sexy and fun read! The mystery of Misery's missing friend is also dealt with well and we get a satisfying conclusion and I hope, a hint that will become another book in the same world!

bride was … SOOOO GOOD, let me tell ya.

i read this book within a day because i could not put it down. vampires + werewolves in a paranormal romance? say less i was here for it from the start.

i love love loveee misery’s character and her witty banter. i feel like we would be friends in real life because we would have the same comebacks in multiple situations. lowe on the other hand, was something elseeee. the constant ‘my wife’ this and ‘my wife’ that, had me with constant heart eyes.

the slow burn romance? please. i was hooked from the first *gaze into each others eyes* scene. so cheesy, but im not lying!

i totally recommend you pick up this book and give Ali’s new take on paranormal romance a chance.

thank you Ali Hazelwood, Berkeley Pub, and NetGalley for the ARC! you don’t understand how excited i was to receive this!! so thank you for the opportunity!

Let me tell you, I absolutely adored this book. I was thrilled to finally delve into a novel by the renowned Ali Hazelwood, especially since I don't typically lean towards contemporary romance. Imagine my excitement when I had the opportunity to read her first paranormal romance! "Bride" had me laughing out loud, falling in love with the characters, and intrigued by the touch of mystery woven into the story.

I must admit that I enjoyed every aspect of the book, except for some of the steamier scenes. Now, this is purely a personal preference, as I'm aware that there are readers who will revel in this particular blend of werewolf and vampyre passion. Personally, when I found myself resorting to Google to understand certain activities only to be met with images resembling my own beloved pitbull, it left me feeling a bit uncomfortable. However, these moments are a minor part of the narrative and easily skimmed over if they don't align with your tastes. Setting aside this small personal quibble, the book was truly exceptional. I wholeheartedly recommend it to any reader.

This was such an unusual and engaging paranormal romance!

The witty turn of phrase, clever banter and simmering sexual tension that have become Hazelwood’s hallmarks make this an unputdownable read.

Misery and Lowe’s marriage of convenience is meant to be temporary- a way to slap a band-aid on the powder keg of relations between the Vampyres and the Were. It becomes far more when Lowe scents his bride for the first time. It becomes far more when he lets Misery taste his blood in a moment of unintentional surrender.

A true relationship seems doomed - they are mortal enemies. At least that’s what Misery had heard her entire life. And no matter how much Mercy admires her new husband’s noble character and innate kindness, he gave up too much for their marriage. Including the opportunity to be with his true mate. To make matters worse, someone is ALWAYS trying to kill Misery and she won’t let him get caught in the crossfire.

Highly recommended for fans of Kresley Cole and KM Moning!

Characters: 🫠💝❤️❤️❤️
Plot:👀💅🔪🥹 💒
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Bride was such a fun romp from Ali Hazelwood! Always having been a fan of vampire and werewolf fantasy and romance novels, I was super excited to read Bride, especially having been written by one of my favorite romance authors. The romance in this book between Misery and Lowe has all the magic that every single one of Ali's romances has. I loved the found family aspect in this book as well--it was so adorable. I think the only reason this wouldn't be a five-star-read for me would be the under-development of the world, politics, and magic system in this book--which is to be expected since this is more marketed as a romance book with fantasy elements than a full-on fantasy book. I hope we get to see more books from this universe and that my questions about the Vampyres and Weres in this world Ali has created get answered. I definitely would recommend this for anyone who was a fan of Ali's previous novels, even if you aren't a fantasy reader. This book definitely still has the charm from her previous novels, and you'll definitely enjoy it! I'd rate this 4.5 stars overall.

I really struggled with the worldbuilding of this one! I was intrigued by the premise, but wished that the political dynamics were more fleshed out.

5⭐️ 2🌶️

Leave it to Ali Hazelwood to have me pining like a dog in heat for paranormal romance and googling the most out of pocket things ever (yeah yeah whatever, I didn’t grow up with internet or wattpad).

I ate this book up with such ferocity, you’d think I had just escaped a political imprisonment in Cuba and had been starved for a century. LOWE IS SUCH A DADDY AND I LOVE HIM SO MUCH!!! This man had me downright FERRAL and sending the craziest pictures to my friend. Listening to this in audio (must love to you PRH for the ALC) at the supermarket was such a bad idea because when this man said “you smell like you just came, I need to eat you out” I CRASHED INTO THW SUSHI DISPLAY… the noises coming out of my mouth as I devoured this were inhuman.

Ali just has this power over me and I’m so happy with this story. It’s so different from her normal STEM love stories and she ate, I have no other way to describe it other than SHE ATE 🤭😮‍💨 There is nothing she can’t do and no MMC that can do bad love confessions. THE WAY THIS MAN CONFESSED HIS LOVE SHALL FOREVER LIVE ON IN MY MEMORY. It’s honestly unfair to every other wolf out there, there is no competition, there is only Lowe.

This was so entertaining, very well paced, so funny I kept cackling, she was so clueless it was adorable, and their chemistry was just so felt. The knotting…. MAAM THE KNOTTING…. Thank you for opening my eyes to this new realm of possibilities I didn’t know existed.

Anyways, READ THIS BOOK ASAP!!!

And much and many thanks to Berkley pub for this ARC, you guys are my world!!!

I was laughing and giggling so much more than I anticipated. Ali Hazelwood is absolutely magical and I love her books so much! This is my first paranormal romance and I love how selfless Misery and Lowe are. They both gave up so much to help their families and would do anything to protect each other! Such a beautiful read!

I absolutely love Ali Hazelwood books! And if there were to be a sequel, I would LOVE to see more of the world building

this is like BARELY TOES DIPPED INTO OMEGAVERSE but i’ll take it as it is baby steps!!

˖ ࣪⭑ review below |

Past the knotting hype (i think it was well written 🗿) this book was good! with a little mystery vibe and like a found family vibe? i thought it was gonna be silly rom com but the marriage of convenience hit (i love a good ‘don’t touch my wife!!’ moment) and there was some danger aspect to it as well (rival species y’know?) it was kinda confusing to get into maybe bc i’m slow but like once the groove was going it was going. i liked misery. she wasn’t an insufferable character and she was real as heck and lowe took the role of alpha TOO seriously but his lack of computer skills and good big brotherness made up for it! i think misery deserves everything and more and i hope lowe can give that to her :)

it wasn’t an out of this world i wanna sell my first born to reread this type book but it was a book that had me itching to read it bc the chemistry was good and the story was good! it kept me on my feet!

4.25/5 stars. Although I cannot say that this is my favorite book by AH, I still found myself thoroughly entertained as always. Hazelwood's writing feels so effortless, which makes it easily digestible and unputdownable. As always I laughed, a lot. The twilight vibes were perfectly on point.

The side characters have always been my favorite part of AH's past books and once again they did not let me down. Although, they didn't feel as fleshed out as her previous work. I also loved the romance between Misery and Lowe, but the chemistry did feel like it was lacking a bit.

Highly recommend if you're looking for a fun paranormal romance that you can fly through in less than 24 hours. I'm hopeful we will be getting a sequel in the future, fingers crossed!

There has been so much hype going around this one that I couldn’t help but go into this one excited. Sadly, this left so much to be desired. The main character's name is Misery. Instantly makes me think of Kathy Bates. Along with that, we had cringy smut and a weird plot that was super choppy.

I hardly felt any chemistry between Misery and Lowe. Maybe because we didn’t even get a piece of romance until much later in the book. By the time we saw them entering a romantic relationship, I thought they made better friends than lovers. Hell, she would have been better off with Stella IMO.

I also feel like it’s a shame that only Lowe felt the mate bond and Misery never did. It felt quite one sided that way. Also, it was hella obvious that she was his mate to everyone but Misery. Girl, for someone to be so smart …

This eventually became a chore to get through and I patted myself on the back for finishing it. This ended with hints that she would be writing another book about Stella, but I think I’ll pass on that one.

If you are a fan of Hazelwood’s writing and enjoy paranormal romances, then this might work better for you. However, I just found it overhyped.

This book, y’all. It pulled me in and didn’t let go. Sleep? Who needs it! Laundry? Forget about it! I binged this book like nobody’s business, and I loved it!

This book had it all: suspense, romance, found family, dynamic characters, witty banter, and so many other good tropes!!!

I don’t want to give too much away, so I’ll just say that I loved the two main characters. They were so good together! The ending has me thinking there might be a second book? Pretty, pretty please??? I need more!

This was my favorite read from January, and I have a feeling it will be a favorite for the year! I highly recommend it!

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝗼𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞:
☝️ Single POV
🩸/🐺 Vampires/werewolves
🔥 Forced proximity
❤️ Arranged Marriage
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Found family
👀 Suspense
🌶️🌶️🌶️

Alright, alright, alright… first of all I’d like to thank Berkley and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. Secondly, as always, I’d like to thank Ali Hazelwood for a truly unhinged and binge-able read.
When cracking open an Ali Hazelwood book I’ve come to expect a few things… a very large, almost cartoonishly giant man and a tiny, almost microscopic woman, internet in-jokes and quirky references that remind me of my 2012 days on Tumblr, and a story with addictive-readability. I wasn’t sure how these would translate into this new fantasy story… but they were surely there!
Overall, I enjoyed this book and I am excited that it seems as though there may be a sequel. However, it was far from perfect. There was a lot of showing vs. telling; Lowe was the most powerful <i>were</i> in the whole region despite never doing anything powerful on the page, Misery (yes, that is really her name) was deeply traumatized despite never feeling anything… except for love and affection for multiple characters after she claimed that vampyres do not have the capacity for such feelings. There is a child character that is fiercely independent and self-sufficient except that she frequently mispronounces and mixes up words simply to remind readers that she is a “child” (it should be noted that this is a personal problem that I have as a reader and not a true reflection of the book itself.) The pacing was also a bit erratic and the main “problem” wrapped up with almost alarming speed. I can’t speak on the <i>omegaverse</i> aspect of the story with any authority, but it seemed like some key words were sprinkled in at mostly-appropriate times to remind readers what kind of book this really was.
All that being said, I had fun and finished reading this almost a week ago and have been in a bit of a reading slump ever since. So with the publication date in just a few days, do with that what you will! Enjoy!

Somebody get me this woman's grocery list, because let me tell you- she can do NO wrong.
This book is perfection and I'll happily tell you why.
-Witty banter- Misery is hilarious, I found myself laughing out loud multiple times.
-OMEGAVERSE?
-Marriage of convenience

Lowe and Misery (Yes, her name is really Misery, Vampyres are dicks) were such fun characters to read about. I also absolutely adored the world building here, the complicated political structure between the Weres, Vampyres and Humans was super interesting. The biological components of the different species was also fascinating, it all felt very scientific- which is purely Ali Hazelwood at its core. The fun quirks of the Vampyres and Weres were a nice touch, often I find that werewolf and vampire novels can be overdone and repetitive, this did not happen here.

I'm always cautious when I read one of my beloved authors introduction into a new genre. But this was executed absolutely flawlessly. I could not stop reading it.