You wouldn’t immediately guess that Misery Lark is a Vampyre by looking at her. She hides her violet eyes behind brown contacts, files down her canines, and, due to having been essentially raised by humans she knows next to nothing about her own culture. When her father’s second shows up at her human job, Misery is surprised by the summons to the Vampyre council. Misery’s father explains that the Vampyres and seres have finally come to a stalemate in their centuries long war- a stalemate marked by a weeding between a Were and a Vampyre. When he tells her that she is to be the Vampyre bride in question Misery is determined to leave her father hanging, that is, until she hears the name of her groom.
Lowe Moreland is the new Alpha of the local Were pack. Not only that he may be her last hope to find her missing best friend Serena Paris who vanished without a trace.
After the wedding Misery goes to live with Lowe and his pack.. Their marriage is off to a rocky start but soon the two cannot deny the chemistry between them, and work together to solve the mystery of Serena’s disappearance, a mystery that may affect the relations between Valpyres, Weres and Humans forever.
Bride is Ali Hazelwood’s Paranormal Romance debut, full of the same wit and spice of her Contemporary Romance.

"Other people's approval is a powerful drug."

Thanks to NetGalley, Berkley and Ali Hazelwood for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Due to an arranged marriage, Misery finds herself in enemy territory. It’s a premise that calls us to it, a story that writes itself, and I’m so happy to say that I liked it. There was a lot I think I could have done without, and it took me forever, but it was more than worth the time I put into it.

Ali Hazelwood just gets better, and this was so unlike anything she’s written so far. It was captivating in its vulnerability simply because you have to search for it. Misery is a badass, she wants nothing but a future she creates. To find herself in a forced decision to be all but that, watching her grow into something new, and better, it was really something special.

Lowe was even better to get to know. I never really know what I’m going to get with a leading man in an Ali book, but this one surprised me. He was just like all the rest, but with a hint of vulnerability the rest didn’t possess. He’s selfless, much like all my favorite fictional leaders, and he’s loyal to a fault. He would give up everything for his people and the wife he didn’t expect to find such hope in. That, too, was special.

I never know what I’m going to get when I pick up an Ali Hazelwood book, but I love when they surprise me. I’m really starting to look forward to her releases simply because it’s exciting to find out what she’s going to do next.

Pick this up on February 6! I know I will be.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐ 5/5
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ 4/5

You guys! I loved this book! 🦇🥰🐺 This marriage of convenience had me at the edge of my seat from the moment when Misery and Lowe laid their eyes on one another. Their connection was EVERYTHING! I could not get enough of the tension and THE BANTER! The way they sarcastically called one another various terms of endearment had me giggling! And the way Lowe called her MY WIFE! 😍☠️🫠 *KICKS FEET AND SQUEALS*

Not only was this story a romance, but there was also a heavy dose of mystery throughout. I enjoyed watching Misery work alongside the Weres to solve the mystery behind her friend’s disappearance and was honestly surprised with each twist and turn. I did not see the ending coming! 🤯😱

I cannot recommend this book enough! I DESPERATELY hope that there will be a sequel to this story!! I need to see these characters again! 😍

Bride will be published on February 6, 2024.

Thank you to Berkley Romance (@berkleypub @berkleyromance) and NetGalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Ali, please forgive me for never having read your books before (but they all live on my shelves - waiting for the mood to strike). I'm so glad Bride was the first.

Perfect for your elder millennials who can never choose between vampires and werewolves - you gave us both. And we are not worthy.

Lowe is such a protector and I love him.

Misery is anything but miserable, I would love to see more of her friendship with Serena in the next one (please more).

Thanks to Berkley for this glorious opportunity.

what did Ali put in this book?? I COULD NOT PUT THIS SHIT DOWN. IT WAS AMAZING. HAD ME CRYING AND QUESTIONING MY EXISTENCE. I will never be loved like this and this is most definitely my all time favorite Ali Hazelwood book. Shout out to Berkeley for the e-pub. <3333

An arranged marriage between a funny Vampyre daughter of a councilman and the hotty leader of a Werewolf pack??? YA THIS BOOK ATE DOWN HARD!!!

This was by far my FAVORITE ALI HAZELWOOD BOOK OMG!!!

The tension? The SPICE???🩸

🧛❤️🐺🤤

I’m already planning my reread ok thanks

I’m not a monster romance girly so I was worried about this book, but I am most definitely an Ali Hazelwood girly and this book was just as incredible as her previous work (or may I say better? I swear they get better and better!)
The chemistry between the characters was amazing, they were lovable and hilarious, and the plot was very interesting and managed to shock me!

I shouldn’t have been so surprised but I adored this book, and if there’s not a spin off I will cry!

Misery Lark has been a vampyre living amongst humans for years. After being isolated from her family and others within her species, Misery's powerful father calls her home to tell her she is getting married. To keep an alliance with the werewolves, she will have to marry Lowe Moreland, a powerful alpha werewolf. Misery and Lowe marry, and as they get to know each other, they have to solve the mystery of her missing friend and who is trying to come after Lowe's sister.

This was an entertaining story! I was a little wary because paranormal romances aren't usually my thing. Sure, I am a Twilight fan, but my like for paranormal romance doesn't extend much beyond that. Ali Hazelwood has made a seamless transition into this subgenre and I'm interested to see what she has up her sleeve. I'm hoping with how the epilogue ended that she has more for us from this world.

This was a slow burn romance that exploded into fiery chemistry once Misery and Lowe finally began to explore their physical intimacy. That scene when Misery first fed on Lowe was HOT!!! And the sex scenes were definitely interesting and steamy. I can see the allure of paranormal romances - the sex scenes are unique and different from what we usually see. I was into it!

The HEA of this book was sweet. Misery finally found a place where she felt like she belonged and Lowe was living in bliss to be able to have her as a mate.

I'm so glad I picked this one up!

Steam level: 🔥🔥🔥

Thank you Netgalley and Berkley Romance for providing me with an e-ARC to review. All opinions are honest and my own.

TW: death due to childbirth complications (past), violence, death, murder, fighting mind compulsion, kindnapping, childhood neglect and trauma, parental neglect and emotional/mental abuse, daddy issues

Rep: twins,

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Ali Hazelwood does it again folks and I am not surprised. This book was a delight to read and I am sure many of us were curious to see how she would handle a paranormal romance (PNR), as she typically writes contemporary, STEM centric romances. I can say that she did not disappoint and if you enjoy Ali Hazelwood’s writing style, but are not typically a contemporary romance reader this may be the best way for you to explore her writing. Although, true to who she is, she found a way to make this book have an academic flair, explaining the vampyr and werewolf lore through scientific reasoning. I actually found her approach refreshing. Now, I was told this is an omegaverse romance, but as this is only my second omegaverse (here on out, omegie) story I cannot confirm or deny. So, as per usual, I will provide you with the omegie elements: humans, vampires, and werewolves, oh my; contentious and strained inter-species relationships, the mating bond is present, scenting (this was my personal fave!), knotting, wolf packs, the presence of alphas (betas and omegas were not mentioned), vampyrs drink blood, can go in the sunlight (but with consequence) and are nocturnal. Once again, let me know if I have missed anything. I am a novice.

So basically all the species hate each other, and the vampyrs are the most ruthless, even towards our own. So enter Misery Lark, our female protagonist, a vampyr who is constantly used by her people and has been basically estranged since childhood. I know people are used to Ali Hazelwood using the small, petite woman paired with a tall, burly, man, and while our male lead, Lowe, is large and looming, Misery is a tall woman coming in around five-foot nine or ten, she’s still slim, but she is not a petite woman. To bring a semblance of peace Misery, daughter of the unofficial head Vampyr, and Lowe, the leader of a prominent wolf-pack have an arranged marriage plan. Right of the back, I was eating this novel up, from Lowe’s reaction at the wedding to the tension and politics at play. Misery goes to live with the wolves, and well things unfold from there.

I’ve been begging for Ali Hazelwood to give us dual-pov books, because her male leads have actual decency and I would not mind being in their minds. She does not do that, however, she gives us epigraphs, which are told in third-person omniscient narration about Lowe. They gave us just enough insight about Lowe, while still remaining mysterious and nurturing tension. Something that also deviated from Hazelwood’s author adult romances was the introduction of a young child, Ana, who is a loveable and sweet six-year old girl. Ana really brought out a new side to both Lowe and Misery and it was phenomenal to see how she not only added to their characterization and plot progression, but was also a relatively fleshed out character on her own.

Misery is one of the characters you can’t help but root for. She has been taking advantage of and discarded her whole life, so when she finds pockets of happiness you want her to hold onto them. The complexities of her relationship with her twin brother, which is strained and layered, and her best friend, her sister, Serena, which she questions the integrity of really show you how multifaceted, hurt, and resilient she is. There was also a mystery sub-plot, which kept things interesting and tied together nicely. This book was a different feel from Hazelwood’s previous works, but was thoroughly enjoyable. There are a plethora of things I could cover, but I want to leave a few things for you to discover on your own if you have not read the book yet.

Dear Berkley Romance, please give Ali Hazelwood the greenlight to write more books in this world. You know what you’ve done allowing that ending to take place, please give us more!

P.S. Papa Lark is the WORST!

Bride is a WILD surprise of a novel.

Misery, vampyre daughter to a High Council power maker, has been called on to marry a were for peace. She has her own reasons for agreeing to marry alpha were Lowe, set on doing whatever she wants no matter where she currently lives. She's a vampyre on a mission living with the enemy. Lowe, Alpha were, has his own reasons for agreeing to the treaty. And while he instantly cannot stand Misery for certain reasons, he can't help but be intrigued by his new bride.

Bride MAY be my favorite Ali Hazelwood novel as of now. The Twilight ish references/nods had me laughing and there were some definite swoon worthy scenes. Therese Plummer and Will Damron KILLED the narration and once I finally sat down to listen, I couldn't stop. Thank God for the snowstorm.

Thank you Berkley Romance and PRH audio for the alc and earc in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

I had a whole lot of fun while reading Bride by Ali Hazelwood. This is actually my first read by this author and I really hope she continues to write in this universe because this world was incredibly engaging and entertaining.

To maintain the shaky alliance between the Vampyre and Weres, Misery Lark (daughter of a prominent Vampyre councilman) agrees to marry the Were Alpha, Lowe Moreland. The two sworn enemies are thrust into married life but Misery has her own reasons for wanting access to Were territory. Her human best friend has gone missing, and Misery believes Lowe might be the key to finding her.

This book is swimming with all my favorite tropes; mortal enemies to lovers, marriage of convenience, forced proximity, and fated mates to name a few. I eat all of these up on a normal day, but throw in a centuries old Vampyre and Werewolf feud and I am completely smitten. The tension between Misery and Lowe was palpable from their first meeting and I loved watching their relationship evolve from reluctant peacekeepers to romantic partners. I also thought all of the side characters were as richly developed as the leads and I hope we get to hear more about them in the future.

I’ve read a lot of paranormal romance, but Ali Hazelwood made use of a few interesting elements of Werewolf and Vampyre lore that I’ve never seen done before. She made this world building her own and I loved discovering the details and limits of these supernatural species. It often served for smart, witty dialogue between characters and made for some surprising yet sexy spicy scenes!

Thank you to Berkley Romance and NetGalley for providing me with this digital ARC. Bride comes out on 2/6!

2.5 rounded up. Hazelwood’s foray into paranormal romance still has the same formula as her previous books, albeit less intensity of the hate to love trope. Misery is a quirky, nerdy vampire that has been used as Collateral (a hostage) in the volatile existence between Vampires, Weres, and Humans. She is married to a Were alpha to appease their alliances somehow. There was some attempt to worldbuild but the attempt fell short for me; they all felt like humans with some peculiar traits so I didn’t really get why they all hated each other so much. The romance develops at a steady pace and Hazelwood did not hold herself back from including a particular werewolf sex trope (lol). All in all, it’s an okay paranormal romance. It was a tad boring and the characters didn’t feel particularly developed beyond predictable tropes.

(4.5 ⭐️) As a certified Ali Hazelwood stan™️, occasional omegaverse lover (I have no shame), and former Wattpad/AO3 girlie, this book was always going to be for me no ifs, ands, or buts about it. I’m an absolute sucker for paranormal romance and this took so many tried and true tropes from the genre and just elevated them: marriage of convenience, forbidden love, mates, feeding and knotting 👀…it did it all and did it SO well.

The characters were, of course, incredibly charming. While in our main character Misery’s head, we get such a fun fish out of water experience as a vampire adapting to living with werewolves. Her mix of naïveté and stubbornness makes her inner dialogue so funny and just really endears you to her. On the flip side, Lowe’s self-consciousness and broodiness added a good dose of angst to the story. (The little snippet at the beginning of each chapter with his thoughts was such a good addition!!) And there was, you know, the whole slow burn sexual tension “I wanna bite you” thing going on too…

My only real qualm with the story was the third act conflict that, I’m not gonna lie, pissed me off a bit. After that whole mess, I felt like Lowe needed to grovel a bit more but I guess Misery’s just better than me.

I just have to say, this was Ali Hazelwood in her former AO3 writer BAG and I really hope she writes more paranormal romances because her writing style really shined here.

***I received an advanced review copy from Berkley Publishing for free and am leaving an honest review***

I absolutely loved Bride by Ali Hazelwood!!! I was beyond excited when I heard Ali was publishing a paranormal romance. This gave me all the nostalgic feelings from Twilight. Arranged marriage, vampires, werewolves, fated mates, literally what more could you want.

Lowe and Misery have such a fun dynamic. Lowe is obviously in love with Misery, but poor Misery has no idea. It's just perfection. I loved the twist at the end too and how Misery realized more people cared about her than she realized.

I’ve loved Ali’s STEMinist stories since the beginning, and I was so excited to see her venture into a fantasy world! I did really enjoy this book. It felt a bit slower than some of her other books, but I think the pacing fit the serious tone of the story. This, in combination with “The Fake Mate” by Lana Ferguson put me in an omegaverse reading spiral and honestly, these two titles were my favorite!
I’m still partial to her contemporary, but I’m looking forward to more fantasy from Ali.

Bride by Ali Hazelwood
Narrator: Therese Plummer, Will Damron
Rating: 4.5 stars
Steam: 3 chilis
Pub date: 2/6

Misery is accustomed to being used by her Vampyre family. As a child, she was sent to live with the Humans as a bargaining chip for keeping the peace between the two species. As an adult, she’s married off to the Were Alpha, Lowe, for the same reason. Weres are known to be violent and unpredictable, so Misery plans to stay out of the Alpha’s way. This plan suits her just fine because she’s ventured into enemy territory for her own reasons that could get her into trouble if he finds out.

I’m so excited that Ali Hazelwood decided to branch out into paranormal romance! This book was full of forbidden romance, fated mates, assassination attempts, a missing person mystery, found family, and the cutest seven-year-old ever.

Misery is a fun, sarcastic, and strong-willed Vampyre who has spent her life in enemy territory and survived. Watching her lower her defenses and allow herself to become part of a family was delightful. And Lowe is the ideal Alpha. He’s tough but fair and always looking out for everyone else’s needs. I loved how he let down his guard around Misery and showed his softer side.

This is much steamier than Hazelwood’s other novels, and I am here for it! And the pining was perfection! Even though this is told from Misery’s POV, we get glimpses into Lowe’s thoughts at the beginning of each chapter that tell us exactly how he’s feeling.

I listened to this on audio, and Therese Plummer did an amazing job with the narration. I highly recommend the audio to anyone who’s thinking of checking this one out.

Overall, just a fun, spicy, paranormal romance with great characters and world-building. I’m super excited for the next book in the series, especially since the couple for the next book is revealed in this one! Thank you so much to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing for my advanced copy and PRH for my complimentary audiobook. Bride will be available on 2/6.

Read if you like:
*fated mates
*shifter romance
*urban fantasy
*found family
*arranged marriage
*forbidden love

3.5 Stars
I really enjoyed reading from Misery's perspective - she's a lot of fun to follow but she can be a bit naive (it wasn't hard to figure out a big plot point from the beginning but she somehow didn't until the last few chapters). This was spicier than I was expecting (he's a were so IYKYK) but I didn't hate it and it definitely read as an Ali Hazelwood book. I adored all the side characters as well as they were all a lot of fun to follow (I loved Ana, she's adorable) but I didn't love how this ended and found the conflict to be underwhelming.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for the ARC!

In Bride by Ali Hazelwood, Misery Lark, a vampyre, is thrust into a political marriage with Lowe Moreland, the Alpha of the Weres, to maintain a peacekeeping alliance. Misery navigates this uneasy alliance with her own hidden agenda, determined to reclaim something precious to her, even if it means living in the hostile territory of her mortal enemies.

Ali Hazelwood’s Bride marks an exciting shift to a new genre: paranormal romance. Moving away from her usual style, I was pleasantly surprised that she tried something a bit different. There was an element of mystery in the beginning that intrigued me. I found the subplots to be more interesting than Misery and Lowe’s romantic involvement. The steamy scenes were definitely a plus, but I just couldn’t see Misery and Lowe as a long-term couple. The pacing was a bit off in this book where some scenes dragged out and other scenes were action-packed and kept me engaged. I really liked the way that all the characters were fleshed out. It also made complete sense that this was told through Misery’s POV. The world building was a bit tedious at times and wasn’t necessary since this was more of paranormal romance. I also felt that the third act breakup didn’t make much sense and it wasn’t explained how it was really resolved. It honestly made like Lowe less. Overall, I thought this was a great first attempt into paranormal romance for Ali and can’t wait to see her explore this genre more!

First of all thank you for this early copy! I have seen a lot of great reviews for it so far because it’s not a normal Hazelwood book. But it was so good! I loved all the characters and their development. Would highly recommend!

Taking a break from your previous STEM based romances, Hazelwood has jumped in the paranormal romance genre with this vampyre/werewolf political marriage/romance.
And it was wonderful.
MC, Vampyre Misery is amazing. Used as collateral for most of her young life, she viewed as a less than a proper vampyre, as she wasn't raised among her kind, doesn't fit in with the humans and certainly isn't a werewolf. The only place she fits is with her bestie, her human companion from her collateral days.
When her father proposes using her again, but this time as collateral for the wolves, as a yearlong bride, she initially says no, but when she hears his she changes her mind, as he may be involved in her friends disappearance.
Lowe, alpha of the werewolf pack, wants to change the way things are run. Less death, more diplomacy. Easier said than done.

Altogether a fun cast of characters, Lowe's little sister won over Misery's heart and mine!

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.