Ali Hazelwood does it again. This might be the best book she has written so far. It was so good. Found family, angst, forbidden mate, and having to work together in the midst of sexual tension???? Sensational

Vampires ✔
Werewolves ✔
Marriage of convenience ✔

Misery's life has been spent at the whim of others, so it's no huge surprise that her father is once again manipulating her, this time into a marriage of alliance with the Weres. At least this time the manipulation works for her own personal needs, as she's been searching for her missing best friend, and the trail leads right to the pack she's to live with.

After living with humans for most of her life, Misery doesn't really feel like she fits in with anywhere, including with her own kind, so living with the Weres shouldn't be much different, though it will be a little more dangerous. What she didn't count on was a growing attraction to her Were alpha husband Lowe. And he certainly didn't see her coming either.

This venture out of the STEM contemporary romance realm into a fantasy world was an enjoyable change from other books from Hazelwood. The world-building was well done, and the politics between the different groups was easy to follow. However, the sex descriptions on the part of the Weres was a little awkward and off-putting and didn't really add much to the story. Maybe that works for some readers, but wasn't for me.

This was much more enjoyable for me than the last couple of STEM books that seemed to be copies of the same storylines, while still involving some technology and showing the power of smart women. I would love to see more worlds/stories of this nature in the future.

I thought that I would love this book because it’s sexy, but what I really loved is the found family! Mates. Shifters. 🪢 (if you know, you know).
I am Misery and she is me!

Misery Lark may be the only daughter of a powerful Vampyre councilman, but she's spent most of her life trying to fly under the radar. She's spent years living amongst the humans, trying to blend in, until she's called upon to help broker peacekeeping ties between the Vampyres and their nemesis, the Weres. Unable to do anything but submit to her father's demands, Misery finds herself married to Lowe Moreland, the Alpha of the Southwest Weres. But Lowe isn't the ruthless, brutal wolf Misery expected. Unlike her father, Lowe rules with fairness, not fear, and despite the lack of trust, neither can deny there's a pull between them. But Misery has her reasons for agreeing to this marriage, and she can't let the growing attraction towards her new husband distract her from her goal of finding out what happened to the only person Misery has ever cared about.

Listen... I'm a fan of Hazelwood's, but what the heck did I just read? When I read the premise, I knew it would be unhinged, but good grief. It was like a bonkers Tumblr Renesmee and Jacob fanfiction. There's barely any world-building, so there's no clear sense of what's going on or why there's such conflict between these supernatural beings. The characters are one-dimensional, at best. The romance was so cringey. We can all agree that Hazelwood's writing can be corny when it comes to the steamy scenes, but I was squirming with how uncomfortable they were here. I thought the plot would save it, but no. It was all over the place and left me going, "WHAT?!" on more than one occasion. It's one of those books where you have to go in not taking it seriously and just give in to the camp factor. I applaud Hazelwood for stepping out of the box, but it didn't work for me.

Read this if you like:
•protective males
•”my wife”
•romantasy
•forced proximity
•fake marriage

I already enjoy Ali’s romance books so was very intrigued to pickup one about a vampire and werewolf! I loved the depth of this book with the tension between vampires, werewolves and humans. I loved seeing Lowe as a pseudo dad for his sister. I loved Misery and her sass. This is 🪢 one you want to miss. 4.5⭐️s from me! I hope there will be a second book!

Thank you Berkley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

FANTASTIC!!! I have loved everything that Ali Hazelwood has written, and this was no exception!! Can't wait to buy my copy when it comes out!

Let me just say that there was so much intrigue when I saw Ali was going to be releasing a paranormal romance! With it being my absolute jam, I couldn't wait to see Ali's spin on the PNR world and even though slow burns aren't usually my thing, it always tends to work for me in a paranormal setting.

I'd say this wasn't too bad for Ali's first PNR, with vampires and shifters being my favorite to read about. I kept my expectations low and just wanted to see what Ali was going to do with this world. However, when it comes to Misery, there's just this overall tone that is just downright sad. She's been used as collateral damage her entire life, so it's quite easy to understand why she is the way she is. Throw in the MMC that is of a different species and just treats her like she's the worst thing to be around. I found it a little tough to come around to Lowe since we don't have his POV. I will see if you're a fan of Ali's books, her go-to "grump" characters is well intact with this one.

Overall, I thought it was an okay read, it felt a little surface level, so you're not going in too deep in all matters of this story. Towards the end when we're getting so couple interaction, there was a certain elemen that I didn't really care for. I know it's extremely popular on various social media platforms, so it didn't really fit for me with this story.

I liked this one and I'd definitely pick up another one from this world.

i am obsessed with this book! this is one of my faves by her. i loved the paranormal romance between misery and lowe. it was so entertaining and misery is hilarious i found myself cackling most of the book. the spice was *chefs kiss*. i highly recommend this book, ali hazelwood never disappoints!

It really does break my heart to not love this one. I have loved everything else she has written, but this one was… a huge miss.

There was little to no romance for 65% of the book, then it was full force and also her spiciest book yet. And a lot of it was really uncomfortable. I could not stand any of the romance in this book.

It’s like the book couldn’t figure out if it was a fantasy or a mystery. And it’s an urban fantasy at that. Modern technology with vampires and werewolves and a missing persons case. The plot just didn’t make sense to me, or flow. It felt like a bunch of thoughts put together.

I am used to her hilarious stories and characters, and this book was very serious and the FMC was a robot. She had no personality or opinions.

It felt like a knock off of crescent city to be honest. 😬

I feel bad that this was such a miss for me, but I wish I would have known all of this before reading it!

The feminist side of me is ridiculously embarrassed and angry for this book.

I hope the finished copies have a content warning at the beginning of the book.

As an Ali Hazelwood fan, I was disappointed by this one. The fantasy world I found confusing, and so it was difficult for me to enjoy. DNF at 60%

I read a lot of fantasy. I also read a lot of Ali Hazelwood. And this book was a bit of a struggle for me. I enjoyed the classic Hazelwood humor, and I enjoyed that she changed it up from the academia setting . I actually really enjoyed Miserys character, but while Lowe was romantic, I never really felt connected to him as a character. Also, I felt like the "mate" section was so, so obvious that the constant confusion from misery got annoying and repetitive very quickly. Ana was freaking adorable, but the info dumps were very long and slooooow.

I loved Ali Hazelwood's other books and was hoping this would be similar, however the shift from her settings in other books to fantasy just threw off the vibe for me. I still love the strong female protagonist, I think the major shift was just too much for me.

I won't lie, I was scared of this book a little bit. I loooove Ali but due to previous experiences, when an author switches genres it makes me super nervous. NOT THIS ONE THOUGH! I ATE THIS UP.

One thing Ali will always do so well is dialogue. I love the way she writes the interactions between her characters more and more with every book. I thought that Bride was a pleasant surprise and a strong start into a genre we don't see from Ali and I hope we see more in the future.

Love that Ali Hazelwood is stepping into paranormal romance! I wasn't sold on the relationship between the two leads, but overall I liked it and am hopeful for more books in this world. Hazelwood's writing is so bingable, I will never turn it down!

An absolute romp filled with vampires, werewovles, and even a fun little mystery. Hazelwood did what she did best by bringing us some nerdy MCs and laughter, with what I would argue is the most heat she's written in her romances so far. If you've liked her other books, you'll like this one too.

This was a surprise! I expected one kind
Of story and was pleasantly surprised at how fast I breezed through this nov. a little dark, a lot sexy and with amazing character development. I definitely recommend!

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 5/5 stars

Just when I thought my Fantasy reading days were behind me, Bride comes along and makes me OBSESSED. Ali Hazelwood steps way out of her comfort zone and I absolutely loved it. This marriage-of-convenience romance has all the world-building, all the action, all the banter, and all the swoons.

I could not stop reading this book. Lowe and Misery were so fun together. This really does feel like a romcom set in a Fantasy world where the world-building never slows the pace or gets frustratingly complicated. I will happily read as many books set in this world as possible!

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for providing a DRC of this title.

Despite their unconventional start as an arranged marriage, Vampyre Misery and Alpha Werewolf Lowe find themselves becoming friends and maybe something more… But when mysterious events begin happening that threaten to jeopardize vampires’ and werewolves’ tentative truce, Misery and Lowe must get to the bottom of these events and determine if what they have is built to last.

Wow, Bride was so much fun! All of the charm you’d expect from an Ali Hazelwood romance with a fun new paranormal twist, I think this one will appeal to a broad romance readership. 5 stars, and I’m really hoping for more books in this series!

This was the first Ali Hazelwood book I’ve read and, to be honest, it’s what I expected based on reviews of some of her other books.

This is the story of the unfortunately named Misery whose life has never been her own. Since she was a child, the vampire has been used as political pawn between her people and humans, as well as her people and werewolves. Meanwhile the Alpha werewolf, Lowe, is working to root out dangers in his own pack. They both try to resist the pull of the other when they’re forced into an arranged marriage, but they can’t stop the inevitable conclusion.

This story seemed to suffer from an identity crisis to me. It is deadly serious at points, but then completely changes tone with snarky comments from one of the characters. That detracted from the dramatic tension that was supposed to be building. There was also a secondary storyline regarding Misery and her best friend. I thought that was going to be the main story based on how the book began, but it quickly became secondary. The storyline popped up at points throughout the rest of the book, but it was random and had a tacked on feel for me.

The sex scenes, while intense, read like a teenager’s fantasy. I felt like there was no real connection between the characters during the inevitable sex scenes and the author stumbled through them with overused dialogue and descriptions of the act itself. I thought it was written as a teenager’s first stab at an erotic story.

This book started out strong, but then seemed to lose its way. This was an easy middle of the road fantasy romance for me.

Do not start reading this book if you have responsibilities that require immediate attention because, once you start reading, time will lose all meaning. This is a novel to devour. This is not hyperbole, I swear. Do whatever you have to do to carve out a half-dozen-ish hours to read Bride uninterrupted—send your kids to their bestie's/dad's/auntie's house, ignore the dishes and laundry, call in sick to work, hire a dogwalker, run away to an off-the-grid cabin—whatever it takes so you don't have to put this book down until you've read the final page...at which point you *might* throw the book across the room, shake your fist, and shout, "Damn you, Ali Hazelwood, now I have to wait for an effing sequel?!" (Full disclosure: I will organize a riot if there isn't a sequel.)

So basically, this is a five-star read for me. I'm honestly still a little bit book-drunk and fully incapable of not gushing. I can't think of anything I don't love about this novel. I love the premise and the plot development and the smutty scenes and the twist. I love Misery, her snark and resilience and the way she grows into herself where she least expected she could. I love Lowe in all his ethical Alpha glory. I love all the ways they grew together, and was fully invested in their relationship from the moment Lowe caught her scent and I knew, I just knew, she was it for him. But I also love how carefully Hazelwood has drawn Misery's non-romantic relationships and how, through all of them, she explores themes of loyalty, otherness, and belonging.

Gush, gush, gush, gush, gush. This is one of those books that I may never stop talking about. Hazelton's best novel yet, hands down.