I really enjoyed this one. I have a habit of not finishing romances, but I read this one through to the end.

There were really cute and funny parts to this book, but I didn't really enjoy it overall. It had a lot of potential and the plot seemed really interesting, but it didn't feel like a lot happens in this book. The "suspense" of Misery searching for her best friend also just didn't make a lot of sense and I found myself bored for most of the book.

The romance felt a little forced and they just didn't have a lot of chemistry outside of a few heated moments. I love everything else from this author, but unfortunately, this one is not for me.

This book was perfect for twilight fans and was such a unique and well-done fantasy romance. This is my favorite by her!

I really loved this. I have never read a Ali Hazelwood book before but I am going to have to change that after reading this one. All the characters were great and the story was so unique.

Another homerun for Ali Hazelwood. I loved this book. The chemistry between Misery and Lowe is s magnetic I couldn't put the book down. Ali is such a talented storyteller. Highly recommend!

The copy was kindly given to me by publisher and Netgalley for review; all opinions are my own.

All the stars! I don't even care if this wasn't Hazelwood's best book, it gets all the stars. When one of my favorite romance authors goes and writes a paranormal romance... say less, just hand it over. None the less, I couldn't put this book down! I loved our FMC, she was feisty and funny. The tension between the two main characters as they break down the walls of their species prejudice and stereotypes. I don't think we even need to bring up about the spice and the nod to traditional werewolf lore (cough...cough), if anything I wish we had more time with these characters but can't wait to see if/how she continues on this companion series

This book was so enthralling, and I really enjoyed myself!

Misery Lark (what a romance heroine name!!), is the daughter of a powerful Vampyre councilman. He has used her time and again, throughout her life, to further the Vampyre cause, in whatever way necessary. Due to this, she's been living her life in the human world, and hiding her true self. This time when her father comes calling, he expects her to marry the local Were alpha, in order to secure a truce between their species. But, it turns out that this time, she has needs of her own, and a mystery she needs to solve, and she thinks this marriage of convenience will help her do that. So she agrees.

Lowe Moreland is the alpha of his region, and he takes the protection of his pack extremely seriously. So much so, that he's willing to marry the enemy to keep everyone safe. But his marriage of convenience becomes something totally unexpected, and he can't help but wonder if Misery isn't really an enemy after all.

This book is entirely from Misery's POV, and she is terrible at understanding, displaying, and recognizing emotions, so as the reader you understand things that are happening around her, and to her, long before she does. This was sometimes frustrating, but often entertaining. She and Lowe clearly had a connection from the start, and she was so thrilled at the idea that they could actually be friends, instead of enemies living in the same house.

Lowe's little sister Ana was hilarious, and she took to Misery right away. Misery didn't understand exactly how her feelings for and about the girl were changing, until she couldn't resist falling in love with her, even before she fell in love with Lowe. I loved watching her bond with the little girl and begin to feel as protective of her as the Weres did.

Because of who Misery was, and how her relationship with Lowe began, this was an EXTREMELY slow burn. Also, with the single POV it was sometimes frustrating waiting for Lowe to open up even one tiny inch about his real thoughts and feelings to Misery. That sometimes felt like it went on for too long, even though the reader mostly knew or inferred things already.

Overall I really enjoyed this story. Once they finally got together, it was hot, and fun, and I wanted more! I really hope the setup in the epilogue results in a second book, because I'd love to read it!

When I heard Ali Hazelwood had an omegaverse book coming out, I was skeptical. I love her romcoms so much and had never read an omegaverse before so I was scared.
I knew better than to doubt Ms. Hazelwood. This book was mindboggling good and I was obsessed with all of it. Misery and Lowe were such good characters and their chemistry was off the charts. I wish more than anything we got more from Lowe's point of view but I loved the snippets we got.

This is the book that made Ali Hazelwood an instabuy author for me. Whatever she put in this book, she needs to keep putting in everything she writes. This reminded me of classic paranormal romance books in all of the best ways! Also!! Knotting! She went there! I respect it.

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

I’m a little backlogged with my ARC’s but working diligently to get caught up. I really liked the concept of this story! It’s about a father that arranges his vampire daughter’s marriage to an alpha werewolf in hopes of making a peace treaty. It’s got a few twist and some light spice, nothing too naughty. I would let my 17 year old daughter read it and I’m sure she would absolutely love it! If you’re into magical, fantasy, and forbidden love, give this book a try!

Full transparency here: I was not planning to read BRIDE. When I first heard about, I made the executive decision to skip it because fantasy and paranormal romance is 100% not my thing.

As many of you know, I entered my fantasy era last fall, and while I was still skeptical of this book, I was inching closer and closer to giving it a go. Ali Hazelwood and I have a complicated relationship — I thought THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS was cute but nothing life-changing, did NOT like LOVE ON THE BRAIN or her STEM novellas, but thought both of her 2023 releases (LOVE, THEORETICALLY and CHECK AND MATE) were cute. When this eARC landed in my inbox (a huge ty to @berkleyromance!), I decided to save it for my February romance binge (occurring rn).

Misery, the only daughter of one of the most powerful Vampyre councilmen finds herself an outcast after she’s been called back from her Human life to uphold a historic peacekeeping alliance between the Vampyres and the Weres. As Misery and Lowe, the Alpha Were embark on their marriage of convenience, they discover that they have more chemistry than they thought possible.

Onto what I liked — Misery and Lowe might be Hazelwood’s most likable couple. I honestly think writing things like this is where Hazelwood seems to feel most comfortable — it’s probably her weirdest and boldest book yet. While there was some world-building, it wasn’t too intense, so fantasy newbies won’t struggle in this aspect.

There were some things in here that are ever-present in Hazelwood’s work that I don’t love. As the book progressed, I found myself losing interest in the political alliance plot line, but I think that might vary depending on the reader. Elements of this were super cheesy (I am begging her to STOP it with the galaxy print t-shirts and leggings and the Vampyre spelling truly was grating on the nerves), but I was ultimately able to look past them.

BRIDE is available now. Tbh, I’d give it a shot even if you’re skeptical — I was pleasantly surprised by it! (Especially because Misery is not a tiny little waif who is in love with a BIG STRONG MAN — it’s called growth BABY!)

Ali Hazelwood can do no wrong in my eyes! This was such a wonderful slow burn romance, full of banter and humour which is exactly what I enjoy! Lowe is a cinnamon roll who needs to be protected at all costs. Don't even get me started on the spice and the quotability of this one! Ooft. Loved it!

Bride was the first book I've read by Ali Hazelwood, and in hindsight, I probably should have read another one of her books first. Now, I'm not saying that because I didn't enjoy this book, I did; however, most of the time reading it I felt like I kept asking myself what in the world am I reading?

Overall, I liked the plot and the idea of the three species; Human, Vampyre, and Weres. I thought the relationship between Misery and Lowe was well-done, and Hazelwood did a great job really describing the worlds, their customs, and so forth. I though the twist at the end was well done. It's a good book, IF you're into paranormal romance and are cool with interspecies relationships. There is some strong steam here too.

Basically, I wish I had started with one of her STEM romance books before diving in headfirst with this. It's a good book, I enjoyed it, but still feel a bit "what did I just read..."

4 stars (I know - this was the most chaotic review ever. I did truly like it, even though at times it may not seem like I did!
Thank you, Berkley Publishing, and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was so fun. I didn't expect to like this book so much! Lowe and Misery were great characters and their connection actually felt natural. There was humor and spice and it was overall just an enjoyable read.

The development in their relationship wasn't abrupt and I actually love how they bickered more and more as the story progressed. The banter was so funny and I loved how Misery was so sassy, just like I loved how Lowe was so cute with his technologically illiterate struggles despite being an Alpha. I also really liked the sentences that we get before each chapter that kind of showed how Lowe was feeling.

The thing I liked the most about this story was the casual and unhidden affection that grew between them and how Lowe was not afraid to show it. I just wish we got to see more of the side characters, especially more of how Misery interacted with the Weres. I would have loved to see more of how she would fit in with them. But for the most part, Lowe and Misery were very strong and likeable characters and they were so funny together. This book is just missing a little bit of a shock factor since there were many predictable things, especially towards the end. I also didn't love how Misery and (mostly) Lowe handled the conflict and I definitely think there needed to be more groveling. Despite all this, this is a quick read and I ended up liking it more than I would have ever expected!

I thought this was really well written and I look forward to reading more from this author in the future. I think it will find readers at our library, so we will definitely be purchasing for the collection.

Bride by Ali Hazelwood

I really enjoy Ali Hazelwood's books, but I will admit that this genre shift didn't work for me very well. I know I'm in the minority here, which is why I will absolutely be recommending this book to my patrons, but it was a bit too dark for me personally. I also didn't like the heroine, Misery (what a terrible name). She's lacking in intelligence and is not a very interesting character. I would have liked more world building, too. There's little to no explanation for how things work, and I feel like the fact that the characters are vampyres and werewolves has little importance to the story. This whole story could have happened between any opposing groups of people. I didn't feel immersed in the story, and descriptions of people and places were very bland. I got some major Twilight vibes, too. Lowe really hates how Misery smells. lol. He's broody, an artist, is obsessed with her and she barely cares at first, he growls... sounds like Edward to me. All in all, I'm disappointed and will be sticking to Ali's contemporaries from here on out.

I really don’t have much to say about this one aside from I LOVED IT. It’s Ali Hazelwood so it’s a given that I would but this also had all of my favourite tropes- that worked so well within the plot, a sassy hilarious heroine I adore, and I just really loved the way everything unfolded.

Maybe my favorite of Ali Hazelwood’s books. It’s just so fun and escapist—reminds me of the paranormal romance craze in the 2000s.

My favorite read of 2024 so far. I'm an Ali girl through and through and she never disappoints. Vampyres and werewolves are so back!!

Hazlewood cannot write characters that I don't love, it is just impossible. Lovers of traditional romance, and fantasy romance will both love this book. Seriously from 80% on I COULD NOT PHYSICALLY PUT IT DOWN!!! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.