wow this was absolutely fantastic, Ali does a wonderful job at Omegaverse and it was such a fun read that I couldnt put it down.

i feel like all my friends who also loved this one, were all by my side here on goodreads, back in the early 2010s, reading all the paranormal romances known to man (or that our moms kept on their bookshelves). the nostalgia for books like riley jenson, black dagger brotherhood, kate daniels were so very felt. yet, this book completely stands on its own and is a really good book that i highly recommend.

and this book had so many of my favorite paranormal romance trope sets – forbidden romance, bonded fated mates, and of course a marriage of convenience between our two main characters:

➛ misery – vampyre who has been living amongst humans her whole life, but finds herself as the key component in an alliance that will keep the peace with her people, while also having her own human inspired agenda for this forced arrangement.

➛ lowe – werewolf alpha who is still asserting his new dominance over his people, while also trying to assess who he can trust or not, while also being an amazing caretaker for his little sister.

“I would take anything she chose to give me—the tiniest fraction or her entire world. I would take her for a single night knowing that I’ll lose her by morning, and I would hold on to her and never let go. I would take her healthy, or sick, or tired, or angry, or strong, and it would be my fucking privilege. I would take her problems, her gifts, her moods, her passions, her jokes, her body—I would take every last thing, if she chose to give it to me.”

and they had me truly rooting for them, unable to put this book down, after the very first scene of them together. but this also has a pretty big mystery plotline that took me by surprise, and also completely enthralled me. and ultimately this had such a big emphasis on found family and finding your own pack of people you love and trust unconditionally that i feel like i just ended up loving the entire cast of side characters too.

let’s just embrace the bullet points and quickly talk about other things i really loved:
➛ obviously vampires and werewolves
➛ arranged marriage but forbidden romance
➛ one bed scene(s)
➛ the cutest little sibling ever
➛ the sweetest brother and sister relationship x2
➛ and also a really heartwarming found family / best friend relationship
⤷ It was truly giving bryce and danika but better
➛ a big appreciation of peanut butter
➛ an amazing epilogue that will hopefully set up a book two in this world

i will say that there was a very unnecessary and annoying third act conflict that just didn’t make sense to me (and made me side eye lowe a little), but i still really enjoyed this one and it was such a fast paced read that really tugged at my heartstrings in all the found family ways. i think i just really like ali hazlewood’s stories, and i always end up connecting with them on some level, and that just enhances my reading experience each and every time. i recommend this to all my romance friends, but i extra recommend it to all my pnr friends who want a little extra nostalgia on top of a really good story.

lastly, and least importantly, if i ever dated anyone named misery, i feel like i would have to send hayley williams or paramore royalties. because the way misery business was living in my head rent free while reading this was actually insane.

content warnings from the author (please use caution for potential spoilers): death of several people within the context of a war between different species (vampires, werewolves, and humans) is mentioned, several mentions of blood, kidnapping, mild violence, poisoning and attempted murder, attempted kidnapping/harming of a child (she is unharmed), death of a parent (off page in the past and off page in the present), explicit and graphic sexual content, knotting (the mmc’s apparatus is not quite human?), cursing and vulgar language

other trigger + content warnings i found while reading (ali’s books really do have such good tws – i am always so thankful and impressed): missing friend, mention of sickness of child (she is fine), spider mentions, brief mention of death during childbirth, brief mention of loss of a partner in past, mention of vomit, parental abuse and neglect, and violence

I was a little hesitant to read this book, only because I was not a big fan of The Love Hypothesis and I have seen excerpts from her other novels. Just the way the author writes her FMCs as these oblivious and "quirky" women just irks me. Like she is apparently the most beautiful women theses people have ever seen but she doesn't think so because she wears t-shirts with owls on them or whatever??

However, this was an entertaining read and the mystery element kept me going. I did like Lowe's and Ana's relationship and thought it was just so cute and wish we got to see more of Ana.

Thank you so much to Berkley and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for a review!

If you love a quirky FMC and a muscle MMC obsessed with the FMC, and one is a vampire and the other is a werewolf, this book is for you. Give me a book with an obsessed MMC any day of the week, anytime I will stop what I'm doing to read it, and yes this did take over my life for the two days it took me to devour this book. I could not get enough. Ali Hazlewood's books have a perfect vibe. They are always a fun time. I can't wait for the next one.

Bride by Ali Hazelwood
Adult Paranormal Romance / DNF’d at 107 Pages / Pre-2024 Review Copy

I think it’s time I accepted that Ali Hazelwood is not for me. I DNF’d The Love Hypothesis a few years ago, found Stuck With You mediocre and only pushed through to the end because it was so short, and have now DNF’d Bride. There was nothing wrong with it per se, I was just bored and didn’t care about either the characters or the plot enough to read another 300+ pages. Thanks to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for the ARC.

This book was very fun. I honestly didn’t know what to expect when I heard Ali Hazelwood was writing a paranormal romance between a vampire and a werewolf but I was excited for it nonetheless. What we did get is Ali’s funny quirky writing and characters in a fantasy setting and it was good! The tension between Lowe and Misery is very good. I loved getting to see the interactions between Misery and Lowe's little sister Ana she was so cute. This book, especially In the beginning, focused more on the plot than the romance which I wasn’t expecting but really liked because we got a developed plot which I think is important in a fantasy/paranormal compared to a contemporary romance. You can definitely tell this was written by Ali Hazelwood it has her typical miscommunication/hiding of feelings between the main characters which some people might dislike but for me it works every time. I will say Lowe’s refusal to admit his feelings and communicate with Misery near the end really did bother me.

I am a huge Ali Hazelwood fan. If she writes it, I'm reading it. However, I was so skeptical on this one because paranormal romance is not generally my vibe. I was so pleasantly surprised! It was so good.

Misery was still our STEM FMC that Ali loves to provide us with. She's beautiful, she's funny and most importantly she's a vampyre.

Lowe is the Were Alpha. He's loyal, handsome and he's willing to do anything to keep his pack safe.

As someone who doesn't read this genre often this felt like the perfect gateway! The world building is minimal and gives the basics of the different species. The banter is so funny between Misery/Lowe and Misery and literally all the characters.

Highly recommend giving it a chance and maybe you'll join me in liking it more than you expected!

“There might be pleasure in that too. The satisfaction of knowing something beautiful exists.”

3.75 / 5 ✨

Thank you to netgalley and Berkley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

While I enjoyed this book in many aspects there were also a few major flaws that kept emerging, in my opinion. As always Ali Hazelwood is a great writer. She paints imagery beautifully and really knows how to weave a wonderful story. This book differs to her other books in that fact that it is her first dive into fantasy. When i heard she was writing a book about vampires and werewolves, i couldn’t wait to get my hands on it.

The action and overall storyline was captivating and draws you in. I loved the idea of rival species coming together in unpredictable ways. The fantasy was easy to follow and captivating, surprising me coming from a first time fantasy writer/ long time romance writer. However, for the first time in a Ali Hazelwood novel, the romance fell flat for me. I didn’t feel the chemistry between the two main characters until the last part of the novel. While the sex scenes were informative and unlike anything i’ve ever read before, this also resulted in them being very mechanical, making it hard to get drawn into the moment.

Some of the twists were much too predictable but i did appreciate the aspect of found family and of the friendship in this novel. i loved the idea of love in ways other than just romantic. Overall, i found this book entertaining and well written and while it was far from perfect i definitely think it is worth the read.

“This won’t end well, but so few things do. Why deny ourselves?”

🎧Song Pairing: Wedding Plans - Howard Shore (yeaaah this is from Eclipse)

💭What I thought would happen:

Well I don’t love vampires nor werewolves so colour me curious when Booksta is losing its Count Chocula Puffs… kind of thought it was a bride vampire with a pet wolf 😂 not marrying a wolf

📖What actually happens:

Misery is getting married. Never met the man and oh he’s a werewolf. She’s a vampire…kind of mortal enemies. Except hello her new wolfy hubs is hawt. When Lowe sniffs her be can’t believe what he is smelling…could she be?!

🗯Thoughts/sassy musings:

To quote my husband… “picante!” Jamie likes to refer to spicy things by yelling picante. Aka yeahhh she got heat.

I suspect it was too much to expect a nice wholesome vampire romance with just a 1 liquid oz pour of spice rather than say a 4L jug 😂 if I keep listening to my audiobooks out loud…I just fear for Kacey’s vocabulary

I like that it’s set in a modern world where grand theft auto and Ken dolls #imkenough make an appearance.

There are several I want to say nods to Twilight? Lowe’s initial repulse to Misery’s scent and the spider monkey reference that I still cringe at when I think back to the movie. Ick! Anyone else?

Overall, Ali Hazelwood has range. Like damn girl! You keep doing you. Wasn’t my fav but hey did not hate either 🤪🩷

OH MY GOD??? who died and made vampires sexy (heh) this was AMAZING!! i NEED to read more books like this and we need a sequel!!

I’ve enjoyed all of Ali Hazelwood’s previous work but there is something so fun about Bride! I haven’t read a paranormal romance in YEARS and this has me ready to rush back into this genre. Misery and Lowe have such amazing banter with one another and being able to be in Lowe’s head at the start of every chapter just made their chemistry so much more palpable to me.

The world-building in this book was done so well and I am hopeful for more books in this world!

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

YES! I loved this so much, I want more paranormal romance from Ali Hazelwood! This cured my reading slump.

Ali Hazelwood can do no wrong in my eyes. This was paranormal romance perfection, I hope she gives us more like this in the future!!!

Tropes:
🐺 Slow Burn
🐺 Paranormal Romance
🐺 Romeo and Juliet retelling
🐺 Marriage of Convenience
🐺 Mystery Romance

I absolutely loved Misery! She’s very innocent about love and friendships. She’s very spunky! I really didn’t think the knotting was needed because it felt outside of regular mating. Lowe really tried my patience but I felt like we needed his POV to get into his mind.

Bride by Ali Hazelwood is the author’s first young adult paranormal romance novel between a vampire and a werewolf. Misery Lark, the daughter of a powerful vampire councilman is to be married to werewolf alpha Lowe Moreland as a sign of a peacekeeping treaty between the two species who are been mortal enemies since the dawn of time.
I thought I had grown out of such stuff but Ali Hazelwood proved me wrong, her way of writing this story, her character portrayals are so addictive and mature that I was deeply engrossed in the book. Specifically, the slow-burn romance was the strong essence of the book and the surrounding conflicts for the couple due to their different species. This author somehow makes cliched, cheesy romance not at all cringe and I cant help but keep reading the book. Both the characters, Misery and Lowe are well-developed characters each having their own issues but bringing out the best in each other.
This plot is not unique, it is the same story that you might have multiple times but the way of presentation of the story is what is enjoyable. This may sound repetitive as I have previously mentioned in my reviews that somehow it is this author, who even if writes the same romantic stories with known tropes I still enjoy them which usually doesn’t happen when I read many other books. If you are fan of the author, you need no reason to pick this book up, and if you are someone who is looking for a good romance novel with a paranormal setting then this is for you.

This book was a little unexpected and surprisingly hilarious! This is my first Ali Hazelwood book so I’m not sure if most of her writing is humorous like this was, but I highly enjoyed the jokes throughout and the banter between the MC’s. I also enjoyed the overall plot and little bit of mystery it had. The romance did fall a little flat for me, especially some of the spicy scenes. The FMC was also quite immature at times which irked me, but overall a good book and I’m glad I read it

Oh Ali! Loved this weird paranormal world! If we don’t get more I will be disappointed! There was a moment at the end I didn’t enjoy, it didn’t feel authentic to the characters, but overall this was so wonderful! I loved Misery and Lowe and wish I could have more of them!

I went into this blind simply because I love everything Ali writes, but WOW this blew me away. It was more than I could have ever have hoped for, and I want more. I want this to be a series. I need it to be a series.

Ali manages to craft an entire world that’s both realistic and fantastical, reaching into Vampyre and Werewolf lore while creating intricacies on her own to allow these worlds to co-exist. Or as much as they can co-exist when there’s also humans involved and no one trusts each other.

The dichotomy between “worlds” and beliefs in this book is easy to get sucked into. I never wanted it to end, and yet I needed to learn more. I needed to know how a Vampyre was going to survive marrying an Alpha werewolf in an arranged marriage trade-off where she was in danger and not trusted by any other werewolfs in the land she was forced to live on.

And yet we of course grow to love our two main characters together. How they care for one another despite the fact that they shouldn’t and have been warned not to. I loved the banter, the tension, and their desire to overhaul everything in their societies…because how else are we ever meant to move forward?

I cannot recommend this one enough. You will love the story as much as you will love Misery and Lowe together.

Tropes:
- Rivals/enemies to lovers
- Enemy families
- Forced proximity
- Arranged marriage
- Paranormal romance

Happy release to Bride!! It looks fabulous on my bookshelf and in our libraries. I've loved Ali's "awkward turtle social media campaign" as well. It's hilarious.
 
****

I adored Misery and Lowe. They were both just so thoughtful toward each other and overall enjoyable to spend time with.

Portions of the book felt a bit “Big Reveal Scooby Doo” which I wasn’t a fan of, but overall, I enjoyed the ride.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC.

I started reading Ali Hazelwood's STEM romances because I work in STEM. It was amazing to finally see accurate representation of science based positions portrayed in books. Though I've loved all of her STEM romances, I JUMPED, and I mean, literally jumped, at the chance for the ARC of Bride because this scientist is a PNR obsessed super fan. While many will notice how different this book is from the rest of her popular romance books, I have to say I loved it. You get a great romance plot with nuisances of politics, world history, and plenty of mystery and suspense to keep you enthralled in the story.

This enemies to lover/forbidden romance is exactly what I wanted to find when I received the ARC of this book. The combination of a vampire bride and a werewolf is a new concept to me in the world of PNR, and that is VERY refreshing. If I were to look back at all of the PNR books I've read over the years, I can't say that I have read one about that combo, and that is saying something considering I've probably read thousands of PNR books in the last twenty plus years.

I hope this isn't the last PNR Hazelwood writes because I honestly want more.