I know that for some of you, this will be your most anticipated romance release of 2024. And this may be in the top three of my Ali Hazelwood heroines! Keep reading this book review of Bride for my full thoughts.
Summary
Misery Lark, the only daughter of the most powerful Vampyre councilman of the Southwest, is an outcast—again. Her days of living in anonymity among the Humans are over: she has been called upon to uphold a historic peacekeeping alliance between the Vampyres and their mortal enemies, the Weres, and she sees little choice but to surrender herself in the exchange—again…
Weres are ruthless and unpredictable, and their Alpha, Lowe Moreland, is no exception. He rules his pack with absolute authority, but not without justice. And, unlike the Vampyre Council, not without feeling. It’s clear from the way he tracks Misery’s every movement that he doesn’t trust her. If only he knew how right he was….
Because Misery has her own reasons to agree to this marriage of convenience, reasons that have nothing to do with politics or alliances, and everything to do with the only thing she’s ever cared about. And she is willing to do whatever it takes to get back what’s hers, even if it means a life alone in Were territory…alone with the wolf.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Let’s get the elephant out of the room, I deeply enjoyed Misery but Lowe was like stale bread. We barely got to know him and the only character traits I can think of off the top of my head is that he loves his pack, would sacrifice his love for the ‘better of whoever he loves’, and he adores his sister. Those aren’t bad qualities, but there just frankly isn’t enough for me to fall in love with him throughout the book. And, not going to lie, I didn’t get why Misery would. Those three qualities are admirable, and I hope we get to see more of them in maybe the future? But I had a hard time falling heads over heels in love with them.
However, I enjoyed Misery. I think she’s in my top three of Hazelwood’s heroines. There’s this signature character dynamic snark I’ve gotten used to with Hazelwood. You know that quick razor wit, slightly insulting, and tongue in cheek. But in Bride there’s a bit more of a sense of mystery and a smidge more of politics, which holds the book pacing together for me. I ended up reading Bride more to find out what happened to Misery’s best friend and less for their romance. I enjoyed how detailed parts of Misery felt. For example, her best friend relationship and her feelings on children? Adore.
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Overall?
For me, my experience with Bride sort of mirrored a lot of my feelings on Hazelwood’s books in the past – like how the love interests mostly feel very similar. But it has the added mystery and supernatural element which definitely piqued my interest. That being said, I could have used a bit more history of the supernatural element especially since this is still largely set in our contemporary world, but like the intricacies of the inter-species history would go a long way. All in all, this feels like it straddles the boundaries of romance and fantasy – with a smidge of mystery – which is an easy, funny, and tension filled ride. Find Bride on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, & Blackwells.