Bride

by Ali Hazelwood

5.40(w) x 7.70(h) x 1.00(d), 416 pages

English language

Published Feb. 6, 2024 by Berkley Romance, New York.

ISBN:: 978-0-593-55040-3
OCLC Number:: 1378392645
Audible ASIN:: B0C9V8189V
ISFDB ID:: 987593
Goodreads:: 181344829

(5 reviews)

A dangerous alliance between a Vampyre bride and an Alpha Werewolf becomes a love deep enough to sink your teeth into in this new paranormal romance from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Love, Theoretically and The Love Hypothesis.

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 …

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.

2 editions

Utena reviewed Bride by Ali Hazelwood

A lot of potential that ended up falling flat for me.

2 stars

This novella was supposed to be my introduction to Ali Hazelwood. Many reviews from friends and other readers had been positive and glowing so my expectations were high, but this book let me down. Our female and male leads don't interact much even after their political marriage. If they do, it is brief with our male lead trying to haul his butt out of the room quicker than a snake coiled ready to strike.

And when our female lead was attacked, it didn't seem our male lead was remotely concerned about it. It seemed he wanted to feed into the Were's hatred for the Vampyre's. Maybe all of this could have just been me but I could not feel the connection our leads were supposed to have. It was not there and I think the author tried to push it toward the late stages of the book.

Honestly, I would …

Honestly, I would have loved to say this was my favorite novel of the year but I would be lying. The book lacked character development and the ingredients needed to make a strong character bond between the two main leads. It was there not enough to make it worth the continual read.

Jam reviewed Bride by Ali Hazelwood

Decent enough but doesn’t wow me

3 stars

Content warning Minor spoilers

One thing I gotta give it credit for: I blazed through this book within less than a day, which means it kept me hooked enough.

There are a lot of tired romance clichés, like misunderstandings that could’ve been avoided, and lying to and pushing your lover away in order to “save them from future hurt and it’s for their own good.” That has never made sense to me at all, and I don’t know why that is such a popular trope in romance. Just be honest about your feelings and communicate properly with your partners, dude.

Overall, it’s enjoyable enough if a little forgettable.