Bride - Ali Hazelwood

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.

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.

Blurb taken from Goodreads.

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I received an advance copy o this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I was so excited to read Bride! I've been a big fan of Ali Hazelwood's books ever since first reading The Love Hypothesis, and I love the easy-to-read romance they put onto the page. I thought it would be a lot of fun to read something a bit different from Hazelwood, especially after really enjoying Check & Mate last year.

Bride was a lot of fun - if you take it with a pinch of salt. There's a lot of talk of Weres and Vampyres, but it's all a bit of smoke and mirrors. In reality, the romance formula is classic, entrenched Hazelwood. But don't let that put you off! Bride is a proper escape. It's fun, it's sweet, and it's a bit different. If anything, I think I really respected Hazelwood for writing something a bit out there. 

Rating: ✫✫✫✫

My Thoughts

Let's talk about the supernatural elements of Bride. I have very, very mixed thoughts on how effective it was. One the one hand, the stereotypes of Weres and Vampyres are quite unoriginal (for the most part, although not always), and added only a superficial world to the book. One the other hand, I really enjoyed it. I think it was refreshing to me to just read something that's meant to be light-hearted, that's meant solely for some cliché enjoyment, and that's meant to be taken with a pinch of salt. Reading doesn't always have to be serious. Sometimes it can be frivolous, and Bride gave me a little bubble to enjoy for a while.

The actual plot itself was very reminiscent o Hazelwood's other adult books. I recognised some of the plot devices and character habits, and despite looking outwardly different, Bride is quite similar to the author's other novels. The supernatural plot elements don't really have enough development to sustain the book alone, so it was nice to see those recognised romance tropes appear. But they definitely add another dimension to the story that kept me interested, 

The characters are also quite similar to those we've seen in Hazelwood's other books. Misery is sharp-tongued and good with computers, and Lowe is a big, hulking man. I felt like there were more background characters to get to know in this one, though, which helped me stay invested.

Overall, I really enjoyed Bride. If you're a Hazelwood fan looking for something a bit different, this is definitely it. If you've picked up Bride hoping it will make you a Hazelwood fan, you may be disappointed, especially if you have not enjoyed their previous novels. Although it looks totally different on the surface, Bride is just a new spin on Hazelwood's regular romance formula. But that doesn't mean it should be disregarded. If I had to summarise Bride in one word, I would choose 'fun'. And after all, isn't fun what reading should be?