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theverycraftyvegan's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
5/5 for this paranormal romance from Ali Hazelwood!
I absolutely loved Misery. She’s dark and sarcastic and had me howling like a wolf multiple times. Lowe’s level of mystery and broodyness was perfect.
The spice was spicy and the plot sucked me in like a vampire sucks on a vein.
I wish the climax had been more descriptive. Misery’s father monologued forever—which helped Misery and readers understand absolutely everything—but what could have been an epic scene was glossed over in two sentences. I wish there had been more.
The ending was left open for a second book and I hope Hazelwood makes this into a series!!!
I absolutely loved Misery. She’s dark and sarcastic and had me howling like a wolf multiple times. Lowe’s level of mystery and broodyness was perfect.
The spice was spicy and the plot sucked me in like a vampire sucks on a vein.
I wish the climax had been more descriptive. Misery’s father monologued forever—which helped Misery and readers understand absolutely everything—but what could have been an epic scene was glossed over in two sentences. I wish there had been more.
The ending was left open for a second book and I hope Hazelwood makes this into a series!!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Confinement, Death, Blood, and Cursing
Moderate: Gore, Murder, Torture, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Death, and Gaslighting
Minor: War, Car accident, and Death of parent
ladykatka's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
For supposedly being a spicy and sexy book, nothing actually spicy or sexy happened until over halfway through. And not only that, there were only two real sex scenes so and the hottest part of the book was when? isery was feeding off of Lowe how that was spicy and sexy and a turn on more than the sex scenes is a little disappointing.
Also, it seems like vampires will orgasm for literally any reason, I was almost to the point of of a stiff breeze blew too hard past her, she was going to have an orgasm.
The other thing I learned is that apparently Weres like to stop mid passion to have a conversation which really kind of takes me out of it.
Also her inner monologue kept saying she wanted to punch someone so I kept waiting for her to actually punch someone. Fact that she never punched anybody is a little bit of a letdown.
Overall, this was an easy read but I wouldn't really call it all that spicy.
Also, it seems like vampires will orgasm for literally any reason, I was almost to the point of of a stiff breeze blew too hard past her, she was going to have an orgasm.
The other thing I learned is that apparently Weres like to stop mid passion to have a conversation which really kind of takes me out of it.
Also her inner monologue kept saying she wanted to punch someone so I kept waiting for her to actually punch someone. Fact that she never punched anybody is a little bit of a letdown.
Overall, this was an easy read but I wouldn't really call it all that spicy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Violence and Kidnapping
ernallison's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Gore, Violence, and Toxic relationship
lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I have been following Ali Hazelwood for a few years and had to pick up her latest work.
"Bride" follows Misery Lark, the daughter of a very powerful Vampyre councilman. Misery has long ago run away from her father and the world he tries to control, but when her best friend goes missing and the only clue she has leads her to the Werewolfs, she finds herself following her father's request and marrying the Alpha Werewolf, Lowe Moreland. A Vampyre in a Werewolf world is dangerous, but Misery will stop at nothing to figure out what really happened. Hopefully, she can learn to like her new husband along the way...
I did not think I was a big fan of paranormal romance, but this captivated me in a way I was not expecting. The tension between Misery and Lowe because they were different species only added to the heat between them because they are somewhat enemies.
Misery was the perfect blend of strong, self-assured woman, and snarky, attitude-riddled girl. I think most people would not accept the situation Misery was thrown into with such grace, and she certainly did not. But she knew how to handle herself and she gave the Werewolfs hell when they treated her poorly.
Misery and Lowe were such the perfect blend of a couple. They both really do not know much about each other, and their dislike for one another all stems from how they think they are supposed to react. Despite the circumstances, Lowe is fairly inviting of Misery into his home, and he treats her with a level of respect that was beautiful to see. I really loved seeing them thaw out towards one another and slowly realize they have so much more in common than they thought.
The mystery behind what happened to Misery's friend and the political tension between the Vampyres, Werewolfs, and humans were all interesting and helped to keep the story moving along, but I did not feel like it overshadowed the romance. I definitely think this book is first and foremost a romance, and anything else occurring in the background is a subplot point created to help move the romance along in a higher stakes way. I do think the political tensions could be a really interesting story to explore all on their own, if Ali Hazelwood ever wanted to explore that without the romance taking up the majority of the plot.
If you enjoy paranormal romance, I definitely recommend this one, and I am excited to continue to read from Ali Hazelwood in the future.
"Bride" follows Misery Lark, the daughter of a very powerful Vampyre councilman. Misery has long ago run away from her father and the world he tries to control, but when her best friend goes missing and the only clue she has leads her to the Werewolfs, she finds herself following her father's request and marrying the Alpha Werewolf, Lowe Moreland. A Vampyre in a Werewolf world is dangerous, but Misery will stop at nothing to figure out what really happened. Hopefully, she can learn to like her new husband along the way...
I did not think I was a big fan of paranormal romance, but this captivated me in a way I was not expecting. The tension between Misery and Lowe because they were different species only added to the heat between them because they are somewhat enemies.
Misery was the perfect blend of strong, self-assured woman, and snarky, attitude-riddled girl. I think most people would not accept the situation Misery was thrown into with such grace, and she certainly did not. But she knew how to handle herself and she gave the Werewolfs hell when they treated her poorly.
Misery and Lowe were such the perfect blend of a couple. They both really do not know much about each other, and their dislike for one another all stems from how they think they are supposed to react. Despite the circumstances, Lowe is fairly inviting of Misery into his home, and he treats her with a level of respect that was beautiful to see. I really loved seeing them thaw out towards one another and slowly realize they have so much more in common than they thought.
The mystery behind what happened to Misery's friend and the political tension between the Vampyres, Werewolfs, and humans were all interesting and helped to keep the story moving along, but I did not feel like it overshadowed the romance. I definitely think this book is first and foremost a romance, and anything else occurring in the background is a subplot point created to help move the romance along in a higher stakes way. I do think the political tensions could be a really interesting story to explore all on their own, if Ali Hazelwood ever wanted to explore that without the romance taking up the majority of the plot.
If you enjoy paranormal romance, I definitely recommend this one, and I am excited to continue to read from Ali Hazelwood in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Torture
torturedreadersdept's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Kidnapping, Dysphoria, Infertility, Confinement, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Blood, Grief, Murder, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Violence, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Bullying, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, and Sexual content
Minor: Car accident
lunarxcross's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, and Kidnapping
triple_m's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Cute, fun, and a quick read! It’s cheesy and at times silly and a really enjoyable way. I thought Misery (lol) and Lowe’s relationship was really nice and I could see that they really respected and cared for one another. I loved the little snippets we got from Lowe in the beginning of every chapter.
I didn’t really understand the reason for Lowe’s internal conflict and wanting to hide the truth from Misery. It definitely felt a bit shoe-horned in just to cause the expected third act break up. I’d still highly recommend though.
I didn’t really understand the reason for Lowe’s internal conflict and wanting to hide the truth from Misery. It definitely felt a bit shoe-horned in just to cause the expected third act break up. I’d still highly recommend though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Abandonment, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Blood
doahdancer's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This was a great, easy read. If you're looking to try a paranormal/shifter romance, but want to dip your feet without jumping in, this is the perfect choice. That said, if you're a longtime paranormal/shifter reader, this might be too contemporary to entertain.
The story worked for me. I have the context of having read some paranormal/shifter books (Patricia Briggs, one example), but wouldn't describe myself as well read in the genre.
The only thing I wanted that I didn't get was more tension between the couple. The author chose to have the MMC stay away from the FMC for a significant amount of time after they get married, but the mystery doesn't start to really unfold until much later. This lull where the FMC is mostly exploring the new culture she's been dropped into created tension in the sense that I was waiting to see when the thread would start pulling, but the story itself was very day to day, contemporary interactions.
All in all, I really enjoyed it and once the mystery got rolling I was truly invested. Misery is a delightful, snarky character who is astute but not perfect. She's been hurt, but she's not toxic.
This standalone makes my list of fabulous pallet cleansers.
The story worked for me. I have the context of having read some paranormal/shifter books (Patricia Briggs, one example), but wouldn't describe myself as well read in the genre.
The only thing I wanted that I didn't get was more tension between the couple. The author chose to have the MMC stay away from the FMC for a significant amount of time after they get married, but the mystery doesn't start to really unfold until much later. This lull where the FMC is mostly exploring the new culture she's been dropped into created tension in the sense that I was waiting to see when the thread would start pulling, but the story itself was very day to day, contemporary interactions.
All in all, I really enjoyed it and once the mystery got rolling I was truly invested. Misery is a delightful, snarky character who is astute but not perfect. She's been hurt, but she's not toxic.
This standalone makes my list of fabulous pallet cleansers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Bullying, Toxic relationship, and Sexual content
kirtreads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
A very classic werewolf/vampire love story, with all your favourite tropes. Ali Hazelwood delivers yet again with another solid romance novel that is lots of fun. The plot is a little rambley and the sometimes overly convoluted but it’s still very enjoyable. I’m looking forward to the next one!
Tropes
- HEA
- fated mates
- marriage of convenience
- third act break up
- single POV (tragically)
Tropes
- HEA
- fated mates
- marriage of convenience
- third act break up
- single POV (tragically)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Blood, Child abuse, Murder, and Toxic relationship
bookishnookish's review against another edition
medium-paced
3.0
An entertaining read, but not an exceptional one. It might be a "me" problem because I am not a fan of "spice" and this one is overtly "spicy". Intelligent and strong female character in Misery, but she lacks confidence and is socially awkward, which is explained by her background but it is not a characterization I enjoy. I like my heroines self-aware and badass. A decent enough MMC in Lowe, but my gosh does he chant her name way too often lol! I liked the humour in the book and that earned it the stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Abandonment and Toxic relationship