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ladykatka's review
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
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
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
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
readyforit's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
3.75⭐️2🌶️ (not a lot of spicy scenes but they’re of medium description *cough*knotting )
This was my second Ali hazelwood book and I heard such good reviews about this one! I was so excited to dive deep into vampire and werewolf lore. I’m not well-versed in the omegaverse (pun intended) but this is not your typical fantasy/paranormal/supernatural book with vampires and werewolves. It goes the way of twilight (derogatory, even though I love twilight) and tries to use biology to explain the lore and world building. I get it bc Ali is a stem girly and that’s her thing she’s always included in her books, but I feel like it’s such a weird thing to have supernatural creatures and phenomena and explain it away using the biology WE know and understand. Like these are obviously magical creatures. I really did not love the lore and world-building in this book, even though she used so many pages to do it.
So the story is set in our world in North America somewhere in the southwest region. No states or cities are mentioned. Vampyres, Weres, and humans all hate each other and live in peace but the the line is very thin between peace and war. Misery (an odd name for the FMC but whatever) was a part of Collateral program, where she was sent to live with the humans for 10 years as a child, where she meets and grows up with her best friend, Serena, a human orphan who was placed in the same home as misery for companionship. Years later, misery still lives among humans because she doesn’t really belong in any faction. Serena disappears and misery agrees to an arranged marriage to the new SW pack alpha that is meant to broker peace between Vampyres and Weres in an attempt to find her.
Lowe and misery are meant to be enemies but honestly, she’s so open-minded and he’s such a genuinely kind person that they’re never really enemies. More like strangers to friends to lovers. I really enjoyed the FMC and her witty banter and honesty. She had me loling a few times. But the MMC just didn’t seem like a super in-depth character. We as the readers know what is going on to explain some of his speech and behaviors but there’s a huge miscommunication that persists for the entire book, so misery’s internal monologue is 99% confused about Lowe. It’s very frustrating when he’s showing her and telling her how beautiful she is and how much he cares for and will do anything to protect her and she’s like… but Ican’t be his mate! He’s already got one! It gets old really fast. Also, I felt like the author could’ve done her character descriptions better. I couldn’t really picture lowe or misery very well.
I was promised SPICE, and this is not an inherently spicy book. There are only a couple scenes and they’re pretty tame. I feel like people were so shell-shocked by theknotting that they didn’t realize if you took that part out it wouldn’t really be a spicy book at all.
I listened along to the audiobook on Spotify as well, and I think it was such a waste to have two narrators if you’re not going to have the man read his lines in a duet! He only reads the little blurbs at the beginning of each chapter. The woman does a good job in her narration and brings Misery to life but I was really disappointed we didn’t get any lines from the other narrator.
Overall, it was a slow beginning and not as adventurous or as dramatic as I wanted it to be. I liked the soft and fluffy romantic moments between the two MCs, like Lowe in his wolf form (he gives off Rottweiler bf vibes), but I would’ve liked it even more if they had spent more of the book astrue mates. I will give the author points for writing a twist at the end that I did knot see coming!! (It had nothing to do with the knot I just wanted to throw that pun in somewhere). I liked it but didn’t love it. If you’re looking for a fantasy or paranormal book I’d look elsewhere. I probably won’t reread.
This was my second Ali hazelwood book and I heard such good reviews about this one! I was so excited to dive deep into vampire and werewolf lore. I’m not well-versed in the omegaverse (pun intended) but this is not your typical fantasy/paranormal/supernatural book with vampires and werewolves. It goes the way of twilight (derogatory, even though I love twilight) and tries to use biology to explain the lore and world building. I get it bc Ali is a stem girly and that’s her thing she’s always included in her books, but I feel like it’s such a weird thing to have supernatural creatures and phenomena and explain it away using the biology WE know and understand. Like these are obviously magical creatures. I really did not love the lore and world-building in this book, even though she used so many pages to do it.
So the story is set in our world in North America somewhere in the southwest region. No states or cities are mentioned. Vampyres, Weres, and humans all hate each other and live in peace but the the line is very thin between peace and war. Misery (an odd name for the FMC but whatever) was a part of Collateral program, where she was sent to live with the humans for 10 years as a child, where she meets and grows up with her best friend, Serena, a human orphan who was placed in the same home as misery for companionship. Years later, misery still lives among humans because she doesn’t really belong in any faction. Serena disappears and misery agrees to an arranged marriage to the new SW pack alpha that is meant to broker peace between Vampyres and Weres in an attempt to find her.
Lowe and misery are meant to be enemies but honestly, she’s so open-minded and he’s such a genuinely kind person that they’re never really enemies. More like strangers to friends to lovers. I really enjoyed the FMC and her witty banter and honesty. She had me loling a few times. But the MMC just didn’t seem like a super in-depth character. We as the readers know what is going on to explain some of his speech and behaviors but there’s a huge miscommunication that persists for the entire book, so misery’s internal monologue is 99% confused about Lowe. It’s very frustrating when he’s showing her and telling her how beautiful she is and how much he cares for and will do anything to protect her and she’s like… but I
I was promised SPICE, and this is not an inherently spicy book. There are only a couple scenes and they’re pretty tame. I feel like people were so shell-shocked by the
I listened along to the audiobook on Spotify as well, and I think it was such a waste to have two narrators if you’re not going to have the man read his lines in a duet! He only reads the little blurbs at the beginning of each chapter. The woman does a good job in her narration and brings Misery to life but I was really disappointed we didn’t get any lines from the other narrator.
Overall, it was a slow beginning and not as adventurous or as dramatic as I wanted it to be. I liked the soft and fluffy romantic moments between the two MCs, like Lowe in his wolf form (he gives off Rottweiler bf vibes), but I would’ve liked it even more if they had spent more of the book as
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: War and Kidnapping
Minor: Toxic relationship