Bride Review

Author: Ali Hazelwood

Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal

Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group

Release Date: Feb. 6, 2024

Order Link: Amazon

Special thanks to Berkley Publ. Group for a free ARC! All opinions expressed are my own.

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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.

Review:

Author Ali Hazelwood is one of my go-to authors when it comes to romance, so I was intrigued when I received an ARC of BRIDE and learned it was paranormal romance.  The synopsis and cover were enough to entice me in, and I slipped into this one cautiously optimistic.  What I discovered was a multilayered, unique world of supernatural characters mired in political turmoil.  A place where history and tradition command the uniting of a vampyre bride and a werewolf groom to strengthen an alliance between age-old mortal enemies.  A couple who each come into the relationship with few expectations and a hidden agenda . . . only to discover a world of possibilities if they can let go of the past and work together.

Misery Lark, the only daughter of the most powerful Vampyr councilman in the South is ordered to wed Lowe Moreland, the most powerful Alpha of the Werewolves in a marriage of convenience.  Both sides have much to gain from the union, and Misery has no say in the matter, but readers soon learn she actually has her own reasons for carrying through with the farce of a marriage, and Lowe is smart enough to stay wary of her intent. Unlike his predecessors, Lowe is a fair and compassionate leader who agrees to the union with hopes of unmasking traitors among their midst and solving the mystery of missing people and attempted murders.  Mistrust drives the action at a fast pace with political unrest bleeding over into the couple's relationship, keeping them at arm's length in spite of their intense attraction to one another.  Both Misery and Lowe find it hard to let go of the past, open up and place their trust and heart in the hands of someone else.  Their people may be mortal enemies, but the sparks flying between them are igniting yearnings for so much more.  Is it possible for a vampyre and a werewolf to find real love and make a family together? 

BRIDE is a unique, action-packed paranormal romance with twists and turns that keep readers burning through pages for answers.  It's a smorgasbord of mystery, romance, and fantasy all rolled up in a sizzling forbidden love story.  The paranormal world created by Hazelwood is a highly visual masterpiece with great characterizations and a multilayered plot line with a side of humor and sensual banter.  While the suspense edges out the romance, there's no doubt this is a couple right out of a fairy tale.  Author Ali Hazelwood has proven romance is romance in any genre, and she knows how to deliver.  Highly recommended to fans of mystery, romance, and paranormal romance.

Synopsis:

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 theupon 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.