“Maybe there is something devastating about the incompleteness of it. But maybe, just knowing that the other person is there . . .” His throat bobs. “There might be pleasure in that, too. The satisfaction of knowing that something beautiful exists.” His lips open and close a few times, as though he can only find the right words by shaping them first to himself. “Maybe some things transcend reciprocity. Maybe not everything is about having.”
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
🌶️🌶️.5
This review may contain minor spoilers for Bride by Ali Hazelwood.
Omegaverse fans rejoice because Bride by Ali Hazelwood is a fun ride, I kid you knot. Puns aside, I picked up this book simply for the hype, and thankfully it did not disappoint, especially since it checks some trope boxes that aren’t usually my cup of tea.
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.
I’m not usually a big fan of arranged marriages in fiction, especially in the sense of “I’m sacrificing myself to marry this horrible but sexy, villainous dude in order to save my [insert family, location, people here].”
Thankfully, Bride gives us a different reason behind Misery’s motive, something that pleasantly falls outside of the politically strained relationship between vampyres-with-a-y and wolves.
And while I do enjoy a good enemies-to-lovers storyline, I’m not usually big on the whole “I’m pretending to hate her when in reality I’m so in love with her I can’t think of anything else” scenario. Usually because it unravels way too quickly and makes the effort of keeping someone at a distance completely pointless. Some may argue that this is the exact case in Bride, but it didn’t bother me all that much.
Misery has a mission in mind and while there is a bit of “does he like me or hate me” pondering, it didn’t make the plot feel sluggish. My girl has a job to do and an arranged marriage isn’t going to distract her.
Also I’ll just get it out of the way: The name Misery made me, well, miserable in the beginning, but I got used to it. I cared about the characters, the plot was solid, and overall, it was a fun paranormal romance to fall into. Admittedly, I haven’t read anything else by Ali Hazelwood, but if she writes anything related to Bride in the future (I have a feeling she will *wink*), it’ll be an instant buy for me.
Sink your fangs into this one (heh, puns) and let me know what you think!