Bride: Ali Hazelwood’s Spellbinding Paranormal Romance, Minus the ‘Knot’ part

Bride by Ali Hazelwood is a captivating blend of romance, intrigue, and supernatural elements, with characters and that Knot would stay in the my mind for long time.

Other Books I have read by the same Author –

The Love Hypothesis
Love on the Brain

Synopsis

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.

Review

It’s been a long time I read a paranormal romance and returning to it with ‘Bride’ was a refreshing. The blend of romance, political intrigue, and suspense, wrapped in my favorite marriage of convenience trope, made Bride an enthralling read.

Set in the world where Humans, Vampyres, and Werewolves coexist amidst perpetual tension and skirmishes between the species resulting in the dwindling Were and Vampyre population resulted necessity of alliances that came in name of ‘collateral’. Collaterals, individuals exchanged as tokens of trust between the species, are the linchpins of these fragile agreements who has to stay in other species species territory for duration of term and if something goes wrong its the collateral who pays the price first.

Misery is the victim of it. Once a collateral in Human territory, Misery finds herself thrust back into this precarious position when her powerful Vampyre father arranges for her to wed the new Were Alpha. Another alliance forged but this time through marriage.

Misery isn’t the obidient child. she never fit in among Vampyre ever since she was a human collateral and Humans never accepted her except her best friend Serena but now she is missing and only clue she left was, “L.E. Moreland” and her groom to be happens to be Lowe Moreland. Assuming he is behind the disappearance of Serene she agrees to get married to figure out what happened with her friend.

Misery’s determination and resilience shine through her character. Despite never truly fitting in among the Vampyres or being fully accepted by Humans, her unwavering compassion, especially towards her missing friend Serena and Lowe’s sister Anna, reveal her true nature beneath the hardened exterior.

Her hallucination gift and coding expertise, add layers to her character, making her a formidable heroine. I loved how calm and collected she was among Were even when threats lurked constantly and Were despised her. I admired her for speaking her mind no matter who was standing in front of her.

It was touching to see her internal battle and reading that last fight with Serena made me want to hug her. I loved her gradual sense of belonging among the Werewolves, fostered by her growing bond with Anna and Lowe. She deserved all love in the world especially after that twist in climax.

Lowe was hard to read at first but it was clear he had feelings for Misery from the beginning. I enjoyed snippet of his POV at the beginning of every chapter. Torn between his duty to his pack, leader of Were, his passion he had to put behind, and his growing feelings for Misery make him an intriguing counterpart.

I liked him for being different than other Were, seeking change and peace after century old feud, and believing in Misery, understanding her and loving her for who she is. His love for his sister made him even more adorable. One thing I didn’t like about him is what he did just before climax and for that I wanted him to grovel a little more.

All secondary characters were as interesting as main characters. I loved finally meeting Serena in Climax. Koen is sure interesting and the way book ended it hints at potential future arcs that I’m already anticipating.

The romance between Misery and Lowe crackles with tension and passion, capturing the essence of forbidden love and the complexities of a marriage of convenience. However, that Knot thing was disturbing. I wish I can forget that whole part. I’m pretty sure I read a Werewolf romance before but never such thing was mentioned in any of them. Also, the third act break up just before climax was unnecessary.

I enjoyed the twist and turn. I couldn’t guess the real culprit and it was shocking to read what the culprit did all these time and was willing to do for one ridiculous reason. I liked what Lowe and Misery decided to do at the end. I loved Serena and Misery’s little time together. As I said I wish there was more groveling from Lowe but Misery deserved HEA so I was fine with the end.

Overall, Bride is a captivating blend of romance, intrigue, and supernatural elements, with characters and that Knot would stay in the my mind for long time. I recommend this to fans of paranormal romance.

What to Expect from Bride-

Paranormal romance
First person narrative
Political machination
Sizzling romance
Marriage of convenience
Suspense
Third act break up
HEA

Book Links

Goodreads | Amazon.in | Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Bride: Ali Hazelwood's Spellbinding Paranormal Romance, Minus the 'Knot' partMany thanks @PRHGlobal for eARC#Bride #AliHazelwood #paranormalromance Check out full review — > Share on X

What do you think about this?
Have you read any book by the same author?
What is the trope you don’t like in real life but enjoy in books?

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Just in case you missed,,,,

• The Design of Us by Sajni Patel – Delightful Fake Dating Desi Romance
• The Hero of Ages (The Mistborn Saga #3) by Brandon Sanderson – Epic conclusion of Mistborn trilogy
• Children’s book for 5-10 years

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