Book Review: Bride by Ali Hazelwood
Ali Hazelwood is the queen of STEM books: Love Hypothesis, Love on the Brain, and Love Theoretically are all some of her top hits. And to be honest— I didn’t really love any of them. And I also felt like they were kinda the same??
So, when I heard she ventured off into romantasy (and that people were loving it), I figured I would give Hazelwood another try. And boy was I glad that I did.
Hazelwood delivered a witty, well-paced, romance with a twist of mystery and I fully enjoyed it all— especially the 10/10 banter👏
Title: Bride
Author: Ali Hazelwood
Genre: Romantic Fantasy, Paranormal
Content: Explicit Open Door, Detailed Spicy Scenes
Tropes: Forced marriage, Marriage of Convenience, Enemies to Lovers, Fated Mates, Found Family
Ratings:
Amazon: 4.4 stars
Goodreads: 4 stars
My rating: 4 stars
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 from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Love, Theoretically and The Love Hypothesis.
Bride by Ali Hazelwood Book Summary:
In Bride by Ali Hazelwood, Misery Larkspur is not your average vampyre—she’s fiercely independent, unapologetically smart, and more interested in coding and tech than draining blood. But when the centuries-long feud between vampyres and werewolves threatens to turn apocalyptic, Misery is thrown into an impossible situation: marrying Lowe Bowman, a gruff, battle-scarred werewolf who’d rather howl at the moon than utter the word “compromise.”
Misery and Lowe’s arranged marriage is supposed to unite their warring factions, but neither of them plans to make it easy. Misery is quick with biting wit, while Lowe counters with brooding silence (and the occasional growl).
Lowe isn’t just a surly wolf; he’s deeply loyal, quietly brave, and surprisingly tender. And Misery isn’t just a vampyre with a sharp tongue; she’s vulnerable, passionate, and carrying secrets that might just change everything. As threats to their fragile alliance emerge from the shadows, Misery and Lowe must decide if they’re stronger apart or together.
With Hazelwood’s signature humor and heart, Bride is a witty, enemies-to-lovers tale set in a supernatural world that feels refreshingly real. It’s a story about overcoming prejudice, finding unexpected allies, and discovering that even the most reluctant partnerships can turn into something extraordinary.
What I loved:
The banter in this book was soo good. Witty and playful and sassy, without being cringey and full of cliches. The characters were complex and continued to develop throughout the story. The pacing was great without any boring lulls and I stayed engaged throughout the whole story (which I finished in two days flat). Speaking of pacing, I would qualify this as a slow burn that builds over time— but is not painfully slow!
And although I didn’t really love her other books, I loved that Misery was a coding and tech whiz— it was fun seeing Hazelwood’s STEM storyline come into play.
Overall, I liked this book much more than I anticipated!
What I didn’t love:
One of my favorite things about fantasy is the world-building— and I feel like this fell a little bit flat. I would have enjoyed a bit more building and details of setting.
I also feel like we were spoon-fed the plot just a bit, and there was not much suspense or unexpected twists.
Final Thoughts:
I went into this book a little bit skeptical— I didn’t love previous books by this author despite them being popular, and now a debut novel in a new genre? It seemed like a tall order.
But I am SO GLAD I tried it out regardless. This was one of the most enjoyable reads of the last month. I was overall very impressed— and I look forward to her expanding more of this world? (fingers crossed!)