Rate: 4/5
Medium: ebook
Overview (No Spoilers):
My parade of Hazelwood novels continues with Bride. Going from Check & Mate which is firmly PG, I’m currently suffering from whiplash as Bride is delightfully oh so spicy.
A paranormal romance, Bride features three species (humans, werewolves, and vampyres) who are constantly at war in some variation or form. These species are so isolated that when brought together, Hazelwood pokes fun at traditional stereotypes like garlic or silver bullets. She adds her own unique twists to these species such as how their communities interact to the color of their blood, and the magics they might wield.
These warring factions have history steeped in blood, where attempted alliances in the past have failed horribly, ending in betrayal and murder. Misery Lark is the only daughter of the powerful Lark vampyre family. She spent her childhood offered as a sacrifice in a collateral exchange program with the humans to ensure peace between her people. In repayment she is a pariah to her people. Without anywhere to belong, Misery makes a quiet life for herself among the humans until her only friend mysteriously disappears and her family comes calling with yet another sacrifice in mind.
Bride is an interesting combination of a missing persons mystery and political intrigue through an arranged marriage with the enemy. Sometimes this story feels like Misery’s search for her friend is almost an afterthought, while other times the risks Misery takes in looking for clues are on the far side of too dangerous.
The chemistry between Lowe and Misery is immediate and steamy, with the slow burn building throughout this read. Lowe gave such good guy vibes that he seems perfect, though he apparently is terrible about apologizing and decides what is best for everyone else without allowing them to have an opinion because his has to be the correct one. Oh technology too. He’s hopeless.
Misery is complicated, especially with her background and everything she’d been put through in her life. Seeing her walls crumble around Lowe and Ana is fun to watch, even as she fights the weakness every kind gesture at a time.
The ending is full of important reveals, but they came all in one big dump that is hard to process. Also, how the ending plays out against impossible odds, seems to have too many pieces needing to fall into place to have everyone survive. The rushed nature continues on to the reconciliation that never even acknowledges Misery and Lowe’s previous fight.
Overall, while Bride is entertaining and has detailed worldbuilding, the ending felt abrupt compared to the buildup that Hazelwood had spent most of the novel carefully crafting. That said, who knew a romance between a vampyre and werewolf could be so spicy.
Additional Insight (Spoilers Abound):
- Can Misery and Lowe have a baby?
- How many other half human half weres are there?
- I hated that Lowe said such terrible things to Misery and it was never really addressed other than that he wanted to push her away to not trap her. How was there no grand apology?
- What will happen to
- Will Own be able to keep control? I couldn’t decide throughout if he would be a good guy or not.
- What will happen next that Serena and Koen are mates? Will Serena be mated to him since she’s half human?
- Will Ana also be able to turn? When will Serena see Sparkles again?
- What did Owen mean about not letting Lowe keep being a food source for Misery?
The Critiquing Chemist 