Bride (Bride, #1) by Ali Hazelwood

Synopsis (via Goodreads): 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.

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.

It’s been ages since I read a vampire or werewolf story, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I picked up Bride. It’s been popping up everywhere lately, and I’m happy to say it absolutely lived up to the hype! Misery and Lowe were such fun characters to read about, and I loved watching their relationship slowly take shape. No one expected them to work — even their biology seemed incompatible — yet they defied the odds and learned to love one another despite their differences.

My one real frustration was Lowe’s secrets regarding Misery. He allows her to believe things that aren’t true and never really corrects her assumptions, even when it’s clearly hurting him. He trusts her with Pack secrets — literal life-or-death information — but somehow doesn’t trust her with something that directly involves her? Dude, come on. I didn't buy his justifications, and his hurtful denial didn't feel fair to Misery.

That said, Misery was easily my favorite character. She’s supposed to be this cold, unfeeling Vampyre, yet she clearly cares deeply — especially when it comes to her foster sister and Lowe’s niece. She doesn’t process emotions the same way Humans and Weres do, but she’s nothing like her father or the other Vampyres she grew up around. I really loved her personality and the unique way she sees the world around her.

Overall, I had a great time reading this one. I loved the main characters (though I would have appreciated a bit more development from some of the secondary ones), and several of the twists genuinely caught me off guard. The ending also did a great job setting up the next book, and it definitely left me curious about where the story will go from here. If you enjoy paranormal romance with memorable characters, this one is definitely worth checking out! (★★★★☆)