If Twilight by Stephanie Meyer and ACOTAR by Sarah J. Maas had a book baby and then added a little bit of spice (medium level), you would get this book.
This book tells the story of a girl, Misery, a vampyre who has a terrible father that makes her sacrifice herself and her freedom several times in her life. This time, she’s sacrificing herself by entering into a marriage of convenience with an alpha were (a wolf), Lowe. She has her reason to agree to this marriage, but nothing is what she expects or could have imagined.
Ali Hazelwood is an auto-read author for me because I love her writing style and the humor she includes. I’ve read all of her books (except the recently released YA one, however, I may be convinced to read after seeing some reviews). I know some say they’re all the same and she has a formula, but I love the formula (and disagree that they’re all the same), and it’s still different than many. This book is NOT like any of her others, and I didn’t know what I was getting into. As you can see by the 5 star rating, I loved it. I rarely give 5 stars. I did not expect to enjoy a paranormal romance as thoroughly as I did.
Tropes included:
- Enemies to lovers
- Marriage of convenience (a little fake dating?)
- Found family
- Dual POV (by way of snippets from his perspective at the beginning of each chapter – I loved this and don’t recall seeing it before)
Spoilers…
Misery’s childhood friend, an orphan, goes missing and she suspects the were’s Alpha has something to do with it, so she agrees to the marriage in hopes to find her. She quickly discovers the weres are having their own conflict of power. She rather quickly realizes her husband, Lowe, the alpha, is disgusted by her and her smell (or is he?) and she tries to stay away while also suspecting he has something to do with her friend’s disappearance. In her “human” life, Misery is a penetration tester, of course Hazelwood threw in a woman in STEM. I loved this!
Lowe is an alpha, but his protection of her is rooted in his care for her, not control. I don’t know how Hazelwood did it, but I loved this alpha.
Lowe and Misery are obviously opposites, but they make it work in more ways than one. When I tell you I didn’t see the knot coming, I did not. If you know you know, but I did not know. Spoiler… interspecies sex is a thing here.
There’s betrayal, blackmail, redemption, harmony among species, and all the things. I loved the suspense of the plot as well, even if some of it was slightly predictable. It was so fun and I couldn’t put it down.
I could go on and on about this book and would love to hear what you thought about it! I truly never thought I’d be fighting tears about a vampire snuggling with a wolf.
Favorite Quote
I wonder whether I’m invited to partake. What the reaction would be if I made my way downstairs, waved at the guests. I could borrow a bikini from Juno. Pour myself some blood on the rocks…
Ali Hazelwood – Bride