What I Liked:
I liked the characters of Misery and Lowe and that they each had backstories that gave them their quirks and sensitivities that were consistent and made sense. The slow reveal of the true motivations and underlying mystery plot was effective in pushing the story along and providing a reprieve when the tension between Misery and Lowe was getting intense.
What Bothered Me:
The thing that sticks out the most is that I felt like Misery was a little too forgiving with Lowe. I was expecting to stew in negativity for a little longer, especially with a character named Misery.
Overall:
This one is tough. I would recommend Bride to both Ali Hazelwood and paranormal romance fans. However, I think a small subset will truly love the book. It’s written in a similar style to Hazelwood’s academic romances (e.g., there were dozens of words I needed to look up in the dictionary, scientific and programming references) but then it pulls in the paranormal elements and the idea of knotting commonly seen in omegaverse stories. As a result, it feels a bit like a weird cross-over. I’m glad I read it, but it’s not going on my list of all time favorites.
