Close cookie details

This site uses cookies. Learn more about cookies.

OverDrive would like to use cookies to store information on your computer to improve your user experience at our Website. One of the cookies we use is critical for certain aspects of the site to operate and has already been set. You may delete and block all cookies from this site, but this could affect certain features or services of the site. To find out more about the cookies we use and how to delete them, click here to see our Privacy Policy.

If you do not wish to continue, please click here to exit this site.

Hide notification

  Main Nav
Bride
Cover of Bride
Bride
Borrow
#1 Indie Next Pick!
A Hall of Fame LibraryReads pick!
One of People’s Best Books to Read in February
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.
#1 Indie Next Pick!
A Hall of Fame LibraryReads pick!
One of People’s Best Books to Read in February
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.
Available formats-
  • OverDrive Listen
Subjects-
Languages:-
Copies-
  • Available:
    4
  • Library copies:
    4
Levels-
  • ATOS:
  • Lexile:
  • Interest Level:
  • Text Difficulty:


Excerpts-
  • From the cover Chapter 1

    It's been storming for three days straight when he finally returns from a meeting with the leader of the Big Bend huddle. Two of his seconds are already inside his home, waiting for him with wary expressions.

    "The Vampyre woman-she backed out."

    He grunts as he wipes his face. Smart of her, he thinks.

    "But they found a replacement," Cal adds, sliding a manila folder on the counter. "Everything's in here. They want to know if she has your approval."

    "We proceed as planned."

    Cal huffs out a laugh. Flor frowns. "Don't you want to look at the-"

    "No. This changes nothing."

    They're all the same, anyway.

    Six weeks before the ceremony

    She shows up at the start-up where I work on an early Thursday evening, when the sun has already set and the entire bullpen is contemplating grievous bodily harm.

    Against me.

    I doubt I deserve this level of hatred, but I do understand it. And that's why I don't make a fuss when I return to my desk following a brief meeting with my manager and notice the state of my stapler. Honestly, it's fine. I work from home 90 percent of the time and rarely print anything. Who cares if someone smeared bird shit on it?

    "Don't take it personally, Missy." Pierce leans against our cubicle divider. His smile is less concerned friend, more smarmy used car salesman; even his blood smells oily.

    "I won't." Other people's approval is a powerful drug. Lucky me, I never got the chance to develop an addiction. If there's something I'm good at, it's rationalizing my peers' contempt toward me. I've been training like piano prodigies: tirelessly and since early childhood.

    "No need to sweat it."

    "I'm not." Literally. I barely own the necessary glands.

    "And don't listen to Walker. He didn't say what you think he did."

    Pretty sure it was "nasty bitch" and not "tasty peach" that he yelled across the conference room, but who knows?

    "It comes with the territory. You'd be mad, too, if someone did a penetration test against a firewall you've been working on for weeks and breached it in what, one hour?"

    It was maybe a third of that, even counting the break I took in the middle after realizing how quickly I was blowing through the system. I spent it online shopping for a new hamper, since Serena's damn cat seems to be asleep in my old one whenever I need to do laundry. I texted her a picture of the receipt, followed by You and your cat owe me sixteen dollars. Then I sat and waited for a reply, like I always do.

    It didn't come. Nor had I expected it would.

    "People will get over it," he Pierces on. "And hey, you never bring lunch, so no need to worry someone'll spit in your Tupperware." He bursts into laughter. I turn to my computer monitor, hoping he'll peace out. Boy, am I wrong. "And to be honest, it's kind of on you. If you tried to mingle more . . . Personally, I get your loner, mysterious, quiet vibe. But some read you as aloof, like you think you're better than us. If you made an effort to-"

    "Misery."

    When I hear my name called-the real one-for a split, exceptionally dumb second, I experience relief that this conversation is going to be over. Then I crane my neck and notice the woman standing on the other side of the divider. Her face is distantly familiar, and so is the black hair, but it's not until I focus on her heartbeat that I manage to place her. It's slow like only a Vampyre's can be, and . . .

    Well.

    Shit.

    "Vania?"

    "You're hard to find," she tells me, voice melodic and low. I briefly contemplate slamming my head against the keyboard. Then settle for replying...
Reviews-
  • Publisher's Weekly

    January 22, 2024
    Misery definitely doesn’t love company in this funny and thoughtful urban fantasy romance from Hazelwood (Love, Theoretically). As the daughter of a leading Vampyre council member, Misery Lark is used to being used. She spent ages eight through 18 as the collateral in an uneasy Vampyre-human alliance, essentially held hostage in the human world. Just when she’s finally free to live her life as a computer security expert, her best friend disappears and Misery is summoned back to her father, who aims to use her as collateral once more, this time in a Vampyre-Werewolf alliance that must be sealed with a marriage. She’s ready to refuse—until she realizes her future husband may be linked to her missing friend and she sees a chance to get answers. Alpha Lowe Moreland isn’t a stranger to duty, but even he’s a bit surprised with this marriage of inconvenience and how much he enjoys having a member of the much-hated Vampyre race in his territory. With the specter of an interspecies war on the horizon as well as threats from within, he has to balance attraction and protection while still holding on to his sanity. It’s a new subgenre for Hazelwood, and she navigates it well, slowly teasing out the sweet and spicy supernatural romance. This is a treat. Agent: Thao Le, Sandra Dijkstra Literary.

  • AudioFile Magazine It begins with a wedding. ThŽrse Plummer depicts the politically motivated marriage between tech savvy Misery Lark, daughter of an influential Vampyre councilman, and Lowe Moreland, newly ascended Were Alpha. The nuptials will have to create mutual trust between the lead characters in order for them to find Misery's missing friend, uncover sinister plots, and figure out what they mean to each other. Plummer goes above and beyond acting out internal and spoken dialogue by enhancing the script with sighs, chuckles, groans, and strained vocalizations. Her character voices flow from deeply masculine to the nasal timbre of a stuffy child. Will Damron's one-sentence perspectives at the beginning of each chapter are beautifully juxtaposed with Plummer's femininity. S.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine
  • Library Journal

    Starred review from June 1, 2024

    Narrators Th�r�se Plummer and Will Damron perform a love story starring two very different beings. Vampyres, Werewolves, and Humans have long been at odds, each seeing the others as enemies. When Misery, the daughter of the Vampyre Southwest council leader, agrees to marry Lowe, the Alpha of the regional Weres, they hope to maintain the peace; however, Misery has another, more personal motive for the arrangement. She's looking for her best friend, the only person she's ever cared about--and Misery suspects she may be lost in Were territory. The two foes reluctantly grow closer as other forces try to disrupt the tenuous treaty. Each chapter begins with short snippets told from Lowe's third-person point of view, which are expertly performed by Damron, who imbues the few lines with Lowe's intensity. Plummer, who narrates the majority of the story from Misery's first-person point of view, is expressive as she captures not only Misery's voice but also those of the other characters. VERDICT A unique take on the star-crossed lovers trope. Listeners who enjoy fun and funny paranormal romances, such as those by Molly Harper, will be delighted with this production.--Amanda L. S. Murphy

    Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Title Information+
  • Publisher
    Books on Tape
  • OverDrive Listen
    Release date:
Digital Rights Information+

Status bar:

You've reached your checkout limit.

Visit your Checkouts page to manage your titles.

Close

You already have this title checked out.

Want to go to your Checkouts?

Close

Recommendation Limit Reached.

You've reached the maximum number of titles you can recommend at this time. You can recommend up to 0 titles every 0 day(s).

Close

Sign in to recommend this title.

Recommend your library consider adding this title to the Digital Collection.

Close

Enhanced Details

Close
Close

Limited availability

Availability can change throughout the month based on the library's budget.

is available for days.

Once playback starts, you have hours to view the title.

Close

Permissions

Close

The OverDrive Read format of this eBook has professional narration that plays while you read in your browser. Learn more here.

Close

Holds

Total holds:


Close

Restricted

Some format options have been disabled. You may see additional download options outside of this network.

Close

MP3 audiobooks are only supported on macOS 10.6 (Snow Leopard) through 10.14 (Mojave). Learn more about MP3 audiobook support on Macs.

Close

Please update to the latest version of the OverDrive app to stream videos.

Close

Device Compatibility Notice

The OverDrive app is required for this format on your current device.

Close

Bahrain, Egypt, Hong Kong, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen

Close

You've reached your library's checkout limit for digital titles.

To make room for more checkouts, you may be able to return titles from your Checkouts page.

Close

Excessive Checkout Limit Reached.

There have been too many titles checked out and returned by your account within a short period of time.

Try again in several days. If you are still not able to check out titles after 7 days, please contact Support.

Close

You have already checked out this title. To access it, return to your Checkouts page.

Close

This title is not available for your card type. If you think this is an error contact support.

Close

An unexpected error has occurred.

If this problem persists, please contact support.

Close

Close

NOTE: Barnes and Noble® may change this list of devices at any time.

Close
Buy it now
and help our library WIN!
Bride
Bride
Ali Hazelwood
Choose a retail partner below to buy this title for yourself.
A portion of this purchase goes to support your library.
Close
Close

There are no copies of this issue left to borrow. Please try to borrow this title again when a new issue is released.

Close
Barnes & Noble Sign In |   Sign In

You will be prompted to sign into your library account on the next page.

If this is your first time selecting “Send to NOOK,” you will then be taken to a Barnes & Noble page to sign into (or create) your NOOK account. You should only have to sign into your NOOK account once to link it to your library account. After this one-time step, periodicals will be automatically sent to your NOOK account when you select "Send to NOOK."

The first time you select “Send to NOOK,” you will be taken to a Barnes & Noble page to sign into (or create) your NOOK account. You should only have to sign into your NOOK account once to link it to your library account. After this one-time step, periodicals will be automatically sent to your NOOK account when you select "Send to NOOK."

You can read periodicals on any NOOK tablet or in the free NOOK reading app for iOS, Android or Windows 8.

Accept to ContinueCancel