I love Ali Hazelwood’s rom-coms about women in STEM, but I’d decided to skip BRIDE because I have zero interest in werewolves and vampires. Or so I believed until I picked up a copy and read the first page.

This novel has everything: fabulous characters, hilarious dialogue, sexual tension, betrayal, political shenanigans, and killer good plot twists. Plus it debunked my every ‘myth’ about these monsters. No bats flying around at night, no packs of wolves terrorizing herds of sheep: just two enemy nations co-existing in a fragile peace … and sharing a love of peanut butter.

When she was eight years old, Misery Lark—daughter of a powerful Vampyre councilman—was sent to live among the Humans as a Collateral (an ages-old peace-keeping strategy). Now she’s a badass tech geek who passes for Human by filing down her fangs and working at night. Then her father demands she become a Collateral again—this time with the Weres. For one year, she will be the wife of a powerful Alpha, Lowe Moreland.

Misery could fight her father’s decision, but she has her own motivation for traveling deep behind enemy lines. The human orphan who was her foster sister—and only person Misery loves—has disappeared. She suspects the Weres are involved.

Alone in a hostile world, Misery never expects to feel protective of Lowe’s baby sister, rethink everything she knows about her mortal enemy, or earn Lowe’s respect and gratitude. And what is this irresistible thing sparking between them?

Lowe is a complex blend of artist, devoted big brother, and honorable leader who’s trying to unite his territory after deposing a tyrant. Misery is a distraction he can’t afford, and yet her scent is intoxicating. But a Were and a Vampyre can’t be mates. And even if that were possible, how could they protect each other in a dangerous world of shifting alliances?