Autumn is my favorite season. The weather is perfect—chilly and a little spooky. The fireplace gets turned on, and sweaters make their return. It’s also the time for enchanting, Halloween reads.
Witches are still all the rage, but the best duology I’ve read in recent memory is about vampires (Vampyers) and werewolves (Weres). Ali Hazelwood’s Bride and Mate are fantastic.
Bride introduces a rich, well-fleshed-out world. Hazelwood is known for her academic settings (The Love Hypothesis, Love, Theoretically and Deep End), but this marks her first venture into the supernatural—and, as always, she delivers.
Our main character, Misery, is a Vampyer raised among humans with her human best friend, Serena. She’s the daughter of the Vampyer leader in a world divided among Weres, Vampyers and humans. Because of the tense relationship between the species, the humans and Vampyers engage in a collateral system: one human child and one Vampyer child live within the opposite community. If either side starts a war, the collateral child is killed immediately. Barbaric but thrilling.
Misery, who has a twin brother named Owen, is chosen because her father doesn’t particularly care about her and her mother died during childbirth. After years among humans and having completed her time as collateral, she finds herself caught between worlds — the humans never fully accepted her and the Vampyers shunned her. Now she lives quietly among humans with Serena. The story opens with her father “asking” (really, telling) her to once again serve as collateral — this time by marrying the Were alpha, Lowe. Oddly enough, she accepts as soon as she hears his name.
This book is such a fun read. Misery’s name suits her — she’s dry, darkly funny and full of secrets. Lowe, on the other hand, is a stoic, lumberjack-like leader. Their banter is sharp and endlessly entertaining. I could eat it for every meal and never be full.
Hazelwood proves she’s not limited to academic romance. She creates a well-structured, engaging world full of tension, humor and heat. The spice scenes (this is knot a book for younger readers) are perfectly placed, and the story moves at a satisfying pace.
Mate picks up shortly after the events of Bride and is equally fun, emotional and spicy. Hazelwood continues to solidify herself as both a romance powerhouse and a strong paranormal author.
This duology is the perfect pick for a few chilly, sweater-wearing autumn days — best enjoyed by the fire with something pumpkin-flavored nearby.
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