Downtime for digital magazines on Sept. 13

Bride

by Ali Hazelwood

FICTION Hazelwoo Ali

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.

Being an Ali Hazelwood fan, I had to try out her first attempt at romantasy (romance + fantasy). I used to exclusively read romance in the urban fantasy genre--gritty city settings featuring powerful tribes of fantasy character classes--so picking up this book was an easy Yes for me. It's a far cry from her STEM-based romances, but has the same humor and relationship building as her others. Another forbidden love/opposites attract win! -Melody