Fantasy• Romance

Review: Mate by Ali Hazelwood

November 15, 2025

Mate is the second book in the Bride series. I was looking forward to this release and took the opportunity to re-read the first book in the series also. If you haven’t read it or are interested in the Review, feel free to read it first.

Review: Bride by Ali Hazelwood

Synopsis

Serena Paris is orphaned, pack-less, and one of a kind. Coming forward as the first Human-Were hybrid was supposed to heal a centuries-long rift between species. Instead, it made her a target, prey to the ruthless political machinations between Weres, Vampyres, and Humans. With her enemies closing in on her, she has only one option left—if he’ll have her.

As Alpha of the Northwest pack, Koen Alexander commands obedience. His authority is so absolute, only a fool would threaten his mate. It doesn’t matter if Serena doesn’t reciprocate his feelings, nothing will stop him from keeping her safe.

But power-hungry Vampyres and Weres are not the only threats chasing Serena. Sooner or later, her past is bound to catch up with her—and Koen might be the only thing standing between her and total annihilation…

Review

The first book ended with a bit of a spoiler of what’s ahead for us in the next book. Making Serena and Koen the main love interests did not come as a surprise. Both characters got introduced to us enough to have a general understanding of the type of people to expect. And knowing Ali Hazelwood’s writing, we were in for a treat.

The bickering of Serena and Koen was amazing. Two people, that get each other in such a short amount of time is pure magic. From the beginning it was clear, that despite circumstances not being in their favour, these to respect each other, enjoy each others company and are attracted to each other (obviously). The physical part does not take over and only becomes more obvious in the last third of the book. With a lot of books (in my opinion) relying way too much on the physical attraction, this one was done well. I could see their relationship grow, the trust the two of them built and how they slowly became more and more the couple I wanted them to be.

We get introduced to new characters, that enrich the story and we they are not just there as a filler but contribute to the story. And obviously having Misery make an appearance on a regular basis was the cherry on top.

That ONE thing about the physical interaction is still a bit weird to me and is the one aspect that didn’t make it a 5 star for me. Otherwise, I laughed, I cried a little bit, and I was overall so engaged with these characters, that I enjoyed it even more than the first one. Well done 🙂

🌙 Recension: Mate (Bride #2) by Ali Hazelwood | Duology
📚 Genre: Fantasy & Romance
📅 Release Date: October 7, 2025
📖 Publisher: Berkley
📗 available in various formats
📱 Read as: Kindle
💸 Bought
🗣️ Language: English
📆 Pages: 457
⭐️ 4.5/5