Mate

Mate is the second title in Hazelwood’s Bride series. While Bride is the seminal work in the series, it functions as a standalone novel, and the same is true of Mate. It takes place in the same fantastical universe as Bride, in which society is divided between Humans, Vampyres, and Weres (werewolves), but the novel’s plot and character development do not entirely hinge upon its prequel.

Bride follows the story of Misery Lark, the novel’s protagonist and first-person narrator. She is a Vampyre, but her people use her to barter peace with the Humans. Her father sends her to live amongst the Humans as a young girl; she is Collateral to guarantee a peace treaty. If the Vampyres break the ceasefire, the Humans can kill Misery.

Because Misery is alone in this world, she is given a Human companion, the orphan Serena. Serena and Misery become close friends, but Serena later disappears under mysterious circumstances. Not long later, Misery is forced into an arranged marriage with Lowe Moreland, a Were. She resists the union until she discovers Lowe might have answers about Serena’s disappearance. After the marriage, Misery seeks answers to Serena’s whereabouts and gradually falls in love with her new mate, Lowe.

Mate picks up on the same narrative circumstances as Bride, this time following Serena’s first-person narrative. Mate is primarily interested in tracing Serena’s self-discovery journey after she learns that she is part-Human and part-Were. Thrust into a relationship with her new Were mate, Koen Alexander, Serena tries to make sense of what she wants now that she is on her own, without Misery.

Both novels fall under the romantic fantasy genre and explore themes related to loyalty, identity, and love. They are departures from Hazelwood’s traditional contemporary romance novels, like Love, Theoretically and Not in Love, but similarly feature outcast characters and prioritize issues of consent and agency in sexual relationships.