I love these books! It was unfortunate that this audio was a digital reading, as the narrator is always what takes this book up an extra notch. Having said that, I can only imagine how great this story will be once it has the right voice. This is the "origin" story of Mary, Queen of Scotts. I really enjoyed this one. The comedy is great and the paranormal that is always found in these stories just brings an even brighter joy to what could be the otherwise dull historical account. There is also a fun connection to one of the previous "Jane" books, so keep an eye/ear out for it! Always a lark to listen to these and I'll always recommend them when asked! Thanks for another enjoyable listen. I'll probably listen again once I can get the actual narrator.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I received this audiobook from Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion and review. I really enjoyed the Lady Janies, series, so I was super excited to hear that there was going to be another series featuring Marys! I thoroughly enjoyed this novel too. I liked all the different characters and the story line. These ladies never disappoint!

If I needed to describe this book/audiobook in one word it would be: fun.
I was lucky enough to get this as an audiobook before its release date. I give it a 3.5 because it was entertaining, while not being something too heavy to listen to. The synthetic voice was better than I thought it would be.
I have listened to the other series by these authors and I enjoyed them. This was no different. I may have even liked this story more. No complaints coming from me. I cannot wait to see what other stories these talented ladies come out with.
Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for providing me with this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I was lucky to have received an ARC copy from the publisher. I really enjoyed My Lady Jane and thought My Plain Jane was alright. I was excited to know the authors were stilling writing these books.
I have been interested in Mary Queen of Scots for a long time, especially after watching the tv show Reign. This book had some very similar things to the tv show. This book is similar to the first book My Lady Jane as well, as we go back to the same world. I have not been as impressed as I was with that first book.
I rate and review purely on enjoyment while reading. I did enjoy myself while reading this, but I wanted more from the story. I felt like it has been done before with My Lady Jane and Reign. It did not feel very original.
The characters did not have a lot of depth. I liked the humor in the first book, but it is feeling over done and not original anymore. The book dragged in places and felt rushed in others. The ending seemed too easy to me. It would have been cool to see more conflict before we got the ending that we did.
This is all my personal opinion. This is not a bad book and I did enjoy myself while reading it. I think people will like it, especially if you enjoyed the other ones. I am giving My Contrary Mary four out of five stars.

I have always been fascinated with the British monarchy and British history. It is rather violent and bizzare. The twists and turns of history make fiction look tame at times. I am a huge fan of Philippa Gregory. If you are too, this series is for you (yes, this is the first of a new series that I am pretty excited about). This historical fiction tells the tale of Mary Queen of Scots. I did look up some of the timeline and story line for Mary Queen of Scots and this novel stays pretty faithful to real life, but adds in a bit of magical realism and a few twists (I can't say I am sad about one of the major twists in which a character survives who technically dies in real life).

Mary is adored by her soon to be husband: Francis. She's surrounded by a retinue of Marys who would give their lives for her. But she was a BIG secret that she's hiding and using to snoop around the palace. But for all her snooping, she still misses out on the scandals and plots right in front of her. Mary lives in a kitty cat world and what can a poor mouse do? Read on to find out!

I love the addition of Nostradamus and his daughter. I love the narrator notes and the bit of pop-cultural references snuck into the story.

Lies, scandals, hypocrisy, conspiracies to take over thrones, love, magic, shape shifting, fortune telling.

I love the different points of view chapter by chapter. The various characters share their stories in different chapters: Francis, Mary, Ari.... It's unique to get a glimpse into the various character's heads throughout the main story.

3.5 stars. It was fun, I had a good time, but I do have a few critiques and I don't think I liked it as much as My Calamity Jane or My Lady Jane, but more than My Plain Jane.
Rep: Lesbian mc (Ari), wlw with a happy ending.
TW: none
I absolutely loved My Lady Jane, so I was really excited to be back in the eðian world from that book, and it was still a ton of fun. Books like this series and the Jane series wouldn't usually be my type, with their present day references, breaking of the fourth wall, and a focus on humor, but I've found they're really enjoyable when you just want a fun fantasy story that's not too serious. They are quite funny, and these authors are really fantastic at writing characters and relationships, which was no different in this book. Overall, it was fun, enjoyable, and I will continue reading this series as it progresses. Also, I loved the cameos from Jane, Edward, and G (characters in My Lady Jane) because I knew the books were set in the same universe, but I didn't realize they were set at the same time because I refuse to pay attention to dates, so that was a pleasant surprise.
Some things I liked less: As much as I usually like the characters in these books, I didn't love Francis, and only kind of enjoyed his relationship with Mary, especially in the middle of the book. Also, an issue I continue to have with these books is that there are little to no characters of color, disabled characters, ND characters, or any characters with mental illness/chronic illness. They've only added in queer characters in the last two books, and granted, in both cases it was a sapphic main character, a love interest, with a happy ending, but there have been no other queer characters. And before anybody brings up historical accuracy in regards to diverse characters and representation, first of all: real life has always been diverse and these people have always existed. Secondly: even if that weren't the case, the whole basis of these books is that they put a fantastical and anachronistic twist on history. It wouldn't have been hard to include more representation.

Hand, Ashton and Meadows were hysterically funny and very creative with the Jane series. Back with a new series, now working on Marys, there is much potential.

I enjoyed it. I did. However, the book seemed to go on a bit too long and some of the references which provide the comedy to the story seemed a bit contrived – even for them. It was funny, but by the end I found myself questioning if I would want to read the next one.

The version I am reviewing was supposed to be an audiobook. It was, technically an audio presentation, but not done by a human. Truly, what is the point? In reviewing an audiobook, one would expect to review the presentation as well as the story. That was not possible because it was a computer-generated voice. The voice was well done – good technology – but cannot replace the engagement and inflection of a living person. As an audiobook, this is a failure – not a horrible failure, but a failure none the less.

So overall, I would not recommend anyone to purchase the product I received for review. The story was entertaining but taxing and the recording was unreal.

dnf at 16%

I just could not get into this audiobook with a computerized narrator. The narrator of My Lady Jane and My Plain Jane were both amazing and brought the story to life, and I just could not get used to the robotic sound of this narration. Also, Netgalley's audio features need to be fixed, other audiobook services don't have this issue, but anytime the book is sped up past 1.5x it gets very shaky and strange sounding, which it made even worse with a computerized narration.

I won't give this one star, since I'm sure the actual content of the book is fine. I enjoyed the Lady Janies' other work and I will probably try this novel out again either as a physical copy, or wait until they make one with a narrator.

*Thank you to Netgalley & Harper Audio for approving my access to an early audio of My Contrary Mary in exchange for an honest review*

Mary Queen of Scots has lived in France since she was a young girl and she always knew she'd marry Francis. There is one secret she has been keeping from him and the rest of Court, not only for her safety but for the safety of her people as well. Mary is an Eðian. Her spirit animal is a mouse and when Francis tells her that her uncles are scheming against her she decides to use her ability to find out the truth. This gets her in a bit of hot water and after she weds Francis she sneaks away to Scotland to seek advice from her mother. This is when the adventure begins and not only for Mary. Francis finds himself on a separate journey with Ari Nostradamus which leads him to uncovering more plots against them all.

It was so good to be back in the world filled with Eðian! My Lady Jane was so much fun and when I heard that My Contrary Mary was going to be set in the same time and world I was so excited! I will have to admit that this one is my favorite of their works (minus Calamity Jane because I haven't read it yet, which I plan on to remedy very soon)!

My absolute favorite part of this book were all the subtle pop culture references and they were all over the place. If you're not paying attention you may miss the references to Titanic, Terminator, Braveheart, and Princess Bride just to name a few. I found myself giggling out loud quite often.

Although the audio is a bit shaky on the Netgalley Shelf app, I thought it was well done. If you've loved the Janies than you'll definitely need to pick this one up! I can't wait to read about more Mary's in the future!

The level of contemporary references was hysterical, for sure one of my favorite things while reading. I love how the authors subtly insert movie quotes, movie titles, random tidbits (Ari's Titanic vision and the Marys' follow-up questions were my favorite!) and perfectly play it off as regular conversation that matches the time. If you don't pay attention, you might miss something quiet and small and hysterical. I found myself laughing out loud at the conversations they were so great and occasionally ridiculous.

I love how this was set back in the same world as My Lady Jane, which was my first Ladies Janies book and got me hooked. Keep in mind that this is a standalone so you can read it without prior knowledge of this series or this fantastical world. But there might have been a cameo of a certain lady in this story which made me super happy.

Overall this was an incredibly fun listen- I have actually listened to all the books in this series and if you are a fan of audiobooks I 100% recommend listening to this book on audio. I loved every minute of this story and I can't wait for more, be it Janes or Marys or any other random female character they want to give a voice and a crazy history to.

A book about Mary, Queen of Scots, a fictional retelling, with shapeshifters?! Sign me up! This books was equal parts entertaining, hilarious, and awesome. I really enjoyed the Jane series from these authors, and this makes a great addition to that series. I wanted to thank the publisher for giving me the chance to review the audiobook for free through NetGalley. Check this out if you want a super entertaining read!

I've listened to audiobooks for the Lady Janes series, and they're fun with new narrators for each character. This narrator was a synthetic/robot that read the whole book.

This is a fun retelling of Mary Queen of Scots (with a happy ending).

Here are some of my favorite quotes. This is spoiler free gives the fun attitude of the book:

-The first ever use of the phrase WTF, which stands for, as we all know, “what the frog.”

- toute suite (which in French means “right freaking now”)

- “It’s BYOC.”
“BYOC?”
“Bring your own candle.”

I haven't read the other books in this series (?), I own it, just haven't gotten around to it yet. This audiobook was fabulous. Loved the narrator and the animation of their voice. I laughed out loud a lot during this book. The story was good, but the narrator made this great I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much if I had read it on my own.

3.5 I'll start off with, this book was so funny I really love this writing trio's humor and I've loved almost all of the books they had done with the Jane series, so to be totally transparent I DNF'd My Lady Jane which this book is a sequel of sorts to, there is a small scene that besides the world the characters connect to but I don't understand that importance because well I never finished My Lady Jane. However I might consider giving it a second try after enjoying this one so much. That sentence might sound weird when my rating is more middle of the road, and I actually can pin point the two things or I should say characters that didn't work for me. The first character was Ari (I listened to the audio so I'm not sure how its spelt) She honestly has some of the funniest lines and scenes but was SO annoying and naïve. The other character was Francis unless he was with Mary we just didn't jive. Besides that this was a lot of fun and was the first time I actually did a little research on a character because I realized I didn't know anything about Mary Queen of scots and she was pretty fascinating and a good choice for a fun retelling/alt history. How the authors wrote Mary and her adventure throughout made the book for me and I really loved all the scenes with her and Francis they had such a sweet friendship. Another character I enjoyed was Francis's mom Queen Catherine de' Medici she was funny and scheming, one of the people we are suppose to hate but I couldn't help but like her part in everything. These stories are so much fun and I cant wait to read more and really hope they never stop retelling history or characters.

I reviewed this in its audio form I do not know how the audio will sound in its official release and I'm curious to sample it when it does release I had already pre ordered the book before getting an ARC for review. This was my first audio ARC and I was really worried that it would be like a robot voice. It was a little more mechanical in its reading but it did not take away from the story and everything was said clearly. I found it helped if I speed it up.

I cant wait for this to go out to the readers on its book birthday June 22 2021 I really think people are going to enjoy this especially if you enjoyed the world from the first one or any of the books these authors write together.

I think I need to be done with this series. The first Janie book was amazing, the second one was good and third fell apart. I was excited to get back to this one because it was set int he world of the Lady Jane book. That was going to bee fun. It just didn’t work at all for me. I think maybe these talented writers should try something new. I would be keen on that.

I can’t provide a full review of this because of the narrator being a computer voice. However I love the authors and the stories they tell and this is no exception. Wonderfully imaginative and fun, My Contrary is sure to be a massive hit!

I want to be Cynthia's best friend. Her slightly off balance and at times inappropriate humor just makes her seem like she would be the best person in the world to be friends with. Her writing is so fun and I loved this one just as much as I loved her first one my lady Jane. Not only do I love that she's humorous but I love that she takes actual historical people and historical events and turns them into a fantasy world, but a fantasy world that still makes you ask questions about what it actually was like and you end up reading two books at the same time because you want to learn about the actual Queen Mary of Scotts. Her second book which I believe was called my plain Jane, felt exactly that. Plain. It's possible I just wasn't in a mood to listen to it or read it but just didn't Make the same spark for me. But this one, she got her grove back. Or maybe I do. But I just laughed a lot and I really enjoyed the story. I would highly recommend reading it. And that's saying something because the audiobook version that I listened to was a robot. Not a real person. I imagine I'll be re reading again to hear all of the inflections and delivery I'm the way it's supposed to be done. The book itself is a wonder and it's clean so it's perfect for teens. Just FYI. Thank you so much #netgalley for allowing me to read this ARC copy of #Mycontrarymary, it is truly my honor to read all of the hard work that goes into these books and I'm thankful for #netgalley.

I really liked the Jane series by these authors so when I saw this book on NetGalley I just had to request it. I knew without a doubt it was going to be an enjoyable read and i'm so happy it lived up to my expectations.

I admit i'm not usually a fan of historical fiction, because sometimes the way authors rewrite history just downright irritates me. However I really like the way these books are written ; they're so entertaining and fun that i'm able to enjoy them for what they are without focusing on all the historical inaccuracies.

One of my favorite parts of this book in particular was the references the star wars one for example really cracked me up. I also generally liked the characters ; there was some that annoyed me a bit but not enough to mention.

The story itself did start off a bit slow (hence the 4 stars instead of 5) but when it did start to pick up it was hard to put down. Which is no surprise since it had magic, wit and unique twists and turns and was an overall delightful read that I couldn't recommend enough.

I requested the audio galley without realizing that it didn’t have the full cast narrators that the usual audiobooks in the series have, which was a disappointment.

But otherwise this story of Mary was a lot of fun. The Queen of Scots is a great character, strong and compassionate and with good convictions. She is well supported by her husband Francis who is more of a thinker than a doer, and even if it takes time, he does stand up for what’s right. While Ari and Liv’s romance itself was cute, I can’t say I was always impressed with her decisions.

I was not always able to recognize the historical puns or references, but Ari’s visions of Hollywood movies were absolutely hilarious and I had a good laugh. This turned out to be a good beginning for the series, and I’m very excited to see which other Mary’s story we will get to read about in the sequel.

This historical fantasy fiction was so much fun. I’m not a history buff or anything but stories of Queen Elizabeth and Mary Queen of Scots have always fascinated me. So a historical fiction novel making Mary Queen of Scots a little bit fantasy character as well....Plus this cover...and the regulation of My Plain Jane...sign me up.
And it was even better than I expected. I actually was laughing out loud at the perfectly dropped pieces of modern pop culture dripping throughout the story...all the way from misunderstood visions of Darth Vader and the Terminator (you just have to read it)...to perfect nods from modern day movies like Princess Bride. It was hilarious and well done.
The story was also great. Of course, I haven’t a clue if any of it is actually based on portions of the true Mary Queen of Scots story, but it was certainly interesting...like couldn’t put it down interesting. And surprisingly clean. No real language. No sex. I mean, that’s surprisingly rare in books these days, regardless of genre or audience. But it was quite refreshing.
The only thing that somewhat bothered me was the way the authors wrote themselves into the story and spoke directly to the reader. I got used to it eventually, but at first it definitely took me out of the story and surprised me. I also think it was unnecessary.
And as for the audio...well it says it’s a voice galley and not a true depiction of the audiobook, so I get what they are doing. And with that consideration it was fine, but something the tone of how the wording was said lost all meaning to the sarcasm or endings of sentences. At some points it was hard to follow because of that or I’d have to really think through what the writers actually meant. Not a huge fan of the voice galley automation.
All in all, this book made me want to go back and read all of the books in the Jane series as well.