One of my most anticipated reads of 2021, My Contrary Mary did not disappoint. I have been counting down the days until I got to give the audio a listen. Because lets face it, these audiobooks are my favorite! The narrators are always on point and make the book so fun!

The only reason this isn't a solid 5-star read is, I haven't experienced the narrator yet! The robotic voice just didn't do this wonderful story justice. And I cannot wait until this book releases so I can experience it in all its glory.

I alway love a Lady Janies book and this one was no exception. I was very excited to return to this particular world because I find the speculative elements so cool. I wanted to be able to turn into an animal as a kid, so it just tickles the imagination the right way. I did enjoy this readin experience a little less than usual because the auto generated voice had a little trouble with the timing of the jokes. I didn't laugh nearly as much as I did with their previous books, but hopefully that won't be an issue with the actual narrator or the physical book.

My Contrary Mary is such good fun! The drama, the humor, the "history" was just... *chef's kiss*.

Synopsis:
Essentially, this book follows Queen Mary of Scotland and Prince Francis of France through a journey to survive and conquer a bunch of political scheming. It turns out that life in the French court can be pretty crazy and dangerous. I know that's a super short little summary, but I feel like I'm going to be tossing around spoilers if I actually start listing specifics and I'm trying to not do that!

My General Thoughts:
The story was really solid and fun, but what stood out for me was the all the little bits of humor, general pop culture references, and some of the small elements I ended up loving thrown into the book. Those are the things that stood out to me and kept me enjoying the story even when I, personally, wanted the story to move along a bit faster.

There were definitely lots of moments in the second half where I was just LIVING for the drama. The plot just kept getting thicker and I was here for it. I won't say that I didn't get a little frustrated with Mary or Francis at times, but those little baby royals were just going through it and I forgave them.

Wrap-Up:
This was my first book by this awesome trio of authors, but it certainly won't be my last. I had lots of fun with My Contrary Mary and I'm definitely making The Lady Janies books a priority very soon.

JUST PLAIN FUN!!!! These authors seem to have hit the sweet spot in their ability to take a lively story and a great heroine and combine it into a fantastically outrageous piece of fiction. I want more!!

I loved this so much! Not quite a 5 star read for me but I was thoroughly entertained from beginning to end!

A huge thank you to The Authors, publisher and NetGalley for my advanced copy.

This book was the perfect blend of historical fiction, magic and satire! Highly recommend and will be listening to the backlist titles by these authors ( The Lady Janies ).

Cannot wait for the next installment.

This was actually my first ever audiobook I’ve listened to and I rather enjoyed it! Aside from the occasional repetition of a word, or skipping a word, I think the auto-generated voice was fairly okay! This book has a feminine voice with a British accent, which I felt went well with the story of Mary, Queen of Scots. Though most of the story takes place in France, I think a French accent would have been too difficult fir myself, an American, to wade through.

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I am a HUGE medieval fan with my main obsession being Henry VIII and House Tudor...so imagine my absolute delight when the Lady Janies turned their attention to Mary, Queen of Scots!...she’s Tudor-adjacent and, she was sort of challenging Queen Elizabeth I for the England crown (historically).

I really enjoy the writing style of these three women, it’s near impossible to ever be able to tell when the pen has switched hands (a difficult feat, especially with more than 2 authors). Their individual voices come through their characters but somehow none overpowers the other and it all melds well.

I was so happy to see the return of the Edians & Verities. Obviously they’re a metaphor for Catholics and Protestants, which were warring factions back then. I think taking the religious disagreements as a matter of shapershifters vs. non-shifters is a nice touch...and the authors are never “for” one side or “against” the other.

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I received an audio listening copy of this book from Netgalley, via the publisher, in exchange for an honest review. Receiving this book has in no way affected my views or opinions.

This book is about Mary Queen of Scots. She is betrothed to the Crown Prince of France. When they marry, they decide to not try for an heir since it will be a long time until Francis is made King of France. However, the King soon dies and Francis becomes King. Mary can turn into a mouse and must keep it a secret. Something happens to Francis and there are lots of twists and turns.
I loved that they did My Lady Jane and I have read some of My Plain Jane. This book was not as funny as the other two and felt like it was trying too hard. It was long and had a lot of boring parts. I do love that they are now doing Mary’s.

I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

My Rating: 4.5 Stars

Earlier this week, I finished A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir and I honestly may never recover from the devastation that book wrought. Thankfully, My Contrary Mary came along at exactly the right time. The Lady Janies series is a go to historical/contemporary fantasy for me as the characters are always likable, the humor is ALWAYS on point, and the plot is always intriguing. In fact, almost every book written by these three has been a one sitting read for me. I can say with complete honesty, that My Contrary Mary is only the third book to make me laugh out loud in 2020. The first was My Calamity Jane (by the Lady Janies, of course). The second was The House in the Cerulean Sea (another must read of the year).

This first book in a new but connected series about historical figures named Mary had everything I was looking for in a book this week. It told a slightly altered version of the events of the life of Mary Queen of Scotts. In this version of events, her fiancé Francis never died, and there may or may not be some shapeshifters on or around the throne. Francis somehow managed to be frustratingly naïve and immensely likable at the same time, and I can honestly say that his character growth was a blast to experience.

The third POV in this book is Ari – whose full name is Aristotle, and is the daughter of Nostradamus. Unfortunately she can’t quite seem to tell the future as well as he can, but she does happen to be a bit of a whiz with potions. She also happens to have her eye on one of Queen Mary’s ladies in waiting. I expected to miss the POVs of Mary and Francis, but found myself looking forward to Ari’s chapters just as much if not more than the two main characters. The appearances from Nostradamus were among my personal favorites, and I loved how her wonderful, sapphic romance developed.

Not shockingly, this book was another complete win for me and I am already absolutely dying to get my hands on the next book these amazing authors put out. Can y’all please just release two books in 2021? After 2020, I think we all deserve it.

My Contrary Mary is my first book from this author and I wasn't disappointed. I was waiting to finish this book to decide if I should dive into her other series focusing on different Janes and I'm excited to add them to my tbr.

My Contrary Mary follows Mary, Queen of Scot, and from the first page, I was reminded of the TV show that I loved. Now this book is a lot of fun and there's also shapeshifting so if you're wondering, it's a lot happier and clearly not a portrait of the real history which is perfect imo.

I really liked following Mary which is a force to be reckoned with even if she trusted blindly some people at times. Betrayals happened and she learned her lesson. I loved seeing her taking control of a situation and also seeing how Francis grew in this book.

Overall, it was a really cute discovery and I can't wait to read more from this author. I'll definitely be diving into her other series while waiting for the next Mary ;)

(Thank you for letting me read and review an ARC via Netgalley)

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Long may she reign. My Contrary Mary basically reminded me of the TV show Reign. Which I loved and made me fall in love with this entire book. Even though Frances came off like a little bitch sometimes. I just think he needed to woman up and take charge of stuff that was going on around him. Then again, that's just my opinion.

Other than that, I loved Mary's character. She was just written so freaking well and it was easy to just fall in love with her. Plus her and Frances together kind of made it look like he had a spine or something. She was definitely a force to behold all on her own and it was just amazing to see her grow throughout the book.

I'm still kind of upset with some of the betrayals throughout this book but ugh, I devoured and loved everything about it just the same. I'm super excited to dive into the next book and can't wait to dive into it. Whenever it comes out. Just give me the ARC!

This book was a delight! As always I loved the comedy. The characters were very likeable. I also loves that we got a little update on the characters from My Lady Jane. Overall this book was just a fun romp though some of the more darker parts of our worlds history.

I have to say, I know very little about Mary Queen of Scots, other than that she was beheaded, yikes! So I was happy to dive into this and get a bit of real history mixed with some cool fantasy and a happier ending for Queen Mary.

Like the Jane books, this is full of puns, references, and humor. It's pretty lighthearted and makes fun of historical practices and people, which made it easy to listen to. I especially loved the Lion King reference "Everything the light touches" lol. There's also a surprise visit from past characters of My Lady Jane if you've read those.

Mary is a great character, she goes through a lot of loss and adversary, but she remains strong and wants to do what's best for her people. In this retelling, she's also a shapeshifter which is pretty awesome and definitely comes in handy. Her husband Francis, is totally in love with her and I enjoyed seeing him realize what was important and grow a spine to stand up to their enemies.

Aristotle, or Ari, is the daughter of Nostradamus and has a secret relationship with one of Mary's ladies, Liv. My feelings on Ari go back and forth, sometimes I liked her and then she would help the evil Queen Catherine and she was on my short list. I do think she was trying to do the best she could in her situation and I liked her and Liv's romance.

This was such a fun read and definitely measures up to the previous books. I'm glad I got a chance to read it early and I'm looking forward to the other Mary books!

I received an advanced copy of the audiobook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I am so excited for this book. I've loved the audio versions so far (for the other JANE series) and this is no exception! I have sent a request to read an early copy of the egalley as well because I didn't want to stop after the audio sample - this trio of authors is awesome.

This was a very good book to listen to. I found that listening I was able to be drawn into the story more then reading. The narrator is also fabulous! I am very fortunate to have listened to it and cannot wait to gift to my friends and family at release date! One of the best audiobooks in a long time!

This was such an interesting book. It sounds like there are other books in this "series"? I am really interested to read them. It's a great mix of fantasy aspects twisted into the historical fiction of Mary Queen of Scots. I loved that mary can turn into a mouse. It was a fun addition to the story, and it provided so many opportunities for Mary to spy and get around the castle.

This is perfect for YA readers!

I was provided a gifted copy of this book for free. I am leaving my review voluntarily.

I'm sure this book is amazing but the synthetic voice narrator was ruining the book for me. I got to Chapter 4 and was enjoying the story but the flat, robotic narration was not working for me. I wish they had uploaded the actual audiobook for the book. The audiobooks for this series are amazing! I will definitely be checking out the real audiobook when it comes out.

Thanks so much netgallery and HarperCollins for sending me Advanced audiobook!
This was my most Anticipated release of 2021 there is magic when These author get together
This was set in the same world as my lady jane We even get to see some of Characters! This was supper fun and hilarious just like the past ones
I have always loved Mary queen of Scotts so I was so happy for her to be the leading lady I thought for sure she was gonna be my favourite but no that went to my girl Ari! she Was so funny and her romance was so cute Francis was ok but i felt myself wanting to scream at him most the time I can't wait for for rest of the Mary's

I listened to about half of this, and felt as if the synthetic narrator was trying to ruin the book for me. I have read and loved all the Lady Janies books and promote them like crazy. My Lady Jane is my favorite, and the fact that this book is in that same world makes me so happy! But.. this way of reading is not going well. I usually do audiobooks due to my health, but this is not going to work. I would LOVE an eArc (or physical, but I know the publisher doesn't do that anymore), to promote and provide accurate feed back to this lovely book! I am 99.95% sure I would LOVE it!

As the popular Reign series on the CW has shown, we just can't get enough of Queen Mary. This new "Mary" book--like the "Jane" books before-- is history told through a humorous tale with lines from movies and pop culture references intertwined. This historical fiction also has a fun, shape-shifting fantasy element mixed in. As with previous retellings by these three authors, my favorite aspect of the novel is the witty narrator's commentary.

Not normally my cup of tea but I loved the narrator and the fact that Mary, Queen of Scots, is getting the justice she deserves was amazing. It was fun and definitely worth the listen. I can’t wait to see what everyone else thinks about it!