If you have been following along with the other books written by these authors and keeping up with the “Lady Janies” but in a new series then you’ll likely want to jump into this one and give it a go. It’s pretty much in the same vein and is quite similar in some ways, though it is telling a different story in many ways as well.
In this tale, it’s Renaissance France where there are a whole lot of strange goings ons including mice, plots, poisons, and one very central queen.

Mary, queen of Scots is also the jewel of the French court but she’s also a bit of a mouse, literally. She is an Eðian or shapeshifter. Now, that’s not exactly a good thing since being a mouse could cause one to lose their head! The only good thing is that Mary has some very trusted friends and companions to fall back on.
Speaking of which there is Francis. Francis is her betrothed and great friend. He’s also the next in line to be king. When a terrible thing happens and the current king meets his maker in a very suspicious way Mary and Francis are thrown into a world of conspiracies, treason, lies, and so much more. All the while Mary must make sure her deepest secret stays safe.

If you liked the first ones you should be good with this one as well. I thought it was decent. It’s well written if not a bit over the top silly. I mean it does rewrite history in a silly way that doesn’t make any sense at all really so it can’t not be silly.

The narrator is absolutely fantastic and one that just gives each and every character their own personal voice and personality so when you are tuned in to that the story comes alive and the strange silliness becomes a lot funnier. I definitely recommend checking out the audio if you can.

Shoutout to Harper Audio for giving me an ARC of this audiobook to review via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

While I absolutely enjoyed this book and getting to go back to visit old friends from the debut book in the Lady Janies series I just didn't really connect with Mary like I did some of the other characters in the books I've read by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows. I felt like while in past books I loved all of the main and supporting characters I found some of these characters to be kind of blah and just unlikable in general. I also felt like while the plot was intriguing it kind of lost focus a bit at times and was a little sporadic for my tastes.

What I did like was the humor and history that is pulled throughout all the books that these three marvelous authors create together. By reading these books it has caused me to want to learn more about the people and places that are mentioned in them. I do plan to continue on with the series as the rest of the books come out because as I stated I did enjoy the book, I just have a few small issues that I wish would have been changed to make it a five star read just like the Lady Janies books were.

I received an advanced copy of this audiobook from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This audiobook is well written and the characters are described well. The narrator's did a good job reading this book. It is a entertaining and enjoyable experience. I would recommend listening to this book to anyone and everyone.

It was really quite wonderful to be back in this world! I love that the authors chose to revisit this time period because it not only allowed us a glimpse back into the world of My Lady Jane (I enjoyed the cameos), but Mary Queen of Scots has such a fascinating (and tragic) story—I am glad to see her get her due!

The humor was, of course, on point. One of my favorite aspects of these books is the subtle jabs at history as well as the modern pop culture references (there's just something about Mary ...) and I feel like I've won a little prize every time I catch one.

The friendships as well as other relationships in this were great. Francis is a pure hearted cinnamon roll, and I enjoyed seeing this story told from his POV as well. Can't wait for what is next!

This was not for me and I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I should have done more research and skipped on it since it wasn’t for me. The audiobook felt unnecessarily long.

4.5 stars!

This world is one of my all time favorites. I loveeeeeee the humans being able to shape shift into animals fantasy world. I’m glad this series is getting back to the "My Lady Jane" vibes. Books 2 & 3 of this series was just okay for me. Well I didn't read book 2 because I don't do ghost stories. Then book 3 was good, not great. Anyways, back to My Contrary Mary…..

This read was so funny and witty, very similar to book 1 in this series. I loved it so much. The movie references were just so great.

I absolutely loved all of these characters. Ari added so much to the story with her potions and “visions” aka made up visions that made me LOL. Mary was so serious but likable. I loved how she was a serious queen when she needed to be and then fun/playful at other times. Then sweet Francis was my fave. He was such a genuine character. I loved him so much in this book. By the end I was so excited to see how things would be wrapped up.

This book also references the show “Reign” and reminded me a bit of that. It was so easy to picture these characters after watching that show.

All in all if you like a weird/funny/fantasy/historical fiction/young adult book then this one is for you. It can be read as a stand alone. But I highly recommend reading at least book 1 in this series before picking this one up. I don’t believe books 2 and 3 have any tie ins to this one. But it definitely references back to book 1 at certain times.

I cannot wait until the next book! Super excited for it.

3.4 stars

This was one funny, entertaining book!

However, I really struggled staying interested. That's why it took me forever to finish it!

There was really no tension, which didn't allow me to care much for the story or characters.

It could have been very well a "it's me , not the book" instance, so I do recommend people trying it especially if you enjoy lighthearted, historical fiction.

I heard fans of the series really enjoyed it!

These authors are just so funny. It began with My Lady Jane, and I was hooked. I recommend these books all of the time to my students, and truly think they're SO good. They're funny, they're sweet, and they're historical!

I ended up reading this with my book club and overall thought it was a fun read. I like how the authors pull different historical figures into one story and merge their lives. Overall, I look forward to other stories in this series and am excited to see what is next.

I did a live discussion of this book with my book club and will link it below.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* Really great book, love the historical fiction with magic thing, i have wanted to read this forever and happy it wasn't a let down, cant wait to read the next one!

This book is yet another fantastic creation by the Lady Janies (Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jessica Brody). In the center of this magic-laden, alternative history novel is Mary, Queen of Scots. Raised in France alongside her cousin/fiancé, she isn’t able to do much about the trouble I’m Scotland from where she is. The conflict between the animal-shapeshifter Edians and the anti-magic Verities is increasing. Mary’s secrets must be kept hidden or her life will be at risk. Adventure, love, humor, and history are packed into this laugh-out-loud novel. Read it! Read it today!

Pretty fun read! I love Mary queen of scots and her entire story fascinates me. And Francis, queen Catherine, literally every character is so interesting. I also loved the aspect of humans being able to turn into different animals, it was a good edition to make it different and more fantasy than the normal story! Overall fun read.

I honestly don’t know why this took me so long to complete. I have been in the biggest reading slump of my life the past year and I just kept stringing this audiobook along because I felt like I had to.

It is an interesting book that is kind of like a spin off to the Jane series that I read and loved. This book however fell pretty flat for me. I couldn’t connect to any of the characters and it made for an unenjoyable experience.

They all felt very flat and didn’t give me a reason to rush and keep reading. I’m not sure why I didn’t enjoy this book as much as the Jane trilogy of novels, but this might be where I have to part ways with the universe these novels are set in.

Mary Queen of Scots is one of the most intriguing historical figures to me so I was very excited to see how this story would play out. I knew going in that it was not accurate and fantastical. Overall, I enjoyed this story!

Some of the jokes make me chuckle and some did make me roll my eyes but since I've read another book by this trio, I knew what type of humor to expect.

I did love the small cameo in the book... I won't say for to avoid spoilers.

The ending was very different than history... which again, I knew would happen... but I kind of went with it.

Overall, it was an enjoyable read.

I love these famous female books that these authors co write together. I buy every single one and it leads you to historical fiction with a little more fiction attach. I dont think I could label one of these as my favorite because each character is so unique. this idea for these books are so unique. I will always recommend these books

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for allowing me to read this!

I have loved all the other books in this series! This book instantly drew me in, I got to explore through the eyes of our main character and this is always my favorite way to discover these details of the story and, it was done very well in this book. I really enjoyed this book and the plot. This author did amazing. I loved the writing style.

If you’ve watched & enjoyed the series on TV called Reign than this book is definitely for you!! Oh Mary, how I love thee!! I loved this audiobook. The narration truly brought this story to life. Mary’s character was told so well!! Her character was so well developed! I couldn’t stop listening to this one and can’t wait to get my hands on book 2.

3.5

If you have been following along with the other books written by these authors and keeping up with the “Lady Janies” but in a new series then you’ll likely want to jump into this one and give it a go. It’s pretty much in the same vein and is quite similar in some ways, though it is telling a different story in many ways as well.
In this tale, it’s Renaissance France where there are a whole lot of strange goings ons including mice, plots, poisons, and one very central queen.
Mary, queen of Scots is also the jewel of the French court but she’s also a bit of a mouse, literally. She is an Eðian or shapeshifter. Now, that’s not exactly a good thing since being a mouse could cause one to lose their head! The only good thing is that Mary has some very trusted friends and companions to fall back on.
Speaking of which there is Francis. Francis is her betrothed and great friend. He’s also the next in line to be king. When a terrible thing happens and the current king meets his maker in a very suspicious way Mary and Francis are thrown into a world of conspiracies, treason, lies, and so much more. All the while Mary must make sure her deepest secret stays safe.
This book is alright. As I mentioned, if you liked the first ones you should be good with this one as well. I thought it was decent. It’s well written if not a bit over the top silly. I mean it does rewrite history in a silly way that doesn’t make any sense at all really so it can’t not be silly.
I went back and forth with the audio and the book and I have to say I think that the audio was more enjoyable than straight reading in this case. The narrator is absolutely fantastic and one that just gives each and every character their own personal voice and personality so when you are tuned in to that the story comes alive and the strange silliness becomes a lot funnier. I definitely recommend checking out the audio if you can.
All in all this is an alright book. It definitely should have more readers and reviews than it does. It’s a fun story and just so far-fetched you get to step out of the world for a while and see things in a way that absolutely could never have happened but would have allowed for a better outcome for those it’s based on.

Okay...I'm in. I will read anything this trio decides to write. I have read the first of their Lady Janies series and now this one and BOTH have been 5-star reads for me. I love the hilarious nature of their writing and the way the story mixes fantasy and historical fact. It's just so much fun to read and listen to.

These books are BIG, but they definitely don't feel like it. The pages just fly by. I didn't want to put this book down and found myself intrigued and highly entertained. I laughed out loud at more than one point in the story and also stayed up way too late reading. Double thumbs up.

I honestly find myself amazed that this is written by three authors. The writing is seamless and feels like one cohesive voice. I appreciate the flippancy of the writing and how there are often nods to modern culture or other items in history. It's like having an Easter egg hunt in your novel.

I originally tried reading this using the synthesized voice audio and quickly found that it was not for me. I need feeling in my reading and the awkward cadence and tone of the AI audio grated on me somewhat. However, the actual reading and the completed "real person" narrated audio were both fantastic.

These quirky novels are right up my alley and I loved this read. Now, if you'll excuse me...I have to go track down the two Lady Janies reads I haven't gotten to yet...

* Disclaimer: I received a copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. *

Another great novel by this amazing group of authors. I loved it.

Mary Queen of Scots is engaged to Prince Francis of France, and her life is going great! She has an lovely group of ladies in waiting, is best friends with her fiance and has two uncles that watch out for her and assist her in her queenly duties. But Mary has a secret, she is able to turn into a mouse on command, which comes in very handy when she needs to spy on people. However, court is never as it seems, and since Queen Mary is in line for two thrones instead of one you can bet people are plotting her demise.

This book was absolutely fantastic. You have history, comedy and a great storyline. This story is set in the same world as My Lady Jane by the same authors, so if you haven't read that book yet I would recommend reading it first so you don't get spoilers. Other than that I would highly recommend this book to all readers, specifically fans of history. I also highly recommend the audiobook version as well, the narrator has an amazing voice and really brings the story to life.