I knew I was going to love this one based on the cover and title alone! A DAUGHTER OF FAIR VERONE by Christina Dodd was such a fun reimagining/continuation of the classic Romeo & Juliet story. Highly recommend this one if you're looking for something fun yet unique!

This was a book that I did not finish. I tried three separate times over a few months thinking maybe I needed to be in the right mood for it. I made it a bit more than half way. At this point I've concluded it's just not my cup of tea. While I love the idea of the book, I found the humor off putting. For me it was too crass and sarcastic. Multiple fart jokes really annoyed me. I understand there is meant to be an element of dark humor and satire, but it didn't work for me. That's not to say there weren't enjoyable moments. The premise was clever, the main character is fun and the mystery plot almost drew me in. I think many people will like it. For me I wanted more romance, more witty humor (it is based on Shakespeare after all) and the feel of a cozy mystery.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my advanced digital copy. This is one I was excited about.

If you are looking for ways to jazz up your Shakespeare curriculum, or help students find their way into Romeo and Juliet, this would be a terrific title to add to your classroom library.

What if Romeo and Juliet didn't die? Just sit with that for a moment. What if, when Juliet woke up, she grabbed a brain and figured out how to resuscitate Romeo? Just what if? I think that premise alone would bring students on board who roll their eyes at Juliet deciding she needs to die, too (and yes, there are always some of us who aren't swept away by the "I can't live without him" scenario). That's what underlies this entertaining novel, which has been set up as the start of a series.

If Romeo and Juliet had lived, were still deeply in love, and had a brood of children, their eldest daughter (Rosaline) might just be an independent, highly intelligent young woman who chafes at the restrictions of the society she lives in. She might see her mother regularly pregnant, and decide that that isn't the path she wants. She might channel her frustration with the men she is constantly being presented to into being a fabulous matchmaker for them. And, if the suspicion of murder falls on her, she might put all of her skills into figuring out what the heck is actually going on.

This is such a fun book - Rosie is fabulous as a lead character and teenaged female readers will enjoy her immensely. There's a little romance and Rosie attempting to navigate that while being true to herself is very well done. There are some solid thriller aspects - it veers out of cozy territory pretty majorly at one point- which will appeal to YA readers. I would very much enjoy doing a book club with this one with students who had read Romeo and Juliet.

Solid 4 stars from me, and looking forward to the next one in the Daughter of Montague series.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the e-arc.

Thank you to Kensington Books and Bibiolifestyle (print) and NetGalley (electronic). My opinions are my own.

Everyone knows the story of Romeo and Juliet and how they met their tragic end. But what if they hadn't? And thus starts a series that I WANT MORE OF! Rosie Montague--the intelligent, practical child of a wildly impractical and passionate family--runs the family household and keeps things grounded. She adores her family and has no interest in getting married, but at the spinsterish age of almost 20 years old, she is finally cornered by her family into marriage to an older man whose first three wives have died under mysterious circumstances. But when he ends up stabbed to death in her family's garden during their betrothal party, and when the bodies start to pile up, the good citizens of Verona start to suspect Rosie. As she races to discover the killer to save herself and her family, all while falling in love at first sight--but it's never that easy, is it? As we all know, the course of true love never did run smooth.
I couldn't get enough of Rosie's irreverent, hilarious voice. The action moves fast in this historic, literary tale, very much as in Shakespeare's plays. And Dodd wields Shakespeare like a pen AND a sword, handling weighty topics like gender-based violence, intimate partner violence, femicide, mental health, and historical insight into a world where death was very real and very near at all times.

Triggers: Femicide, violence and abuse, misogyny, murder

This was a very fun read! I love the "where are they now" idea applied to Romeo and Juliet through the lens of their exasperated daughter!

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review!

This book is a cozy mystery take on what might have happened if Romeo and Juliet had a happy ending and went on to have A WHOLE LOT of children. Told from the viewpoint of their eldest daughter…….who did not inherit the family tendency to love and poetry.
A hilarious good time. I listened to this on my ride to and from work. Already ready to see where they take this series from here.

I chose the book because of the summary and enjoyed the read. I also was hooked on the title and cover.

This book was well written and engaging, but similar to a lot of the other reviewers, I found it fell a bit flat for me.

Though the author's voice is funny and captivating, the actual plot of the book wasn't for me. We have a super-feminist 13 year old medieval Rosie, who falls in insta-love with a cute boy. Her parents, who went through literal hell to be together - are now forcing her into a marriage with a walking red flag? This doesn't add up.

I think if the book was marketed as YA, it may have a bit of a better audience. It looks like it was written as a lighthearted mystery, clean romance, and to get you thinking.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. This is my honest and unbiased review.

thank you so much Netgalley for this ARC.

I was really looking forward to read this book but unfortunately i dont have anytime, so therefore i couldn't give any review or thoughts about this book, but i hope this book is as good as i expecting.

Horrible. I only gave it 2 stars because there were moments when I did actually enjoy it and I appreciated the research Dodd did for the story. The only reason I didn't DNF was that I had an inkling of how the story would end and I wanted to prove myself right.

The most jarring aspect of this is that, for the amount of research I feel was done and the obvious love that Dodd has for Shakespeare, she modernized it too much and it really takes you out of the story. I'm not just talking about the use of language (although even that was annoying because it was just so modern) but having some of the characters do very modern actions like Romeo passing gas as a "dad joke."

I also just did not like the plot. You're telling me that a couple who has such a history would force their daughter into marriage to someone so much older and with a history of violence against his former wives, especially after letting her do pretty much whatever she wanted her whole life growing up. I don't even care what the excuse if for their reasoning; just, no. Then you have the MFC (who's super feminist for the time period and has thoughts and ideas) literally instantly fall in love with a really weak male character just because he's pretty but he's so nice to her so it's okay.

Thank you to Netgalley and Kensington Books for the ARC of this book. I only wish I liked it better. It did not live up to my expectations in the least.

I had an absolute blast reading The Daughter of Fair Verona by Christina Dodd! Just think about it: what if Romeo and Juliet had lived and had kids? That's exactly what this story is all about! We follow their oldest daughter, Rosaline, who is stuck in a betrothal to the wicked Duke Stephano, thanks to her parents. But guess what? She doesn’t want to marry him! At her engagement ball, things take a wild turn when Duke Stephano turns up dead, and Rosaline is the main suspect! Talk about drama!

And wait, there's more! Rosaline experiences love at first sight with the charming Lysander from Venice. As she races to clear her name, more surprises and deaths pop up along the way.

The book ends on a cliffhanger, which totally left me wanting more, but it was such a fun ride! The humor and witty banter kept me laughing, and the characters are super interesting and relatable. Plus, there are some great twists that I didn't see coming! I really enjoyed every moment of it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the ebook ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.

This book was fun, it had a nice little “who done it” mystery aspect that I enjoyed, and I liked the whole Romeo and Juliet’s grown daughter as the FMC aspect.

What I didn’t like was the ending, that cliffhanger was totally unnecessary. The story itself felt rather immature, and this read as a YA romance more than anything else.

But that being said, I did enjoy this book. I liked the plot and was intrigued the entire time. The writing was funny and there wasn’t a single point where I lost interest.

A Daughter of Fair Verona is an extension of Romeo & Juliet wherein the star-crossed lovers did not perish, but instead lived and found much happiness in their love to the point where it is the stuff of legend.

Much to Rosaline's, their eldest daughter's, dismay of course because now all love is compared to the greatest of loves. Not only that but her parents having found the love of a lifetime for themselves want nothing more than for Rosie to find it for herself. Rosie will have none of that, however, and has been successful at steering her would-be betrothed to others. Unfortunately, with her third betrothal, to an all-around detested man, Rosie has no other recourse. That is, until said man is found murdered in the Montague gardens.

Of course, Rosie becomes suspect number one. Knowing her innocence, she sets out to clear her name and find the true murderer who, it appears, is not content to kill just once.

This book really gave me a "My Lady Jane" vibe. I think it's the repositioning of a classic story, and updating it to be slightly modern and upbeat. I did think that Christina Dodd did a great homage to Shakespeare including small Easter eggs throughout for the larger Shakespeare universe - whether that is a name or a well-known turn of phrase - as well as often utilizing the same cadence and rhythm to the dialogue.

With all this in mind, however, I felt like it did stand very well on it's own outside the canon of Romeo & Juliet. I liked the way it made light of how in love, and almost obsessively devoted to one another the two are, much to the chagrin of their oldest, but this really placed Rosie firmly in the spotlight without alienating the now "elder" Montagues.

I was genuinely pulled in by the mystery. It led on a few twists and turns and overall I enjoyed the way it played out.

Possibly, though, one of the most delightful aspects of the book was Rosie navigating love. While she may claim that her parents' sickly sweet love is completely overdone, really she yearns for such a love for herself. When she meets handsome Lysander, it is love at first sight and Rosie is poised to repeat her mother and father's love - without the tragedy aspect mind you. But, "The course of true love never did run smooth" and of course there's more to Rosie's potential romance than just one suitor. The way things are left at the end begs for another book. I'm interested to see how things continue and not just for Rosie but for the entire rambunctious Montague brood.

I loved this book! Imagine if instead of Romeo and Juliet's story ending in tragedy, they survive, marry, and (to date) have had seven children. Rosaline, their oldest child, has had quite enough already of children, and with parents who are passionately and embarrassingly in love with each other.

Her parents keep trying to make a match for her, but Rosaline has always found an escape (usually by finding a match for the young man). Now her parents have made (or been forced to make) another match for her ... to a man who has already buried three wives fairly quickly after marriage. When Duke Stephano was found dead during their betrothal celebration, Rosalind wasn't too cut up about it, although she was moved to investigate since people associated with Duke Stephano were also dying or disappearing.

This book is not a romance although I did see hints of a possible romance, and hope that this is a series. I received an e-arc of this book from publisher Kensington Books via NetGalley, and voluntarily read and reviewed it.

"Romeo and Juliet survived and are happily married with seven children. Rosie, the oldest, is now 20 and has been betrothed several times. And each time she's managed to find them their one true love instead. The latest match, Duke Stephano, isn't so easy to deal with though. He's had three previous wives, all of whom died under mysterious circumstances, and has a reputation as a bad person. At their betrothal ball he winds up dead. There are many people with motives, but Rosie needs to figure out who the murderer is before she meets her own untimely death.

First off, the concept for this story is great. I love reading retellings, as well as reimaginings, and this take on what happened after the end of Romeo and Juliet is really fun. Rosie is intelligent and interesting and the story really let us get a taste of her world. The mystery was also intriguing and kept us guessing throughout the story.

In my opinion, the biggest struggle was the focus on the ages of the characters. In the original Romeo and Juliet story, Romeo was 16 and Juliet was 13. This story takes up with Rosie being the result of the night of the balcony scene, meaning that her mother is only 13 years older than her. We repeatedly are told about how Rosie's parents are 33 and 36, and therefore very old. Rosie reflects on multiple girls who are 11-13 as possible matches for men in her life. While this is realistic for the 14th or 15th Century Verona setting of Shakespeare's story, the modern language of this book makes the ages feel a bit gross due to modern understandings of adulthood. I wish we just didn't have Rosie's parents' ages talked about or have her try to marry off these girls and instead focused on actual adults and the mystery. I realize this is maybe minor, but it was very distracting from the story.

Overall, if you can ignore the ages of some of the characters (or remember that you're in a Verona of 500+ years ago), then this is a fun mystery and a great summer read. "

An interesting reimagining of Romeo and Juliet, told from the POV of their daughter Rosaline (Rosie). Part cozy mystery, part historical fiction, this was a strong start to the series. Die-hard fans of Shakespeare probably wouldn’t enjoy this book, but those who don’t mind liberties being taken with language and facts of the OG story would probably really enjoy it.

Welcome, dear reader, to the story of Lady Rosaline.

Photo credit to Birmingham Museums Trust on Unsplash.com
Christina Dodd’s A Daughter of Fair Verona is a nod to Shakespeare in so many ways. It’s the story of Romeo and Juliet’s daughter, Rosaline. But wait, didn’t Romeo and Juliet die at the end of the tragic play? Well, not in Dodd’s version of the story. In it, we meet Lady Rosaline Montague, or Rosie, the pragmatic, clever, very non-romantic eldest daughter of one of the most famous poetry-quoting, dying-for-true-love couples in English literature.

When you have true love and wild passion and brokenhearted tragedy stuffed up your nose every day of your life…love and passion lose a little bit of their gilding.

The story is told from Rosie’s point of view. She frequently breaks the fourth wall and addresses the reader directly. A few times she even narrates in stage cues: “Enter stage left: Prince Escalus.” Reading it took me back to my undergraduate Shakespeare class as an English major. Rosie is both the heroine and the narrator of her own story. Dodd did a fantastic job writing this character with wit and wisdom. Many of Rosie’s quips are laugh-out-loud funny.

Another nod to Shakespeare’s plays is in the twist and turns of events throughout the plot. There is an arranged marriage, a dastardly villain, multiple murders, clandestine meetings on balconies and in gardens, and some great scenes with classic characters from Romeo and Juliet, like Nurse and Friar Lawrence. We meet Rosie just as these events begin. She succeeded to make it to nearly 20 years old without being married or falling in love. She has lived a quiet life of managing her family’s household and keeping drama and passion at bay. Yet in one night, all of that changes.

“Now I’m standing here holding a Roman candle; it’s going off in my hand and I don’t know where to throw it for fear of catching the world on fire.” I spoke pleadingly, asking for comfort. “Nurse, you know I’m the sensible one!”…

“Life has found you, Lady Rosie. You couldn’t hide from it forever.” Nurse had the nerve to sound amused.
A Daughter of Fair Verona is truly a witty and fresh story. I enjoyed reading it. Days later, though, I still can’t wrap my mind around the endings (and I say that in the plural because we have the end of the murders in Verona at about 75-80% into the book and then the final ending which ties the strings of the romance together). They both caught me completely off guard. I still can’t decide if it was in a good way. The identity of the mysterious murderer in particular seemed hard to grasp. It didn’t detract to my overall enjoyment of the book, however.

This is book one in Dodd’s new Daughter of Montague series. It sounds like more Shakespeare fan fiction is on the horizon for readers from this author. Don’t miss out!

I have read many of Dodd's previous works and know that she is a capable talented writer with an array of genres under belt.... but this was just so much fun! It felt so outside the norm and was charming, funny, imaginative, suspenseful, and irreverent. I absolutely loved it and cannot wait to read more.

Super funny and snarky re-imagining of Romeo and Juliet, where they both survive and their oldest daughter Rosie is doing her best to dodge the marriage mart. Her fifth betrothal ends with a duke stabbed in the chest in her family garden during the engagement ball and now Rosie is being suspected of the crime. There’s chaos and poisonings and a stern grumpy prince along with another charming gentleman who Rosie falls in love with at first sight. Super fun to read!

I had such high hopes for this book, but honestly, for me it fell a little flat. There was so much going on and so many characters to keep track of, but it felt like the plot didn’t really move forward until about 3/4 of the way through. And I really struggled with the writing style. Dodd switched back and forth (sometimes in the same sentence) between using more historical language and modern vernacular. I think it would have been more effective if she’d picked one or the other to use. I think fans of cozy mysteries may enjoy this one, so it would be worth giving a try if you like those, but I’m not sure I’ll read the next book, myself.