A very interesting take on the old story of Romeo and Juliet. A light and quick read and we will have to wait till the next book to see what happens next.

What if Romeo and Juliet had lived and had a family?

A Daughter of Fair Verona is an entertaining murder mystery that focuses on the eldest daughter of the star-crossed couple, Rosaline. Rosie is an absolutely delightful main character. She's independent, smart, feisty, logical, and not at all what you'd expect of a daughter of Romeo and Juliet (for one, she hates poetry). She's fiercely protective of her family – even if her parents' frequent loud lovemaking gets kind of annoying – and will do anything for them. In a world where women don't have much power over their own lives, Rosie uses her intelligence (and I daresay her power of manipulation) to take control of of her future. Basically, there's a whole lot of “girl power” in this book and it's amazing.

The murder mystery itself is suspenseful and fun. When all suspicions fall on Rosie after her most recent suitor meets an unpleasant end (on the night of their betrothal ball, nonetheless), she must find the murderer and protect those she cares about … and maybe pave the way for marrying her One True Love in the process. I, for one, had no idea who the killer was right up until the big reveal.

There's romance in this book, for sure, but it's not the mushy, “drinking poison and self-inflicted dagger wounds” type of love that Rosie's parents made famous. Rosie is much more practical than her dramatic, poetry-spewing kin, and her exchanges with Lysander are quite amusing and witty. There's still some love at first sight going on, though.

The ending of this book was entertaining, but I'm slightly disappointed that it ended on such a cliffhanger. I know it's the start of a series so having such an unfinished ending makes sense, but since I read this novel almost seven months prior to its publication, I can only imagine how long the wait is going to be for the next installment in the series. I need to know what happens now! I was also a bit disconcerted by how much of a 180 one of the characters did in the last few chapters of the book – it felt like a complete shift personality-wise and I'm hoping that they'll end up redeeming themselves in the sequel(s).

Overall, A Daughter of Fair Verona is a light and enjoyable read, and the author did a great job expanding on Shakespeare's original tale. If you're fond of historical murder mysteries with tremendously likeable characters, you should definitely give this one a go.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review.

A Daughter of Fair Verona by Christina Dodd is an entertaining first installment in a new series: A Daughter of Montague.

Rosie Montague (Rosalind) is the main character in this new series that focusses on the eldest daughter of the infamous Romeo and Juliet if they would have survived and continued on. Using this angle, the book brings a fresher, newer generation of thought into fold with a historical fiction timeline. It was interesting to delve into the mind and point of view of this newer character as she sifts through the mystery presented in this first book.

Quite entertaining and I am interested to see where this goes.

4/5 stars

Thank you NG and Kensington Books for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 6/25/24.

A very nice light read. I enjoyed the alternate history aspect and can't wait to find out what happens next for Rosaline!