I love the idea of Romeo and Juliet not actually dying but living and having a huge family. Rosalyn (Rosie) is practical and contributes to her family in ways they don’t necessarily recognize.
I enjoyed reading A Fair Daughter of Verona. My standard wasn’t strict as I suspect that some wording choices weren’t true to the time period.
I liked the narrator. The mystery is well crafted. I like all the characters.
The ending was interesting. I think it definitely sets up for an additional book, and it looks like this is a new series.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and listen to this book.

I am so excited for book 2 because this is a series in the making! I adored it, it was just chefs kiss between the Shakespearian start because she is the literal daughter of Romeo and Juliet there is also a love corner! I loved the way it was written, within the first chapter I was enthralled and went to finish it ASAP! The murder mystery aspect of it as well was amazing! I just overall loved and enjoyed this book and will be happily waiting for the second book!

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review

What an entertaining read. Yes it reads a little young, a little silly, but it was a lihlgyt, fun read.

Romeo and Juliet have engaged Rosie (their eldest daughter) to Duke Stephano (known for killing his previous wives). He ends up dead at their betrothal party and Rosie is out to find out who is framing her.

The mystery was fast paced and with the help of Prince Escalus, Rosie is able to solve it. But there is twist in the final act, that was a bit unexpected.

How will the romance proceed?

The narration was done well, with each of the characters and emotions well articulated. Cannot wait to read the next book.

Thanks to NetGalley and RBmedia for the advanced copy of this audiobook.

This was a fun, light, quick read that asks the question: what if Romeo & Juliet had lived? The story follows their eldest child, Rosaline, who appears to be the antithesis of her famous parents—not a fan of poetry, doesn’t believe in love at first sight, finds her parents’ relationship to be a bit over the top.
She’s quick witted and independent and finds herself facing a troubling marriage when a murder changes everything. Murder, intrigue, a love triangle kept me hooked.

The narrator, Suzy Jackson, made the characters feel like they were coming to life. I listened to the entire book in 1 day.

The book ends with a cliffhanger which some may find frustrating but it makes me look forward to the next book in this series.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced audio copy of A Daughter of Fair Verona by Christina Dodd.

This was a fun spin on the Romeo and Juliet story, one in which they actually live through their dramatic endeavors and go on to have quite a large family, Rosaline being the eldest and main character of this book. Rosaline, being in her early 20's is extremely intelligent, an unwed virgin (gasp!), and has successfully deflected all betrothals because she doesn't want any of that funny passionate love business her parents rave about. When her most recent betrothal ends up dead, a whodunit plot ensues with poisoning and stabbings galore, and maybe Rosaline will find love after all.

I enjoyed this, didn't love it. An entertaining, passive audio to have on in the background. To be fair, I have read a lot of spins on Shakesperean stories, so perhaps I've had my fill.

This book was absolutely adorable! It was fun and snarky and I just loved the main character's point of view. The Romeo and Juliet spinoff was initially what drew me in, but even after the first two minutes of this audiobook I was hooked. Her wit and banter are LOL level funny and the audio narrator brings the character to life perfectly. Highly recommend this audiobook and am so glad to have received a copy of this from NetGalley!

What a concept! Romeo and Juliet didn't die! Instead they married and are still madly in love, loving, fighting, making up again, to the tune of seven children! Their oldest, Rosaline, is almost twenty, and... horror of horrors, a virgin and unmarried! Which is exactly how she likes it. In fact, she has managed to get out of previous betrothals by finding other wives for the men. Now she is being betrothed to a very unpopular man, Duke Stephano, whose last 3 wives have all died, and has some sort of power over her family. Just before the betrothal party she meets Lysander, a gorgeous man she falls instantly in love with. Still she must proceed with the betrothal to the Duke. At the betrothal party Rosie finds him stabbed to death in the garden. Even though Prince Escalus, the prince of Verona, announces she is innocent, she is still thought to have killed him by the general populace. Rosie realizes her life is in danger and she must discover who did kill the Duke. What follows makes a fun, exciting story. The characters are well drawn, definitely multi-dimensional. There's humor, mystery and romance. I'm very excited that this is going to be a series! I can hardly wait for the next book.

A Daughter of Fair Verona was such a fun spin off of Romeo and Juliet. I really enjoyed this audiobook and was sad to see it hit 100%. Perfect for any fans of My Lady Jane!

A Daughter of Fair Verona by Christina Dodd
1st in series, Daughter of Montague. Historical mystery, retellings, comedy. Cliffhanger. Splashes of romance and maybe more to come. 1st person.
Once upon a time, a young couple from two warring families, met and fell in love. Tragically, betrayal and lies were told and ended with the lovers both killings themselves.
At least that’s the ending per Shakespeare.
In this twisted tale, Romeo and Juliet are alive and the parents of seven children. So far. They can’t keep their hands off each other! Monologues, poetry, passion, it’s all too much for Rosie, the oldest. At 20 she is considered a spinster. Up until now, she has managed to re-direct any suitors to another sister, or friend or someone more appropriate for the groom. But now, Duke Stephano is not to be denied. Even though he has had three previous wives, he has made it impossible for Rosie to escape being his next victim...correction, bride.
As fate would intervene, Rosie falls in love at first site at her betrothal ball with someone else! Then she actually stumbles upon her betrothed, dead in the garden, with a dagger in the heart! Of course, she’s going to investigate. There are already talks about ghosts wandering the halls.

🎧 I alternated between an ebook and audiobook for this story. The narration is performed by Suzy Jackson who has a wonderful sense of comedic timing and delivery. There are specific voices for the main characters. The action and comedy kept me engaged and actively listening. I listened at my preferred of 1.5 and could have go one slightly up or down on this one. The humor and sarcasm was riveting and I enjoyed the story up until the very last 20 seconds when I realized it wasn’t the end, but a cliffhanger. Ugh. And a year now to wait? Good thing I have multiple formats to refresh when the time comes to continue.
I recommend the audiobook version for clearly hearing Rosie’s personality.

The ebook is great for the descriptions and keeping the family, and friends straight.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley and publisher RBMedia.
4.5 because of the cliffhanger.

I just--no. I had to DNF, as it was too far over the top and I was looking for something just a little more grounded in a historical setting and not so "relatable." It's just my opinion, not a bad book but I had higher hopes than this.

I LOVE this book! Dodd did an amazing job writing an older Romeo and Juliet and leaving a lot of humor in there. The Montague family is enchanting. Rosie is hilarious and headstrong. There are so many political machinations that she has to work through to keep her reputation and find love, not to mention the murders. I was surprised by the murderer, but thinking back over the book the hints were there and I just missed them. The twist at the end with the romance was kind of expected, but I was still sitting there with my mouth hanging open. I can’t wait to read the next book and see how Rosie deals with everything. Who knew I love Romeo and Juliet stories so much?

I ended up choosing to DNF this book because I didn't feel like it was a book for me in terms of genre and overall plot. However, from what I listened to, I can provide the following: I thought there was some solid satire and poking fun at the tropes of Shakespeare and the misogynism of the era (there was a fantastic joke about a woman understanding math). The first person narration was the right choice, but the language shifts from casual, almost modern-speak back and forth to Shakespearean prose was somewhat jarring, but felt like it was supposed to be quirky.

The narration was good, and felt appropriate to the age of the character. Her pace and emotion was accurate to the tone of the story, and worked well with the first person narrative. Male voices were a bit of a challenge, but didn't pull one out of the story either.

What would happen if Romeo and Juliet didn’t die and actually got married and love and happy life with plenty of children?…

You wind up with Rosie, Romeo and Juliet’s eldest daughter and the most levelheaded, anti-romantic family fixer! She keeps the Montague family together… and somewhat out of trouble! All the while making love matches for her friends and sister out of all of her suitors!

Until she is matched with someone she can’t avoid… that is until the ant lines up dead at their betrothal party. Now she asked to fix things again and find out who killed her mostly suitor… at the same time as she’s falling in love for the first time!

This was such a fun, YA historical murder mystery! The Shakespeare characters are re-created in a fresh and vibrant modern style that keeps their authenticity, but makes it fun for younger and newer audience. I really liked the character of Rosie. She’s sharp and clever and someone you could picture as your best friend!

As I was reading this, I wasn’t sure if I was reading a romance or a mystery but you definitely got a plenty of both elements.

I listened to the audio narration provided by Suzy Jackson and found her voice work complimented The writing with its fresh and vibrant flare. Her character vocals were great fit and very distinguishable.

This is book one of the Daughters of Montague series, and I will definitely be along for more Montague daughter or more of Rosie!

This was a smart and well written adaption on a popular story.. I thought the characters were well formed and intriguing. The mystery was strong and kept me interested throughout.

A delightful story that reimagines what would have happened if Romeo and Juliet had survived and got married and had kids. Seven of them. In this retelling by Christina Dodd, Romeo and Juliet did live and they went to have seven children. The eldest Rosaline, Rosie, is a feisty, smart girl now 20 years old and still unmarried. Her father arranges her marriage with Duke Stephano, aging and already thrice married. The duke is found murdered on the night of the betrothal and so the mystery begins. This is an entertaining story, a rom-com. Very fluid prose and an easy quick read. Perfect for fans of historical romances with a dash of contemporary attitudes and dialogues. The ending probably means there's going to be more since it is supposedly part of a series. The audiobook narrator has done a fantastic job of bringing to life the various characters. Loved it on audio.

What if….the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, didn’t end in a tragedy, but rather, with a proud union of the Capulet and Montague families? What if…their initial union produced a daughter, whom they named Rosaline? And what if, that daughter of theirs was not as keen to marry as her parents were?

This book combines a murder mystery with the wit and charm of a classic Shakespearean play. This story has everything you could imagine: humorous interactions, banter, overprotective mom and dad, and the ever amazing Nurse. The Shakespearean euphemisms and the throwbacks to the story of Romeo and Juliet were entertaining and so fun to listen to.

THIS WAS SUCH A GREAT LISTEN!!!!!! Such an entertaining take on a what if? related to Romeo and Juliet. I truly loved all the banter and family bonding present in this story, as it just made everything funnier and so much more engaging. I was laughing my head off from the very beginning, and never stopped until I listened to the last word. Let me just say, that ending….I NEED the second book to be released ASAP so I can find out what happens!

Highly recommend, and I promise you, you’ll enjoy this entertaining, yet still thrilling read.

Favorite Quotes:
- "'What's worse for a maidens reputation than canoodling?' Nurse demanded. 'There was no poetry'"
- "You haven't" - pause - "taken sick with the family fecklessness, have you?’”

It started out okay. This is not a stories that takes itself too seriously and it’s kind of camp and over the top. The narrator is at times addressing the reader directly and it reads more like young adult that adult fiction.

And I will never understand how/why Romeo and Julias firstborn is named after Romeos girlfriend that he dumped for Julia, but fine.

I was okay with this book even though it was not perfect, and then comes the effing ending. Are you kidding me? What the actual…?

SPOILER: So Roise wants to marry Lysander but his family are not impressed with her dowry and Rosie, Nures and Lysander comes up with the idea that at night sneak off and get caught by their family in a compromising situation and have Lysander ask for permission to marry Rosie to avoid a scandal.

Everything is going to plan and Rosie is making out and being felt up by a man in the moonlight, only to realize it’s not Lysander but Prince Esculas who has prevented Lysander to show up and is taking his part in this scheme instead and she’s not forced to marry him instead. He says stuff like, I want to marry you because your house is neat and you have nice breasts. And everyone is okay with this sort of.

This is SA, not cute at all. Rosie is not as angry as she should be and I effing lost it.

There was so cute banter between her and the Prince and you could have change her mind at some point and that Lysander was just a shallow thing. I hated this ending and I was fine with this book but now I… I just can’t. 1,5 rounding up

What if Romeo and Juliet lived? The result is this beauty! The story follows their daughter, Rosaline, aka Rosie. I absolutely love Rosie—she's such a fun character with a lot of spunk! I found myself laughing at the shenanigans of both Rosie and Romeo. The murder mystery is captivating, and I was fully invested in the story.
The narrator, Suzy Jackson, does a wonderful job portraying Rosie, and her accents were spot on. This was such a delightful listen. I highly recommend it if you love a good murder mystery with a dash of Shakespearean flair. I’m looking forward to reading the next book!

The premise is creative--what if Romeo and Juliet had both survived--and the story was entertaining. It took a while to get into the story, but overall it was an enjoyable read. It's written in a very modern/anachronistic tone that was hard to get into as first (similar to the tone of the Dickinson TV show). The main character was a little hard to like at first because of her internal dialogue was about how different she is from other girls. I ended up enjoying the story after the first few chapters. The mystery is well developed and kept me on my toes.

Thank you Netgalley, Christina Dodd, and RB Media for the audiobook. A fun and witty narration by Suzy Jackson. A tale as old as time ... a new twist to the Romeo and Juliette we thought we knew! It was funny and a great listen!