Daughter of Montague

With a boldly refreshing premise and a daring heroine to match, this delightful mystery series features the eldest daughter of the not-so-ill-fated Romeo and Juliet-20-year-old Rosie Montague, a young woman possessed of an irreverent wit, an independent spirit-and a penchant for sleuthing . . . Gentle reader, I, Rosie Montague, present you with the tumultuous events of my recent months: despite my goal to remain a spinster, I fell instantly in love with Lysander of the House of Beautiful; suffered an unhappy betrothal to a duke, which ended in death for him and almost for me; am now entrapped by a compromising deceit plotted by the enamored Prince of Verona himself, Escalus . . . Not only am I failing on the spinster front, but I have also failed to set an example for my seven siblings (soon to be eight, thanks to my parents' embarrassingly undying passion.) Specifically, 13-year-old Katherina, along with her friend, Princess Isabella. In their desire to honor my romance (now ill-fated) by commissioning a sonnet, they imitated my own youthful folly and dressed like well-born young males, complete with stuffed codpieces, and swaggered into the night. Their poetic mission accomplished, they celebrated, landed in scandalous circumstances-and the princess was robbed of her mother's priceless ring . . . With our fates and family names at stake, I must save the day. What ensues will require that I visit a brothel, infiltrate the thief's debaucherous lair, and dodge Escalus. I can only hope to keep intact my virginity-and my life. The latter especially, should my parents find out . . .

The delightfully irreverent eldest daughter of the not-so-ill-fated Romeo and Juliet returns to sleuth another day in fair Verona, in this hugely entertaining historical mystery series with a refreshingly bold premise. "Woe, for I am the bug that meets the windshield's might, No longer the speeding glass, smooth, clean and bright . . ." You're right. I, Rosie Montague of Verona, am lousy at iambic pentameter and Shakespeare speak, but you get the point: Sometimes you're the windshield and sometimes you're the bug. I, who for my whole life, have cruised along, unruffled by life's trials, am suddenly smashed flat and speeding recklessly up the WhattheHellHappened Highway. Why? you ask . . . I'm 20-years-old and by my own design, never been wed, free as no married woman ever is. I'm beautiful, but without conceit, for Juliet, my legendary Mamma is the most gorgeous creature to ever walk the earth. Just ask Romeo, my legendary Papà. (Rumors of their deaths were premature.) I was heartwhole until I fell (literally) in love with Lysander of the House of Beautiful. But our love was not to be, for I was thwarted by Escalus, the Prince of Verona . . . who had designs on me. I'm trapped. Then! I'm presented with a solution. Escalus's father, Prince Escalus the Elder, appears to me. He tasks that I find his killer. Did I mention Elder is a ghost? Given that I only recently dispatched Verona's first serial killer, I'm less than pleased. Yet Elder promises to unite me with my One True Love, so I gather clues. Meanwhile, revolution threatens, for beneath Verona society's glittering surface lurk dark shadows-and an enemy eager to make me a tragic heroine in my own right . . .

Fair Verona celebrates the most joyful Christmas season in all of this flat earth, and for spirited20-year-old Rosie Montague, sleuth and daughter of Romeo and Juliet (alive and well and still passionately in love), the season holds a thrilling new kind of mystery . . . My famously optimistic and romantic mother, Lady Juliet, has declared, "I'm determined the Montagues and all of Verona shall experience a peaceful start to this holy Christmastime!" Mamma . . . what were you thinking? Why would you so challenge the Fates? This season already promises to be especially eventful because Prince Escalus the younger is to be married. To me, Lady Rosaline. Now a P.R. visit to Verona's market with Prince Escalus is dampened by a fortune teller's dire prophecy, a blaze in Verona's orphanage forces Verona's tempestuous citizens to unite to save their city from ruin, and I discover more about Escalus, his secret kindnesses and his many masks. And much to my discomfort, I also make discoveries about myself, and realize that Mamma's resolve may indeed be exactly what we need to create a joyous Montague family Christmas.

I'm the eldest daughter of Romeo and Juliet. Yes, that Romeo and Juliet. No, they didn't die in the tomb. They're alive and well and living in fair Verona with their six wildly impetuous children and me, their nineteen-year-old daughter Rosaline... Knives Out meets Bridgerton in Fair Verona, as New York Times bestselling author Christina Dodd kicks off a frothy, irreverent, witty new series with an irresistible premise-Romeo and Juliet's daughter as a clever, rebellious, fiercely independent young woman in fair Verona-told from the delightfully engaging point of view of the captivating Rosie Montague herself... Once upon a time a young couple met and fell in love. You probably know that story, and how it ended (hint: badly). Only here's the thing: That's not how it ended at all. Romeo and Juliet are alive and well and the parents of seven kids. I'm the oldest, with the emphasis on 'old'-a certified spinster at twenty, and happy to stay that way. It's not easy to keep your taste for romance with parents like mine. Picture it-constant monologues, passionate declarations, fighting, making up, making out... it's exhausting. Each time they've presented me with a betrothal, I've set out to find the groom-to-be a more suitable bride. After all, someone sensible needs to stay home and manage this household. But their latest match, Duke Stephano, isn't so easy to palm off on anyone else. The debaucher has had three previous wives-all of whom met unfortunate ends. Conscience forbids me from consigning another woman to that fate. As it turns out, I don't have to... At our betrothal ball-where, quite by accident, I meet a beautiful young man who makes me wonder if perhaps there is something to love at first sight-I stumble upon Duke Stephano with a dagger in his chest. But who killed him? His late wives' families, his relatives, his mistress, his servants-half of Verona had motive. And when everyone around the Duke begins dying, disappearing, or descending into madness, I know I must uncover the killer... before death lies on me like an untimely frost.

Romeo and Juliet (yes, that Romeo and Juliet) invite you to join them in celebrating the union of their spinster daughter, Rosie (she's 20!) to Escalus the younger, prince of Verona, where murder is the unexpected guest at the wedding. My Lady Jane meets Knives Out in Fair Verona, as New York Times bestselling author Christina Dodd brings you the wedding of the season star-crossed with poison most discreet. If I, the aforesaid Rosie, blushing bride, noted cynic and sleuth, were asked to identify when the pre-wedding events spiraled out of control, I'd point to that moment when elderly Princess Ursula observed the display of gleaming swords and bared teeth and announced that she would hold a public séance to determine the future of the marriage . . With the aid of Yorick's skull and her own considerable dramatic nature, Princess Ursula prophesied three things: the marriage would be joyous and fertile (the guests yawn,) a long-lost treasure would be found . . . and foul and most unnatural murder would disrupt the fragile peace of Verona. Before the day was done, two prophesies had been fulfilled. Hint: not the fun fertility one. As one death follows another and it's clear a skilled poisoner lurks among us, coming ever closer to striking down those I love, I use all my wit and skill to discern the reason for the vendetta and uncover the killer's identity . . . for I would have the holy church bells that now ring a sad lament peel instead for the wedding ceremony and the joyous and fertile future foretold. . .