I read this ARC in exchange for an honest review
All thoughts and opinions are mine

Love love love this author and so happy to be able to read this
a Wonderful, engrossing read

Highly recommend

First, I think this title isn't well categorized. I selected it for the Romance category, but it feels like it would better be filed in Mystery.

From the beginning of the book, I heard shades of the modern Emily Dickinson TV series - a snarky historically linked heroine who breaks the fourth wall with her observations and unconventional desires. The backdrop of a well-known love story gave us a bit of familiarity with this bit of historical suspense. I appreciate Rosaline's strength and determination. The deaths and investigations were wonderfully twisty and surprising, the romances developed well, and I'll look forward to seeing what's in the works for the next book.

Romance author Christina Dodd presents the reader with the supposition that perhaps Romeo and Juliet, who were created by England's renowned author William Shakespeare during the Elizabethan Age, really did not die in the story. Serendipitously, Friar Laurence successfully saves Romeo from the poison he drank with an antidote, and he equally saves Juliet when the knife she uses to plunge into her heart simply nicks her instead. The twist in the couple's fate enthralls the reader, who easily accepts the new circumstances constructed by Dodd.

Dodd uses the reader's infatuation with Romeo and Juliet as fodder to convince her audience of her supposition, and it works. As the reader suspects, Romeo and Juliet live on to have several children. Seven in Dodd's story with the 33 year old Juliet and 36 year old Romeo looking forward to the arrival of their eighth child as Juliet is with child.

Their eldest is 20 year old Rosaline, nicknamed Rosie, who has sidestepped 3 engagements previously arranged by her parents. A headstrong, forthright and dutiful daughter, Rosie's latest engagement to Duke Stephano does not appear to be so easily avoided by merely steering his sights towards another maiden.

Filled with a whole lot of intrigue among the rival families of Verona, in addition to being emotional entangled in Rosie's own family drama, the story keeps the reader's mind engaged as dead bodies keep coming into the tale, and the common denominator between them is Rosie. Page by page, Dodd unravels the details of these deaths, culminating into a knife fight between Rosie and her rival. Someone she did not realize was her rival until the moment of the confrontation.

Dodd keeps the story at a conversational tone with Rosie written in first person and constantly intimating her thoughts to the reader. The story is entirely written from Rosie's perspective, which keeps the reader locked out of the inner thoughts of the other characters. It also intensifies the suspense factor.

Possibly the only drawback is the love triangle that has Rosie as the object of affection for Lysander and Prince Escalus. Dodd has Escalus cheating Lysander from being able to propose to Rosie, which is an unfair fight. Otherwise, the story is very gratifying and will put a smile on the reader's face.

EXTRA, EXTRA Read all about it! Those crazy kids Romeo and Juliet survive their attempts to be with one another in the next world! Biggest story in years as their parents who have a long-standing feud going on, give in to their love-struck children and allow their marriage! The love story for the ages is born. A story loved by all teenage girls and hated by all teenage boys.
The story is picked up by a British correspondent who evidently never even leaves his fair island, and he twists the story in a heart breaking, one tissue box needed, most famous play/movie/high school assignment ever. I’m not going to mention any author’s name, because there is some doubt as to what his name really is. Later, a well-known author by the name of Christine Dodd discovers this true story.
In the delightful A Daughter of Fair Verona, Dodd uses Romeo and Juliet’s oldest daughter, Rosaline aka Rosie, as the narrator of their survival and their subsequent very passionate marriage. The clever and acerbic Rosie quickly narrows in on how falling in love at first sight is the dumbest event ever; until it isn’t. Rosie is 20, on the shelf, a spinster, a never-to-be-married woman. Her goal. She likes her freedom.
Then her parents affiance her to a powerful duke whose previous wives have been murdered. At her betrothal ball she meets the beautiful Lysander with whom she falls in love with immediately. Oops. She also meets a powerful prince who tries to save her from nasty gossip. Rosie doesn’t really get to know her fiancé, Duke Stephano, as he is found murdered in the garden. Rosie is an immediate suspect due to some nasty gossips.
The entertaining and humorous A Daughter of Fair Verona is the first book in a new series. The minute Rosie sees how her family and herself are at risk, she takes on the job of finding out who killed Duke Stephano. She is ably aided by Lysander and the powerful Prince Escalus.
Familiarity with that British writer who twisted Romeo and Juliet story into a teenage tragedy is not necessary, but if you have forgotten a name or two, it’s fun to go back and search for the names.
Dodd does a great job writing this witty, irreverent retelling of Romeo and Juliet’s story. She sprinkles her story with modern terms which normally drives me crazy and I dislike. Dodd makes it work here, or else I’m too beguiled to care. I feel as if I were in Verona after reading Dodd’s story, because as usual she does a stellar job in setting the scene.
I look forward to seeing what happens with all of Dodd’s characters. Although with Romeo and Juliet we can figure out they where they will be. Did I mention Rosie has lots of brothers and sisters?
Rosie has a heart as big as Verona, and with a heart that big will come trouble that big.
My grateful thanks to Christina Dodd and NetGalley for an ARC of A Daughter of Fair Verona.. want to note this book is appropriate for young adult to their grandmothers for reading. What fun that would be, a family book discussion. Oops, one more thing, check out the intriguing and beautiful cover on this book.

I had really mixed feelings about the characters and writing style in the very beginning of the story, but I stuck it out and I'm so glad I did! The story starts off with all the melodrama and obnoxiousness, I associate with Romeo and Juliet, but I became sold on the drama as the book takes itself only serious enough. Rosie is a delightful character! She's relatable in many ways, yet a great nod to Shakespeare and Austen in her more exceptional qualities.

The drama is excellent, the murder mystery has multiple twists that were a fun ride to read.

It ends on a cliffhanger, and I can't wait to read what happens next!!!! I appreciated the author's note where she briefly mentions her inspiration and reasons for taking on such a daring project.

There is no on the page romance except for kissing, some quite passionate kissing, and lots of mentioning of her virginity in jest. Just a little bit of profanity.

I read an advanced ebook from Kensington and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

A Daughter of Fair Verona is a book that seemed designed for me: a Shakespearean murder mystery sequel to Romeo & Juliet sounds fantastic on paper but Christina Dodd’s book is more suited for younger readers than myself because of its humor, mystery and characters. Rosie is a modern teen placed in the past with sass, sarcasm and wit that I feel never fits in this book and I feel Romeo & Juliet are written as annoying and parents who don’t care about Rosie and her life. Overall not for me but I can see the merit.

An amusing story in which Romeo and Juliet lived on and raised a large family. Rosie, the oldest and most logical, is determined not to marry unless true love strikes. A rather silly tale but one I was happy to read throughout.

This was a fun read! Really kept my Internet throughout. The characters could be a little over the top and silly, but that was part of the charm. Fun and an interesting sequel to a classic story! #adaughterofverona #christinadodd #netgalley #goodreads

I don’t really know what I was expecting but this really exceeded my expectations! It was honestly super cute!

Spoilers Ahead!

A Daughter of Fair Verona was a rollercoaster. It was a slow beginning, with a great rising arc, but really went down for the ending.

I guess maybe I got my hopes up, because while I did hope for Rosie and Escalus as they had chemistry, I did not like how the ending played at all: that Rosaline was played like pawn by Escalus so he could take her hand. I wish they’d have let the chemistry speak for itself rather than the trickery that happened.

However, I did like the murder mystery plot, and would have never guessed the killer.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I was definitely intrigued by the premise of this story, and for the most part I enjoyed it. I don't believe this is intended to be YA fiction, but that's definitely how it came across to me. Rosie was a strong, sassy narrator, although her characterization was a bit uneven at times, and the other characters were well crafted for the most part. I enjoyed the imagining of Romeo and Juliet as middle-aged parents who are still quite "hot and heavy," much to their children's embarrassment, and the murder mystery was very well done. My biggest gripe with the book was the ending: yes, it is a cliffhanger, but as the entire story was clearly leading up to the romantic events of the final chapters, there was no clear reason not to go one for just one or two more chapters and finish the tale. The cliffhanger therefore feels really arbitrary and forced. Will I read a sequel? Probably. But I won't be on the edge of my seat waiting for it because, for me at least, the inevitable ending has already been revealed.

Still, an enjoyable read (despite some unnecessary language) along the lines of all the popular YA fairytale reimaginings that have been popular of late. So if those are your cup of tea, give this one a try!

This was such a winner as a continuation of Romeo & Juliet, I throughout enjoyed the elements of the original tale and how this worked overall. I always enjoy reading books from Christina Dodd. I loved the mystery element to this novel and how well it worked with the time-period. I loved the way the characters were written and it had a great feel overall. I can’t wait to read more in the Daughter of Montague series as I enjoyed this a lot.

It takes a brave writer to rewrite the iconic ending to the famed Romeo and Juliet story. And Christina did a great job of it. I much prefer this ending to the original. It isn’t hard to imagine a world where Romeo and Juliet have many children and a loving family. And then for them to have a practical eldest daughter makes perfect sense. A foil to their love story. Then for Juliet to fall in love at first sight is poetic. The mystery of this story is great and wasn’t not easily solved before the climax. Rosie is a well-developed character and the characters around her are delightful, especially nanny. This was a well-crafted and original story that I enjoyed a lot.

Retellings need more than little nods to their source text in order to be compelling. There was too much winking and not enough actual substance in this one.

What fun. Romeo and Juliet did not die and have six children. This story follows the oldest as she finds her true love and solves several murders. Not without danger and tension. Look for what we know that she doesn’t. Cliffhanger ending.

While Romeo and Juliet is a drama about suicide, Fair Verona is a rom com about murder. In a clever plot twist, Romeo and Juliet are still alive and have a smart daughter Rosaline of marrying age.
The overall plot is ingenious, and the mystery is interesting, although sometimes the book is hard to follow with the varying modern to historical tone, silly characters, and multiple action plots.
Thankfully a reviewer mentioned this is a series because I was appalled at the ending. But I have hope for a happy ending for Rosalin yet.
Thank you Kensington Books (Larissa) for the digital review copy.

A Daughter of Fair Verona, follows Rosie, the eldest daughter of Romeo and Juliet. She is an intelligent and independent young woman who has managed to avoid multiple arranged marriages. Much to her dismay, she finds herself betrothed to the villainous Duke Stephano. After he is found stabbed at their betrothal ball, Rosie sets off to find the murderer.

I did find the story entertaining. However, I would say that the voice of the book is more of a young adult book than an adult book. Never the less, I look forward to finding out what happens next for Rosie in the second installment of the series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for giving my early access to this title.

My review is now live on Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6044501745

Thank you for gifting me with early acess to this book! I am very much appreciativeand look forward to reading other books under your publishing house.

One of the most important and underrating details would be how good the feelings are dealt within this book. Life, grieving, love, pain, guilt, genuine true love; all of it was portrayed so beautifully. These characters didn’t let me rest till I was done with the reading. It’s an emotional book that will definitely stir a reaction from you and force you to deal with it. Just perfection!!

This is a very interesting and humorous take on Romeo and Juliet. It’s historical romantic comedy fiction and not a modern retelling. Rosie is Romeo and Juliet’s oldest daughter. I found it much easier and entertaining to read than the original. It also has a murder mystery in it. We need to wait for the next book to see what happens to Rosie. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced free copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley.