I was excited to see the second installment of the Daughter of Montague series from Christina Dodd. It was a delight! I enjoyed revisiting fair Verona with a lovely bunch of new characters, and a murder mystery with a dash of paranormal. I look forward to book three! #thuswithakiss #christinadodd #netgalley #goodreads

Such a witty, clever, rom-com / adventure story / alternative Shakespearean fan fiction … not sure what to call it but it is thoroughly enjoyable. This is the second book starring Rosaline, the eldest daughter of the very much alive (as explained in book one and reiterated here) Romeo and Juliet. She is a very strong female character — much aware of her expected place in society (the focus on her virtue aka virginity is endlessly irritating), but not terribly affected by it. The Montague home is full of love (and the offspring of love — plenty of children) while Romeo is still one of the best swordsmen in Verona. As the story opens, Rosaline has been tricked into a betrothal with a scarred Prince (don’t let the scarring worry you — he’s a good guy) and while at the castle visiting her betrothed with the whole passel of Montagues, she is treated to a visitation from the Ghost of the murdered King who needs to know the identity of his murderer.

Whip-smart dialog, appealing and saucy characters, a twisted plot, and a pretty decent interleaving of romance, whodunit, and thriller style adventure scenes (featuring parapets!). For those Shakespeare purists who wince at the idea of the mauling of the master, I’ll hasten to say that the Shakespearean characters ring true to their initial depiction, with the only shift being their trickery of death.

Well done and plenty of fun. I look forward to future episodes!

THUS WITH A KISS I DIE is the second book in the Daughter of Montague Mysteries by Christina Dodd. This is such a fun, humorous take on the eldest daughter of Romeo and Juliet, becoming embroiled in intrigue and murder. The author does an admirable job creating captivating characters, each with unique personalities, especially protagonist Rosie Montague. She is certainly a breath of fresh air in a time when girls were born to be wed and become mothers themselves. Rosie has a rich internal dialog, a sassy spirit, and confidence. With the ruling prince of the city determined to get his way, his ghostly father intent on finding out who murdered him, and murderous villains bent on putting her in her place, Rosie has her hands full. Despite all this, there is still humor galore while the mystery plot moves at a fast pace. This is one of those books I didn’t want to put down until I’d read the very last page!

3.5 stars. I really liked the first book in the series, but this one fell a little flat for me. At this point it is a little late, but I do think that I would have liked this as a romance series more than a mystery series.