I like to watch (and occasionally read) Shakespeare's plays. Not so much his tragedies as they can be super depressing but definitely his comedies. Though sometimes I wish the endings were a tad different or that I could see the story from a different point of view. That is why I will introduce you to the books below. So those of you who longed for the same thing can have some book fun. All blurbs are from Goodreads.
Don't Tame the Tomboy by Ye Seula
“I’d rather not marry than lower my eyes!”
Katya, the notorious villainess from the southern region, declares her opposition to marriage!
The Duke sets up an intense showdown with his daughter, who rejects every suitor that comes her way.
Caught in a crisis of being forced into marriage with the scoundrel Petrozsky, Katya decides to make her escape.
During her escape, she ends up spending an unexpected night with a man she encounters…
He turns out to be the tyrant Grand Duke Nikolai de Vasily.
“At the moment you stood in my way, I couldn’t breathe.”
“Well, then why don’t you visit the asylum, sir?”
“For someone like me, a madman, you need to be at least as crazy to control me.”
“Are you looking for… a bride or a caretaker?”
“With you, I think both are possible.”
In her attempt to avoid one madman, she becomes entangled with an even crazier one!
Is this a choice based on reality?
“If I ask for a divorce, you’ll kill me.”
“What do I have to gain by doing that?”
“I don’t know… A sense of conquest?”
“I’d like you to conquer me a little.”
“Obedient wife, doting mother, that sort of thing, I’ve had enough of that in this life.”
“I like you just the way you are. Does that answer your question?”
Don’t tame the tomboy.
She’s pretty enough the way she is.
A The Taming of the Shrew Romantic Fantasy reimagining. What if Kate married someone who built her up and helped her grow instead of someone who tore her down and rebuilt her into his idea of a dream girl? That is the premise of this novel.
Lady Macbeth's Daughter by Lisa Klein
The daughter Macbeth might have had, if Shakespeare had thought to create her
Albia
has grown up with no knowledge of her mother or her father, the
powerful Macbeth. Instead she knows the dark lure of the Wychelm Wood
and the moors, where she's been raised by three strange sisters. It's
only when the ambitious Macbeth seeks out the sisters to foretell his
fate that Albia's life becomes tangled with the man who leaves nothing
but bloodshed in his wake. She even falls in love with Fleance,
Macbeth's rival for the throne. Yet when Albia learns that she has the
second sight, she must decide whether to ignore the terrible future she
foresees or to change it. Will she be able to save the man she loves
from her murderous father? And can she forgive her parents their wrongs,
or must she destroy them to save Scotland from tyranny?
In her highly anticipated follow-up to Ophelia, Lisa Klein delivers a powerful reimagining of Shakespeare's Macbeth, featuring a young woman so seamlessly drawn it seems impossible she was not part of the Bard's original play.
What if Macbeth had a child, a daughter, who was cast aside? Filled with disgust and gifted with the Sight, she sets out to right the wrong of her DNA donor. The novel is full of history and Scottish lore.
Ophelia by Lisa Klein
He is Hamlet, Prince of Denmark; she is simply Ophelia. If you think you know their story, think again.
In
this reimagining of Shakespeare's famous tragedy, it is Ophelia who
takes center stage. A rowdy, motherless girl, she grows up at Elsinore
Castle to become the queen's most trusted lady-in-waiting. Ambitious for
knowledge and witty as well as beautiful, Ophelia learns the ways of
power in a court where nothing is as it seems. When she catches the
attention of the captivating, dark-haired Prince Hamlet, their love
blossoms in secret. But bloody deeds soon turn Denmark into a place of
madness, and Ophelia's happiness is shattered. Ultimately, she must
choose between her love for Hamlet and her own life. In desperation,
Ophelia devises a treacherous plan to escape from Elsinore forever . . .
with one very dangerous secret.
Lisa Klein's Ophelia
tells the story of a young woman falling in love, searching for her
place in the world, and finding the strength to survive. Sharp and
literary, dark and romantic, this dramatic story holds readers in its
grip until the final, heartrending scene.
A retelling of Hamlet where Ophelia lives. Though to be honest, many people debate whether she actually died in the original. Most lean towards that but I like to think she made out alive. This ones for those who think the same.
Prince of Shadows by Rachel Caine
A retelling of Romeo and Juliet from the point of view of Benvolio, Romeo's cousin. Yep, this dude is a master thief known as The Prince of Shadows. I haven't had the chance to read this one yet but it is in my TBR pile so I should get to it one day........
A Daughter of Fair Verona by Christina Dodd
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 didn't die here! Instead, the very dramatic couple had a family and their very love jaded and snarky daughter is our narrator. We have comedy, mystery and a dash of reluctant romance. Let's hang out with Rosie! Sidenote: This is an ongoing series so I haven't started it yet.
I hope you all found a future book to jump into from one of the books I mentioned today. As always, feel free to leave me a message below.
