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readerpants's review against another edition
5.0
OK THIS IS ACTUALLY ELEVENTY BILLION STARS, NOT FIVE AS INDICATED ABOVE.
Since this review is basically a keysmash, I'll just skip to the end and tell you that:
1) it really is as good as you'd expect from the plot summaries and authors;
2) it is QUEER and WONDERFUL and @@*(#$)@#U@#)U;
3) the first novella, Promised Land, FUCKED ME UP. As in, I cried. A lot. Multiple times, while reading it. Had to take breaks. Because...
4) I am a girl who talks too much and has a whole, whole lot of emotional baggage and shame wrapped up in that. Each one of these novellas had a hero/ine carrying some version of that baggage. If this is you, too, think about buying some tissues when you buy this book. And definitely, definitely buy it.
5) I'm sorry, I honestly don't understand how it is even possible that everyone in the world has not bought this book already because ALYSSA COLE WROTE US QUEER HISTORICAL BLACK LADIES.
6) QUEER. HISTORICAL. BLACK. LADIES. LOVING. EACH. OTHER. ALYSSA. F'ING. COLE.
7) Tropes. Exceptionally talented authors playing with so many juicy, delicious, beautifully done tropes. Cross-dressing! Bed sharing! Road trip! Secret identities! He thought she was dead but THERE SHE IS!
I'm going to take a deep breath and maybe read it again. Truly, though, if you haven't bought this one yet, do yourself a favor and go do that now.
Since this review is basically a keysmash, I'll just skip to the end and tell you that:
1) it really is as good as you'd expect from the plot summaries and authors;
2) it is QUEER and WONDERFUL and @@*(#$)@#U@#)U;
3) the first novella, Promised Land, FUCKED ME UP. As in, I cried. A lot. Multiple times, while reading it. Had to take breaks. Because...
4) I am a girl who talks too much and has a whole, whole lot of emotional baggage and shame wrapped up in that. Each one of these novellas had a hero/ine carrying some version of that baggage. If this is you, too, think about buying some tissues when you buy this book. And definitely, definitely buy it.
5) I'm sorry, I honestly don't understand how it is even possible that everyone in the world has not bought this book already because ALYSSA COLE WROTE US QUEER HISTORICAL BLACK LADIES.
6) QUEER. HISTORICAL. BLACK. LADIES. LOVING. EACH. OTHER. ALYSSA. F'ING. COLE.
7) Tropes. Exceptionally talented authors playing with so many juicy, delicious, beautifully done tropes. Cross-dressing! Bed sharing! Road trip! Secret identities! He thought she was dead but THERE SHE IS!
I'm going to take a deep breath and maybe read it again. Truly, though, if you haven't bought this one yet, do yourself a favor and go do that now.
andipants's review against another edition
5.0
Confession: I haven't seen Hamilton. I haven't listened to the soundtrack. I have no idea what the plot of it is, other than that it involves the Founding Fathers being played by people of color and hip-hop. So if there's tying in or inspiration or homage or anything like that going on here, I'm not aware. That said, this was plenty wonderful on its own. [Insert several heart-eyes emojis & incoherent squeeing here.]
Rose Lerner's Promised Land is the only m/f pairing here, and it starts with one of my favorite historical tropes, a woman dressing as a man to go off and do badass stuff. Both MCs are Jewish, which is a refreshing change of pace from your garden variety historical, and I liked that they both have very different approaches to religious observance (he's super letter-of-the-law strict, while she's more of the it's-the-thought-that-counts mindset) while both still being totally committed to their beliefs and culture. There was a lot of serious emotional growth here, especially for a novella, which was great. I will say, I was a little uncomfortable that Nathan's mother (who never appears in the story but is discussed often as a source of conflict) seems to be a wholly one-dimensional walking Jewish mother stereotype, but the rest of the characterization was quite good.
Courtney Milan's The Pursuit Of... is an interracial m/m pairing between Henry, a "frivolous" Brit sent away to the army by his disapproving father in hopes that he'll die heroically, and John, a former slave who who doesn't give much of a shit what he's fighting for except to get safely home to his sister and make sure she's okay. Both characters are a delight, and the way the story deals with race is tough and nuanced, though the heavy stuff is balanced by some fun and sometimes downright silly dialogue. If I have one complaint, it's that said dialogue makes absolutely no attempt at historical authenticity; I've noticed this tendency to some extent in CM's regencies, but it's absolutely blatant here. That said, it's still fun, and goddamn if I didn't feel patriotic, seeing Henry waxing rhapsodic about the ideals this country was founded on, and how even though we've always fallen short, it's still absolutely worth trying to do better and move toward them as much as we can.
And finally, Alyssa Cole's That Could Be Enough rounds out the collection with a lovely relationship between two very different and equally wonderful black women. Mercy's quiet, unassuming demeanor hides a sensitive, artistic soul, but she's been badly hurt and has coped by pushing aside her dreams and making do with a life serving others. Andromeda is bold and self-possessed; she knows the obstacles she faces and has no intention of letting them stop her. Both of these characters are fantastic, and the relationship between them is sweet and satisfying, especially watching Mercy come out of her shell and learning to trust and dream again. And Cole's powers of historical detail (to which anybody who's read her Loyal League series can testify) are on full display, even within the novella's space confines. She paints a brief but vivid picture of a diverse early 19th century community and shines light on some corners history has traditionally overlooked.
All in all, each of these stories is lovely on its own, and together they paint a picture of the America that has always been there -- the queer, racially and religiously diverse people that history has ignored but who have been living and loving here along with everyone else from the very start. That's my America, and I am absolutely here for it.
Rose Lerner's Promised Land is the only m/f pairing here, and it starts with one of my favorite historical tropes, a woman dressing as a man to go off and do badass stuff. Both MCs are Jewish, which is a refreshing change of pace from your garden variety historical, and I liked that they both have very different approaches to religious observance (he's super letter-of-the-law strict, while she's more of the it's-the-thought-that-counts mindset) while both still being totally committed to their beliefs and culture. There was a lot of serious emotional growth here, especially for a novella, which was great. I will say, I was a little uncomfortable that Nathan's mother (who never appears in the story but is discussed often as a source of conflict) seems to be a wholly one-dimensional walking Jewish mother stereotype, but the rest of the characterization was quite good.
Courtney Milan's The Pursuit Of... is an interracial m/m pairing between Henry, a "frivolous" Brit sent away to the army by his disapproving father in hopes that he'll die heroically, and John, a former slave who who doesn't give much of a shit what he's fighting for except to get safely home to his sister and make sure she's okay. Both characters are a delight, and the way the story deals with race is tough and nuanced, though the heavy stuff is balanced by some fun and sometimes downright silly dialogue. If I have one complaint, it's that said dialogue makes absolutely no attempt at historical authenticity; I've noticed this tendency to some extent in CM's regencies, but it's absolutely blatant here. That said, it's still fun, and goddamn if I didn't feel patriotic, seeing Henry waxing rhapsodic about the ideals this country was founded on, and how even though we've always fallen short, it's still absolutely worth trying to do better and move toward them as much as we can.
And finally, Alyssa Cole's That Could Be Enough rounds out the collection with a lovely relationship between two very different and equally wonderful black women. Mercy's quiet, unassuming demeanor hides a sensitive, artistic soul, but she's been badly hurt and has coped by pushing aside her dreams and making do with a life serving others. Andromeda is bold and self-possessed; she knows the obstacles she faces and has no intention of letting them stop her. Both of these characters are fantastic, and the relationship between them is sweet and satisfying, especially watching Mercy come out of her shell and learning to trust and dream again. And Cole's powers of historical detail (to which anybody who's read her Loyal League series can testify) are on full display, even within the novella's space confines. She paints a brief but vivid picture of a diverse early 19th century community and shines light on some corners history has traditionally overlooked.
All in all, each of these stories is lovely on its own, and together they paint a picture of the America that has always been there -- the queer, racially and religiously diverse people that history has ignored but who have been living and loving here along with everyone else from the very start. That's my America, and I am absolutely here for it.
chirson's review against another edition
4.0
I guess I'll need to make a few caveats here: firstly, that I read this as an ARC from NetGalley, courtesy of the authors, publisher and so on, in exchange for an honest review. Secondly, that I am both quite familiar with Hamilton-the-musical (see also road trip sing-alongs) and probably not a very representative fan (in that Hamilton is one of my least favourite parts of Hamilton and I find his appeal kind of baffling). So to me the fact that Hamilton is the marketing hook and the thread connecting the stories consists in Eliza spending her widowhood gathering stories from Yorktown veterans was quite insignificant and uninteresting in the larger scheme of things: the hook was in the names of the authors, two of whom I'm already very familiar with and the third whose writing I've heard some good things about.
So I was over the moon to get the ARC and it did not disappoint. On the contrary.
First of all, it's a really strong collection. I love that it combined m/f and two different queer romances (m/m and f/f). I enjoyed the way in which the stories worked with together to create a whole that was surprisingly coherent despite the very different tones of the separate stories. And I found the afterwords interesting and illuminating. And now, onto the three separate novellas.
The volume begins with Rose Lerner's Promised Land: a second chance romance between Rachel, who cross-dresses for the sake of taking part in the Revolution, and Nathan, a man from her past. The description suggests something lighter and more frivolous than what we actually get, which is a bittersweet, profound and heart-wrenching story full of emotion. It had amazing depth and the protagonists were even better than in the previous novel by Lerner I've read. They were extremely relatable, deeply sympathetic and yet completely human and imperfect. I loved how their conflict and relationship were depicted: I think second-chance can be a balancing act between trying to show that characters made a mistake not being together, so the hurt they'd wrought wasn't quite their fault or that deep, and yet making it believable that they didn't stay together in the first place, and often the result is that the cause of the break up may feel trivial. In this case, the past hurt is real but the affection is real as well. It was impressively filled with angst but done just right: I rooted for the characters and for the romance a lot, because of how hurt they were rather than despite it.
In addition, I can't not gush about the way in which Lerner wrote the physicality of the characters. The desire was believable and palpable and yet utterly non-gratuitous. There was so much eroticism with no objectification. It was beautiful, and I particularly liked how Lerner managed to actually subvert cliched attractiveness tropes (rather than, say, writing about a supposedly not beautiful character who, as we are told at every turn, is actually very conventionally attractive with a single flaw that's not really a flaw) and write features like bodily hair with love and without othering.
Finally, I loved the way Lerner wrote Jewishness in the story. It was integral, rounded the characters and the world they lived in well and was given so much care and attention and affection. Overall, this was one of my favourite Rose Lerner stories and one of the best romances I've read this year.
The second novella was by Courtney Milan. In Pursuit Of was much funnier and lighter than I'd have expected from the description or premise. Its story about Henry, a privileged, neuroatypical [I think?] white British aristocrat who can't stop talking (or lying) and John, an insightful and witty former slave, utterly unimpressed but amused despite himself, was delightful, gripping and just so adorable. It also featured some of the best unresolved sexual tension I've read in ages, and I don't say that lightly. The pining, it was real. I found the structure of the story a little uneven towards the end, and the way we got to the resolution didn't quite work for me, but it's a minor quibble - it's absolutely Courtney Milan at her very, very good if not necessarily best (that, for the record, would be The Suffragette Scandal, for me).
Also there was cheese. The cheese, it was amazing. (Must have been goat cheese, right?)
The third novella, by Alyssa Cole, entitled That Could Be Enough, unfortunately didn't impress me quite as much. There was a lot to love in it, but the pacing and the way in which information was revealed didn't grip me. The story follows an excellent pair of characters, reserved Mercy and glamorous Andromeda, two free Black women in post-Civil War New York. The way their life in New York and the social advancement and their emotions - anger and hope - are written felt really interesting and believable. I enjoyed how their struggle against upbringing and past hurt in Mercy's case, and present discrimination in Andromeda's, was an integral part of the story. But - and your milage may absolutely vary here - for me the romance was strangely abrupt, the conflict fabricated, the love a little flat. In addition, it was the only novella where I felt there were some editing issues (one scene had a strange shift in POV that I suspect was simply a mistake in names in chapter 8 - unless I'm very confused by what is happening in the flashback and whose parents are doing what - and a minor typo or two - but of course I'm reading the ARC, so this may be gone by the time the final version is published).
All the same, there were some lovely similes and turns of phrases in this novella that I enjoyed a lot, particularly in Mercy's POV, when she uses her literary talents to think about her own feelings; it's just that the romance didn't tug on my heartstrings like I'd wanted it to.
My final verdict is a sincere recommendation: if you don't really care about Hamilton all that much, a historical romance reader will still find a lot to love in this collection. And if you love Hamilton the musical / Hamilton the character, like the authors clearly do, I suspect you'll enjoy this even more than I did.
And now I wish I had someone to talk to about this book some more... Waiting for it to be properly published will be a drag.
So I was over the moon to get the ARC and it did not disappoint. On the contrary.
First of all, it's a really strong collection. I love that it combined m/f and two different queer romances (m/m and f/f). I enjoyed the way in which the stories worked with together to create a whole that was surprisingly coherent despite the very different tones of the separate stories. And I found the afterwords interesting and illuminating. And now, onto the three separate novellas.
The volume begins with Rose Lerner's Promised Land: a second chance romance between Rachel, who cross-dresses for the sake of taking part in the Revolution, and Nathan, a man from her past. The description suggests something lighter and more frivolous than what we actually get, which is a bittersweet, profound and heart-wrenching story full of emotion. It had amazing depth and the protagonists were even better than in the previous novel by Lerner I've read. They were extremely relatable, deeply sympathetic and yet completely human and imperfect. I loved how their conflict and relationship were depicted: I think second-chance can be a balancing act between trying to show that characters made a mistake not being together, so the hurt they'd wrought wasn't quite their fault or that deep, and yet making it believable that they didn't stay together in the first place, and often the result is that the cause of the break up may feel trivial. In this case, the past hurt is real but the affection is real as well. It was impressively filled with angst but done just right: I rooted for the characters and for the romance a lot, because of how hurt they were rather than despite it.
In addition, I can't not gush about the way in which Lerner wrote the physicality of the characters. The desire was believable and palpable and yet utterly non-gratuitous. There was so much eroticism with no objectification. It was beautiful, and I particularly liked how Lerner managed to actually subvert cliched attractiveness tropes (rather than, say, writing about a supposedly not beautiful character who, as we are told at every turn, is actually very conventionally attractive with a single flaw that's not really a flaw) and write features like bodily hair with love and without othering.
Finally, I loved the way Lerner wrote Jewishness in the story. It was integral, rounded the characters and the world they lived in well and was given so much care and attention and affection. Overall, this was one of my favourite Rose Lerner stories and one of the best romances I've read this year.
The second novella was by Courtney Milan. In Pursuit Of was much funnier and lighter than I'd have expected from the description or premise. Its story about Henry, a privileged, neuroatypical [I think?] white British aristocrat who can't stop talking (or lying) and John, an insightful and witty former slave, utterly unimpressed but amused despite himself, was delightful, gripping and just so adorable. It also featured some of the best unresolved sexual tension I've read in ages, and I don't say that lightly. The pining, it was real. I found the structure of the story a little uneven towards the end, and the way we got to the resolution didn't quite work for me, but it's a minor quibble - it's absolutely Courtney Milan at her very, very good if not necessarily best (that, for the record, would be The Suffragette Scandal, for me).
Also there was cheese. The cheese, it was amazing. (Must have been goat cheese, right?)
The third novella, by Alyssa Cole, entitled That Could Be Enough, unfortunately didn't impress me quite as much. There was a lot to love in it, but the pacing and the way in which information was revealed didn't grip me. The story follows an excellent pair of characters, reserved Mercy and glamorous Andromeda, two free Black women in post-Civil War New York. The way their life in New York and the social advancement and their emotions - anger and hope - are written felt really interesting and believable. I enjoyed how their struggle against upbringing and past hurt in Mercy's case, and present discrimination in Andromeda's, was an integral part of the story. But - and your milage may absolutely vary here - for me the romance was strangely abrupt, the conflict fabricated, the love a little flat. In addition, it was the only novella where I felt there were some editing issues (one scene had a strange shift in POV that I suspect was simply a mistake in names in chapter 8 - unless I'm very confused by what is happening in the flashback and whose parents are doing what - and a minor typo or two - but of course I'm reading the ARC, so this may be gone by the time the final version is published).
All the same, there were some lovely similes and turns of phrases in this novella that I enjoyed a lot, particularly in Mercy's POV, when she uses her literary talents to think about her own feelings; it's just that the romance didn't tug on my heartstrings like I'd wanted it to.
My final verdict is a sincere recommendation: if you don't really care about Hamilton all that much, a historical romance reader will still find a lot to love in this collection. And if you love Hamilton the musical / Hamilton the character, like the authors clearly do, I suspect you'll enjoy this even more than I did.
And now I wish I had someone to talk to about this book some more... Waiting for it to be properly published will be a drag.
rach_eb's review against another edition
4.0
A delightful, charming trio of romances centered around the people in the battalion of one of my favorite historical figures. The first story was deep, thoughtful, and incredibly moving, the second made me grin until my cheeks hurt (seriously, this one was so sweet that it gave me cavities and I LOVED IT), and the third reminded me to live without regrets. I highly recommend it!
sarful's review against another edition
4.0
A trio of romance, set in revolutionary America, connected through Alexander Hamilton.
The first was really good. Rachel fakes her death, leaving her husband and their very rocky marriage behind. Now, as a soldier, dressed as a “man”, her ex is spotted as a spy. I appreciated how very unapologetically Jewish this was. How Rachel wants to be revered as a strong Jewish American. I appreciated the growth of her ex as he slowly understands his role in their failed marriage, especially not standing up to his mom. I enjoyed this one.
The second novella was very humorous, sweet and really well paced. An ex slave fighting to gain his brother in law’s freedom. And a British officer afraid to go home and contend with his father’s disappointment. They travel north together and it’s a hilarious journey, mainly because the Brit can’t shut up and it’s endearing as hell, especially for our American.
The third connects the other two as Eliza’s assistant is the one writing all the accounts of those who have worked with Alexander Hamilton. To which the previous two novellas recount. This is of two women, the assistant having been scorned by a previous love is more than reluctant to give into her feelings. But Andromeda doesn’t easily give up. It was a bit quick for me and the whole misunderstanding into non communication was a bit frustrating. But I liked it.
It had been on my bookshelf for years, glad I finally got to it.
The first was really good. Rachel fakes her death, leaving her husband and their very rocky marriage behind. Now, as a soldier, dressed as a “man”, her ex is spotted as a spy. I appreciated how very unapologetically Jewish this was. How Rachel wants to be revered as a strong Jewish American. I appreciated the growth of her ex as he slowly understands his role in their failed marriage, especially not standing up to his mom. I enjoyed this one.
The second novella was very humorous, sweet and really well paced. An ex slave fighting to gain his brother in law’s freedom. And a British officer afraid to go home and contend with his father’s disappointment. They travel north together and it’s a hilarious journey, mainly because the Brit can’t shut up and it’s endearing as hell, especially for our American.
The third connects the other two as Eliza’s assistant is the one writing all the accounts of those who have worked with Alexander Hamilton. To which the previous two novellas recount. This is of two women, the assistant having been scorned by a previous love is more than reluctant to give into her feelings. But Andromeda doesn’t easily give up. It was a bit quick for me and the whole misunderstanding into non communication was a bit frustrating. But I liked it.
It had been on my bookshelf for years, glad I finally got to it.
lilcaracol17's review
4.75
Wow so good! Personally I didn’t like the association with Hamilton but otherwise this was a great set of stories.
Promised Land: I would have liked more on what happened after the events of the story ( Did Rachel go on tour? ) but this was brilliant. I loved their dynamic, and how caring and sensitive the guy was. Rachel was a delight.
The Pursuit Of…: So good! Genuinely funny and delightful. A couple lines were too cheesy but I loved it overall.
That Could Be Enough: Really enjoyed! I believe the conflict felt a bit silly but was great overall.
Promised Land: I would have liked more on what happened after the events of the story (
The Pursuit Of…: So good! Genuinely funny and delightful. A couple lines were too cheesy but I loved it overall.
That Could Be Enough: Really enjoyed! I believe the conflict felt a bit silly but was great overall.
brokenrecord's review against another edition
4.0
Promised Land
3.5-4 stars. This was nice! It's hard for me to get super invested in a novella romance because I tend to prefer slow burns and more drawn out romances, and there's just not enough time for that in novellas typically, but Rachel and Nathan were sweet. It was just a really nice second chance romance. I liked that their marriage wasn't good the first time around, but they had both changed in the interim and were able to talk about things and realize they did want to be together. There were also some scenes that really got to me, like the one where; that was probably my favorite part of the whole novella.
In Pursuit Of...
4.5-5 stars. Like 95% of the reason I decided to read this entire collection was because of how much I love Courtney Milan's books and I was getting antsy for After the Wedding, which this is somewhat of a prequel to (and I was also intrigued to see what she'd do with an m/m romance), so what I'm saying is that it was pretty much guaranteed from the start that I'd love this. And I did. It helped that it was something of a slow burn, which I've mentioned before repeatedly is my favorite kind of the romance and the kind of romance that's most likely to get me invested, and that was definitely the case here. And okay, it's not 100% a slow burn (it is a novella, after all), but it's the kind of romance development I love, where two characters start off not really knowing or trusting each other, but then slowly becoming friends (over the course of what's essentially a road trip!!! I have a particular soft spot for road trip romances where 2 people who barely know each other become friends and then fall in love). Plus the years of letter writing between John and Henry in the aftermath was also kind of my kryptonite. Basically, Courtney Milan just threw a bunch of romance tropes that I absolutely love and mixed them all up and served them to me on a platter -- of course I was going to end up loving this.
That Could Be Enough
3 stars. This was definitely my least favorite of the three, and it was very much a, it's not you, it's me, kind of thing. It's absolutely well-written. But if In Pursuit Of... was essentially written to hit all the romance-y things I love on the head, this was the opposite. Or not quite the opposite, because I definitely didn't hate it, but there was a fair amount of instalust, which I'm never a fan of. Mercy and Andromeda were sweet, and there were some really nice moments between them, and I'm sure to some people this is the best story of the 3, but it just didn't work for me.
3.5-4 stars. This was nice! It's hard for me to get super invested in a novella romance because I tend to prefer slow burns and more drawn out romances, and there's just not enough time for that in novellas typically, but Rachel and Nathan were sweet. It was just a really nice second chance romance. I liked that their marriage wasn't good the first time around, but they had both changed in the interim and were able to talk about things and realize they did want to be together. There were also some scenes that really got to me, like the one where
Spoiler
it's revealed Rachel wears her wedding ring around her neck, and then Nathan basically tells her he understood why she had to leaveIn Pursuit Of...
4.5-5 stars. Like 95% of the reason I decided to read this entire collection was because of how much I love Courtney Milan's books and I was getting antsy for After the Wedding, which this is somewhat of a prequel to (and I was also intrigued to see what she'd do with an m/m romance), so what I'm saying is that it was pretty much guaranteed from the start that I'd love this. And I did. It helped that it was something of a slow burn, which I've mentioned before repeatedly is my favorite kind of the romance and the kind of romance that's most likely to get me invested, and that was definitely the case here. And okay, it's not 100% a slow burn (it is a novella, after all), but it's the kind of romance development I love, where two characters start off not really knowing or trusting each other, but then slowly becoming friends (over the course of what's essentially a road trip!!! I have a particular soft spot for road trip romances where 2 people who barely know each other become friends and then fall in love). Plus the years of letter writing between John and Henry in the aftermath was also kind of my kryptonite. Basically, Courtney Milan just threw a bunch of romance tropes that I absolutely love and mixed them all up and served them to me on a platter -- of course I was going to end up loving this.
That Could Be Enough
3 stars. This was definitely my least favorite of the three, and it was very much a, it's not you, it's me, kind of thing. It's absolutely well-written. But if In Pursuit Of... was essentially written to hit all the romance-y things I love on the head, this was the opposite. Or not quite the opposite, because I definitely didn't hate it, but there was a fair amount of instalust, which I'm never a fan of. Mercy and Andromeda were sweet, and there were some really nice moments between them, and I'm sure to some people this is the best story of the 3, but it just didn't work for me.
glkrose's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
All three stories had their charms. I think I'd rank them:
That Could Be Enough
Promised Land
The Pursuit Of...
They all had me thinking of other perspectives during the Revolutionary War that I'm sadly upset that I didn't realize before. They were cute, diverse, and quick reads. But as always, I want more!
That Could Be Enough
Promised Land
The Pursuit Of...
They all had me thinking of other perspectives during the Revolutionary War that I'm sadly upset that I didn't realize before. They were cute, diverse, and quick reads. But as always, I want more!