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kblincoln's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars, actually.
I really enjoyed this. I'm not someone who usually likes novelettes...but I couldn't resist this one. Courtney Milan (on the basis of the Cyclone Series alone) is on my insta-buy list, Alyssa Cole's Off the Grid series is a terrific blend of post-apocalyptic tension, deeply emotional family relationships, and bicultural sensibility. And I enjoy Rose Lerner.
Also my daughters are obsessed with Hamilton and so that has been a highly salient topic in my house as well as the election results from November 2016.
After this, Rose is also probably going on my insta-buy list. Her novella/novelette is first in the series and features the actual battle of Yorktown and several actual cameos by a young, dashing Aide-de-camp Hamilton. But what really got me is the historical detail of the siege, and the details about being Jewish in Revolutionary times. Okay, near the end of the story, the constant yiddish stopped being cool and sometimes I skimmed, but the hero in this story is super-awesome. He's strong and brave and really really talkative. And that's one of the issues explored in this romance-- how a quiet person and a talkative one relate.
That's a theme carried on through the next story (and there's interlocking mentions of characters but I won't spoil that for you) with an extremely talkative British soldier who accompanies a freedman black Corporal home. In fact, the talking becomes the main focus of the story in both the wooing between the two men and also the saving of the Corporal's bacon several times. Its so, so sweet and really amusing at times.
The third one wasn't as compelling for me as the other two, possibly because it focuses on post-Yorktown where Hamilton is already dead and his widow is collecting stories about his life. In this one, Eliza's black secretary, Mercy, falls in love with a seamstress. It's still a lovely story, but I had gotten used to the historical soldier background for the stories, and this one had a different focus.
All in all, I was surprised and pleased by the tight plots, the sweet romances, and the overarcing threads of Hamilton's life and overly talkative sweethearts holding these three stories together. Lovely, lovely.
I really enjoyed this. I'm not someone who usually likes novelettes...but I couldn't resist this one. Courtney Milan (on the basis of the Cyclone Series alone) is on my insta-buy list, Alyssa Cole's Off the Grid series is a terrific blend of post-apocalyptic tension, deeply emotional family relationships, and bicultural sensibility. And I enjoy Rose Lerner.
Also my daughters are obsessed with Hamilton and so that has been a highly salient topic in my house as well as the election results from November 2016.
After this, Rose is also probably going on my insta-buy list. Her novella/novelette is first in the series and features the actual battle of Yorktown and several actual cameos by a young, dashing Aide-de-camp Hamilton. But what really got me is the historical detail of the siege, and the details about being Jewish in Revolutionary times. Okay, near the end of the story, the constant yiddish stopped being cool and sometimes I skimmed, but the hero in this story is super-awesome. He's strong and brave and really really talkative. And that's one of the issues explored in this romance-- how a quiet person and a talkative one relate.
That's a theme carried on through the next story (and there's interlocking mentions of characters but I won't spoil that for you) with an extremely talkative British soldier who accompanies a freedman black Corporal home. In fact, the talking becomes the main focus of the story in both the wooing between the two men and also the saving of the Corporal's bacon several times. Its so, so sweet and really amusing at times.
The third one wasn't as compelling for me as the other two, possibly because it focuses on post-Yorktown where Hamilton is already dead and his widow is collecting stories about his life. In this one, Eliza's black secretary, Mercy, falls in love with a seamstress. It's still a lovely story, but I had gotten used to the historical soldier background for the stories, and this one had a different focus.
All in all, I was surprised and pleased by the tight plots, the sweet romances, and the overarcing threads of Hamilton's life and overly talkative sweethearts holding these three stories together. Lovely, lovely.
dja777's review against another edition
4.0
This is a collection of 3 romance novellas, 1 m/f, 1 m/m and 1 f/f. 4 stars for the first story, 3 for the third (I found the characters kind of irritating), but a super-enthusiastic 5 stars for Courtney Milan's "The Pursuit of..." The end brought me to tears, which is especially difficult for a novella, which by definition has less time available for developing characters.
gabymck's review against another edition
4.0
It’s romantic and uplifting and patriotic, I very much enjoyed the 3 novellas. I want to watch Hamilton again and read it again. Every 4 years, it seems appropriate.
hrjones's review against another edition
4.0
(I previously posted a review of only the Alyssa Cole story. This version incorporates that into a review of the whole set.)
The musical Hamilton has quite deservedly stirred up a lot of interest in the Revolutionary War era and, from a separate angle, in history as experienced through lives that don’t fit the straight white male Christian default. The collection Hamilton’s Battalion operates at the intersection of those two topics, being a collection of three historic romance novellas focusing on respectively a Jewish couple with the woman joining the army passing as a man (“Promised Land” by Rose Lerner), a same-sex male couple, one of whom is black (“The Pursuit of...” by Courtney Milan), and a same-sex female couple, both of whom are black (“That Could Be Enough” by Alyssa Cole). An additional unifying theme is a direct personal connection to Alexander Hamilton via the framing device of Mrs. Hamilton’s quest to collect stories and anecdotes about her husband after his death.
I read this primarily for the third story, and read that one first, looping back to take in the others when it was pointed out to me that Mercy Alston appears in the framing stories throughout. Rose Lerner’s “Promised Land” is about a Jewish couple who end up on opposite sides of the revolution (or do they?) and learn new things about each other and about the meaning of freedom and legacy. Courtney Milan’s “The Pursuit Of...” again begins with an “enemies to lovers” scenario, this time between a white British officer who has fallen for American ideals (and one American in particular) and a black American who takes a more cynical view of the whole liberty and freedom thing.
I wouldn’t normally have read these two stories simply because time is limited and I have a really long TBR list with material nearer and dearer to my heart, but that said, I really loved both of them. (Though not as much as I loved Cole’s contribution, which I discuss in more detail below. See: “nearer and dearer”.) They both tackled issues of identity and inequity in history in ways that didn’t flinch from truth while still giving the reader an enjoyable and realistic relationship. I especially love Lerner’s intimate immersion in the historical Jewish experience that explores questions of integration and co-existence while maintaining identity.
If I had all the time in the world to read, I’d be seeking out more from all of these authors. And if you aren’t constrained by the same desires I have (to focus my reading on queer women) and you enjoy top-of-the-line historical romance, I encourage you to read my share.
In “That Could Be Enough,” Mercy Alston works as a maid for Mrs. Hamilton as well as a part-time secretary, taking and transcribing dictation of the interviews that are being collected. Her past includes a childhood in an orphanage and a series of romances with women that were shipwrecked on the rocks of the absence of social models for their permanence. She’s buried her romantic dreams along with her earlier ambitions as a writer. Andromeda Stiel appears in her life bringing her grandfather’s story to add to Mrs. Hamilton’s collection, as well as bringing a free and open sensuality and a definite interest in breaking through Mercy’s cynical pessimism and capturing her heart.
This was an absolutely lovely story that wove a strong historical knowledge of the lives of singlewomen and the Revolutionary-era African American experience in New York City with a believable and positive romantic arc that felt true to its times in almost every aspect. (And I’m not going to quibble over the few things that felt a bit modern-minded to me, because there was quite a variety of experience of women’s same-sex relationships in that era.) The personalities and past experiences of the two women created enough conflict and tension to give the romance time to develop and the requisite speedbump late in the story was neither artificial nor avoidable. It’s too easy to say, “This could have been avoided if people had just talked things out” when you’re dealing with a modern world that has expected paradigms for same-sex relationships. I felt that Mercy’s reaction to the “speedbump” was perfectly in character given the times and her own history. [See also note below.]
Cole’s writing is beautiful and lyrical and I could wish that she’d turn her hand to writing romances between women again...and soon.
Note: Having seen some other reviewers' reactions to the "they should have just talked things out when the problem came up" I'd like to toss in a plea from a different life experience, and one that isn't necessarily specific to the precarious position of women who loved women in pre-modern settings.
It's all very easy to say, "If the person you've fallen in love with has done something that gives the appearance of treating your relationship as being of no lasting value, as being a passing fancy to be discarded and left behind, obviously what you should do is to challenge them about it and risk having your worst fears and self-doubts confirmed from her own mouth (as your last lover did), rather than keeping your mouth shut, burying your hurt, and pretending you aren't wounded." Very easy, right? Wrong.
It may be easy for certain personality types, but if I'd been in Mercy's situation? I'd have kept my mouth shut, buried my hurt, pretended I didn't care, and added it to my past experiences as a confirmation of how the world works and that I'm not worthy of love and loyalty. And everyone who says, "This is an idiot plot. This isn't believable." is saying that I am not a believable character. There really are people who react like this in real life, and we deserve to see ourselves reflected in fiction and promised our happy endings despite our paralyzing anxiety over emotional confrontations.
The musical Hamilton has quite deservedly stirred up a lot of interest in the Revolutionary War era and, from a separate angle, in history as experienced through lives that don’t fit the straight white male Christian default. The collection Hamilton’s Battalion operates at the intersection of those two topics, being a collection of three historic romance novellas focusing on respectively a Jewish couple with the woman joining the army passing as a man (“Promised Land” by Rose Lerner), a same-sex male couple, one of whom is black (“The Pursuit of...” by Courtney Milan), and a same-sex female couple, both of whom are black (“That Could Be Enough” by Alyssa Cole). An additional unifying theme is a direct personal connection to Alexander Hamilton via the framing device of Mrs. Hamilton’s quest to collect stories and anecdotes about her husband after his death.
I read this primarily for the third story, and read that one first, looping back to take in the others when it was pointed out to me that Mercy Alston appears in the framing stories throughout. Rose Lerner’s “Promised Land” is about a Jewish couple who end up on opposite sides of the revolution (or do they?) and learn new things about each other and about the meaning of freedom and legacy. Courtney Milan’s “The Pursuit Of...” again begins with an “enemies to lovers” scenario, this time between a white British officer who has fallen for American ideals (and one American in particular) and a black American who takes a more cynical view of the whole liberty and freedom thing.
I wouldn’t normally have read these two stories simply because time is limited and I have a really long TBR list with material nearer and dearer to my heart, but that said, I really loved both of them. (Though not as much as I loved Cole’s contribution, which I discuss in more detail below. See: “nearer and dearer”.) They both tackled issues of identity and inequity in history in ways that didn’t flinch from truth while still giving the reader an enjoyable and realistic relationship. I especially love Lerner’s intimate immersion in the historical Jewish experience that explores questions of integration and co-existence while maintaining identity.
If I had all the time in the world to read, I’d be seeking out more from all of these authors. And if you aren’t constrained by the same desires I have (to focus my reading on queer women) and you enjoy top-of-the-line historical romance, I encourage you to read my share.
In “That Could Be Enough,” Mercy Alston works as a maid for Mrs. Hamilton as well as a part-time secretary, taking and transcribing dictation of the interviews that are being collected. Her past includes a childhood in an orphanage and a series of romances with women that were shipwrecked on the rocks of the absence of social models for their permanence. She’s buried her romantic dreams along with her earlier ambitions as a writer. Andromeda Stiel appears in her life bringing her grandfather’s story to add to Mrs. Hamilton’s collection, as well as bringing a free and open sensuality and a definite interest in breaking through Mercy’s cynical pessimism and capturing her heart.
This was an absolutely lovely story that wove a strong historical knowledge of the lives of singlewomen and the Revolutionary-era African American experience in New York City with a believable and positive romantic arc that felt true to its times in almost every aspect. (And I’m not going to quibble over the few things that felt a bit modern-minded to me, because there was quite a variety of experience of women’s same-sex relationships in that era.) The personalities and past experiences of the two women created enough conflict and tension to give the romance time to develop and the requisite speedbump late in the story was neither artificial nor avoidable. It’s too easy to say, “This could have been avoided if people had just talked things out” when you’re dealing with a modern world that has expected paradigms for same-sex relationships. I felt that Mercy’s reaction to the “speedbump” was perfectly in character given the times and her own history. [See also note below.]
Cole’s writing is beautiful and lyrical and I could wish that she’d turn her hand to writing romances between women again...and soon.
Note: Having seen some other reviewers' reactions to the "they should have just talked things out when the problem came up" I'd like to toss in a plea from a different life experience, and one that isn't necessarily specific to the precarious position of women who loved women in pre-modern settings.
It's all very easy to say, "If the person you've fallen in love with has done something that gives the appearance of treating your relationship as being of no lasting value, as being a passing fancy to be discarded and left behind, obviously what you should do is to challenge them about it and risk having your worst fears and self-doubts confirmed from her own mouth (as your last lover did), rather than keeping your mouth shut, burying your hurt, and pretending you aren't wounded." Very easy, right? Wrong.
It may be easy for certain personality types, but if I'd been in Mercy's situation? I'd have kept my mouth shut, buried my hurt, pretended I didn't care, and added it to my past experiences as a confirmation of how the world works and that I'm not worthy of love and loyalty. And everyone who says, "This is an idiot plot. This isn't believable." is saying that I am not a believable character. There really are people who react like this in real life, and we deserve to see ourselves reflected in fiction and promised our happy endings despite our paralyzing anxiety over emotional confrontations.
misssusan's review against another edition
4.0
disclaimer: received this as an ARC from the authors, shrieked loudly with happiness upon seeing the email
delightful facts i have learned from this anthology: courtney milan has a whatsapp group chat with bree bridges, alisha rai, alyssa cole, and rebekah weatherspoon where the idea for this book was conceived. knowing this has made my day approximately 1500x better than it was
anyways this is an anthology that takes it cue from broadway hamilton in that all three romances center on people who do not generally get remembered as part of the founding of america. rose lerner with her crossdressing jewish soldier and her husband, courtney milan's roadtrip love story between a black revolutionary war soldier and a british deserter and alyssa cole's tale of how one exceedingly careful black maidservant allows herself to fall for another black dressmaker and entrepreneur. said dressmaker is apparently the granddaughter of the couple from be not afraid which is just another reminder that i really need to pluck that off my tbr and get reading
(at one point she flirts with her after freezing near to death in a storm because her priorities are perfectly in order. andromeda sutton is #goals)
the summaries for this collection are accurate enough so i won't go into plot details but i will note that the vibe of lerner and milan's stories don't quite come across. the summary for promised land comes across as rather more lighthearted than it is -- the actual novella has a lot of intense feelings (particularly about jewishness and community and american ideals) -- and while it is technically true the leads of in pursuit of first meet on the battlefield, there is basically zero chance of either of them trying to kill the other at any point after that. think delightful and historically grounded roadtrip romcom rather than enemies-to-lovers.
alyssa cole's summary is perf tho
in conclusion every single story here was amazing and i deeply hope lerner, cole, and milan choose to collaborate again someday
4.5 stars
delightful facts i have learned from this anthology: courtney milan has a whatsapp group chat with bree bridges, alisha rai, alyssa cole, and rebekah weatherspoon where the idea for this book was conceived. knowing this has made my day approximately 1500x better than it was
anyways this is an anthology that takes it cue from broadway hamilton in that all three romances center on people who do not generally get remembered as part of the founding of america. rose lerner with her crossdressing jewish soldier and her husband, courtney milan's roadtrip love story between a black revolutionary war soldier and a british deserter and alyssa cole's tale of how one exceedingly careful black maidservant allows herself to fall for another black dressmaker and entrepreneur. said dressmaker is apparently the granddaughter of the couple from be not afraid which is just another reminder that i really need to pluck that off my tbr and get reading
(at one point she flirts with her after freezing near to death in a storm because her priorities are perfectly in order. andromeda sutton is #goals)
the summaries for this collection are accurate enough so i won't go into plot details but i will note that the vibe of lerner and milan's stories don't quite come across. the summary for promised land comes across as rather more lighthearted than it is -- the actual novella has a lot of intense feelings (particularly about jewishness and community and american ideals) -- and while it is technically true the leads of in pursuit of first meet on the battlefield, there is basically zero chance of either of them trying to kill the other at any point after that. think delightful and historically grounded roadtrip romcom rather than enemies-to-lovers.
alyssa cole's summary is perf tho
in conclusion every single story here was amazing and i deeply hope lerner, cole, and milan choose to collaborate again someday
4.5 stars
miss_interociter's review against another edition
5.0
Three novellas whose main characters are marginalized members of society in the late 1700s (and sometimes even now): a Jewish couple, a white man, a black man, and two black women daring to make a living in a world where slavery hasn't quite disappeared. It's the precise kind of thing "Hamilton: An Americal Musical" stands for: the founding of America as told by the people who don't see in a John Trumbull painting. Plus, a cracking good read with great characters.
snazel's review against another edition
Promised Land, by Rose Lerner
Delightful. Offering someone a certificate of divorce was never so romantic. (Sincerely, it's great.)
Rose Lerner has a fantastic way of taking me back to historical periods I thought I knew and showing me it from another angle. I've read about the American Revolution, for example here. But I hadn't realized how often I'd read from the POV of people who were talking from a period of pretty huge social and economic privilege. And how I'd never read a story about someone who wasn't Christian. I even think everyone was Protestant? Like, yikes. And I knew I'd only heard from people who were white, but I didn't think that would matter (hahah, it always matters, you don't get to hear only the slaveowners and their friends talk and not come up with a skewed view of who lives and who dies).
So. I ship the romance, it's wonderfully, unabashedly Jewish, and it made me think, to boot. Rose Lerner for all the historical books.
The Pursuit Of... by Courtney Milan
That Could Be Enough By Alyssa Cole
Delightful. Offering someone a certificate of divorce was never so romantic. (Sincerely, it's great.)
Rose Lerner has a fantastic way of taking me back to historical periods I thought I knew and showing me it from another angle. I've read about the American Revolution, for example here. But I hadn't realized how often I'd read from the POV of people who were talking from a period of pretty huge social and economic privilege. And how I'd never read a story about someone who wasn't Christian. I even think everyone was Protestant? Like, yikes. And I knew I'd only heard from people who were white, but I didn't think that would matter (hahah, it always matters, you don't get to hear only the slaveowners and their friends talk and not come up with a skewed view of who lives and who dies).
So. I ship the romance, it's wonderfully, unabashedly Jewish, and it made me think, to boot. Rose Lerner for all the historical books.
The Pursuit Of... by Courtney Milan
That Could Be Enough By Alyssa Cole
pickett22's review against another edition
5.0
This was an impulse buy, and man was it worth it!
Promise Land: 5/5
SO GOOD! The characters were wonderful and dynamic and I loved them so fucking much. It was so funny and it was so sweet. All the stars. It was amazing.
In Pursuit Of...: 5/5
OMG! This was my favourite one. I'm a little concerned that it kind of turned out to be more Henry's story than John's? Although even as I type that I'm not really convinced that's the case, so idk? Anyway, I ADORED these two men and I LOVED the story. I laughed myself into an asthma attack at one point. At other points I made high pitched noises until my roommate came to see what was wrong. At the very beginning I had a lot of feelings and I wasn't sure it was going to be as fun/funny as the other story, but I was wrong and I adored it.
That Could Be Enough: 2/5? 3/5?
This story was actually the reason I bought the book, but I was really disappointed. Everything was reeeeeeally over the top. I get that both characters are dramatic people, but yeesh. So many extreme and sudden emotions. Plus the plot tension created by misunderstanding-leading-to-rejection is one of my all-time least favourite tropes. I tend to think of it as lazy writing. Like... secret note reading and getting carried away by emotions and not bothering to talk to the other person is just annoying to begin with and overused to end off.
So the last one was disappointing, but the other two were SO FUCKING GOOD that I couldn't even knock a star off the book for it. I can see myself re-reading the middle story at least, so I'm really glad I own it!
Promise Land: 5/5
SO GOOD! The characters were wonderful and dynamic and I loved them so fucking much. It was so funny and it was so sweet. All the stars. It was amazing.
In Pursuit Of...: 5/5
OMG! This was my favourite one. I'm a little concerned that it kind of turned out to be more Henry's story than John's? Although even as I type that I'm not really convinced that's the case, so idk? Anyway, I ADORED these two men and I LOVED the story. I laughed myself into an asthma attack at one point. At other points I made high pitched noises until my roommate came to see what was wrong. At the very beginning I had a lot of feelings and I wasn't sure it was going to be as fun/funny as the other story, but I was wrong and I adored it.
That Could Be Enough: 2/5? 3/5?
This story was actually the reason I bought the book, but I was really disappointed. Everything was reeeeeeally over the top. I get that both characters are dramatic people, but yeesh. So many extreme and sudden emotions. Plus the plot tension created by misunderstanding-leading-to-rejection is one of my all-time least favourite tropes. I tend to think of it as lazy writing. Like... secret note reading and getting carried away by emotions and not bothering to talk to the other person is just annoying to begin with and overused to end off.
So the last one was disappointing, but the other two were SO FUCKING GOOD that I couldn't even knock a star off the book for it. I can see myself re-reading the middle story at least, so I'm really glad I own it!
isabelisalright's review against another edition
5.0
Full review on Wright Here Reading
I really can't recommend this collection enough. It's delightful. Each story is very different, but they all provide the pieces I want in a romance but condensed into a short story. Great way to try out some amazing authors and maybe you'll find a new favorite!
I really can't recommend this collection enough. It's delightful. Each story is very different, but they all provide the pieces I want in a romance but condensed into a short story. Great way to try out some amazing authors and maybe you'll find a new favorite!
frogy927's review against another edition
4.0
I think my enjoyment of this book was hampered by reading a physical copy instead of the ebook. The font was just so much smaller than I keep my Kindle and the lines were so much closer together, and it was hard to get into it because physical books are harder to read on the subway so I kept starting and stopping. All of the stories were great, but for some reason I just couldn't get lost in them the way I'd normally expect myself to.