Scan barcode
dena's review against another edition
5.0
Rose Lerner (Promised Land) - 4 stars
Courtney Milan (The Pursuit Of) - eleventy-billion stars
Alyssa Cole (That Could Be Enough): 3.5 stars
Courtney Milan (The Pursuit Of) - eleventy-billion stars
Alyssa Cole (That Could Be Enough): 3.5 stars
melbsreads's review
5.0
Trigger warnings: war, racism, mentions of slavery and antisemitism. That's about it?
4.5 stars.
Y'all should know by now that I am 100% Hamilton trash, and I will read pretty much anything that involves AHam in any way. After being massively disappointed by Alex and Eliza by Melissa de la Cruz (it's an extreme snoozefest, don't waste your money), I was somewhat sceptical about this one.
And then it turned out to be a hell of a lot of fun.
The first story features a Jewish woman who's disguised herself as a man to join the Army. Everything's going well until she runs into her husband. Who thinks she died of yellow fever several years earlier...
The second is about an African-American freeman and the second son of a rich British dude who save each other's lives and fall in love along the way.
And the third is about Mercy, one of Eliza's African-American servants, who's helping Eliza put together all the soldiers' stories of Alexander, who finds herself falling in love when the granddaughter of a key figure comes to share her grandfather's story.
I think the second was my favourite of the three, solely because it was full of humour and cheese. Literally. There's a huge section of the story that involves cheese. And it was great. But the other two were pretty stinking enjoyable as well.
4.5 stars.
Y'all should know by now that I am 100% Hamilton trash, and I will read pretty much anything that involves AHam in any way. After being massively disappointed by Alex and Eliza by Melissa de la Cruz (it's an extreme snoozefest, don't waste your money), I was somewhat sceptical about this one.
And then it turned out to be a hell of a lot of fun.
The first story features a Jewish woman who's disguised herself as a man to join the Army. Everything's going well until she runs into her husband. Who thinks she died of yellow fever several years earlier...
The second is about an African-American freeman and the second son of a rich British dude who save each other's lives and fall in love along the way.
And the third is about Mercy, one of Eliza's African-American servants, who's helping Eliza put together all the soldiers' stories of Alexander, who finds herself falling in love when the granddaughter of a key figure comes to share her grandfather's story.
I think the second was my favourite of the three, solely because it was full of humour and cheese. Literally. There's a huge section of the story that involves cheese. And it was great. But the other two were pretty stinking enjoyable as well.
tori335's review
4.0
Overall: 3.5/5 rounded up.
Promise Land: 3.5/5
The Pursuit of...:3.5/5
That Could Be Enough 4/5
Promise Land: 3.5/5
The Pursuit of...:3.5/5
That Could Be Enough 4/5
stegan's review
4.0
A really enjoyable trio of stories, whether you’re familiar with the Hamilton musical or not. Lerner is the one author I hadn’t read before, but I thought her kinetic style meshed well with Milan’s methodical and Cole’s languid prose styles. And the best compliment I can pay is that I want more of all three stories!
kathyrandallbryant's review
4.0
Excellent romances, all 3 of which were fresh and new takes on the genre.
And diverse. And funny. And lovely. And the middle one had me in tears.
Bonus note: they wrote it because November 2016 was so brutal. Hope, y’all. It leads us to soar. Art has been so gut wrenchingly real these last couple of years.
And diverse. And funny. And lovely. And the middle one had me in tears.
Bonus note: they wrote it because November 2016 was so brutal. Hope, y’all. It leads us to soar. Art has been so gut wrenchingly real these last couple of years.
morgankailackerman's review
4.0
Promised Land - 4/5. Overall, this story was pretty good. I liked the representation and the badassery of Rachel was awesome in terms of feminism. I love how Jewish it is and how representative it is about Jewish culture. If you are not Jewish however, like me, you may get lost in it, but it seems like an accurate representation and I loved the diversity.
In Pursuit of... - 5/5. This STORY IS SO GOOD OMG. I loved the characters. For a novella, there was so much character development and the characters were so natural. Such a strong story, I would reread it. It's funny, sexy, romantic, political. Highly highly highly highly highly recommend. This love story will stick with me for a long time. I love Henry and John!
That Could Be Enough - 3/5. This story was such a let down, especially as a story about lesbians. This could have been so good, especially considering I know how good of a writer Cole is. I loved her book An Extraordinary Union and this was a let down. The characters are pretty forgettable and the story was waiting for the climatic moment that they kiss - too long of a time to wait for something not that exciting.
In Pursuit of... - 5/5. This STORY IS SO GOOD OMG. I loved the characters. For a novella, there was so much character development and the characters were so natural. Such a strong story, I would reread it. It's funny, sexy, romantic, political. Highly highly highly highly highly recommend. This love story will stick with me for a long time. I love Henry and John!
That Could Be Enough - 3/5. This story was such a let down, especially as a story about lesbians. This could have been so good, especially considering I know how good of a writer Cole is. I loved her book An Extraordinary Union and this was a let down. The characters are pretty forgettable and the story was waiting for the climatic moment that they kiss - too long of a time to wait for something not that exciting.
simone16's review
3.0
Lots of other reviews have gone over the plots of the anthology, so I'll cut to the chase: wait for Alyssa Cole's novella to come out on its own and buy it then.
As usual, Cole is writing top notch novella here (I prefer her novellas to her long-form writing --have you ever noticed that some writers are just better writing short romance? I feel this way about Joanna Shupe, too.) This one is a F/F romance about free black women. It's great. Cole is a great writer. 5-stars.
Rose Lerner's story was very slow for me, and generally not that interesting, though I always love that she incorporates Jewish characters into her books, and if you're into cross-dressing heroines, this one will work for you even though it's not the most exciting thing I've ever read. 3-stars.
Courtney Milan is another writer who I prefer short-form, largely because I find her long form books to be a little too preachy. She can gum up the romance with lots of explanation of laws and other business from history--to the detriment of the romance bits--but in novellas, she usually really nails it. Except, for me, in this one. Weirdly, I was with the heroes (one of them is neurodivergent and so great) right up until the end, when everything kind of fell apart story-wise. I feel like this is a common thing with self-published books, as though the writers get themselves right up against the deadline to get the thing up on Amazon and forget that the plot has to be resolved. It was 3-stars for me.
As usual, Cole is writing top notch novella here (I prefer her novellas to her long-form writing --have you ever noticed that some writers are just better writing short romance? I feel this way about Joanna Shupe, too.) This one is a F/F romance about free black women. It's great. Cole is a great writer. 5-stars.
Rose Lerner's story was very slow for me, and generally not that interesting, though I always love that she incorporates Jewish characters into her books, and if you're into cross-dressing heroines, this one will work for you even though it's not the most exciting thing I've ever read. 3-stars.
Courtney Milan is another writer who I prefer short-form, largely because I find her long form books to be a little too preachy. She can gum up the romance with lots of explanation of laws and other business from history--to the detriment of the romance bits--but in novellas, she usually really nails it. Except, for me, in this one. Weirdly, I was with the heroes (one of them is neurodivergent and so great) right up until the end, when everything kind of fell apart story-wise. I feel like this is a common thing with self-published books, as though the writers get themselves right up against the deadline to get the thing up on Amazon and forget that the plot has to be resolved. It was 3-stars for me.
gracelikesbooks's review
5.0
I loved this book sooooo much *chef's kiss* "the pursuit of..." might've been my favorite due to the cheese metaphor of it all it I genuinely enjoyed all three of these stories, they were so fun and beautiful!!! Do yourself a favor and read this book asap
dreamofwinter's review
5.0
This is the book we need, right now. Even though two of the three novellas are set against a backdrop of war, I came away from this book with the most incredible sense of hope!
All three stories deal with diverse characters finding love in unexpected places. The authors treat their subjects with care and dignity. I was moved to tears more than once by the insights into human character these novellas provided - a rare experience when reading any book, much less within the romance genre. I came away from Hamilton's Battalion wanting to write personal thank-you notes to the authors for the experience.
I don't read much historical romance set in the Americas, so this was a pleasant change. I would love to see more!
All three stories deal with diverse characters finding love in unexpected places. The authors treat their subjects with care and dignity. I was moved to tears more than once by the insights into human character these novellas provided - a rare experience when reading any book, much less within the romance genre. I came away from Hamilton's Battalion wanting to write personal thank-you notes to the authors for the experience.
I don't read much historical romance set in the Americas, so this was a pleasant change. I would love to see more!