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A review by misssusan
Hamilton's Battalion: A Trio of Romances by Courtney Milan, Alyssa Cole, Rose Lerner
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