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