What Dreams May Come

With a boldly refreshing premise and a daring heroine to match, this delightful novella features the eldest daughter of the not-so-ill-fated Romeo and Juliet—20-year-old Rosie Montague, a young woman possessed of an irreverent wit, an independent spirit—and a penchant for sleuthing . . .

Gentle reader, I, Rosie Montague, present you with the tumultuous events of my recent months: despite my goal to remain a spinster, I fell instantly in love with Lysander of the House of Beautiful; suffered an unhappy betrothal to a duke, which ended in death for him and almost for me; am now entrapped by a compromising deceit plotted by the enamored Prince of Verona himself, Escalus . . .

Not only am I failing on the spinster front, but I have also failed to set an example for my seven siblings (soon to be eight, thanks to my parents’ embarrassingly undying passion.) Specifically, 13-year-old Katherina, along with her friend, Princess Isabella. In their desire to honor my romance (now ill-fated) by commissioning a sonnet, they imitated my own youthful folly and dressed like well-born young males, complete with stuffed codpieces, and swaggered into the night. Their poetic mission accomplished, they celebrated, landed in scandalous circumstances—and the princess was robbed of her mother’s priceless ring . . .

With our fates and family names at stake, I must save the day. What ensues will require that I visit a brothel, infiltrate the thief’s debaucherous lair, and dodge Escalus. I can only hope to keep intact my virginity—and my life. The latter especially, should my parents find out . . .