I enjoyed this book. I expected a rehashing of Shakespeare play in novel form. That is not what I got. This is richer and fuller giving not only Romeo and Juliet's story but more background into their families' feud. There is more about Paris here. Juliet is a strong woman. Romeo is more dreamer than realist. Opposites certainly attract here. The parents, especially Juliet's, are more fleshed out. They are typical parents though her father is harsher than expected with an only daughter. Romeo's parents are more like Romeo, more idealistic be and willing to comply with the town leader's orders. The friars are more prominent as is the nurse who is not as flighty as we expect.

The reading by Richard Armitage is excellent. He does all the voices and pulls it off. I especially liked the author's notes at the end, read by the author. He gives a history of the story of Romeo and Juliet beginning with the first recorded version back in the 1400's then through Shakespeare. He also gives some details he used in his story.

This story, though known to us, is worth a listen. It has all and more of the intrigue from Shakespeare's play.

Today we have the blog tour of Susan Mesler-Evans Most Ardently! Check it out and be sure to grab your copy today!

Title: Most Ardently

Author: Susan Mesler-Evans

Genre: Contemporary Romance

About Most Ardently:

Elisa Benitez is proud of who she is, from her bitingly sarcastic remarks, to her love of both pretty boys and pretty girls. If someone doesn’t like her, that’s their problem, and Elisa couldn’t care less. Particularly if that person is Darcy Fitzgerald, a snobby, socially awkward heiress with an attitude problem and more money than she knows what to do with.  

From the moment they meet, Elisa and Darcy are at each other’s throats -- which is a bit unfortunate, since Darcy’s best friend is dating Elisa’s sister. It quickly becomes clear that fate intends to throw the two of them together, whether they like it or not. As hers and Darcy’s lives become more and more entwined, Elisa’s once-dull world quickly spirals into chaos in this story of pride, prejudice, and finding love with the people you least expect.

 

 I loved the direction this one went, I love how inclusive it was with lesbian, bi, trans; and biracial characters. I also really liked the changes in the characters. In some of the early reviews some of the things they nitpicked about were the things I liked. I like the changes to the Colin and Lydia characters there is nothing wrong with making them more likeable especially since I really hated the original characters. I loved the updatedness it worked well. I was worried how the Lydia, or in this case Lucia, was going to play out but she did exactly what I had always hoped would happen to Wickham. He has always been a money hungry pervy creep and it was nice to see actually portrayed in this manner. 

Now the main character Elisa Benitez, Elizabeth Bennet, is a bi-sexual Mexican American and while technically is still a high school student goes to school at the local community college which is where she meets Darcy Fitzgerald. Darcy a biracial cis lesbian who is just visiting but is staying long enough she fills her time with some college classes before she starts at the university. Their first meet as you can guess is argumentative, they get into a literary debate over Lord of the Flies. It doesn't get any better when they just happen to start running into each other in social situations. It plays out pretty much the same as the original except updated for modern American times, except for the slight personality changes in Colin and Lucia. It's a little bit more obvious to the reader that Darcy and Elisa like each other but Elisa is a little oblivious.

Overall, such a good read. I inhaled this book I didn't want to put it down. It's in third person POV but sometimes changes from over Elisa to Julieta, Charlene, Lucia, and Darcy. It is more of a romance than a social commentary but had there been more I can just hear how people would be complaining that it's "Too Preachy"; there is some and it the right amount of feminism and in one particular case it's also the reason Colin isn't a douche at the end of the book. I loved this book it's definitely one that I would own a physical copy of to keep on my bookshelf.

Grab Your Copy:

Entangled | Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iTunes

 

About Susan Mesler-Evans:

Susan Mesler-Evans is a writer, college student, D&D enthusiast, theatre nerd, and horrific procrastinator. Born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, Susan now lives in Florida, and can often be found reading, scrolling through Tumblr until 2 AM, overanalyzing her favorite fictional characters and relationships, bingewatching comedies on Netflix, thinking about writing, and even, on occasion, actually writing. Most Ardently is her first full-length novel. You can find her at susanmeslerevanswrites.com.

Connect with Susan:

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Bridget's Book Ramblings for my thoughts (2.75/5)