What Dreams May Come — Christina Dodd

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 . . .