Book Review: “Hamilton’s Battalion: A Trio of Romances” by Courtney Milan, Alyssa Cole, Rose Lerner
“Hamilton’s Battalion: A Trio of Romances” by Courtney Milan, Alyssa Cole, Rose Lerner (2017)
Genre: Romance, Historical, Adult, Anthologies
Page Length: 376 pages (hardcover edition)
Synopsis:
On October 14, 1781, Alexander Hamilton led a daring assault on Yorktown’s defenses and won a decisive victory in America’s fight for independence. Decades later, when Eliza Hamilton collected his soldiers’ stories, she discovered that while the war was won at Yorktown, the battle for love took place on many fronts…
PROMISED LAND by Rose Lerner
Donning men’s clothing, Rachel left her life behind to fight the British as Corporal Ezra Jacobs–but life catches up with a vengeance when she arrests an old love as a Loyalist spy.
At first she thinks Nathan Mendelson hasn’t changed one bit: he’s annoying, he talks too much, he sticks his handsome nose where it doesn’t belong, and he’s self-righteously indignant just because Rachel might have faked her own death a little. She’ll be lucky if he doesn’t spill her secret to the entire Continental Army.
Then Nathan shares a secret of his own, one that changes everything…
THE PURSUIT OF… by Courtney Milan
What do a Black American soldier, invalided out at Yorktown, and a British officer who deserted his post have in common? Quite a bit, actually.
* They attempted to kill each other the first time they met.
* They’re liable to try again at some point in the five-hundred mile journey that they’re inexplicably sharing.
* They are not falling in love with each other.
* They are not falling in love with each other.
* They are…. Oh, no.
THAT COULD BE ENOUGH by Alyssa Cole
Mercy Alston knows the best thing to do with pesky feelings like “love” and “hope”: avoid them at all cost. Serving as a maid to Eliza Hamilton, and an assistant in the woman’s stubborn desire to preserve her late husband’s legacy, has driven that point home for Mercy—as have her own previous heart breaks.
When Andromeda Stiel shows up at Hamilton Grange for an interview in her grandfather’s stead, Mercy’s resolution to live a quiet, pain-free life is tested by the beautiful, flirtatious, and entirely overwhelming dressmaker.
Andromeda has staid Mercy reconsidering her worldview, but neither is prepared for love—or for what happens when it’s not enough. (description from Goodreads)
Review:
When I first saw there would be a romance anthology based on Hamilton, I was ecstatic. I’m such a huge fan of the musical so I had to read this!
I forgot to take notes when I reach each individual story, so I’ll be reviewing this collection as a whole. First of all, I loved the writing in this anthology! The writers each stand out with their own writing style, but keep a collective flow throughout the book. Each story revolves around Hamilton directly and indirectly, which ties the characters together in each story. The characters are very diverse and offer a different view of what life was like in that time period and the characters put the audience in their shoes. The stories focus on lives of those with Jewish heritage, being a person of color, and even the LGBT community. Each story offers a different perspective of the struggles they went through at that time.
The writing is descriptive and immerses the reader in the time period while also touching on some real life historical events. Being the history nerd that I am, I’ll definitely be doing more research on some events/people the authors touched on in their stories. I also loved that despite all of the challenges each of the main characters that presented before them, they not only overcome obstacles due to love, but also by believing in themselves.
I was only familiar with Alyssa Cole and Courtney Milan before reading this book, but reading Rose Lerner’s story also made me want to seek out more her work. I appreciate that all of the authors romance is not only diverse, but inclusive! If you enjoy historical romance, this collection of tales will be a delight for you!
Highly recommended! 🙂
Final Verdict:
