My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows

My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows

My Rating: 9/10

Would I reread it: Yes, definitely!

I received it in my OwlCrate box in July 2016 and I put off reading it for so long and now I really regret it, I could have been loving it for a whole year longer! However, now I don't have as long to wait for the next two books in the series, My Calamity Jane and My Plain Jane.

This book was so so so wonderful! It was an easy and light-hearted read with a fun plot and interesting characters. The writing was hilarious too. I found myself laughing out loud while reading this book and I can't recall the last time I did that... I really loved this book. It does so well at keeping to the basic historical events and then veering off just enough with a touch of fantasy and comedy to make it really entertaining.

One of my favorite lines from Edward's pov:

"She was a woman who wore pants. She couldn't be trusted."

(Light spoilers ahead)

The basis of this book is that they've taken the story of Lady Jane, the nine day queen of England and turned it into a romantic comedy. Instead of King Edward dying of the affliction aka tuberculosis, he is being poisoned by his own servants and sister. He is manipulated into naming his cousin Lady Jane Grey as his heir while she has married his advisor's son (cough spoiler, advisor wants to rule through his son). But wait! Instead of the country being divided on religion as it was in real life, the country is divided on how they feel about Ethians, people who can turn into animals. Because low and behold King Henry turned into a lion and ate the messenger, hence the phrase "don't eat the messenger." Before King Henry was outed as an Ethian though, they were prosecuted across the land and things are only barely starting to change, but they won't if Mary gets the throne.

Oh and Jane's husband, Gifford, turns into a horse by day and a poet aka womanizer by night. There's also a very good guard dog, a royal skunk with some good aim, a mouse good at escape, and a cat hiding in the shadows. Oh and a really foxy Scottish fox.