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The Mazarinette and the Musketeer
ebook
First published January 1, 2016
About the author
Heather Rose Jones
19 books181 followersHeather Rose Jones writes fantasy, historic fantasy, and historical fiction, including the Alpennia series with swordswomen and magic in an alternate Regency setting. She blogs about research into lesbian-like motifs in history and literature at the Lesbian Historic Motif Project which provides inspiration for her fiction. She has a PhD in linguistics, studying metaphor theory and the semantics of Medieval Welsh prepositions, and works as an industrial failure investigator in biotech.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 19, 2020
Not bad for a freebie!
This was a cute lil story with strong musketeer vibes so I'm all for that. Throw in a d'Artagnan reference and I'm happy. :)
It's weird, though, because I love musketeer adventures, and I love feminism, but the blend here did throw me off a little. The feminism felt a little heavy handed. Buuuut I do have a strange loyalty to Dumas's musketeers. Julie is cute and all, but she's no d'Artagnan.
Anyhoo!
It's a fun little adventure, short and succinct, featuring women mostly dressed as men. I mean it was a bit weirdly coincidental for me that these women all had the same idea and also all enjoyed bisexuality but the historical notes suggest this stuff did actually happen. An these ladies actually existed. So that was interesting. The real Julie sounds like she lived a crazy life and I would definitely be down to read that story!
It flows easily and is a clear cut adventure with fun characters. It was a little too feminist for my tastes because it has three women talking about the unfair differences in treatment between the sexes, but it's a solid point so you can't really begrudge it. It just needed less preaching and more ass-kicking.
Definitely not in the ballpark of Dumas, but a fun story with fairly loyal vibes. A quick and enjoyable read. Thanks Andrea for the recommendation!
This was a cute lil story with strong musketeer vibes so I'm all for that. Throw in a d'Artagnan reference and I'm happy. :)
It's weird, though, because I love musketeer adventures, and I love feminism, but the blend here did throw me off a little. The feminism felt a little heavy handed. Buuuut I do have a strange loyalty to Dumas's musketeers. Julie is cute and all, but she's no d'Artagnan.
Anyhoo!
It's a fun little adventure, short and succinct, featuring women mostly dressed as men. I mean it was a bit weirdly coincidental for me that these women all had the same idea and also all enjoyed bisexuality but the historical notes suggest this stuff did actually happen. An these ladies actually existed. So that was interesting. The real Julie sounds like she lived a crazy life and I would definitely be down to read that story!
It flows easily and is a clear cut adventure with fun characters. It was a little too feminist for my tastes because it has three women talking about the unfair differences in treatment between the sexes, but it's a solid point so you can't really begrudge it. It just needed less preaching and more ass-kicking.
Definitely not in the ballpark of Dumas, but a fun story with fairly loyal vibes. A quick and enjoyable read. Thanks Andrea for the recommendation!
January 15, 2019
“In the turbulent France of 1678, Hortense Mancini, Duchesse Mazarine takes on the disguise of a King’s Musketeer to pursue her love affair with Anne Lennard, Countess of Sussex. She crosses paths with a true Musketeer, and with Aphra Behn, English playwright and spy, both seeking to retrieve letters between the kings of France and England that could prove ruinous. Every disguise and plan is threatened by the arrival of a young woman who seeks to gain fame by besting a Musketeer in a duel—and now she has a chance to challenge two of them!”
Heather Rose Jones’ of Alpennia fame will delight you with this short (68 pages) story. Set in France, The Mazarinette and the Musketeer gives you plenty of action in a historical setting, dueling women and plenty of male drag. You can download it for free on the author’s website: https://alpennia.com/books/mazarinett...
f/f the women are plenty naughty but not in your face ;-)
Themes: fencing, a wager, dueling, musketeers, implicating letters, the King’s mistress, male drag, naughty nobility.
4.2 stars
Heather Rose Jones’ of Alpennia fame will delight you with this short (68 pages) story. Set in France, The Mazarinette and the Musketeer gives you plenty of action in a historical setting, dueling women and plenty of male drag. You can download it for free on the author’s website: https://alpennia.com/books/mazarinett...
f/f the women are plenty naughty but not in your face ;-)
Themes: fencing, a wager, dueling, musketeers, implicating letters, the King’s mistress, male drag, naughty nobility.
4.2 stars
September 2, 2017
Well written. It gets off to a bit of a slow start. Loved the finish.
March 17, 2020
This is a review of a book I read at the end of February and didn't have a chance to review in that short month.
So I came to a point when I really wanted ESCAPISM. The news was terrifying, and the last book I read was so dispiriting. Fortunately, I had recently downloaded a free book from the author's website that was just the thing I needed. It was The Mazarinette and the Musketeer by Heather Rose Jones. Jones says on her website that she wrote it in response to a challenge to create a musketeer story containing only female characters. I just love sword wielding women.
From a historical perspective, it was a treat for me to find real women in this narrative who were actually known to be capable of swordfighting. I was especially delighted to find Aphra Behn, the first woman to have earned her living writing plays. She also really was a spy for King Charles II of England as shown by Jones in this novelette. She's one of my favorite historical personages and I find it impossible to pass up a book that contains her as a character.
The Mazarinette and the Musketeer was as entertaining as I expected with lots of sword fights and women disguised as men. I thought that the female characters were all delightful. This is my idea of a fun read.
For the blog version of this review containing additional historical information about characters see
https://wwwbookbabe.blogspot.com/2020...
So I came to a point when I really wanted ESCAPISM. The news was terrifying, and the last book I read was so dispiriting. Fortunately, I had recently downloaded a free book from the author's website that was just the thing I needed. It was The Mazarinette and the Musketeer by Heather Rose Jones. Jones says on her website that she wrote it in response to a challenge to create a musketeer story containing only female characters. I just love sword wielding women.
From a historical perspective, it was a treat for me to find real women in this narrative who were actually known to be capable of swordfighting. I was especially delighted to find Aphra Behn, the first woman to have earned her living writing plays. She also really was a spy for King Charles II of England as shown by Jones in this novelette. She's one of my favorite historical personages and I find it impossible to pass up a book that contains her as a character.
The Mazarinette and the Musketeer was as entertaining as I expected with lots of sword fights and women disguised as men. I thought that the female characters were all delightful. This is my idea of a fun read.
For the blog version of this review containing additional historical information about characters see
https://wwwbookbabe.blogspot.com/2020...
Read
January 22, 2017Read in a chapbook, but it's available online. This has to be the first piece of fiction I ever read which both has crossdressing women AND a trans man, it's usually very markedly either one or the other. Fun historical, no fantasy elements - I very much enjoyed the historical notes at the end because I don't know a lot about this particular period. A lot more was actually historical than I'd assumed while reading!
I will probably discuss this at length on #diversestories and I have two of the chapbooks so I can give one away once I actually find it. (It was a Worldcon bonus, and I crashed hard after Worldcon...)
I will probably discuss this at length on #diversestories and I have two of the chapbooks so I can give one away once I actually find it. (It was a Worldcon bonus, and I crashed hard after Worldcon...)
February 7, 2016
A rousing little escapade that the author states started as a challenge to write "the musketeers, only women". She then used actual historic figures and events and twined them into a short action adventure romance. If you're in the mood for a short, quick read with some adventurous women, give it a look. I believe it can be downloaded from the author's website.
May 31, 2016
A fun little novella that provides a little back story for some of the characters in HRJ's Alpennia series. Just as deliciously entertaining as the full length novels. A lovely blend of faux historical fiction, interesting characters and compelling story. I look forward to more books in this world for many years to come. The characters feel like old friends
April 19, 2016
Lots of cross-dressing women and lots of bisexual relationships in this one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews