AustLit

'Fancy Nancy meets Stage School in this adorable illustrated junior fiction series, starring Lily D! Romeo and Juliet, from Shakespeare’s play, were madly in love, but couldn’t be together. TRAGIC FACT! So when Lily D trains for the role of Juliet, she tries to learn what it’s like to love someone you’re not supposed to. She saves a star-crossed friendship, learns about real loyalty, and even walks in another character’s shoes. But can Lily D figure out whether true love really can conquer all?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'In this text, the plot of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet has been recrafted as a poem incorporating the advice given to Italian princes by Niccolò Machiavelli, the most infamous political theorist of the 16th century. Shakespeare’s 1597 Romeo and Juliet play was based on an Italian tale, told and retold by Italian writers, the most important of whom were Masuccio Salernitano (born in 1410), Luigi da Porto (born in 1485) and Matteo Bandello (born in 1480). Bandello’s novellas were translated into French by Pierre Boaistuau (born in 1517) and François de Belleforest (born in 1530). These French translations, in turn, were translated into English by William Painter (born 1540) and Arthur Brooke (born 1563). Literary critics agree that the primary source of inspiration for Shakespeare’s play was Brooke’s narrative poem, titled The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet, which condemns the young lovers for neglecting the authority of their parents. By taking a poetic leap, using fragments, insights and variations of the original Italian novellas and their translations, the poem will attempt to unveil the Italian flavour of the plot, lost behind all those rewritings, reinterpretations and well-intended but nefarious distortions which embellished the tale beyond recognition. Adding a layer of realpolitik inspired by the writings of Machiavelli, the raw political moral of the story will become apparent, almost.'

Source: Abstract.

'The magical realism book series, Into the Abyss, takes a young, unassuming Australian woman and plunges her back through time rifts: into Shakespeare’s classic plays.
 
'Harriet Hunter arrives first in Verona, where she quickly realises that she is somehow living the life of a woman long before her own time. While she wrestles with the prejudices of society and the traditional roles of women, she races against time to change the classical tragic ending. 

'Featuring an Australian female protagonist, Vault of Verona fractures the classic story of Romeo and Juliet, bringing it into the 21st Century and altering a tragic ending.  ​

'The classic Shakespearean love tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, is a tale of forbidden love, feuding families and tragic endings. Book One of the Into the Abyss series, Vault of Verona, demonstrates how just one decision can have a butterfly effect felt throughout time.'

(Source: publisher's blurb)

'Cassie swore she'd never forgive Ethan for breaking her heart when they were in acting school years ago. He was her one great love, and when he refused to love her back, a part of her died forever...or so she thought. Now she and Ethan are sharing a Broadway stage, and he's determined to win her back. Finally he's able to say all the things she needed to hear years ago...but can she believe him? Has he really changed, and what makes this time different from all his other broken promises?The answer lies somewhere in the past, and now the truth will come to light.

'Will Cassie rediscover what it's like to be trusting and open again-the way she was before Ethan? Or is it too late for these star-crossed lovers?

'Don't miss this mesmerizing final chapter in the Bad Romeo duet, the unforgettable love story that captured the hearts of over two million fans online.' (Publication summary)

'Cassie Taylor was just another good girl acting student. Ethan Holt was the bad boy on campus. Then one fated casting choice for Romeo and Juliet changed it all. Like the characters they were playing onstage, Cassie and Ethan's epic romance seemed destined. Until it ended in tragedy when he shattered her heart.

'Now they've made it to Broadway where they're reunited as romantic leads once again - and their passionate scenes force them to confront the heartbreaking lows and pulse-pounding highs of their intense college affair. For Ethan, losing Cassie was his biggest regret–and he's determined to redeem himself. But for Cassie, even though Ethan was her first and only great love, he hurt her too much to ever be trusted again. The trouble is, when it comes to love, sometimes it's the things that aren't good for us that are the most irresistible.' (Publication summary)