Title: Romeo and Mercutio: an alternate love story by Harlequin
Fandom: Romeo and Juliet
Pairing: Romeo/Mercutio
Categories: Slash, romance
Length: Medium (11,000 words)
Warning: None
Rating: PG13

Author on LJ: slashweaver
Website: Harlequin's Slash Fic

Summary: Years before this story begins, Romeo gave up on Rosaline and instead committed himself to a love affair with Mercutio; they left Verona Beach. On their return, Romeo meets Juliet for the first time, and is intrigued to find she is working towards ending the long feud between the Montague and Capulet families.

Review: This story is based on the Baz Luhrmann movie Romeo + Juliet which I confess I haven’t seen, but once I looked up the cast list I had more than enough 'visuals' in my mind to make it work. The basic premise is simple enough; Romeo is with Mercutio, Juliet is married to Paris, and somehow they must try to bring peace to their warring community.

In so many versions of the play Juliet is merely collateral damage, swept up in the emotional maelstrom and not really in charge of her own destiny. Here, however, we have a Juliet who is strong enough not only to defy her father but also to persuade Paris, Romeo and eventually even a disbelieving Mercutio that she is sincere in her wish to reconcile the warring families of Montague and Capulet. Her strategy, moreover, is an intriguing one; she sets up a fashion label calculated to appeal to both factions, recruits Romeo as an advisor and some of his cousins as models, and then convinces the sceptical Mercutio to open up a coffee shop next door. Needless to say this eminently sensible plan does not go down particularly well with some of the older members of the community who like their war the way it is, thank you very much, even if they can't remember why it started. It is not long, therefore, before both Romeo and Juliet find themselves cast out by their families and obliged to 'go it alone'.

This is a fascinating twist on an old favourite. I have to say, this is the first and only Juliet I have ever felt would be worth knowing; she is strong and capable and does not bow to even the most extreme emotional blackmail - and obviously enjoys the full support of her slightly less dynamic husband, Paris. In fact Juliet emerges as the star of the story, for me, although Romeo and Mercutio are also very well drawn and make a convincing couple. Rather than a play in which you very often wish you could slap all the main characters and tell them to grow up, what emerges here is an alternative version which has them defying parental expectation and taking control of their own fates with enviable composure.

Rewriting the bard is a fairly dangerous business and it's easy to get it disastrously wrong. Harlequin, however, has avoided all the traps and given us a rendering of Romeo and Juliet which I much prefer to the original. Thank goodness, the whiny emo teens are gone; here instead are young people who know where they're going and won’t let anything stand in their way. "It's Shakespeare, Jim, but not as we know it." Thank goodness!

Link: Romeo and Mercutio: an alternate love story