Cascade (The River of Time, #2)

by Lisa Tawn Bergren

Mom touched my underdress--a gown made six hundred years before--and her eyes widened as she rubbed the raw silk between thumb and forefinger. She turned and touched Lia's gown. "Where did you get these clothes?"

In Cascade, the second book in the River of Time Series, Gabi knows she's left her heart in the fourteenth century and she persuades Lia to help her to return, even though they know doing so will risk their very lives. When they arrive, weeks have passed and all of Siena longs to celebrate the heroines who turned the tide in the battle against Florence--while the Florentines will go to great lengths to see them dead.

But Marcello patiently awaits, and Gabi must decide if she's willing to leave her family behind for good in order to give her heart to him forever.

• ISBN10: 0764234528
• ISBN13: 9780764234521
• Publish Date: 1 June 2011
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
• Imprint: Bethany House Publishers, a division of Baker Publishing Group
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 412
• Language: English

Reviews

[ladygrey]

From the cover, I expected this to be told from Lia's point of view.  But, no, it's still Gabi's. I liked that they re-entered the world ready for what they'd encounter. I was definitely more on board with the romances. There still seemed to be some contrived politics but they were in the background so they weren't too distracting. In fact, I suspect I wasn't the only one not entirely on board with the main romance and so something needed to decisively change to make the reader's allegiance easier to shift. Contrived or not, it worked.

Somewhere in the middle I got a bit tired of the girls always on the run, something always going wrong, someone always after them. I wanted new plot elements instead of the same turns again and again. I did like that they used some of their knowledge from the future, but then it didn't seem like it did as much good as it seemed it would.

And then I eventually got a few new turns so it worked out.

And Gabi's voice seemed… less ridiculous and b-movie teenager which made the whole story more enjoyable.

[Briana @ Pages Unbound]

This review is also posted at Pages Unbound Book Reviews.

Cascade is a fun read following very much in the footsteps of Waterfall in both plot and style. Readers who enjoyed the fast-paced, somewhat episodic nature of Waterfall, in which Gabi repeatedly finds herself in danger and in need of rescuing by her attractive Italian suitor, will find a plethora of similar scenes here. On the bright side, Gabi is starting to show a little more sense and occasionally follows Marcello’s advice, thus keeping herself out of what would clearly be even more trouble.

Zita wrote the review for Waterfall and did not mention what I find to be very unrealistic “teen” dialogue. Gabi uses numerous idioms such as “the whole enchilada” in the first book, and continues to do so here, albeit to a slightly lesser degree. I have decided to find this amusing, and so will continue to read the series ready to chuckle at what are apparently Gabi’s attempts to sound cool. Interestingly, her thoughts are in this “teen lingo,” while her actual dialogue is pseudo-medieval, and she rarely gives a sign of what must certainly be a struggle to translate her modern thoughts to medieval words. She may have to change “breakfast” to “break my fast,” but she never lets slip any of the slang that frequents her head.

In terms of Christianity, the themes are also as light in Cascade as they are in Waterfall. Gabi prays a little more, but I think she still have a little way to go until her words become entirely sincere. She often gives the impression that she is talking to God because, hey, it’s the Middle Ages and everyone is doing it. Or she is just always facing the constant threat of death, so she might as well give asking an almighty God for help a try. It will be interesting to see how her faith progresses.

Overall, I think this series is enjoyable. It has lots of action, two attractive guys, and a great setting. A fun summer read.