Today I am reviewing book 5 of the River Of Time series! I have finally finished re-reading the entire series, and I loved it. So...let's get started.
PLOT:
This one is a lot more about life in general for the Betarrini/Forelli/Greco clan, than any of the previous books. There's not as much fighting & battle, people trying to kidnap the She-Wolves left, right and centre, but it is by no means boring. It spans over...I believe it's five years from start to finish with Deluge. It is split into three sections...
Part 1 - Preparations - Late Autumn 1345
follows the Bettarrini/Forelli peeps as they make their way to Venice to visit the Doge, and also to personally investigate rumours that two of their Betarrini kin, have time travelled and are stuck in the Doge's prisons. As this is a content breakdown review- as all my reviews are, there are spoilers aplenty. Also, whilst there, Lia & Luca decide to wed, and the following whirlwind of planning a hasty wedding and departure, follow.
Part 2 - Horizons - Winter 1345 - Spring 1346
#ForelliBaby #MommyGabi #DaddyMarcello
Part 3 Pestilence - 1348
is, as you can imagine, about when the plague arrives and ravages its way through Italy and all the surrounding areas. And then Firenze comes to commandeer Castello Forelli & Greco, as if all their attempts in the past weren't enough- and one great and final battle ensues. Intense business!
This plot has ebbs & flows of it being more intense, then less...the focus being more on living life and plenty of passionate kissing scenes, in part 1, then slowly building in part 3 until the climax and battle occur. Of course, it is so much more suspenseful, because you know that with the plague...it's not likely that everyone from the Forelli/Betarrini/Greco clan will survive, and that is the worst kind of torture. The. Worst.
VIOLENCE:
Fighting, hand-to-hand combat, people getting cut with knives, swords, hit with arrows, stabbed with daggers. Dropping boiling vats of water onto soldiers trying to scale a wall. Battle. Blood. Lot's of it.
Two MC's are stabbed. One gets a spiked ball to the chest. Post-war carnage, including dead people and decapitations. Lot's of people die from the plague with those nasty, puss-filled buboes that eventually burst and smell REALLY bad.
SEXUAL CONTENT:
This book has a plenty of kissing scenes, a good deal of content leading up to sex, but the scene always ends before that happens. I've included a few scene excerpts, just so you can get a feel for how they usually go :)
"Then, one by one, he pulled the pins from my hair, and I closed my eyes, appreciating the sensation of his every touch, the tickle of each section of hair as it tumbled down around my neck and across my shoulders. Slowly, he turned and unbuttoned my gown, freeing me of its confines, leaving only the shift for my nap. But as I sank to the bed and looked up at my husband, who put one knee beside me and slowly pulled off his tunic and tossed it aside- his shirt opening at the nape so I could see the finely sculpted muscles of his chest- I was well aware that there would be very little napping to be had in this glorious, gorgeous room along the Grand Canal."
When Lia & Luca get engaged, they share knee-jellifying kiss.
"But without further invitation he kissed me then, in earnest. Plying my lips apart, hungry, searching, demanding. I thought I could kiss him all night. We'd kissed before but never with such abandon. He'd always been so cautious, careful with my reputation, my virtue. But now that I was to be his...well, his kisses promised me many days and nights of passion ahead...'Oh, my Lia, my beautiful Evangelia,' he said in a whisper, pulling back and gently bending my head to the side. He planted tiny kisses across my cheek and slowly, delectably, down my neck, pausing at the clavicle. There, he hovered, 'Please,' he said, kissing me there again, the breath from his words sending shivers down my arms. 'Tell me that we can marry soon.'"
Luca and Lia get married a few days later- this scene is from their wedding night.
"His warm hands rubbed over my shoulders and he leaned forward to kiss me right where my neck and shoulder joined, sending a delicious shiver down my back. 'Are you afraid?' he whispered, all careful concern. 'Nay,' I said, 'not with you'. 'Good. There is no need to fear, Evangelia. Only reasons to rejoice...' he unlaced the back of my overgrown and slipped it from my shoulders...Luca pulled off his tunic and then his shirt, and stood there before me, all smooth-chested, muscle upon muscle...He bent and lifted me up in his strong arms, carrying me so slowly toward the bed, I wondered if we'd ever make it there....He seemed to get a bit distracted with me kissing him the whole time. It was like I couldn't get enough of him. When his knees finally met the edge, he tossed me, laughing into the centre of it and hurriedly chased me in, hovering over me, kissing, kissing, kissing..."
There are more scenes similar to the ones above...the romance has definitely advanced in this book, compared to the others. Usually the romantic moments are descriptive and knee-weakening- which is not a bad thing, but it isn't for every reader- especially every age. The sexual content in this book is more mature, but very honouring and beautiful in depicting marriage, but it doesn't trip into it being an explicit sex scene, which I appreciate.
There are other references to a man bedding his wife, making love to her, etc. etc. There are remarks about Gabi being in heat like a wolf. Gabi gives birth, it isn't extremely descriptive because a midwife is delivering the baby, so we either get the labour from Lia's perspective (she's sitting next to Gabi on the bed holding her hand) and Gabi, who's having the baby.
Gabi and Lia bathe, sometimes in separate baths but in the same room, sometimes one is helping the other with her bath.
A character makes reference to what the Fiorentini would do if they got ahold of his Sienese wife, how they would let the men, 'have their way with her' before torturing and killing her.
Again, as I've said before, I have in no way, caught all the sexual content that is in Deluge, in this section of the review. That has never been my intention. In these content-breakdown reviews, all I want is to let you, as a reader, get a glimpse at what each amount of content is like, roughly, throughout the book.
CONCLUSION:
Incredible, epic, devastating & heartwarming finish to Lisa T. Bergren's 'River of Time' series. The first time I finished this book, I wept. Like I never have over any other book. Le-wow.
Personally, I wish the ending had have been a little different...with different characters, especially after the painting scene. I just wanted to see some closure and resolution between the family a bit more, but that's about it. Clearly, I'm not thrilled over certain people's deaths *cough* *cough*. But, my heart will go on. This is an amazing finish to one of the most beautifully well written and thought out series I have ever encountered.
5 Stars for this one, and I'd recommend it for ages 18+
If you want to read full reviews for the rest of the River Of Time series, check them out below!
Book 1 - Waterfall
Book 2 - Cascade
Book 3 - Torrent
Have you read the series? What were your thoughts? I wish it could keep on going...20 + books in the series...but alas!
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