Deluge by Lisa T. Bergren (Review by Ashley Nikole)

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

Book 4 - Bourne & Tributary 

Booktube Book Banter Video 

Have you read the series? What were your thoughts? I wish it could keep on going...20 + books in the series...but alas! 

Bourne & Tributary by Lisa T. Bergren (Review by Ashley Nikole)

Slowly but surely, moving towards having the entire River Of Time series reviewed. You can find the review's for...

Book 1 - Waterfall

Book 2 - Cascade

Book 3 - Torrent 
Book 5 - Deluge
River Of Time series Book Banter video

But today, we are going over the two novella's, Bourne & Tributary. These books pick up where Torrent left off, where the ladies are waiting for Luca, Marcello & Rodolfo to come back from the battle we saw begin at the end of Torrent. 

Today I'll be doing the breakdown separately (First Bourne, then following with Tributary), but in the same blog post, since I got the two novella's combined in one book. I'm not certain if you can get them bound separately as novella's instead of combined...but anywho, let's get started, shall we? 

|| BOURNE ||

PLOT: 

Steady & fast paced throughout. As this is a novella (135 pages), it's shorter and the plot a bit more mini in scale, but no less riveting. It follows our band of Forelli/Greco/Betarrini peeps as the Fiorentini launch an attack against the secret brotherhood with the triangle tattoos. Essentially, they're trying to discover who they are, so they can decimate them, their land, and their families. 

VIOLENCE: 

Battle type stuff. People getting stabbed, pierced with arrows. At one point we come across a Forelli knight who was strung up in a tree, eyes bulging, his tongue sticking out *cue the ew* 

While the assassins go about trying to discover the brotherhood and murder them all, a castello is burned, some of its occupants inside. The rest of the castello (women, children and soldiers) were cut down in the courtyard. The assassins left triangular cuts on their ankles, and for some of their victims, possibly on their necks? I'm not entirely certain. 

People are beaten in combat and in attempting to extract information, but nothing floats toward torture-land. 

SEXUAL CONTENT: 

Soldiers capture Lia and threaten to do some nasty business if she doesn't give them the information they want. One soldier begins moving his hands up her leg, but that's as far as he goes. 

Between characters there are kisses- some short, some longer, more passionate. 

When Marcello is ill with a fever, Gabi (they are married) climbs into bed with him with little on (a shift or thin nightgown or something like that), pressing her thigh against his and wrapping her arms around his chest- or just on top of. When he wakes, he says, "Wait until I tell the men how you healed me...climbing into bed with none but that on..." 

Later on, Marcello pulls Gabi into their room and they share a passionate kiss. 

"'Shouldn't you return to bed, m'lord?' 

'Undoubtedly,' he said, moving to kiss my lips, parting them with his own. He wrapped his arm around my back and puled me close, grunting in pain but refusing to release me. I settled in, kissing him back with equal passion." 

Later on... "But my husband decided my course of action for me. He opened the door a crack. Finding me alone, he took my hand and pulled me through, back inside. Then he latched and locked the door, lifted my hands to the wall above me, and began to kiss me like he never, ever intended to let me go again." pp. 60-61 

Again, I've not covered ALL the sexual content in this book- there is bound to be stuff I haven't caught in this review- but that wasn't really my intention in the first place. I just include the bulk of the information, to give you a feel of what is present. Cool peas :-P

CONCLUSION:

The only sad thing about this book is that it was so dang short! I was ramping up for the crazy stuff, really enjoying it, and then- boom! It was finished and I was into Tributary. But even in its short form it was delightful. Fast paced. 

These two books shift their focus more to Lia & Luca, and Rodolfo. Except for a few romantic scenes between Marcello and Gabi, it doesn't focus on them as much. Which was okay. They weren't omitted from the books, but the focus shifted a lot to Lia & Luca's romance, and I really enjoyed their relationship and the new-ness of being able to get to know them as an almost couple. 

|| TRIBUTARY ||

PLOT: 

Tributary takes off, I think it's a year after Bourne ends. This one focuses again, on Lia & Luca's budding romance, and also heavily focuses on Rodolfo and a young woman named Alessandra. It was faced paced and I enjoyed reading it- I wish there was a whole book dedicated to Rodolfo Greco and his story. But alas...

VIOLENCE:

Battle type stuff. Arrows shot into people, taking people out with swords. That kinda stuff. Alessandra gets beaten up by a Fiorentini Lord, kicked, slapped and punched. 

SEXUAL CONTENT: 

While in captivity, Alessandra is nearly raped. The head dude leaves her with one of his knights, instructing him to rape her. The knight grabs her, she starts screaming and crying, but he tells her he is her friend and he intends to help her escape. He plays up the facade, yelling for her to come to him, to give in and to stop complaining, then instructs her to scream and shakes her. She does, making it sound as though he's raped her, to anyone listening. He then killed the knight on watch and stripped him of his clothes. When he told her to take off her dress, she thought he was going to take advantage of her, but he turned his back and tossed her the guard's clothes to change into.  

Rodolfo and Alessandra share a kiss at the end of the book. Nothing really steamy, but it wasn't a quick peck on the cheek either. 

CONCLUSION:

Finishing Tributary left me feeling like I'd just finished an appetizer, and was ready for the main course. Unfortunately, the book had finished, and I was like...dude, now I need to read Deluge- which I told myself I'd never do again. But alas...I'm gonna go and do it again. Whoops. #cantstopwontstop 

Anywho, I really enjoyed these books. They were shorter and didn't take as long to work out or resolve, but I enjoyed them just as much. 

As I said in the conclusion above, I really enjoyed getting to watch Lia & Luca fall in love, and also follow Rodolfo's story a bit closer. That was pretty much awesome. 

5 stars and I'd recommend these two books for 16+...just depending on how each person can handle the gory, massacre-type violence and the lightly steamy kissing scene with Marcello & Gabi. 

Have you read Bourne & Tribuary? What were your thoughts? 

River Of Time Series | Book Banter | Ashley Nikole

Hey guys! So, as you have seen, my blog has been pretty full of the 'River Of Time' series books by Lisa T. Bergren. I'm in the middle of doing a re-read of the series, and safe to say, I've fallen in love again. 

If you love the series like I do, feel free to give my seriously long book banter video, a watch. If you've never read the series, it probably won't make a lot of sense to you, but I'd imagine would be amusing to watch my...intense feels on the series, lol. 

I hope you enjoy. 

See ya next time! 

Read the full review's for...
Book 1- Waterfall
Book 2- Cascade
Book 3- Torrent
Book 4- Bourne & Tributary 
Book 5- Deluge

Torrent by Lisa T. Bergren (Review by Ashley Nikole)

Torrent picks up after Cascade, when the Betarrini ladies flee battle & return to their time, hoping they can somehow surf the waves of time, in just such an order that they can retrieve their father, before his death, and bring him back to medieval Italy with them. The stakes are higher when they return, their enemies willing to go to even greater lengths to imprison or kill the She-Wolves of Siena. So...Torrent is a little bit of a lot of crazy, but I love it. So, without further ado, let's get into the specifics. 

PLOT: 

Boom. It just keeps on going. The first 5 chapters are, again- kinda just catching up with Marcello, Luca & the ongoing political boundaries & tensions between Firenze & Siena. Not at all boring, just not as suspenseful & action packed. It's a short buildup period, but once it leaves that zone- it's all guns- er- swords- blazing. This is one of those books that you just want to read through in one sitting. The plot flows well, is chalk full of surprising twists & edge of your seat moments. Bergren is a plot genius. Simple as that. 

SEXUAL CONTENT:

Plenty of kisses between Marcello & Gabi. Some short, some longer and quite passionate. Desire. Attraction. Falling even deeper in love- that kinda stuff. 

Rodolfo & Gabi kiss twice. 

Paratore caresses the curve of a kitchen maid's bottom, knowing she cannot move to defend herself as she is standing over a ledge, with a rope around her neck. He later pushes her over the edge. 

When Gabi is ***SPOILERS*** taken to Roma to marry Rodolfo under duress as a captive, he assures her he will be the most gentle of husbands. Mention is made several times that their marriage would be witnessed & enforced by four Grandi elders, making sure it is consummated. 

Again, more ***SPOILERS*** the night before Gabi & Marcello marry, they get in a rather heated kissing match. Marcello says he needs to leave, to keep Gabi's purity for their wedding night. Gabi puts the idea out there, that nobody would know if they were together before getting married, but they decide they want to abstain for one more day, so they can come into the marriage "untarnished". 

When they do get married and head off for the bridal chamber, Marcello begins untying the back of Gabi's dress. He slips it off her shoulder and kisses her. The scene fades before we see anymore than them kissing. 

Yes, I know it's a book and we don't "see" it, like in a movie...but let's be honest, to a reader, their mind is the screen where the words come to life & it becomes every bit like a movie. 

When they wake in the night, Gabi asks if they had time for being together at that moment (there was a battle approaching) , to which Marcello replied, 

"'Time enough" He said, tossing off his shirt and joining me under the warm covers. "First love," he growled, "then war." 

"First love, always love," I said, welcoming him back into my arms." 

So as you can see, nothing got explicit. Of course, everyone knows what's going on- even the next morning when Gabi walks across the room and sees her wedding gown in a puddle on the floor where they'd left it the night before- we get the idea, but we aren't shown in detail what happens. 

VIOLENCE: 

Battle type stuff. People getting shot, stabbed, slashed, pushed off ledges- some with ropes around their necks- hanging. For one person who was thrown over the wall with a rope around their neck, the rope jerks and twitches a few times, then it stills. 

Fortino is imprisoned in...I think it's Firenze- forgive me if the city is wrong- and has suffered over a year of torture and imprisonment. He is nearly dead when Marcello meets with him, his body riddled with infection & internal bleeding. His eye was taken during his captivity, which we don't witness firsthand, but we see the aftermath of Fortino's body- broken, bruised and dying. 

CONCLUSION:

Basically, this book took my metaphorical heart, tore it out, stomped on it, filled it with hope and love, drowned it, brought it back to life and then smashed it again. It was wonderful. And horrible. These books- especially Torrent, are chalk full of LIFE. That includes sacrifice, so much heart wrenchingly beautiful sacrifice, and love, and yes, sometimes death. But honestly, I love these books because they are all encompassing. They make you feel not just one or two feels- no, they make you feel ALL THE FREAKIN' FEELS! Valour, bravery, loss, standing up to the lions of injustice. Ah...so many things. 

Oh, and can we just- Chapter 20 for a minute? Guys...chapter 20. aslkjfkljsadfoiweorisdf. Oh. My. Goodness. 

Okay, fangirl out- but honestly these books are just so fine. They is fine. 

5 Stars, and I'd recommend this book for ages 16-17 +. Things get a lot more intense in this book, so readers beware :)

Read the full review's for...
Book 1- Waterfall
Book 2- Cascade
Book 4- Bourne & Tributary
Book 5- Deluge 

Cascade by Lisa T. Bergren (Review by Ashley Nikole)

Book 2 in the River Of Time series, Cascade starts where Waterfall (read review for that one HERE) left off. Gabi & Lia return to the 21st century, find their mother, and re-return to medieval Italy. 

PLOT:

It took a little longer to get going, as the first 10 ish chapters were comprised of a lot of catching up on the times once the girls return to Italy, and discovering all the new political intricacies, who's in power, who's trapped in a dungeon etc. etc. It picks up around chapter 13 & grooves on at a nice clip after that point. But have no fear, the first 10 chapters aren't boring in the least- just not...how shall I say it- as nail biting as the rest. 

SEXUAL CONTENT:

Plenty of kissing (not the peck on the cheek kind ;), references to a man being eager for his wedding bed, references made to wenches warming the beds of various guys, ect.

A soldier rips the front of Gabi's shirt open (she's dressed in dude clothes at the time), leaving her thin shirt and bound chest exposed. He makes mention to reminding her what it is "to be created female", insinuating rape, but nothing occurs on that front.

A man sneaks up on Gabi when she's just finished dressing after a bath, her clothes clinging to her- there's an attraction. She thought he was gay before, but in that moment, she decided he wasn't.

When Luca is sick- SPOILERS: a small strain of the plague goes round in this book. Luca catches it, and when Lia is washing his face and arms with vinegar and hot water, he mentions that in some cultures, vinegar is considered an aphrodisiac- to which Lia replies that in her culture, it is the smell of stinky old women, or something like that. When Marcello & Gabi are escaping bands of soldiers coming after them, they hide between some boulders. Marcello leans/lays on top of Gabi, kissing her- and she thinks he's trying to make a move on her when she's compromised- but he quickly whispers that guards were coming, and he didn't want them to be discovered. 

VIOLENCE:

Battle type stuff, swords being plunged into dudes, arrows hitting them in the neck, face etc. Gabi orders the cutting off of a traitor's ears. She closes her eyes, but hears the discarded ears hit the floor, the sound of the knife cutting them off, blood spattering...maybe screaming- can't remember. Men die in combat. There is talk of people- traitors- both men and women, being hanged. General roughhousing overall & some crazy mobs of people throwing fruit & stones. While this hasn't covered the entire amount/type of violence within the pages of Cascade,  I'm sure you've gotten an idea. 

CONCLUSION:

Cascade is the beginning of a great, terrible and gloriously heart wrenching experience. For some reason, while Waterfall is book 1, this is the one where things start to get intense. The stakes are higher. More heartstrings are tangled. Your heart basically get's taken on a mini-rollarcoaster that will go absolutely bananas in book 3, Torrent. And by banana's, I mean- I think I need to do a GIF post about how a reader feels, going through the River Of Time series- cause guys, you will get hit, and hit hard with the feels. Torrent only gets bigger & crazier. 

I'd recommend this book for 15-16 + again, it's all dependent on each person. 

I'll be back shortly with a review for Torrent. Stay tuned- have you read Cascade? What were your favourite parts?

Read the full reviews for...

Book 1- Waterfall

Book 3- Torrent

Book 4 - Bourne & Tributary 

Book 5- Deluge

Waterfall by Lisa T. Bergren (Review by Ashley Nikole)

Hands down, I LOVED this book. I read it for the first time, early 2015, and the time came for me to read the glory again. Now that I've finished reading it the second, or maybe third time, I thought I'd add a bit more to this review & make it a tad more in depth.

PLOT: 

It drew me in immediately after the time travel took place, which is about halfway through the first chapter. I found it hard to get through the prologue and first half of the chapter, quite honestly- but I stuck to it, knowing the time travel had to happen SOME time...well it did & pretty much the story got its groove on and nothing lagged after that point. It took a chapter & a bit of initial dedication to some backstory. After the beginning, there was one thing or another that always kept the plot in motion. Suspense, danger, intrigue or romance were tastefully woven throughout the plot, making it a keeper in my books. Also, the men were emotionally present (props L. Bergren) & proved to be everything a knight 'in shining armour' is supposed to be. 
Some would call a lot of stuff in this book idealistic, but then again, people like that should not be reading fiction in general :S

SEXUAL CONTENT:

The romance was sweet & passionate without really going overboard. There are several kissing scenes, none very long. Gabi is, as a 17 year-old from the 21st century, a little boy crazy- especially given the fact that boys don't pay her any attention the 2000's. In Medieval Italy, that's another story entirely. So, with that being said, there is plenty of falling in love type content. This is a Young Adult, Medieval Romance- not just Young Adult, Medieval. 

A near rape occurs...after fighting & losing against a group of soldiers, the girl's dress is pinned to the ground, her bound hands pinned above her head and her captor begins untying his trousers, but they get interrupted. 

VIOLENCE: 

A medieval book, with knights, in a country that is semi-at-war, is full of fighting & people getting hurt as a result. Someone is slashed with a sword, they almost bleed out and die, but another character sews them up- we don't see that part firsthand, however. 

Soldiers are stabbed, (blood gushes as a result sometimes) sliced, shot with arrows- some soldiers from the opposite side are caught (after burning a man's house to the ground with his wife and child inside, then killing the man) spreadeagled on the ground, and their information extractor shoots one or both men, in the leg with multiple arrows. They scream. 

A woman is trapped in a dungeon, with threats- explained threats of how her captors plan on torturing her. Someone is poisoned. 

CONCLUSION:

The emotional connections between characters really brought them to life & off the page, and had me finishing this book in a day. 

I would recommend this book to teens 15-16+.

5 Stars
Read Waterfall? Share your thoughts below! 

Read the full review's for...

Book 2- Cascade

Book 3- Torrent

Book 4- Bourne & Tributary 

Book 5- Deluge