Again, it must be noted that this book, like the first in this trilogy, is NOT a stand-alone read. All three books must be read in order if one expects to truly enjoy them. "Cascade" would make little sense if one picks it up without having first read "Waterfall", and, like "Waterfall", it doesn't have an ending. It just quits - mid-stream, expecting the reader to continue to the third book to find the answers and reach a conclusion. Annoying as that is, it is such a heart-pounding ride that, instead of chucking the book at the wall in anger and frustration at the author for such blatant machinations, I'm actually going to give in and find that last book.

In this installment, Gabriella and company are once again bouncing back in time, fighting for their lives and their loves. All the excitement is ratcheted up, as the sisters find themselves both hailed as heros and cursed as enemies with a bounty on their heads so high that danger awaits at every turn. The attempts at teenage dialogue is still as cheesy as in the first with words such as "lame" and "stress-o-rama" ("stress-o-rama"...really?!?!?) peppering the dialogue. The overall story is still as engaging and the ride so much fun, one can overlook those few flaws in an otherwise superbly written, clean YA romantic-suspense.

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This is the second book in the River of Time Trilogy, the third book is Torrent. I didnt like this book quite as much as Waterfall. It was still a very engaging book and made for a wonderful historical fantasy.

Gabi and Lia are back in modern times and trying to explain to their mother about the time portal and what happened. Gabi finally convinces Lia and her mother to return to 14th century Italy via the time portal. When they get there they find that weeks, not hours, have passed. Marcello is still waiting for Lia and Lia and Gabi are celebrated as heroes. The battle still rages between Florence and Siena. Gabi has a difficult question to answer, will she stay in the past and follow her heart by being with Marcello even if it means living a war torn life.

This story started a bit slow. Once they return to Siena there is a lot of lovey dovey going on between Gabi and Marcello. Marcello wants to keep Gabi safe and loves her. Gabi loves Marcello but doesnt want to be stifled by him. They both love each other and adore each other and we hear about it constantly for quite awhile. I dont mind the romance, it is sweet, but there was just too much gazing and longing in the first part.

After that things really pick up and the second part of the book is filled with intrigue, battles, and lots of action. This was an excellent part of the book.

You have to love the characters in this series; they are noble and good, but also have good senses of humor. I love the historical setting and enjoyed the beautiful style of writing. The book is so easy to read and moves quickly.

There is another thing about the story that bothered me. At one point the characters are exposed to the black plague and one of them actually catches it. The story makes a huge deal about this, the characters isolate themselves so as not to spread the plague etc. As the story continues and war ensues, this is brushed aside. We see the character in question later fully healed, but we dont know how they healed. We also dont learn if any of the other people in the party got the plague. The whole thing, which is so important for a large portion of the story, is just brushed aside with minimal resolution.

The book ends with another kind of cliffhanger. I am eager to see how all of this resolves in the third, and final, book Torrent.

Overall a good continuation of this series. Gabi and Marcellos need to constantly profess their love bothered me in the beginning of the story and the topic of the black plague been brought up and then dropped was another issue for me. The writing style was very beautiful, the characters are engaging and have a good sense of humor, the setting is fascinating, and the action scenes are very well done. I definitely recommend this series to fans of historical fantasy with a large dash of romance.

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