Cascade: River of Time Series - Book 2

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?”
     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.




Language
The words 'wench' and 'harlot' are used a few times.


Sexual Content
   There's LOTS of kissing between Gabi and Marcello, even though they haven't promised each other anything.  
    Gabi mentions that men made bawdy jokes that were well meant - we don't hear the actual jokes. A man stares at her bare leg as she fastens a dagger to it, and Marcello yells at him *giggle*. Gabi makes a comment along the lines of "Hurry up and get this over with so we can be alone tonight." not quite realizing how it would sound. Marcello is properly shocked before Gabi apologizes.
    When Gabi and Lia are running, they overhear soldiers talking about how the reward for them should be...enhanced. In case you missed what that meant, Gabi tells Lia to fight and run if they figure out that they're girls, because things won't be pretty. Gabi and Lia bind their chests to appear as males and make a few jokes about bras in the meantime. Just the bras, mind you.
    While they're disguised as boys, a guard tells them to raise their tunics, since that's where a thief would hide gold, and, in order to escape, Lia scandalizes him with an "eyeful of her flat stomach, a wisp of a belly button, and the graceful curve of hips."
   During this same escape attempt, Gabi is caught by Paratore, who tears off her shirt, so that she's just wearing the cloth she used to bind her chest. He makes a comment about how Gabi needs to be taught what it means to be female. Gabi says, "He paused and eyed me up and down, studying the knot of rope that held my tights up. Please, God, no..."
   At which point, Lord Greco shows up and saves the day. (Still not sure if I like him or not.) But Paratore still gets off several crude comments. He tells Gabi that she will be 'his' and learn what it is to be a woman in his keep.
   A doctor comes to look at Gabi, and Greco (who is being in huge creeper mode, not letting her out of his sight) finally turns his back. Gabi says that when the doctor looked at her, she crossed her arms over her breasts.
    After the doctor leaves, Greco tells her to lie down, at which point she freaks out, thinking he's going to take advantage of her. He doesn't, but he ties their arms together with a rope so that she can't escape.
   Gabi sees triple vision, and wonders (she's under the influence of some sleeping concoction) if the three versions of Greco are 'gay' and when she sees in the morning that the tent is lavender, she thinks, "Maybe he really is gay." Which is very very rude, even if she didn't actually say it.
   Luca, Lia and Marcello pretend to be drunk, and Luca tells a guard, "Just another groom anxious for his marriage bed."
   During this same rescue, when a knight asks about Lia's presence in the boat, Luca replies that she is, "Only a dock wench to help us pass the time." when men board, one tells Lia that he's never seen her before, and she replies that she favors another inn (eek). The man replies that he will have to spend some money there (double eek). Then, Marcello makes up a story that they are taking Lia as an unofficial gift to Lord Paratore from the Firenze grandis (triple eek). A man says that Lia is "Clearly a harlot in a lady's gown." Marcello says. "Well, as you can clearly see, we have no ladies in beaded gowns present, Though I'd welcome a maid of my own this cold night." I'm really glad that they were making it up.

Violence
Right up off the bat, Gabi orders a man's ears cut off (when you read it, you'll see that it's not as cruel as it sounds, in a way). This rescue attempt has no actual killing in it, that we see, it's mostly trickery and disguises. However, at the end, there is a large battle, and Gabi catches a glimpse of a tortured, bleeding man who was caught by the Firenze.


Hmm...this book still gets a PG-13. I think, really, in this series, it's going to be the awkward comments throughout, and the scenes that, when you think about it, are actually probably realistic to that time period, that will cause problems for readers. I realize that Lisa was dealing with real problems, and she manages to do so without ever being too crude, and I'm not entirely sure that all of them could be left out, but it still makes you think twice about reading it. However, it was an awesome continuation of the River of Time series - I loved it (even if Lisa is still stuck on the whole rescuing thing)