Waterfall : River of Time Series, Book 1

What do you do when your Knight in Shining Armor lives, literally, in a different world?

Most American teenagers want a vacation in Italy, but the Betarrini sisters have spent every summer of their lives among the romantic hills with their archaelogist parents. Stuck among the rubble of the medieval castles in rural Tuscany, on yet another hot, dusty archaeological site, Gabi and Lia are bored out of their minds...until Gabi places her hand atop a handprint in an ancient tomb and finds herself in fourteenth-century Italy. And worse yet, in the middle of a fierce battle between knights of two opposing forces.

Suddenly Gabi's summer in Italy is much, much more interesting.

Language

There isn't a lot of language. Gabi calls Marcello things like 'hot' and 'sexy,' which is a bit awkward.

Violence

There is quite a bit of violence. Gabi shows up in the middle of a battle, and sees a man get killed. Another man then comes after her, eek! When going to rescue someone, there is a skirmish, and Gabi is wounded. She forces Marcello's brother to pull out the sutures.

Sexual Content

Well, there is the whole thing where Gabi shows up wearing a cami and skinny jeans - in the 14th century. Can you say...scandalous? She mentions the way that the men look at her. She also says of Lady Rossi "Innocent as a streetwalker." Cook mentions that Marcello's brother was a bit 'randy' before he became sick. Gabi binds her skirts to her legs, and a comment from an enemy knight makes her realize that this action seems very disreputable.

And, Gabi and Marcello are very attracted to each other, however, they both try to squelch their emotions, since Marcello is engaged already (very noble of them, don't you think?).

During a fight, a man tries to peek under her skirt, and makes suggestive comments. Actually, the comment wasn't suggestive (to me anyways, but sometimes these things go over my head), but she says "He sneered, his voice thick with innuendo."

During the course of the skirmish, Gabi gets pinned to the ground with a sword in each skirt. I quote now. "One thought gave me hope. Perhaps in death, I'd find my way home. But he was untying his trousers. He did not intend to kill me. He had darker intentions still." They then proceed to tie her arms. Don't worry, nothing happens beyond that - the handsome Marcello comes to save the day! there is then an awkward conversation between Gabi and Marcello as he asks what happened. ""I will not let it rest until you tell me what has happened. Were you...were we too late?" "No! Nay!" I cried, figuring out what he meant."

There is also awkwardness when Gabi forces Marcello's brother to take out her sutures, as the wound is on her side. Both men in the room try to avert their eyes.

At one point, Marcello kisses Gabi, and I rather wish he hadn't, as he was, at the time, engaged to someone else. Apart from that, I don't really have problems with pre-marital/someone-you-don't-know-you're-going-to-marry on-the-lips kissing (so long as it doesn't go beyond that), but I realize that some people do.

I LOVED this book. like LOVE LOVE LOVED it. So what if it's a tad unrealistic that she just happened to be able to use a sword before she came to Italy? It was AMAZING! I read the third one, and I need to get out the second one *sheepish grin* I give it a PG-13, since there's that one scene. It's not explicit, but there's other comments throughout that, while younger girls might not understand, weren't strictly neccessary. It was hysterically funny, and brought up all the things you would never think about. I mean, usually we're more preoccupied with the swords than the lack of, say, SHAMPOO AND CONDITIONER!

Anyways. Great book! Loved it! (yes I am a sappy romantic - get over it)