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Summary

Time-travel series about two teenaged daughters of an archeologist who end up in medieval Italy.
            

Stats

Genre: YA (16+ years) time travel with strong romantic subplots

Series length: Five books (book four comprised of two novellas)

Violence: Moderate medieval violence

Magic/Supernatural: Mainly restricted to unexplained time travel element

Romance: Moderate

Christian/spiritual element: Overt elements

Recommendation: Excellent for anyone who enjoys time travel or historical with a twist

You might like this book if you liked... 
Timeless

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Opening Lines: 

We paused on our hike, panting and wiping our upper lips as our guide--the old Italian farmer who owned this land--chopped down a small sapling, clearing the overgrown trail. "Ecco, vedi," he said, pointing at the ground. See, here.

"See that?" my mom, cried, pushing the tree branch back farther, squatting beside a slightly sculpted limestone paver. Not really expecting a response, she spoke more to herself---or was it Dad's ghost she addressed?--than to us. But the hairs on the back of my neck prickled with echoed excitement.

Waterfall (The River of Time, Book 1)
by Lisa T. Bergren

Gabriella has never spent a summer in Italy like this one.

Remaining means giving up all she's known and loved . . . and leaving means forfeiting what she's come to know--and love itself.
​
Most American teenagers want a vacation in Italy, but the Bentarrini sisters have spent every summer of their lives with their parents, famed Etruscan scholars, among the romantic hills. In Book One of the River of Time series, Gabi and Lia are stuck among the rubble of medieval castles in rural Tuscany on yet another hot, boring, and dusty archeological site . . . 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.

And thus she comes to be rescued by the knight-prince Marcello Falassi, who takes her back to his father's castle--a castle Gabi has seen in ruins in another life. Suddenly Gabi's summer in Italy is much, much more interesting. But what do you do when your knight in shining armor lives, literally, in a different world?

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Opening Lines: 

Mom freaked out when she saw us, of course.

I couldn't blame her, with Lia in her medieval gown. And me looking like I'd been mauled by a bear. Especially when two meaty guards were hauling us into Dr. Manero's tent. "It's all right, Mom," I said, hands out, as she rushed toward us. Her face was white.

"Lasciateli," she shouted in irritation--let them go​--brushing the guards' hands off our arms, staring at the blood on me. 

Cascade (The River of Time, Book 2)
by Lisa T. Bergren

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?"

In Cascade, the second book in the River of Time Series, 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.

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Opening Lines: 

We'd shaken the dust from the gowns the guys had left the three of us and slipped on our "medieval disguises," as I called them, but there wasn't a whole lot we could do for Dad. 

"Yeah, that's not gonna work out so great," Lia said, staring up at Dad's T-shirt.

Torrent (The River of Time, Book 3)
by Lisa T. Bergren

When Gabi and Lia finally learn to surf the river of time, they realize they must make hard choices about life and love in Torrent, the third and final book in the River of Time series.

Gabi and Lia Betarrini have learned to control their time travel, and they return from medieval Italy to save their father from his tragic death in modern times.

But love calls across the centuries, and the girls are determined to return forever--even though they know the Black Plague is advancing across Europe, claiming the lives of one-third of the population. In the suspenseful conclusion of the River of Time series, every decision is about life . . . and death.

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Opening Lines: 

"M'lady! They approach!" the guard yelled down to us form the walls. 

"Thank God," I muttered, taking my first full breath in what seemed like hours. Ever since the battle had ended the night before, Sienese patrols had circulated in and out of Castello Forelli, to drop off wounded, reprovision, rest, and head out again. As the night wore on, and the Fiorentini withdrew north, the patrols were gone for longer periods of time. But Marcello, Luca, and Lord Greco hadn't shown up at all. 

Bourne & Tributary (The River of Time, Book 4)
by Lisa T. Bergren

BOURNE, a novella, picks up right where TORRENT left off...Find out what has happened to men returning from the battle, gravely wounded, to the Betarrinis, fighting for the men they love, and just who is hunting them next...

TRIBUTARY, a novella, picks up a year after BOURNE... Lia struggles to overcome the fear that constant battle has heaped upon her; Gabi and Marcello face an unexpected crisis; and Lord Greco just may be ready to leave the grief and loss of his past behind him, so that he might grab hold of the future...

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Opening Lines: 

"So, what say you, carina?" Luca asked me, calling me his little love. "Did you not promise long ago that if I returned to you from battle, we would speak of certain blue dress?"

I laughed under my breath and gripped his arm more tightly, used to his constant teasing. But this specific subject always set me on edge. 

Deluge (The River of Time, Book 5)
by Lisa T. Bergren

IT'S ONE THING TO BATTLE FOR LIFE...BUT WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN DEATH ITSELF COMES HUNTING?

The Bettarinis and Forellis have found rich fulfillment together in medieval Italia. But after fighting off countless enemies, they now must face the worst foe of all. As the Black Death closes in upon them, threatening everything and everyone they hold dear, Lia and Gabi–and the knights they love–must dig deep within to decide how they might remain safe…and if they need to risk it all in order to truly live as they’re called.