Release Day Review: The River of No Return by: Bee Ridgway

The River of No Return by: Bee Ridgway (April 23, 2013)

Publisher: DUTTON

452 pages

Genre: Fiction/Time Travel/Romance

Purchase: Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository

Goodreads Summary: “You are now a member of the Guild. There is no return.” Two hundred years after he was about to die on a Napoleonic battlefield, Nick Falcott, soldier and aristocrat, wakes up in a hospital bed in modern London. The Guild, an entity that controls time travel, showers him with life's advantages. But Nick yearns for home and for one brown-eyed girl, lost now down the centuries. Then the Guild asks him to break its own rule. It needs Nick to go back to 1815 to fight the Guild’s enemies and to find something called the Talisman.

In 1815, Julia Percy mourns the death of her beloved grandfather, an earl who could play with time. On his deathbed he whispers in her ear: “Pretend!” Pretend what? When Nick returns home as if from the dead, older than he should be and battle scarred, Julia begins to suspect that her very life depends upon the secrets Grandfather never told her. Soon enough Julia and Nick are caught up in an adventure that stretches up and down the river of time. As their knowledge of the Guild and their feelings for each other grow, the fate of the future itself is hanging in the balance.

My Review

Once I read the last page of this novel and set the book down with a sigh of gratification I announced at the top of my lungs “I LOVE THIS BOOK!” The River of No Return is a unique time traveling story with a beautiful romance and nothing less than page-turning intrigue that had me swooning.

The River of No Return is a perfect fit for fans of the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon and the All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness. You won’t be disappointed.

Where do I even begin to explain to you how much I love this novel? I know it is a simple thing, but let’s start with the cover. I have some hard core cover love for this one. It is eye catching and simple yet complex, perfectly catching the feel of the story.

The writing was elegant and perfect for a novel mostly set in the 1800s. I was instantly entranced in this time traveling story. I was somewhat nervous that the time traveling aspect would be hard to follow, but I thought it was well explained and I felt like I was learning just as the main character Nick was. So if thinking that the time traveling part of the book is too confusing is keeping you from reading this book it shouldn't, it isn't too hard to understand. It was actually a great part of the novel and more interesting and complex than I thought it would be.

Now I think it's time I shout some praise out to the awesome main characters. Nick is the sexy and somewhat snarky male lead that I love to love. He is a pretty stand up guy that I completely adored. Nick jumps forward in time when he is about to die, saving his life. He then must help The Guild with an important mission and jumps back in time to the 1800s. I loved seeing Nick try to figure out how to live life in the 2000s and then have to learn to return to his old ways in the 1800s. Ridgway does an amazing job with details and descriptions especially when Nick is learning to adapt to the 21^st century. This quote brought a huge smile on my face and shows how excellent the writing is when it comes down to those awesome details I was talking about.

"He was bobbing like a cork in a heated infinity pool in the Andes, his formerly stiff rump tucked into a plastic flotation device made to look like a spotted frog. His two friends were bobbing too, one in a dragon and one in a panda bear." - pg. 27

Somewhat Side Note: This kept making me ask myself how I would react and adapt if I was thrown into the future, something fun to think about.  

The main female lead, Julia, is instantly likeable. She is strong, intense, and lovely. A character I won't soon forget. The best part is that the romance between her and Nick is perfect, and not sickeningly so. Not to mention there are a whole handful of great minor characters in this novel too. You get the whole package.

This is hands down a one of my favorite reads of 2013. The book was paced perfectly. There were so many “did that just happen” moments that made it so I never lost interest even though this is a slightly longer novel. Some of the revelations were somewhat predictable, but most were revealed in just the right way at the right time. I had many mouth hanging open moments.

So basically to sum it up, I’m telling you that you NEED to read this book. It is worth taking the the time to read. It is a great romance novel with a secret time traveling guild, what more could you want?

** I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

RATING 5/5