The River of No Return

The River of No Return by Bee Ridgway.

Paperback: 464 pages
Publisher: Plume;(March 25, 2014)
ISBN-10: 0142180831

From Booklist

In her stellar debut, Ridgeway manages the permutations of the time-travel trope with originality and aplomb. Lord Nick Falcott was an early nineteenth-century aristocrat, until he unexpectedly “jumped” into the twenty-first century while engaged in bloody battle. He then discovers the powerful, secret Guild that keeps a watchful eye on time shenanigans while it shepherds its bewildered new members through their futuristic lives. Nick is prepared to live in contemporary ease in America and willfully ignore the echoes of his past, but the Guild has other plans for him. They send him back to 1815 England to discover the nefarious plans of a shadowy nemesis who seeks a talisman that controls time. Also in 1815 exists Julia Percy, whose grandfather played with time and managed to pass on his legacy to Julia without her being completely aware of it. The juxtaposition between rather foppish yet deeply wounded Nick and spunky, highly intelligent Julia keeps the pages turning, while the entire premise and plot capture unwavering attention. Recommend this engaging, nuanced read to fans of A Discovery of Witches (2011) and Regency romances. --Julie Trevelyan

Hmmm, well.. I have to say I am not fond of "time travel" books.  Having said that I was glad this was more "about being able to" rather than each chapter being in a different time!  Ninety percent of the book was kept in the 1815 time period. (which, of course, suits me just fine!)

Time travel to me is sci-fi and as much as I am a sci-fi fan of movies,  I am not a fan of reading it. (unless it's kept to a minimum).  So I am not sure what it was that kept me reading this book.. up and to 100 pages I was thinking that this book would not be read by me, but something made me wonder where it was going, I guess, and so I read on.

There was also a romance in the story.. though not much was done with it until the last quarter of the book. (once again, that was fine with me). 

I will say that the second half of the book moved faster and decidedly was more interesting. (regardless of the romance).  I did like the character of Lord  Nick.  An important someone in his time, but not nearly as important in the future time. I think his maturing and way of thinking of people in general (common vs aristocrat ) and of woman and their part in the world when he returned to 1815, gave good thought to his character.

I liked the book.  Not one that I'd read a second time.. and it was "different" for me.  But it didn't change my mind about liking to read time travel stories!

So I hope the Amazon review tells you enough to know if it is something you might want to read !  There were other reviews on the page if you think you want to know more about the book.