Bryn Mawr English professor Bee Ridgway kicks off her career as a novelist with The River of No Return--a passionate, thought-provoking and consistently fun debut that's best described as a Regency romance wrapped in a spy novel covered in science fiction. Sound like overkill? We assure you, her formula works.
Wounded and dying on a Napoleonic battlefield, Marquess Nicholas Falcott accidentally leaps through time to the year 2003 and lands in the lap of luxury as a beneficiary of a shadow organization known as the Guild. In exchange for all the wealth and 21st-century amenities he could want, Nick must take an assumed name and agree never to return to his native England. While plenty of cash, a new life in Vermont as a cheesemaker and a string of dalliances may sound appealing, this easy lifestyle doesn't make up for the fact that Nick will never see his home, his family or the winsome, dark-eyed Julia ever again. The Guild swears time-jumpers cannot go back--until their need for his former identity forces them to reveal not only that Nick can go back to 1815, he must.
In 1815, Julia Percy's grandfather dies, leaving her at the mercy of her cruel, deranged cousin, the inheritor of her grandfather's earldom. Julia knew her grandfather somehow had the power to control time. Now her cousin insists she divulge secrets about her grandfather's ability and help him find "the Talisman." Although he grows ever more desperate and violent, Julia simply does not have the answers he seeks--until the Marquess of Falcott returns, seemingly from the dead, and turns her world upside-down.
The relationship between sexy, worldly Nick and beautiful, innocent Julia grows more electric by the page, but Ridgway's clever vision of time travel--and a hefty infusion of espionage--shatter the bodice-ripper mold. Her clear grasp of the history and culture of Regency England shines in every period detail and the portrayals of secondary characters whose personalities and reputations are formed and bound by the society of that time.
While some plot elements wrap up neatly, questions about time travel and the future of the very universe loom unresolved in the story's conclusion. Readers might find themselves wishing time travel were truly possible, if only so they could leap ahead and read the sequel immediately. --Jaclyn Fulwood
Shelf Talker: In this genre-bending romance, Regency lovers Nick and Julia must cope with time travel and the machinations of a shadowy organization known as the Guild.