Can you say *SWOON*? 
 I'm trying to hold back the OMG squeeeeeees here, but it's kinda hard. You see in the description where it mentions Italian hotties? Notice how it's plural? Oh wow is it plural! There are three guys in this book that I would risk plague and travel back in time for. Yet, delightfully, there isn't any annoying love triangle. The main character loves her guy and sees the other two as good friends (which means I can have them then, right?) 
 Ah, they're physically attractive, but they also have super attractive personalities. The main character travels back to the 14th century, so these guys aren't the modern guy who will share his feelings with you over a latte (not that there's anything wrong with that). 
 Oh no, these are the kind of guys that make you let out a primal groan and call them MEN. They're all commanding and manly and make me want to say really dorky things like "Oh take me you big man you" (I'm ready for my romance cover shot, please). They also have swords--one of the most popular accessories of hot men everywhere--and they're totally willing to get all sweaty and sexy using them. 
 But, come on, am I superficial enough to give a book a five star Special Shelf rating on the basis of hot guys alone? Um, yeah, ok, I actually so am. But this book has other redeeming features, I promise. 
 Girls rock too 
 How about that main character? As awesome as the men are, she's pretty kick butt herself. So fine, maybe I'm not buying that being a fencing champ makes her able to wield a 30 pound sword, but hey, it's the thought that counts, right? And the thought is really great. The guys are all like, "Lady, you need to stay in the castle and let us do man work" and she's all, "Yeah, whatever. You think I'm going to miss out on this? Pfft!" 
 But you know what's great? The men aren't peeved by this. They're impressed! Again, maybe not so historically accurate (they probably would have burned her as a witch or sent her to a nunnery or something), but I don't care because I was having so much fun. 
 Oh, I probably should mention that the main character isn't a Mary Sue at all though. I realize I might have made her sound like that a little, but she's not. She makes a ton of mistakes and has a lot of "Oops!" moments. There was one scene where she was all, "Hold my lance and watch this!" but the guys and me are face-palming like we've never face-palmed before. She recognizes her mistakes and learns from them. She reminded me a lot of Meliara from Sherwood Smith's Crown Duel (please tell me you've read this book. No? Ok, go get that book ASAP. Seriously). 
 Can I be so lucky? 
 Great characters are wonderful and all, but you really do need a solid plot to back them up in order to be a 5 star book, right? Well, the plot here was so, so good. How's your knowledge of 14th century Italy? Yeah, mine sucks too. So I don't have a clue what is based on truth (if anything) and what's the author's creation. Either way, it doesn't matter. 
 The plot starts out fun enough with the main character trying to fudge her way through 14th century life, a plot device I always find amusing. Add in a missing sister she needs to find and a romance with a super unattainable guy and the plot would have been solid. But there's more! War, battle, political intrigue! Ah, I just had this silly grin on my face that kept getting wider and wider the more I read. 
 But wait, isn't this Christian fic? 
 This sounds all good and everything, but...maybe you heard this book is considered Christian fiction. Maybe that's not your thing (it's not my thing either). No problem! There are a few lines here and there where the main character wonders if she was sent back in time by God. The guys pray sometimes, but I don't think that would be out of place in any historical fiction book because that's what they would likely do anyway in the 1300s. That's pretty much the extent of it. If Christian fiction isn't your genre, please don't feel turned off from reading this book. I really don't think you'll be bothered. 
 What are you still doing here? 
 This book ended up taking me a really long time to finish (5 days!), but that wasn't because I wasn't into it. I was completely into it. I never wanted it to end. I kept carrying the book around with me and not reading it because I didn't want the story to be over. Thankfully, there are two more books and they're both coming out this year, which I immediately added to my Goodreads list as soon as I finished Waterfall (Cascade in June and Torrent in September). All of the main events of the story wrap up pretty well so I don't feel like I'm hanging on a major cliffhanger, but the stage is set for the sequel. If you like those courtly intrigue books with manly men and a strong heroine, then I highly recommend Waterfall. 
 Originally posted at Small Review