Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book
Rate this book
Can Millie survive what Time Travel Disorder has to throw at her?

Millie Richter has always admired her sister, Caitlyn, but now that her own disorder is taking effect, Millie is terrified she’ll follow in Caitlyn’s footsteps and rewrite history. The last thing Millie wants is to become a stranger in her own life, so she’s determined to do whatever she can to leave the past – and therefore the present – unchanged.

But when she finds herself face to face with her father – alive and well in the past – her perspective shifts abruptly. Millie is torn between the desire to prevent her father’s untimely death and the fear of rewriting her existence.

Then, back in the present, Zach (the gorgeous guy who lives a few floors up in her unit block) finally notices her and asks her out on a date. A psychology student, Zach is thoughtful, caring and a little damaged. Their connection is instant and electrifying, pulling Millie into a whirlwind romance she never saw coming. Now Millie has even more to lose. If she prevents her dad’s death, she’ll risk erasing her relationship with Zach.

In this heart-wrenching third installment, Millie must balance love and duty, all while grappling with the profound consequences of her choices.

Millie is the third book in The Ripple Effect series and is best read after the first two books.

*****************************
EXCERPT


Two hours and fifty-five minutes until my date with Zach. The closer it gets, the stronger the butterflies in my tummy become, but it feels good to be nervous about something positive for a change.
Shower time.
I get undressed and hop into the shower. As I shave my legs, tiny hairs fall into the water, circle the drain, and then disappear. When my hands tingle and my eyesight goes hazy yet again, I sigh and pause the razor so I don’t cut myself, but then the jet noise fills my eyes and my body is pierced by knives.
Agony.
No, no, no, no, no!
I lean forward and spew as my stomach heaves.
This can’t be happening.

Water is no longer falling on me. As my eyesight clears, I see that the shower tiles have changed from white to terracotta, and in front of me is a spotty shower curtain instead of a glass door. My heart pounds as I stand up slowly and open the curtain. A towel hangs from a rack on the far wall. I grab it and wrap it around myself, then spin around when I hear a sound.
A teenage boy stands in the doorway to the bathroom, his mouth hanging open and his eyes bulging. He looks about fourteen. “Um, what the hell?” he says.
I clutch the towel to my body and try to figure out what to do. After a long pause, I stammer, “I know this is crazy-weird, but you can’t ask me anything. Please.”
His eyes bulge even more. “You’ve got to be kidding.”
“I’m not kidding. Please. I’m begging you, no questions. And, um, can I borrow some clothes?” My voice is high pitched with anxiety and embarrassment.
For a while, he doesn’t answer, just stares. Then finally, he gives himself a tiny shake. “Sure. Yeah. I guess.”
“Is anyone else home with you?” I ask.
“Ah, yeah. My mum. She’s in her room.”
“Can you please not tell her about me? Or anyone else?”
He shakes his head slowly. “Let me get this straight – I find you in my bathroom naked, and you don’t want me to ask any questions or tell anyone about you?”
“That’s right. Please.

353 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 11, 2024

59 people are currently reading
33 people want to read

About the author

Cally Jackson

8 books65 followers
Cally Jackson grew up in the small country town of Gatton, Australia, and has been telling stories for as long as she can remember. After deciding at 17 that a Hollywood acting career was sadly out of reach, Cally turned to a career in professional communication with fictional writing as her labour of love.

In grade two, Cally’s passion for fictional writing proved a little problematic when she got in trouble for penning her own tale instead of copying directly from a story book as she was supposed to be doing – it was a handwriting exercise, after all.

Cally’s first novel, The Big Smoke, was published in 2012. A decade and two children later, The Ripple Effect series was born.

Cally now lives in Brisbane with her husband and children, where she continues to entertain herself and others by letting her imagination run wild.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
124 (60%)
4 stars
55 (26%)
3 stars
21 (10%)
2 stars
3 (1%)
1 star
1 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
Profile Image for Krystal Montcrieff.
300 reviews
June 16, 2024
Had the absolute joy of beta reading this, and it was truly just a downright ADORABLE addition to the Ripple Effect world. I loved getting to experience this world through a new perspective, while also revisiting the characters from the first two books in this series. The ending had me absolutely geeking out - it opens the window to more books.
Profile Image for Leslie aka StoreyBook Reviews.
2,911 reviews214 followers
August 2, 2024
This is the third book in this time travel series, and it is just as good as the first two. This one features the younger sister, Millie, and her experience with the disorder that causes her to time travel once she turns 21.

Millie has learned from her sister to be careful what she does because it could impact her present. Each time she goes back, she does her best to not do anything that will cause a ripple in time. Now, because this disorder is known about because of Caitlyn (her sister), Millie is approached by a television program to share her story and travels. They pay a small amount, which is nice because it is hard to work not knowing when you might time travel. Granted, when they come back, it is as if no time has passed, but depending on the situation, they might return in different clothing or something else. This happens a time or two to Millie, including traveling while she is in the shower. That was quite a surprise for the residents of that apartment in 2006. 

Because of the awareness of this disorder, once Millie appears on air, she receives multiple requests from various people to do something in the past. They don't understand the ripples it could cause, not just for them but also for her. While it is nice in theory, should we alter our past? Our experiences make us who we are today.

And what timing, but Millie meets the gorgeous neighbor. She literally runs into him, chasing a piece of mail. Their relationship takes off in a hurry. It is good that they hit it off, but the intensity is off the charts. I can see why her parents would be concerned. Especially when some news comes to light. I had my suspicions, and I was proved correct. You might guess when you read the book, but you won't get a spoiler from me.

I really enjoy time travel novels, and I have loved this series. The end has a bit of a cliffhanger, so I can't wait to see if there is another book that goes into those details. This could be a never ending saga!

You do need to read them in order, and there is a novella that depicts the time between books two and three if you sign up for the author's newsletter. It probably explained a few things that I didn't remember from the end of the second book.

We give this book 5 paws up.
Profile Image for Dana Castleman.
259 reviews12 followers
July 12, 2024
I had the honor to Beta read this and what a privilege it was. Watching Millie sort through the challenges of life being a time traveler carefully trying not to alter her present or the future all while revisiting characters from the other novels was thrilling. The ending left me giddy wanting more!
Profile Image for Jackie.
126 reviews5 followers
August 24, 2024
I read this book a few months ago so I'm a bit fuzzy on some specific plot points but I do remember what I thought about the book and how I felt about it--and it was pretty great! I hadn't honestly believed there would be much to add to the time travel universe created by author Cally Jackson in The Ripple Effect books 1 and 2--which I enjoyed reading, but I found Millie to be a whole new--and very fun--experience.

(A personal disclaimer here: time travel is one of my very favorite tropes and I have a HIGH tolerance for the shenanigans involved in making it seem plausible--if that's even possible!)

Our FMC and title character, Millie, had the benefit of learning so much about the time travel "rules" and dangers because of Caitlyn's previous experiences that there was very little discovery needed in this third installment, so the plot moved quickly. Millie's adventures seemed so much funnier and her perspective (because she knew more about what to expect than Caitlyn had) was less fearful and more focused on how to avoid tricky situations (e.g. re-writing your future with a misstep while in the past!).

There was plenty of tension in the story for Millie though! One good example of that is when she ended up time-traveling to her "bedroom past", now belonging to a teenage boy, while erm… naked. The first thing she tells the incredulous kid is not to ask her any questions! So funny! But stressful for Millie, I'm sure.

Millie is a lovely person and I enjoyed reading about her time-travel adventures. She's almost unbelievably nice and you end up rooting for her to get a good shake out of the whole time travel experience. It makes the reader anxious for her to make good choices, and yet some things are out of Millie's control (like the whole naked-in-the-teenage-boy's-bedroom thing).

Millie is a really fun book that I enjoyed every second of. Congratulations to Ms. Jackson for keeping the tension high but the story light and fun, and for writing such an entertaining third installment in her Ripple Effect series that builds so effectively on the first two!

I'm grateful to the author who provided me with an advanced reader's copy of Millie. The opinions expressed in this review are my own and are provided freely.
Profile Image for Ashley.
581 reviews39 followers
July 11, 2024
Millie is book three in Cally Jackson's, The Ripple Effect Series, and features spoilers for books one and two. If you haven't read those, you need to start there.

I have to be honest on this one, I struggled relating with Millie through the first half of this book. I'm not entirely sure why, but there was a slowness in the story development that had me wanting to speed forward a little bit. But as I got through more of the book, the importance of the first half started to weigh in and Millie worked on winning me over. She's an incredibly selfless and complex character that is usually thinking about other people before herself. This was an element of her personality that made it difficult for me to relate with her.

While selflessness is an important trait that I admire, she seemed to be ignoring a lot of her own wellbeing which had me put off a bit. As I said though, she has strong development throughout the course of the story and really blossoms into a beautiful character as it concludes. With her time travelling abilities, she is far more cautious than her sister had been in the first two books. Even when she finally makes a decision to change something in the past, she does so in a very seamless way that is honed in and focused.

This book and the main character challenged me as a reader to work through my own discomfort with her and meet her on the other end of the story. It's well written and engaging, without any jarring break in the plot or character development. It's a little emotional with supporting characters trauma, and Millie is there to hold everyone's hands and find a solution. She's willing to sacrifice everything about herself for those she loves and that trait was incredibly inspirational for me.
Profile Image for Tarra Pasquier.
7 reviews
July 28, 2024
Not worth the read

I wanted to like this book, I truly did. I just finished reading it and I feel cheated. I feel like I was reading a book that had no point. Like why was it written? It did absolutely nothing to move the story along. We didn’t find out anything new about time travel. The author once again spoke of being vegan as if she were trying to get us to become vegan. I love meat. So it’s not going your way happen.
Parts of the book just made me angry on behalf of the characters. Millie could’ve killed off her sister or parents in order to bring his parents even though he’d lied to her. What was she thinking?? She knew a ripple could happen and it did! Her best friend. And Zach. It her Zach. A new Zach. Now she’s going to have old Zach’s baby. The entire Liv storyline didn’t make sense. Why was it added? Playing with people’s lives and futures made me feel sick. So much is wrong with this book…all of them!! Nothing is ever explained about how these girls travel through time and how it goes away soon.
The things I did like:
Her relationships with both Spud and their mom grew.
I liked visiting with younger Leon and company.
I liked getting to know more about the other time travelers.
I liked visiting with Toby and Cait.

That’s it. Would I recommend these books? Maybe.
Profile Image for Bec.
789 reviews17 followers
July 7, 2024
Millie was the book in the series I didn’t know I needed until I read it. I thought I needed more about Caitlyn and Toby (I still want Toby’s perspective!) but I really fell in love with Millie over the course of the book. Set in 2023, Millie, Catilyn’s younger sister, starts time travelling straight away on her 21st birthday. Given everything Caitlyn went through, the world in 2023 is aware of time travellers so in one way it was a little easier for Millie. But Millie still had many challenges. Millie travels back to 2006, so not as far into the past as Caitlyn, where she has the opportunity to make some major changes, but which will most certainly impact on her in the present. Millie needs to decide if the risk is worth it. I loved how Millie’s experiences were so different to Caitlyn’s. I really liked the characters we meet in 2006, some of whom we are already acquainted with and I love the relationships Millie has in 2023 with her sister, her best friend and her boyfriend. Events towards the ending were surprising but welcomed. Definitely gave me the tingles!
Great third book in the series, but they do need to be read in order.
Profile Image for Glenn Younger.
Author 4 books5 followers
August 10, 2025
What is the price of love?

With older sister Caitlyn (from Books 1&2 of the Ripple Effect series) settled in with Toby, the man she inadvertently dragged to 2022 from the early 1980’s, it’s time for us to follow Millie’s time travels back to 2006.

On the surface, Millie should have an easier time of it than Caitlyn. Her love interest is in her present. Thanks to Caitlyn’s coming out in Book 2, the idea of the time travel syndrome isn’t a dark dirty secret. Plus, she’s got Caitlyn and Toby to help with logistics of where to stay and how to eat.

Easier, that is, until she’s got some big decisions to make that carry big ramifications. What is the price of love? That’s what Millie finds out.

This book would’ve been a perfect easy-flow time travel romance for me if it weren’t for the clumsiness in the writing of the sex scenes. I ended up just skimming those because they inspired more of an eye roll and a groan than anything interesting. Plus, there was no build up to them.

All the other parts of the story, however, were interesting to contemplate.
Profile Image for Red Book Review .
1,006 reviews35 followers
July 8, 2024
"Can Millie survive what Time Travel Disorder has to throw at her?"
This was an amazing book in the series about Millie and how her own disorder is taking effect but she doesn't want to follow in her sister's footsteps even though she admires her sister Caitlyn. The book had great charcters and I was turning pages until the end. Millie's time travel adventure was so much fun reading and I look forward to the next one in The Ripple Effect Series. This author does an absolute great job writing and I really enjoyed reading Millie. I would recommend this series and the book to any reader but especially to any romance reader. Thank you to the author for this ARC read in exchange of my honest review of Millie: A time travel romance.
375 reviews
October 30, 2024
Loved this series!

This could be a really long series of books if the author is inclined to write them - and I would read them. The only reason I've deducted a star is because the book came to a too sudden ending. It didn't feel right, and left me thinking - this can't be it surely. This book has the usual time travel bits that don't make sense - as with any tt book, but it was a good read.
8 reviews1 follower
January 22, 2025
time travel a little differently

I absolutely loved these books, read them one after the other.
It’s time travel but not how it’s normally done, you don’t get to choose where/when you go and it’s only for a short period. Yes there is a bit of romance thrown in but it doesn’t overwhelm the plot. Don’t want to give away any spoilers, read the first one if it’s not for you stop there, I bet you won’t!
Profile Image for Lorraine Berry.
1,022 reviews8 followers
January 22, 2025
Book 3 of the Ripple Effect is Millie’s time travel story. Toby and Caitlyn still feature in this story, but this book could be read as standalone; although books 1 & 2 are way more compelling to read. By this point in the series, we already know the principles of time travel, therefore there are fewer interesting concepts to explore. Millie has a few different experiences, but on the whole it’s more of the same.
Profile Image for Pam Pantell.
33 reviews
August 9, 2024
Such a Tender and Wonderful Love Story

This is the book that’s difficult to put down and contains a genuinely intriguing storyline. It covers many emotions and you can’t help but keep turning the pages. Until you find the much sought after happy ending, you can’t stop reading. You won’t regret this one. I look forward to Cally’s next book in the series.
176 reviews2 followers
January 11, 2025
Best of the series!

With each book the author has the chance to explore and redefine the main characters as the various time ripples occur. It is a great concept for a time travel book and I highly recommend this series.
51 reviews
March 11, 2025
A great 👍 time travel read!

You can't help but love the characters and feel the love they share, sisterly love, parental love, romantic love. You also understand the responsibilities that burden them. Fortunately love conquers everything!
63 reviews2 followers
December 23, 2025
great continuing story

It actually makes a nice change to be as far in as part 3 of a story and the characters are still great, the storyline not boring and a really good read. Looking forward to seeing what book 4 has in store!
9 reviews
August 2, 2024
Great book!

Enjoyed filling the story of Millie in - and seeing Caitlyn and Toby as well! The story was exactly what I needed right now
69 reviews1 follower
August 5, 2024
Hoping for more of this series

Really enjoyed the prior books and this one. Will there be more? I hope so as this is a unique time travel book.

Profile Image for Carmel McKenzie.
533 reviews4 followers
August 7, 2024
Fantastic

loved every minute of it. couldn't put it down. I hope to read more of your books that have great imagination
1 review
October 3, 2024
I couldn't put the book down

This is a very well written book and I really enjoyed it,I highly recommend reading it,you will love it :)
10 reviews
January 18, 2025
The Ripple Effect Series

Brilliant series couldn’t stop reading them with lots of twists and turns really grips you and spent most of my days reading.
19 reviews
June 30, 2025
another great read

Another great book, keep them coming.
Hopefully a book 4 in the pipeline , love the way the story has evolved
Keep up the great work Cally
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.