196 Books: Fiji

 Fiji by Lance Morcan and James Morcan

Fiji is an island I would like to be on right now:

Here's the nutshell of the book:

By the mid-1800's, Fiji has become a melting pot of cannibals, warring native tribes, sailors, traders, prostitutes, escaped convicts and all manner of foreign undesirables. It's in this hostile environment an innocent young Englishwoman and a worldly American adventurer find themselves.

Susannah Drake, a missionary, questions her calling to spread God's Word as she's torn between her spiritual and sexual selves. As her forbidden desires intensify, she turns to the scriptures and prayer to quash the sinful thoughts - without success.

Nathan Johnson arrives to trade muskets to the Fijians and immediately finds himself at odds with Susannah. She despises him for introducing the white man's weapons to the very people she is trying to convert and he pities her for her naivety. Despite their differences, there's an undeniable chemistry between them.

When their lives are suddenly endangered by marauding cannibals, Susannah and Nathan are forced to rely on each other for their very survival.

It was a bit difficult to find a book for Fiji, and I ended up having to go with this father/son duo from New Zealand. But I kinda thought that might be close enough? And, honestly, this was exactly the book I needed right now. I usually have about 3 books going at a time, and most of them have been heavy and full of war and hate. Add that to what's happening in the world and I pretty much lived in a hole of anger, sadness, and despair. 

So this book was just a fun, frivolous, cheesy romance. There did seem to be a lot of research into the history of it, and some (I assume real) native words and customs were thrown in, which I love. I keep meaning to mention it; I love when authors throw in a word native to that country and then say what it is. I don't remember any of them, but I feel like I'm learning something at the time. 

Don't get me wrong, I rolled my eyes a bunch of times because it was the predictable, chauvinistic love story. The only thing I can say is that they at least didn't describe every woman solely by their physical features that inevitably resemble Barbie proportions. But it was also this guy who started out as a headstrong, egotistical asshole who meets this devout, beautiful woman and she completely changes his mind in a matter of like two weeks. So then he becomes a completely different person which is of course absolutely understandable. Could you sense my sarcasm?

Okay, I'll stop hating now. Like I said, I needed this book. Obviously, since I read it in less than a week. It was exciting and kept me interested and didn't make me think too hard. I loved it. Guys. Things are hard right now. I decided it was okay to not take on all the problems of this history of the world and then do nothing to help solve them. At least for now.