Rapids Reviews Pt. 2 (Oct.)

The Girl From Junchow by Katie Furnivall
China, 1929. For years Lydia Ivanova believed her father was killed by the Bolsheviks. But when she learns he is imprisoned in Stalin-controlled Russia, the fiery girl is willing to leave everything behind- even her Chinese lover, Chang An Lo.

Lydia begins a dangerous search, journeying to Moscow with her half-brother Alexei. But when Alexei abruptly disappears, Lydia is left alone, penniless in Soviet Russia.

All seems lost, but Chang An Lo has not forgotten Lydia. He knows things about her father that she does not. And while he races to protect her, she is prepared to risk treacherous consequences to discover the truth.

I eagerly awaited to find out what happened to Lydia, and Chang An Lo after loving The Russian Concubine. While I enjoyed this book, I didn’t love it as much as I thought I would. It got off to a slow start. I feel you need to read the first book to really appreciate this one.

Chin-Up Honey by Curtiss Ann Matlock
Just after Emma and John Cole Berry separate, their only son, Johnny, announces his engagement to Gracie. So the good parents welcome the happy couple together, and begin counseling to patch up their own marriage, but Gracie’s controlling mother has bigger plans for her. Meanwhile, other denizens in Matlock’s beloved Valentine, Oklahoma, are working their way through their own heart troubles. Belinda’s handsome, sexy husband suddenly wants to talk rather than make love, and her mother, Vella, is carrying on scandalously with Jaydee Mayhall. A common bond is Winston and Willie Lee’s old-fashioned radio show, which keeps the folks of Valentine entertained."

I was glad to return to Valentine and reunite with favorite characters and read about some new ones. This visit has us rooting for Emma and John Cole’s marriage, wanting to smack Gracie’s mother and loving that Belinda is no so in control. This book stands alone well, but do yourself a delightful favor and read all the Valentine novels.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
'It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.' So begins Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, an expanded edition of the beloved Jane Austen novel featuring all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie mayhem. As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she's soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield as Elizabeth wages war against hordes of flesh-eating undead. Can she vanquish the spawn of Satan? And overcome the social prejudices of the class-conscious landed gentry? Complete with romance, heartbreak, swordfights, cannibalism, and thousands of rotting corpses, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies transforms a masterpiece of world literature into something you'd actually want to read.

Did I like this book because I love, love Pride and Prejudice? Probably as I normally don’t read anything zombie related. There were some very funny parts that had me giggling out loud. The characters were still the same, but were zombie fighters as well as English young ladies. If you like satire, quirky books, give this one a try. If you would be deeply offended that Austen has been “messed with”, don’t pick it up.