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A Pirate's Love

Johanna Lindsey

3.69 · Rating details · 6,453 ratings · 379 reviews

Sun-Blazed Beaches

With languid tropical breezes caressing her breathtakingly beautiful face, Bettina Verlaine stood before the mast, sailing westward to fulfill a promise her heart never made--marriage to a Count her eyes had never beheld. Then in a moment of swashbuckling courage, the pirate Tristan swept her away and the spell of his passion was cast over her heart forev ...more

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Paperback, 384 pages

Published November 25th 2008 by Avon (first published 1978)

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Lists with This Book

Rescued by the Buccaneer by Normandie Alleman

Captive of My Desires by Johanna Lindsey

Historical Pirate Romance Books

200 books — 487 voters

The Flame and the Flower by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss

The Wolf and the Dove by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss

Prisoner of My Desire by Johanna Lindsey

Old Skool Hist. Romances - Hero One And Only lover!

123 books — 393 voters

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Average rating 3.69 ·

Rating details

· 6,453 ratings · 379 reviews

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Sep 15, 2010 Jim son of Jim (formerly PhotoJim) rated it did not like it

Shelves: library-book, historical-romance, 2010-reads

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I'll have to write a proper review of this rape-o-rama tomorrow. It's crap like this that turns me off to historical romance novels.

OK, so it took me two days to get back to this. I will summarize the book for you so that you don't have to wade through it and let you draw your own conclusions.

____________________________________________________________________
Bettina (AKA Simpering Obnoxious Victim or SOV for short) -'Hi, I'm Bettina. My daddy doesn't love me enough. So I became so obnoxious tha ...more

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Sep 08, 2010 Jasmin rated it it was ok

Shelves: historical-fiction, romance, historical-romance, reviewed-by-me, fiction, two-stars

If you extremely loved this book, or a die-hard Johanna Lindsey fan, please do not continue.

Welcome, welcome!

Do you honestly think that your life is seriously fucked up?

Then please come on down and take the Bettina Verlaine My-Life-Sucks meter! This is an effective way to measure if you’re luckier than the rest or if your life sucks enough that you should contemplate suicide.
Following questions are answerable by yes or no only:

1. Are you unloved by either or both of your parents?
2. Do you have t

1. Are you unloved by either or both of your parents?
2. Do you have tantrum attacks or temper fits so really worse that your dad had to send you to a convent/seminary?
3. Did your dad arrange your marriage to someone really far away just to get rid of you?
4. Have you traveled by seas and

a. almost been raped by the crew?
b. been abducted by pirates?
c. Been raped by a pirate?

1. Did you enjoy being raped by a pirate?
2. Escaped the pirate, only to cause a pubfight?
3. End up in jail?
4. Rescued from jail by the very pirate who raped you?

5. Have you been stuck in an island and the only way out is to pretend to be a boy?

a. Been forced to be a cabin boy, though you’re a girl?

i. Escape being a cabin boy,but end up at the clutches of the man who almost raped you?

6. Have you almost been whipped to death?
7. Does your betrothed have no plans of ever marrying you?
8. Did you end up loving the same pirate who raped you?

If predominant answers are NO, you should be cheery for Bettine Verlaine’s life is seriously worse than yours.

If predominant answers are YES, then your life is seriously fucked up, but never fear for Bettina Verlaine survived all these tragedies and I bet you will too.

I, on the other hand, enjoyed Johanna Lindsey’s novels once upon a time. I admit, it’s written ~~nicely~~ skillfully, however, the book and plot was just awful, awful, awful! *resembling a child with tantrum fits* Despite Bettina Verlaine’s life being definitely worse than mine, I definitely thought of hitting my head on the wall with all her misfortunes. On my Bettina Verlaine meter, this book goes straight to the mouth of a volcano. Literally.
...more

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Sep 03, 2011 mark monday rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: romantica, all-fucked-up, cough-historical-cough

do you like to read about rape? lots and lots and lots of rape? is rape an act of such little consequence that it is more similar to getting pinched or yelled at - rather than being an actual assault on a person's physical and emotional self? are you able to justify the constant use of rape, rape, rape as somehow being historically accurate and therefore not much of an eyebrow-raiser? have you managed to convince yourself that rape was so common back in the Bad, Sexy Old Days that it really just do you like to read about rape? lots and lots and lots of rape? is rape an act of such little consequence that it is more similar to getting pinched or yelled at - rather than being an actual assault on a person's physical and emotional self? are you able to justify the constant use of rape, rape, rape as somehow being historically accurate and therefore not much of an eyebrow-raiser? have you managed to convince yourself that rape was so common back in the Bad, Sexy Old Days that it really just didn't matter much to anyone, it was just a fact of life like coal smoke and poor hygiene? do you like to see a heroine being lied to, stripped of food, clothing, and dignity - so that they don't struggle during any rape-y action sequences and therefore you don't have to deal with such messy things like tears & pain & blood & horror? perhaps if a heroine doesn't struggle, that's not really "rape", right? do you prefer your rape scenes to be written in a style that is completely and complacently without any affect - indeed, so affectless that the constant rape scenes start to have a bizarre kind of normalcy to them - a simple fact of life for women apparently? is rape okay when it is committed by a really hot guy? do you prefer your rape scenes to be written by an author who apparently has no personal experience with the topic and has had no one in her life impacted by it either, and so you can have tidy little rape scenes that are delivered in a voice totally devoid of understanding, of meaning, a voice that is totally unconscious of the truly debilitating and potentially lifelong consequences of such an assault? do you prefer your rapes to be cozy and free of physical violence and non-consensual but sorta sexy? rape is not such a big deal, right? well, dear reader, consider this to be your personal recommendation and introduction to the rape-athon known as A Pirate's Love.

i have had some bad luck with the Romance genre. this is my second or third try and i suppose i am just not getting it. i have actually had more luck (and pleasure) with reading PNR and straight-up Erotica. i pulled this one off of the donation shelf at my agency's drop-in center - i was quite thrilled to scoop it up actually, Pirates being a predictable favorite topic of mine. i read this one early this morning, it took maybe three hours. reading it made me feel like a bad person. it depressed me. maybe i've just known too many people who have been raped to be able to treat this like the light entertainment that it was clearly intended to be. i doubt that Lindsey wrote this with the goal of making me sick to my stomach. but it is a horrorshow written in the blithe tone of a classic Young Adult novel. and that made it so much worse.

one small but important thing in this novel's favor: the heroine actually recognizes each rape as being, well, an actual rape. even if there was no struggle, even if she is tricked into it, she still considers it to be rape. good for her. but then, of course, she ends up falling in love with our ardent pirate hero. "Rape" in this world is just another way of saying I Love You. is this typical of the Romance world? well, i suppose that must be a pleasantly consequence- and emotion-free world to live in. ...more

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Jul 15, 2020 Jessica rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own

Yikes. I love historical romances and I love Johanna Lindsey, but this was not it. At all. The entire premise of this book is Tristan kidnapping Bettina while she's on her way to meet her intended husband, and then proceeding to rape her for the rest of the book until Bettina realizes that she actually loves Tristan.

I cannot condone a hero who is a rapist. And they REPEATEDLY discussion how Tristan is raping Bettina, but he just can't control himself and he "knows" that Bettina enjoys it. No. T ...more

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Jul 04, 2018 Nenia ✨️ I yeet my books back and forth ✨️ Campbell rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018-romance-reading-challenge, kissing-books, historical-romance, rape, bodices-were-actually-ripped, my-bodice-is-ready, rape-by-hero, pirates

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💙 I read this for the Unapologetic Romance Readers' New Years 2018 Reading Challenge, for the category of: Pirate Romance. For more info on this challenge, click here. 💙

Highbrow this is not, but that didn't stop me from buying it and enjoying it. A PIRATE'S LOVE is a 1970s bodice ripper, which you can usually take to mean that it contains a whopping dash of WTF and a hero who quaffs misogyny like he's trying to get drunk on woman-hating. ...more

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Oct 09, 2012 Rebekah Weatherspoon rated it did not like it

Shelves: whaaaaaa

This book should be called A Dread Pirate Raperson from Rapeytown's Rapey Love... As He's Raping you. This is what happens: a girl gets kidnapped by a pirate. He rapes her for 300 pages. They get married. The end.

Bettina...I wasn't wild about your name there, sweets. Bettina, Godblesser, tries to escape 75 times. She is thoroughly pissed for most of the book. Why? Because Rapey McRaperson WOULD NOT STOP RAPING HER. I wish I was joking. I'm not. Then every single woman in her life is like WHATS T ...more

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Jul 09, 2013 Lisa rated it it was amazing

Absolutely love, love this book. It was the first historical romance book I ever read at the age of 13. 34 years later, it still remains my all time favorite book. It will always have a very special place in my heart. It was the start of my addiction for historical romance novels.

I have seen all the negative reviews because of the rape scenes, but this book was written back in 1978. Back then, in the romance writer's world it was called forced seduction, not rape. Forced seduction was the norm f ...more

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Mar 13, 2012 Sarah rated it did not like it

Shelves: bad-romance, historical-romance

HORRIBLE!

DID I REALLY FUCKING READ THIS BOOK. I'M EMBARRASSED.

Maybe I read it to see if she could turn around this horrible story. Unfortunately for me, she did not even attempt it.

HORRIBLE.

SENT AWAY FROM HER FAMILY.
KIDNAPPED BY PIRATES
RAPE
RAPE
TRICKED
RAPE
RAPE
RAPE
TEMPER TANTRUM
RAPE
RAPE
LOCKED IN A HOUSE, ON A PIRATE OWNED ISLAND
RAPE
RAPE
ESCAPED
ALMOST RAPED BY DIFFERENT RAPIST
FINDS MOTHER- TOLD FATHER IS DEAD
RESCUED BY PIRATE RAPIST
RAPE
RAPE
LOCKED AWAY WITHOUT CLOTHING
RAPE
RAPEY RAPE
PREGGERS
RAPE
RAPIST ...more

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May 02, 2011 Stacey O'driscoll rated it it was ok

Shelves: no-just-no, never-again, johanna-lindsey, ebooks, romance

Okay. To start with. LOL! What a funny book. I don't think it was meant to be funny but god it was. Basically a girl is kidnapped and taken onto a pirate ship where the main romantic interest "rapes" her. I say rape in quotes as a lot of the time I am unsure to whether it is. First off he kind of blackmails her. Then the unsureness begins. I mean rape is sick and wrong but in this book I couldn't stop laughing. First off. Her first time he rapes her. "I found it quite pleasent" okay lol. Her fir Okay. To start with. LOL! What a funny book. I don't think it was meant to be funny but god it was. Basically a girl is kidnapped and taken onto a pirate ship where the main romantic interest "rapes" her. I say rape in quotes as a lot of the time I am unsure to whether it is. First off he kind of blackmails her. Then the unsureness begins. I mean rape is sick and wrong but in this book I couldn't stop laughing. First off. Her first time he rapes her. "I found it quite pleasent" okay lol. Her first time. Forced intercourse and it was pleasent? Sure.
Next i'd like to point out how amazing the female lead character was. I mean she had such strength and integrity and a fire abut her that let you know she won't take any shit. Evidence of this is this quote (not exact) "I will not just take it. I will fight you before you rape me again. I'll fight!" His response. "We both know that if you fight you'll tear that pretty dress of yours. Do you really want that?" Her response. "Fine. But I won't like it." What integrity!
And the hero. I mean wow! What a man. Any girls dream, he was hot. A pirate! His crew were loyal to him and he was so decent a guy... a side from the rape. I mean at the end, like all hero's would he even goes as far as defending the rape he commited by saying "I may have raped her, but I did not share her with my crew and i did not beat her and kill her" (or something like that). I mean who wouldn't want to be with this guy? He doesn't apologise no but god he has a fantastic excuse for what he did! Wow. I want him all for myself.

The female character kind of bugged me. Here's the deal. I can't be quite sure that most the time it was rape, she actually consented most of the damn time anyways? She pissed me off. Okay at first yes, i was as sickened as her but then it got annoying. then really annoying. Then everytime she said the word rape I wanted to push her off something to keep her quiet. She's a hypocrite and it done my head right in. Her aunt or whoever was with her was also a dipshit. Your niece comes up to you and says "He raped me" and she's like. He might be a good guy. Also the guy who tried to whip her to death. "He's a good man. He thought you'd killed his best friend, of course he was mad." Oh yes Auntie you're perfectly right I deserve to die for trying to escape! What a fantastic auntie. I want an auntie like that!

Now I bet you're wondering why I gave he book two stars since I so clearly "loved" it. It is for this reason alone. It was funny. Unintentionally funny. The dress scene and him defending what he did just made me laugh so I gave it a star each. It was just to unrealistic to take serious, even back then, I highly doubt that would have ever happened!

For those who don't get it, this review did consist of sarcasm. They were both pretty crap and it was all pretty fucked up.

The end! ...more

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Oct 17, 2008 Danielle The Book Huntress (Back to the Books) rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Reader who doesn't mind the bodice ripper romances, Pirate romance fans

Shelves: historical-romance, not-for-the-faint-of-heart, pregnancy, forced-encounter, abused, hero-or-heroine-i-can-t-stand, cruel-hero, pirate, favorite-or-autobuy-author, owned-copy

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I really shouldn't give this book four stars, because the violent rape of the heroine Bettina by the hero Tristan really disturbed me. However I liked the pirate setting and the vivid descriptions of the Caribbean settings. I am a pirate romance fiend, and since this is one of the first ones I read, and it was good other than the above issues, it's a keeper for me. Plus this is part of my original collection of books that I've had for over twenty years.

I thought Bettina was an interesting heroin ...more

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Jan 09, 2014 Regan Walker rated it it was amazing

Shelves: exotic-locale, 5-star-reads, bodice-rippers, pirates-privateers

Superbly Told Bodice Ripper—a Privateer and the Woman He Seized and Would Not Let Go

Set in the 17th century beginning in France in 1667, this is the story of Tristan Matisse whose family was brutally slain by a Spaniard who plundered the coastal towns of France, and Bettina Verlaine, who was betrothed by her father to a wealthy count living in St. Martin. On her way to meet her betrothed, who she does not know, Bettina’s ship is seized by the privateer Tristan who sails for England plundering Sp Superbly Told Bodice Ripper—a Privateer and the Woman He Seized and Would Not Let Go

Set in the 17th century beginning in France in 1667, this is the story of Tristan Matisse whose family was brutally slain by a Spaniard who plundered the coastal towns of France, and Bettina Verlaine, who was betrothed by her father to a wealthy count living in St. Martin. On her way to meet her betrothed, who she does not know, Bettina’s ship is seized by the privateer Tristan who sails for England plundering Spanish ships.

From the beginning, it is clear that Tristan intends to have Bettina in his bed. He considers her spoils, no matter she is an innocent. And high-spirited Bettina will have none of it, so he rapes her each night. Though he told her he was taking her to St. Martin for ransom by her wealthy betrothed, he decides instead to take her to his island hideout and keep her some months until he “tires of her.” What quickly becomes apparent is that he has no intention of letting her go. While he holds Bettina, he searches for the man who killed his family, Don Miguel Bastida.

Lindsey did a superb job of describing the emotions experienced by Bettina—she could not give in to the pleasure she might experience with Tristan because to do so would be to betray her betrothed. She was feisty and courageous and I loved her. While it was a bit difficult to understand Tristan’s comfort with rape given his childhood, somehow Lindsey made us believe it was possible. And I came to like Tristan in spite of his treatment of Bettina, for he genuinely cared for her. Eventually, his more noble side comes out, and even Bettina, who has suffered his “ruining her life,” comes to see it.

There are many well drawn characters along the way, including Jules, the man who watches Tristan’s back, and Bettina’s mother who confesses to Bettina the cold man she thought was her father actually is not. Lindsey makes this an exciting tale with subplots and twists and turns—and the visits to many ports in the Caribbean. She had me turning pages late into the night. I recommend it and it’s going on my Best Pirate and Privateer Romances list.
...more

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Jun 26, 2008 Not Now...Mommy's Reading rated it did not like it

Shelves: historical-romance

Johanna Lindsey has been a favorite author of mine since I first read, "Say You Love Me". I've taken in to consideration that this book is supposedly one of her earlier writings. All in all, the book was a fair read. The plot was interesting enough but I soon tired of the interaction between Tristan and Bettina. Granted, a lot of readers were turned off by the whole "rape" thing but having been made an avid reader of historical romances after reading "The Flame and The Flower" and "The Wolf and ...more

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Jul 15, 2011 Lelyana's Reviews rated it did not like it

Shelves: kidnaping, stand-alone, abused, sex-with-stranger, historical-romance, roller-coaster, rape

Came across this book one more time.
I read it million years ago, I guess.
It's still pissed me off to read every and each 1 star review, because mine was also ONE. And I still couldn't understand the high rating, where's the beauty of this "RAPE FESTIVAL" book????
Grrr... NONE!

This book summary,

Legalized RAPE.

RAPE is okay.

RAPE is legit

So it's okay to make a rapist as a hero, and yeah, the TSTL heroine seemed fall in love with that 'bad boy rapist' ... *puke*

This is the worst of the worst book I ...more

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Sep 09, 2014 Carlae rated it liked it

Shelves: forced-seduction, arrogant-hero, historical

*Contains Spoilers*
I am not a reader that enjoys tender romance. I like it hard! But he rape her a thousand of times. If you like that, then it's your book! LOL ...more

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Apr 27, 2012 Isha rated it did not like it

Shelves: terrible-h, annoying-sign-language-gorilla-hero, stalkers

OH MY GOD! AWFUL , JUST AWFUL. Normally i like a book with an overly macho alpha male, who is in love with the heroine to the point of obsession, but this was just soo terrible , i wish i could go back in time and un-read it.

Firstly i would like to clarify that i get that this is a 'Bodice ripper' and the heroine is supposed to be physically violated.The low rating is NOT because my inner feminist is appalled at the idea of rape in the book.I knew it would be there , so i was prepared. Also havi OH MY GOD! AWFUL , JUST AWFUL. Normally i like a book with an overly macho alpha male, who is in love with the heroine to the point of obsession, but this was just soo terrible , i wish i could go back in time and un-read it.

Firstly i would like to clarify that i get that this is a 'Bodice ripper' and the heroine is supposed to be physically violated.The low rating is NOT because my inner feminist is appalled at the idea of rape in the book.I knew it would be there , so i was prepared. Also having read a lot of great bodice rippers like

Devil's Embrace (Devil, Book 1) by Catherine Coulter

and

, all of which have overly possessive heroes who take their respective women captive, i was in the mood for another torrid , tumultuous captive romance.Johanna Lindsey is all over the place with her supposedly intense and impacting heroes , the exact kind that i like, so i bought the ebook.Little did i know, that Ms Lindsey , who is so popular for her raw and stomach turning 'bodice rippers' had a temporary forfeiture of her vocabulary and imagination while writing this book.Ugh, i dont even know where to start, but I'll try anyway.

The heroine is the most annoying character in the book.She is a whiney, self destructive drama queen with the intellectual capacity of a goldfish.She is illogical and has no conversational skills whatsoever.Her use of the words "I Hate him" over and over again made me want to wring her neck . The emphasis of how beautiful she was got old very quickly.Her dumbness knew no bounds.She repeatedly tried to escape her captor(captain Tristan,the hero) , which obviously didnt work out because apparently our hero is omnipotent.he finds her everytime , and everytime she is either on the verge of getting killed or raped or both.But she remained foolishly unrelenting , and her plans were so fallible , i wanted to slap her for her 'triumph' at having come up with them ,(oh yeah , her optimism at her stupid escape plans and antics will make you want to cry in frustration)
Yet everytime she went back to him, with the same supposedly 'fiery temper' of hers(frankly she sounded like an angst ridden 11 yr old with a limited vocabulary).Her mule headedness and her complete lack of self preservation( i guess we were supposed to think its bravery) made me want to stop reading it , many times, but i kept going,ignoring that voice in me that begged me to stop tormenting myself. I mean i get it , she kept getting raped , and her virtue was stolen so on and so forth, but REALLY WOMAN , grow the hell up.Her childish attempts at dissuading him were sooo silly , i actually felt embarassed ,on her behalf.I mean she could have spoken to him and asked him how long he plans to keep her there or you know , tried to make him see reason or had a conversation like a person with a well functioning brain , but all she did was yell out childish insults or try to come up with new mind games which were extremely stupid , but everytime she came up with some new trick or loophole to get out of the situation she would be extremely overjoyed at her own ingenuity, her optimism was seriously pissing off. Its like the author WANTED us to dislike her passionately.Also her eyes changed colour according to her mood, like those mood rings.. cute , i guess(not really).

Almost as bad were the heroine's mother and maid.They both not only didnt care about Bettina getting raped, emotionally scarred etc, they actually encouraged her to get used to it and be submissive and try to get him to marry her.Also , at the beginning of the book , Bettina's mother advises her to be open to adultery(when her marriage is fixed) ,because Bettina is a bastard, so its apparently allright for her to behave like her mom, because hey, what mother wouldnt want her daughter to become a stepford bitch, while being a sailor slut on the side?

The hero was allright.He didnt annoy me too much or maybe the heroine was much too distracting for me to really notice him.He was passable i suppose. Yeah, he is an alpha male , jealous , possessive yada yada.. but his character has very little development. You wont grow to like him , rather you'll be unable to relate to him , because what could he possible find appealing about Bettina? The poor sociopathic fool keeps trying to win her over with his super awesome sexpert skills and forced seduction, but even though her 'treachorous body' cant help but respond to his touch, her mind remains stoically aloof (yeah , that's original),for a while atleast.

Honestly , i couldnt complete it, i really tried, i did. Its just one of those books that you want to complete just to work up enough wrath to spew it all out in variegated,colorful ways, when you review them.But i stopped about 3 quarters through the book.if i had tried to read the rest i would have probably got an aneurism,so for the sake of my own mental health i stopped.
Needless to say , i would not recommend this to anybody. ...more

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Sep 16, 2011 Nazia rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: dont-try-it-ever

Do you think raping someone is romantic....? If you think so then you can enjoy this book immensely because it contains rape rape rape rape rape and rape.I can't think rape as romantic in any way because it's the worst crime possible on earth so i am sorry i just hate this book immensely.This book is fucked up horribly.......I was a fan of johanna lindsey after i read once a princess,secret fire,loving scoundrel but now after reading this grotesque book i hate her to the core. This book showed r ...more

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Aug 21, 2017 Ari Reavis rated it liked it

Shelves: historical-viking-romance, own-it

2.5 Stars

The heroine annoyed the ever loving crap out of me. The hero was a rapist, I mean come on. There's no way to sugarcoat that. Everyone called it that, even when he would say 'I'm going to make love to you... whether you want it or not.' Uhh huh? The only part that really interested me was Bettina's pregnancy and whatever Tristan getting his revenge on Bastida. ...more

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Sep 26, 2018 Lorien rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: 01-own-physical-copy, ugg-i-hate-angry-finished-this, 03-own-on-kinndle, bodice-ripper, hr

I read this book as part of my 2018 Across the Ages challenge, Pirate Book. I knew it was really infamous. I wanted to experience it for myself. That's also why I finished it. But it wasn't even bad in an over the top crazy way, it was just not good. And a bit boring.

This book is truly awful. But not because of the massive amounts of rape and the casual way it is thrown around. Seriously, it was like the men had a to-do list that had rape listed somewhere between picking up their pirate dry clea I read this book as part of my 2018 Across the Ages challenge, Pirate Book. I knew it was really infamous. I wanted to experience it for myself. That's also why I finished it. But it wasn't even bad in an over the top crazy way, it was just not good. And a bit boring.

This book is truly awful. But not because of the massive amounts of rape and the casual way it is thrown around. Seriously, it was like the men had a to-do list that had rape listed somewhere between picking up their pirate dry cleaning and finally getting around to finishing that book.
Like rape seemed to be the default way of having sex. And if the lady wasn't into it, if you gave her a "real woman's pleasure" then she should be fine. "So I know I took away basic control of your own body and violated you, but I gave you an organism so we're square right?"

But it was the awful writing. I don't understand how Lindsey ever became a thing outside of shock value, because she writes the most boring characters. They are always beyond prefect looking, specially the men. The Romance was unexplained, unnatural and unbelievable.
Bettina was tricked, blackmailed, tied up once and raped by this guy. And she fell in love with him once she got pregnant from what I could tell. And from what I could tell there weren't that many men who where better than Tristan this world, so maybe she was just making the best of her awful choices. ( Except that captain who gave her a ride to her fiance. I kept thinking that man managed to respect you AND not rape you for days, stay with that dude. ) Anyway, the romance from her point was like an on/off switch with no logic behind it. And her character was too immature and to bratty for me to give her feelings any weight.
Tristan was just a butt wipe. I love an emotionally stunted hero as much as the next girl, but this guy was permanently stuck in the emotional state of a bratty 4 year old. "I want this toy that isn't mine, I'll give it back when I decide I'm done with it. And if you take it I'll probably throw a hissy fit."
Who doesn't like a bad boy with a soft squishy middle. But Lindsey can not write a good bad boy. She writes bad bad-boys....
Like he's tough on the outside, with a heart of gold on the inside that does nothing for him because he acts like a f-n a$$hole any way. And he never stops. He's still an ass-hat at the end of the book, excepts he claims to love a girl now. But he still changes nothing about himself, except he probably won't sleep around anymore. He's still a selfish prick with control issues at the end.

So by the end of this book the only characters I liked at all was her real father, and that's probably only because he was barely in the book.

I think this may have been the nail in the coffin for me and Ms. Lindsey. I just don't like her writing. I don't like her characters or their (lack of really) development. I'm all for a crazy over the top Bodice ripper, but I can't do boring anymore. ...more

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Jan 16, 2021 Mayrareads rated it liked it

1.5 for the setting

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Feb 01, 2010 Maureen Feeney rated it liked it

Shelves: own-it, forced-encounter, johanna-lindsey, pirates

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. NOT A ROMANCE, MORE OF A DRAMA.

Basically its about Bettina Verlaine(19) a young french girl setting sail to marry a count she has never met. On route they are attacked by pirates and the leader Tristan(26) kidnaps Bettina and rapes her, gets her pregnant and eventually falls in love with her. Tristan is also searching for his parents killer Bastida.

In most books with rape the hero knows the Heroine and has an excuse, OK, usually a lame despicable excuse like they thought she wasn't a virgin or t NOT A ROMANCE, MORE OF A DRAMA.

Basically its about Bettina Verlaine(19) a young french girl setting sail to marry a count she has never met. On route they are attacked by pirates and the leader Tristan(26) kidnaps Bettina and rapes her, gets her pregnant and eventually falls in love with her. Tristan is also searching for his parents killer Bastida.

In most books with rape the hero knows the Heroine and has an excuse, OK, usually a lame despicable excuse like they thought she wasn't a virgin or they were married and it was his right etc, here JL tells it plainly Tristan wanted Bettina so he raped her minutes after meeting her!! I love the dashing pirate heroes in books (James Malory, sigh), but lets be honest if you were to come across a pirate in 1600 the chances are you would have being raped and not swept off your feet. Even if it is more historically accurate it was still a bit disturbing to read.

The first rape scene is actually less than a page long and Bettina "found it pleasant after she relaxed" WHAAAT??? That I don't understand or find believable. Also Tristan was seeking revenge for the rape and murder of his mother while he is endlessly raping Bettina ? When JL tried to redeem Tristan at the end it didn't work for me. Also Bettina's feelings were all over the place that I ended up more confused than she did! She loved him, she hated him, she wanted him, she didn't want him. AAARGH

I knew the content of this book before I read it, and after reading books that included rape by Kathleen E Woodiwiss and Catherine Coulter and JL other books particularly the 5star "Prisoner of my Desire"(where the man is actually raped), I tried to keep an open mind and focus on the entire story and not just the rape scenes. Rape like murder is despicable and vile, but a good story is still a good story whether it has a villan or a hero, murder, seduction or rape, and for all its faults this is still a good story.

The writing and the plot is quite good and its a pity that this can easily be forgotten when we focus so much on the rape scenes. I enjoyed this book, and recommend it to anyone willing to read it with an open mind. ...more

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Aug 16, 2013 KatieV rated it it was ok

Shelves: hero-i-wanna-smack, hero-rapes-heroine, genre-historical, heroine-virgin, hero-ship-captain, disturbing-elements, hero-total-ass, bodice-ripper, pirates, heroine-captive

ETA: Maybe I should re-read this one. It looks like many of my friends who like bodice rippers love this book. It wasn't that it didn't keep me interested, it's just that the H made me so ANGRY. Guess I'll put it in my re-reads shelf and maybe eventually get back to it.

***original review***
I am one of those who like the captor/captive, forced seduction, noncon type of romance. It's a guilty pleasure and doesn't reflect my RL attitudes. BUT this is not one I liked. The hero is far too selfish and ...more

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May 11, 2009 Indah Threez Lestari rated it did not like it

Shelves: in-english, historical-romance

Bettina Verlain, the heroine of the story, is abducted by the hero of the story (or maybe we can call him the main villain?) Captain Tristan, a sexy and handsome pirate. And the hell begins... (just for Bettina, cause for Tristan it's a wonderful voyage).

Abundant with numerous rape scenes, no wonder feminists despise this novel.

But this story is just another case of Stockholm Syndrome. Eventually, Bettina falls in love with Tristan, and vice versa.

A good romance novel usually makes female reader ...more

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Oct 27, 2012 Anita Osifo rated it did not like it

Ewwwwwwww... I love Johanna Lindsey's books but this one disgusts me. If u think rape is romantic, go for it. I don't recall a scene where the heroine actually consented to sleeping with the hero without being threatened. She made it clear he was raping her but everyone kept making excuses for him.

The most annoying thing is that he saw his mother get raped and was on a revenge mission to kill the man yet he did the same and his line was "I may have raped her but I did not kill her husband in ...more

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Jun 09, 2010 Laurie Garrison rated it it was ok

Recommended to Laurie by: Cathy Bogle

Shelves: historical-romance, pirate-romance

I really didn’t like the biggest part of this book. The sad part is I really liked the setting in this book with the storyline. The only thing I couldn’t get past was the stubborn of both the hero and heroine. He continually rapes her while she antagonizes him more. I mean get a life Bettina at least you didn’t follow through with the brothel and had to deal with a mistress because he would have had one. Anyway they got their HEA and all things were good in the end.

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Oct 17, 2017 Tina rated it it was ok

Trashy, but enjoyable.

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Jan 21, 2021 Alecia Reads rated it did not like it

I would give this book zero stars. The heroine is repeatedly raped and it is just normal. I felt yucky while reading it and kept going because I wanted to see if it turned around but it did not.

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Jun 20, 2011 ♡ Sassy ~ Amy ♡ rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: pirate, own, cheesy-romance, historical-romance, rape, stupid, had-to-read-because-it-was-so-bad

You have to read this just because it's so bad!

This is a classic crap novel written in 1978! I bought it for $2 somewhere. It looks brand new, so I had no idea it was bad until I saw the reviews last night that drove me to this LOVELY novel! I have the yellow cover book. Where was Fabio? I have no idea!

This was sooo bad! This is a pirate who is not a pirate, who sees a girl he absolutely has to have. He snatches her off of her ship along with her maid. She was on her way to her betrothed in St. You have to read this just because it's so bad!

This is a classic crap novel written in 1978! I bought it for $2 somewhere. It looks brand new, so I had no idea it was bad until I saw the reviews last night that drove me to this LOVELY novel! I have the yellow cover book. Where was Fabio? I have no idea!

This was sooo bad! This is a pirate who is not a pirate, who sees a girl he absolutely has to have. He snatches her off of her ship along with her maid. She was on her way to her betrothed in St. Martin.

Sooo. This nasty bearded, no bath for 2 years pirate decides this woman is his. She asks if he's going to rape her & he says only if she's not willing. She says she's not and states that it will be rape everytime he comes to her. They dicuss this, and everytime he comes to her, they discuss this rape, using the word rape, so there is no sugar coating it. It is what it is. He cuts off her dress everytime. Lays on top of her and goes at it. Sounds enjoyable huh! Not... Stupid!

He decides she should start to enjoy it so its not rape. OoooKaay... Whatever. She tries & succeeds 3 times to get away from him & he gets her everytime. Telling her she should stay and enjoy herself, then it wouldn't be rape & if she left she would be in worse hands even though she's constantly raped.

Can you say Patty Hurst?

Rape in itself is serious, but this book is shallow & rape is not truly rape I guess according to pirates. He mother and maid both agree with eachother that she should not fight & pretty much enjoy it, because he can be a very nice rapest. After all, he's quite handsome after he shaved.

I was not offended at all by the wording or story. I just thought the whole thing was stupid & I laughed at the stupidity in the logic. Like the whole schmooze romance. Hell! If she'd just enjoy it it changes what it is. Plus it's justified. Whatever! I think the author was drunk when she wrote this! That or dementia settled in!

If you want the spoiler HEA instead of reading this it's below!

(view spoiler) ...more

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Jun 13, 2019 Simona rated it it was ok

Shelves: dominating-hero-biddable-h, dubious-consent-is-rape, heroine-underage, bodice-ripper, rape, gross, epilogue-with-a-kid, historical-pirates, age-difference-10-plus

Pretty much sums up my feelings about this one. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I was hoping something would make up for the lack of graphic details but sadly everything was pretty meh. ...more

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Mar 07, 2008 Slayermel rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: any one who enjoys historical romance

Shelves: own, historical-romance, 2010, american, pirates, female-authors, romance, fiction, pre-2008, re-read

I had originally read this book quite a few years ago and really enjoyed it. This time around I think I enjoyed it just as much.

This book is about Bettina Verlaine who is being sent to Saint Martin to marry her betrothed who she has never met. On her way there the ship she is traveling on is taken by Pirates and Captain Tristan takes Bettina as his prize and is determined to have her. Tristan is a bit of a damaged soul as he has spent his whole life searching from a man named Batista who is res ...more

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Oct 14, 2012 Tutti Dolci rated it liked it

Shelves: paperback, bodice-rippers, historical, donate-sell-trade, kindle, pirate, more-than-1-copy

Eh. Outside of the rape-her-til-she-loves-him part, this story lacked the usual mutual contempt (or downright hatred) from BOTH protagonists that is typical in most Bodice Rippers. Because of that, the hero in this story (Tristan) seemed emotionally submissive from the onset, even though the reader was constantly reminded of how large and fearsome he was. However, the fact that this wisp of a girl (Bettina) was able to best him again and again, utillizing emotional manipulation and his own desir ...more

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topics	posts	views	last activity
What's the Name o...: SOLVED. Romance: Pirates and an orange cover. [s]	6	33	Feb 27, 2018 07:00AM
Historical Romance Help!	3	6	Feb 13, 2018 02:02PM
Should be titled A Rapist Love	3	46	Nov 23, 2014 09:06AM

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About Johanna Lindsey

Johanna Lindsey

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Johanna Helen Howard was born on March 10, 1952 in Germany, where her father, Edwin Dennis Howard, a soldier in the U.S. Army was stationed. The family moved about a great deal when she was young. Her father always dreamed of retiring to Hawaii, and after he passed away in 1964 Johanna and her mother settled there to honor him.

In 1970, when she was still in school, she married Ralph Lindsey, becom ...more