A Pirate's Love

I have been a huge fan of Johanna Lindsay's novels for a long time, especially the Mallory novels. But this book offended me so much that I wonder if I will ever be able to view her the same way. The "heroine" was repeatedly raped by her captor - and it was not the typical sex where the woman has to be persuaded and then it is wonderful. This woman was repeatedly RAPED, screamed through it and had bruises on her wrists to show for it. Then for some reason which is not apparent to the reader, the "heroine" falls in love with her captor. If you are a Lindsay fan, SKIP THIS ONE!

Let me just say...reading material is one's own choice. For those ladies that entered into reading this novel unaware it was a true "bodice ripper" (as many of Lindsey's novels are) I'm truly sorry if you were taken by surprise or offended. The hero is rough and rapes and seduces the heroine throughout the novel. Tristan is all man, very confidant and makes no excuses for himself or his actions. He takes what he wants when he wants, and that is a sexy fantasy for some women. If you don't enjoy bodice rippers I 100% understand and respect your choices and let me tell you here and now you will NOT like this book. This is most certainly a non-consent relationship in the beginning (and middle) and parts of the end. I've noticed almost all of the five and four star reviews on here seem to be voted down, as if women who did not enjoy this novel feel it's their right to punish other women for enjoying A Pirate's Love. Myself, and other women have very much enjoyed Tristan's rough loving for years and our reviews shouldn't be "voted down" simply because you are offended that we were turned on. This is FANTASY rape and as always Lindsey does it SO well!

Vile...disgusting...degrading!!!

Need i say more??? The hero is a lowlife creepo who rapes virgins and feels no remorse!!!He is the villian! How can anyone fall in love with the creep?? Do you fall in love with a rapist just because he's a good looking idiot??

Take my advise, please don't read this book!

I, along with many other Lindsey fans, like most of her earlier works. But this one just grossed the hell out of me!
I have read other reviews where people say rape is a standard thing in a lot of romances. Maybe. But what I like about romance novels, is that usually, the man, while aggressive, has a modecum of decency. Meaning, if they know a woman has never been with a man before, they won't just hump on her day and night! The won't just ram themselves into her! But of course, this guy was a pirate, so I guess he had no manners.
This is what went on in 'A Pirate's Love'(by the way, it also went on in 'Fires In The Winter' and 'Captive Bride'). Another reviewer here said it best: 'Bettina was nothing to Tristan but a body to relieve his lust upon'. I never grew to like him and of course, he was never sorry. What's romantic about that?
I have to also say, I didn't feel too much sympathy for Tristan's little 'childhood trauma'. He watches his mother get raped repeatedly as a child, then grows up and inflicts the same kind of pain on a young girl?
A woman wants to feel what the woman feels in romances. There is no way I'd want to be Bettina. I thought the pregnancy was sick and I would've thrown myself in the ocean the minute I got the chance, before some scuzzy pirate put his hands on me again! Like I said in my title, maybe Johanna Lindsey was on crack at the time she wrote this book.

If you're in the mood for a horror story in the romance section of the bookstore grab this atrocity. It's brutal rape after brutal rape with illogical characters and development. There's no seduction here. In the beginning Tristan threatens to torture and kill the members of her crew (by cutting off their fingers, ears, toes, etc. before throwing them to the sharks) unless she allows him to rape her. When she opens her mouth to tell him how much she is not enjoying the experience, he roughly and painfully forces himself on her. This happens over and over. Lesson learned... fight your attacker in any way and you'll hurt worse.

In the end, she's pregnant, in labor, having been tortured by the man who raped and murdered the hero's mother but she insanely professes love for her rapist hero.

This book is so disgusting one wonders why it remains in print. It is most definitely not a romance novel. There's simply no romance or love in this book. It is a plain old boddice ripper and tale of brutality. I suppose some readers who enjoy rape fantasies (and continually torching puppy's eyes with lit cigarettes) get a kick out of it.

But if you want to see how the villains in all of today's romances view their world, then this is their idea of ::cough:: romance ::gag::.

I get everyone has their own thing. I sometimes find forced seduction books can be quite sexy. This was not. There was no seduction, there was just rape. You can't sugar coat this. For anyone who read 'Captive bride' by Lindsey, that was tame by comparison. Captive Bride was VERY borderline, but at least she gives in because she enjoys it. In this, it was just rape. How on earth are you supposed to like a hero who by his own admission painfully raped a woman repeatedly who VERY clearly was not keen, just because he wanted her? And then he only ends up marrying her because he's not allowed to have sex with her until he does.

The fact that the leading lady, Bettina, has a maid who doesn't seem to care she's being raped, and a mother who essentially shrugs her shoulders at it, means it's no wonder she ends up 'falling' for him. With zero support and everyone telling her she's being silly for resisting, what else is she supposed to do.

I also dislike the fact that the rape is all made out to be Bettina's fault because if she wasn't so 'stubborn' and would just give in then she'd apparently enjoy it. Her resistance is put down to a stubborn personality and that she's displaced her anger of her father on to her captor. Um, no. Pretty sure her resistance was because she didn't want to be raped.

Cue the ending, where somehow she magically falls in love in the last two pages. Ugh.

If you took all the rape out of this story, and maybe added in a gentle seduction instead, it might have made more sense and been quite likable. As it was, it wasn't.

I give this books 5 stars not because I love Johanna Lindsey and hate to see her books get less than they deserve or because I like to be in the minority (which I generally am) but because I thought this book was great. I agree it was extreme but sometimes the traditional romance can get boring and you need something to spice it up.

I'm a pretty big Lindsey fan, but this was the worst Lindsey book I've ever read! The fact that the "pirate," Tristan, forced himself on Bettina day after day was NOT at all romantic. I found it upsetting. If Tristan wanted Bettina's love, he just had to love her without forcing her. This book is not worth reading. Thankfully this is one of Lindsey's first books. I'm guessing that she didn't have the romance "formula" down yet. Her other books are much better and don't involve the main character constantly raping the women he supposedly loves.

I was very disappointed in this story. Tristan repeatedly rapes Bettina. He also insists on calling it "making love". Bettina tries to get away several times. The first time she is thrown in jail only to be released into Tristans custody. The second time she manages to make it to her betrotheds land only to be kidnapped again. She manages to get away then only to be captured by the first man that tried to rape her. She finally gets away from him to find her betrothed. She is with him for only 24 hrs before Tristan kidnaps her again. She then finds herslef pregnant with her rapists baby. During all of this her made and her mother both try to talk her into giving in to the rape and finding love with Tristan since he is such a handsome man. Bettina finally decides that she loves Tristan so now that she no longer considers it rape it's now time for her to be kidnapped yet again. So now Tristan must go and save her from her latest kidnapper. seriously this poor girl is kidnapped 1. by Tristan 2. Jail then handed back to Tristan 3. Shawn the sea dog 4. Antoine (the first attempted rapist) 5. Tristan 6. Bastidia and finally back to Tristan again. So the whole book can be summed up as follows Kidnap, rape, repeat.

This book does not even deserve one star.

And you know, when I was buying it, I had a gut feeling that it might not be my cup of tea but good grief, I never expected it to be so revolting. I know that it is only a book, and I wouldn't be so outraged if it hadn't left my skin crawling for days after I literally threw it into my trash can.

I could have easily handled the rape had it happened only once. I could have handled it, as well as the all-around dispicable treatment of the heroine, had the hero shown remorse for hurting the woman he supposedly came to "love". I could have believed that the heroine could "love" and trust said hero had he done a damned thing to earn such feelings from anyone.

I realize that society's views on many things were different, in these novels, from those views in today's society. I realize that this is a HISTORICAL novel. However, someone is clearly forgetting that is is also supposed to be a romantic novel. So, tell me, where did the idea come from that a woman who falls in love with the man who repeatedly, mercilessly, and shamelessly rapes her...is romantic? Because it is not romantic. It's vile and it is disgusting.

I believe I will now conclude my review, before the feelings that have risen inside me once again induced by thoughts of this piece of trash cause me to set something on fire. In short, if you like rape, this is the book for you. If not, it's a waste of your money.