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Burn On, Sweet Fire
SECRET SURRENDER
From Black Jack's pirate lair to the lush green Virginia countryside, beautiful young Robyn Tremonte wove a tangled web of deceit. Trapped by her own lies, she concealed her identity from the rugged sea captain who had saved her life. Then, beneath the furled canvas of a sleek merchantman, she surrendered to ecstasy sharper than a gleaming cutlass, and gave herself to the one man who must never know he had plundered her innocent love.
A shimmering tale of sensuality set against the magnificent backdrop of piracy on the high seas.
From Black Jack's pirate lair to the lush green Virginia countryside, beautiful young Robyn Tremonte wove a tangled web of deceit. Trapped by her own lies, she concealed her identity from the rugged sea captain who had saved her life. Then, beneath the furled canvas of a sleek merchantman, she surrendered to ecstasy sharper than a gleaming cutlass, and gave herself to the one man who must never know he had plundered her innocent love.
A shimmering tale of sensuality set against the magnificent backdrop of piracy on the high seas.
474 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 1, 1987
4 people are currently reading
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About the author
Sandra Dubay
29 books20 followersAlso publishes under the pseudonym Carolyn Chase and J.K.Crane.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
June 2, 2016
Good heavens. I think this may have hit every BR trope in existence
SPOILERS....
* Pirates
* Spitfire h - Robyn (aka Robbie) raised with said pirates
* Colonial planter & playboy H (Court) who happens to own a merchant ship and be planning to marry a suitable society snob (thanks Woodiwiss)
* h dressed as boy and the accompanying shenanigans that go along with the mistaken id
* H takes her virginity thinking she's someone else (because - hey - Robbie is a boy) Woodiwiss did that one too.
* Once revealed as a woman, Robbie with her no nonsense ways and kind heart instantly becomes the toast of the town
* Evil jealous fiance
* Evil villain who wants heroine
* Hero's best friend falls in love with heroine
* Hero crazy jealous and possessive, but too proud to admit his love
* Rape by hero
* Heroine is secretly a heiress of noble blood all along who just happens to be kin to the hero's Duke brother-in-law (small world)
* ETA - heroine is kidnapped by pirates. How could I leave that off the list?
I'm probably forgetting some. Although I get a kick out of the old school crazy, these two were just like two bickering high school kids with overactive hormones who needed their heads bashed together and a good grounding. Nothing ever truly gets resolved between them to my satisfaction. Also, the hero fails rather spectacularly when faced with his one chance to play the white knight when the heroine warns him that the evil baddie is in town and sure to get her. He doesn't believe her and sends her on her way with a pat on the head. Yeah, he does come around after the h is kidnapped and feels bad about it, but by that time it was too late for me or the heroine to care. Plus that's never discussed. He never says 'sorry I didn't take you seriously and you could have died.'. Nope. We just go on to the next improbable plot point.
That's the problem I have with many of the lesser known BRs. I guess they are lesser known for a reason because often they just go from conflict to conflict without ever pausing for any sort of reflection, so some opportunity for great angst is just lost in it all.
In a category romance length book I can deal with the lack of a great resolution. The writer is, after all, restricted to a page count. But in well over 400 pages, I want some greater emotional depth. I pretty much didn't care what happened to these people. I didn't feel the pain or empathize at all, except in the case of what happens to the evil OW. And we find out that the pirates were too lazy to hunt and ate the heroine's horse. I felt bad about that too. Otherwise pfffft :P
Bonus: I'm a huge fan of Black Sails and while I knew that Anne Bonny's character is based on a real person, I did not realize that Jack Rackam was as well. So, that was a cool little bit of info. I'll have to do some googling on that. According to this book he was known as Calico Jack Rackam. Hmmm... never heard that on Black Sails, so not sure where the 'Calico' comes from.
SPOILERS....
* Pirates
* Spitfire h - Robyn (aka Robbie) raised with said pirates
* Colonial planter & playboy H (Court) who happens to own a merchant ship and be planning to marry a suitable society snob (thanks Woodiwiss)
* h dressed as boy and the accompanying shenanigans that go along with the mistaken id
* H takes her virginity thinking she's someone else (because - hey - Robbie is a boy) Woodiwiss did that one too.
* Once revealed as a woman, Robbie with her no nonsense ways and kind heart instantly becomes the toast of the town
* Evil jealous fiance
* Evil villain who wants heroine
* Hero's best friend falls in love with heroine
* Hero crazy jealous and possessive, but too proud to admit his love
* Rape by hero
* Heroine is secretly a heiress of noble blood all along who just happens to be kin to the hero's Duke brother-in-law (small world)
* ETA - heroine is kidnapped by pirates. How could I leave that off the list?
I'm probably forgetting some. Although I get a kick out of the old school crazy, these two were just like two bickering high school kids with overactive hormones who needed their heads bashed together and a good grounding. Nothing ever truly gets resolved between them to my satisfaction. Also, the hero fails rather spectacularly when faced with his one chance to play the white knight when the heroine warns him that the evil baddie is in town and sure to get her. He doesn't believe her and sends her on her way with a pat on the head. Yeah, he does come around after the h is kidnapped and feels bad about it, but by that time it was too late for me or the heroine to care. Plus that's never discussed. He never says 'sorry I didn't take you seriously and you could have died.'. Nope. We just go on to the next improbable plot point.
That's the problem I have with many of the lesser known BRs. I guess they are lesser known for a reason because often they just go from conflict to conflict without ever pausing for any sort of reflection, so some opportunity for great angst is just lost in it all.
In a category romance length book I can deal with the lack of a great resolution. The writer is, after all, restricted to a page count. But in well over 400 pages, I want some greater emotional depth. I pretty much didn't care what happened to these people. I didn't feel the pain or empathize at all, except in the case of what happens to the evil OW. And we find out that the pirates were too lazy to hunt and ate the heroine's horse. I felt bad about that too. Otherwise pfffft :P
Bonus: I'm a huge fan of Black Sails and while I knew that Anne Bonny's character is based on a real person, I did not realize that Jack Rackam was as well. So, that was a cool little bit of info. I'll have to do some googling on that. According to this book he was known as Calico Jack Rackam. Hmmm... never heard that on Black Sails, so not sure where the 'Calico' comes from.
November 19, 2012
I was really hovering between two or three stars, because there were parts I liked, but ultimately, I felt rather unsatisfied with the book, so it gets two. (This review contains spoilers, so read at your own risk.)
The hero treats the heroine like crap for large portions of the book, but there is not a single apology anywhere. Even when she calls him out on his hypocritical BS, he brushes it off, and she seems to forget about it.
The hero is quite clear about his hypocrisies right from the beginning. He boasts of his conquests, and then turns around and tells the heroine (who he thinks is a boy) that there are two different types of females in the world. There are ladies, who are to be respected and treated well. Then there are women, who are perfectly okay to seduce. Oh, and then there are doxies, who are there for your pleasure, and whose sensibilities you don't have to worry about. (Interestingly enough, the hero had already slept with the other woman, despite her ostensibly being a lady, and she had had numerous other lovers besides.)
Around this point, the hero and heroine sleep together, but the hero thinks she's his sister's governess. He only feels slightly bad when he realizes that the woman he slept with was a virgin. Then he finds out that the heroine is actually a girl, so decides they're going to make a lady of her by passing her off as a cousin by marriage. (I'm not entirely sure why the hero decided to, but he did.)
Then stuff happens, and the hero and heroine have sex again (the hero still unaware that they had before). Only this time, the heroine isn't a virgin, and the hero flips out. He had been starting to love her, but now he finds out she's just a lying slut! He ignores her, so when his friend starts courting her, the heroine lets him kiss her. The hero's sister, in love with the friend, sees this, and reports to the hero, while saying she wants to leave for a while. The hero then sees them kissing again, and is convinced the heroine is sleeping with the friend. The hero then sends off the sister so he'll have the heroine alone. He gets drunk, then brutally rapes the heroine because he's upset that she wasn't a virgin (completely ignoring the fact that he's nowhere near that state, either).
The heroine leaves to live with the friend's aunt. The hero confronts the friend, who says he was never the heroine's lover. But he goes to confront her, and seems to maybe be on the way to apologizing, but then ends up swearing at and insulting the heroine. The hero is then convinced she must have slept with half the pirates on her father's crew. He then, rather stalkerishly, watches her window every night. The heroine eventually gives in to this (?) and goes out to have sex with him on the grass. The next day, she gets an invitation to his engagement ball with another woman. The heroine is, obviously, not happy.
Anyway, this continues for a while, with the hero refusing to forgive (ha!) the heroine for not being a virgin, but still trying to get her to be his mistress, since obviously he can't marry a notorious pirate's daughter. There was a bunch of drama with the other woman, and I actually felt pretty sorry for her in the end, even if she was a bitch. The hero then finds out it really was the heroine he slept with, and that she was a virgin, and he feels really bad about raping her. For a paragraph or two. But she's been kidnapped! So then there was more drama with pirates that used to be part of the heroine's father's crew, but the hero manages to get her rescued.
And after the heroine insists for the whole book that her mother was a lady, it's revealed precisely what lady she was
And the book ends. No apologies for anything he's done, not even for raping her, and he wasn't even all that remorseful about it until he found out she really was a virgin. And the issue of only marrying her because she's a lady is just glossed over. Yes, he was in love with her, but there was no evidence that he had actually decided to marry her until after he found out her true identity.
So while this book did have its fun parts (I mean, the heroine's a pirate's daughter dressed as a boy!), overall I didn't really like it much, and the hero was a huge hypocritical a**hole. (Well, pretty typical for an '80s/early '90s hero. But still.) At least there was no cheating, despite the opportunity. (And is it sad that I have to say that?)
The hero treats the heroine like crap for large portions of the book, but there is not a single apology anywhere. Even when she calls him out on his hypocritical BS, he brushes it off, and she seems to forget about it.
The hero is quite clear about his hypocrisies right from the beginning. He boasts of his conquests, and then turns around and tells the heroine (who he thinks is a boy) that there are two different types of females in the world. There are ladies, who are to be respected and treated well. Then there are women, who are perfectly okay to seduce. Oh, and then there are doxies, who are there for your pleasure, and whose sensibilities you don't have to worry about. (Interestingly enough, the hero had already slept with the other woman, despite her ostensibly being a lady, and she had had numerous other lovers besides.)
Around this point, the hero and heroine sleep together, but the hero thinks she's his sister's governess. He only feels slightly bad when he realizes that the woman he slept with was a virgin. Then he finds out that the heroine is actually a girl, so decides they're going to make a lady of her by passing her off as a cousin by marriage. (I'm not entirely sure why the hero decided to, but he did.)
Then stuff happens, and the hero and heroine have sex again (the hero still unaware that they had before). Only this time, the heroine isn't a virgin, and the hero flips out. He had been starting to love her, but now he finds out she's just a lying slut! He ignores her, so when his friend starts courting her, the heroine lets him kiss her. The hero's sister, in love with the friend, sees this, and reports to the hero, while saying she wants to leave for a while. The hero then sees them kissing again, and is convinced the heroine is sleeping with the friend. The hero then sends off the sister so he'll have the heroine alone. He gets drunk, then brutally rapes the heroine because he's upset that she wasn't a virgin (completely ignoring the fact that he's nowhere near that state, either).
The heroine leaves to live with the friend's aunt. The hero confronts the friend, who says he was never the heroine's lover. But he goes to confront her, and seems to maybe be on the way to apologizing, but then ends up swearing at and insulting the heroine. The hero is then convinced she must have slept with half the pirates on her father's crew. He then, rather stalkerishly, watches her window every night. The heroine eventually gives in to this (?) and goes out to have sex with him on the grass. The next day, she gets an invitation to his engagement ball with another woman. The heroine is, obviously, not happy.
Anyway, this continues for a while, with the hero refusing to forgive (ha!) the heroine for not being a virgin, but still trying to get her to be his mistress, since obviously he can't marry a notorious pirate's daughter. There was a bunch of drama with the other woman, and I actually felt pretty sorry for her in the end, even if she was a bitch. The hero then finds out it really was the heroine he slept with, and that she was a virgin, and he feels really bad about raping her. For a paragraph or two. But she's been kidnapped! So then there was more drama with pirates that used to be part of the heroine's father's crew, but the hero manages to get her rescued.
And after the heroine insists for the whole book that her mother was a lady, it's revealed precisely what lady she was
And the book ends. No apologies for anything he's done, not even for raping her, and he wasn't even all that remorseful about it until he found out she really was a virgin. And the issue of only marrying her because she's a lady is just glossed over. Yes, he was in love with her, but there was no evidence that he had actually decided to marry her until after he found out her true identity.
So while this book did have its fun parts (I mean, the heroine's a pirate's daughter dressed as a boy!), overall I didn't really like it much, and the hero was a huge hypocritical a**hole. (Well, pretty typical for an '80s/early '90s hero. But still.) At least there was no cheating, despite the opportunity. (And is it sad that I have to say that?)
January 25, 2011
A true summer holiday trashy romance read! This book is a classic bodice ripper.
October 17, 2011
So terribly ridiculous, I couldn't help but like it!
October 12, 2022
Usually when reading historical romance, while the heroine is very young, and the hero is youngish, I still feel that because of the time period, there is a bit more maturity to them, compared to people of the same age in a contemporary romance written in the current time. With this novel, written in 1991 and set in the early 1700's, the hero and heroine rivaled a couple from a contemporary new adult novel written today. This book was a soap opera. It was good, and it kept my interest throughout, but there wasn't any depth, and there aren't scenes that are really going to stick with me.
September 21, 2021
while I won't say it didn't have a few flaws, for the most part this was a great story, with enough drama, as well as humor, (not to mention entertaining characters) make it a page turner.
Though it begins with a familiar device (a heroine disguised as a boy), the reason behind it is different. Instead of a willful, trapped heiress running away from home to avoid an arranged marriage, or trying to escape a lecherous guardian, we have here a pirate's daughter, who has lived as a boy her whole life, on a pirate island off the Carolina coast, where her notorious father Black Jack Tremont, wants to keep her sex hidden so she won't be subjected to the lusts of the other men while he's away. Her name's Robyn but she's known as Robbie, and she's made the best of her unusual circumstances. (Her mother was one of the British gentry; the ship she was on was captured by Black Jack, who fell for her and took her to the island, where she stayed and married him of her own free will. Sadly, she died when Robbie was born.)
Captain Court Lennox, a Virginia plantation owner, makes a reluctant detour to the island, to bring Black Jack home to supposedly die. His rather girlish looking son (18 and no signs of needing a shave) ends up making the return trip, as Rene Le Clerc, the worst of the bunch, has discovered Robbie's secret and wants to use it to his advantage. Robbie ends up with the job of cabin boy and shares quarters with the captain (won't go into details but it's a bit too close for comfort for a young woman who finds herself attracted to a man while pretending to be one, and a man who finds himself having feelings he doesn't dare acknowledge!) To make matters worse, Court's younger sister, Ariel, is onboard (they had been returning from visiting their married sister in London) and she becomes interested in the new cabin boy! Talk about a tangled web!
Things get even more entangled, when Ariel discovers the truth, which leads to a nighttime tryst between Court and Robbie, whom he thinks is Louise, Ariel's former governess and companion. The results are Robbie losing her virginity and Court getting a rather surprising reaction from Louise the next day! The scene where Court discovers the truth about Robbie's gender is a riot!
When they arrive at the plantation, Robbie soon transforms into a lady, though her language leaves something to be desired, and captures the eye of Court's best friend, Brock, who happens to be the man Ariel loves, though he thinks of her just as Court's kid sister. Soon, Court finds himself jealous of the time Robbie spends with Brock, while she feels the same about Juletta, the spoiled southern belle Court plans to marry.
There's one part of the story that maybe could have been done different, and I'm sure will bother a lot of readers. Court and Robbie, when they're not arguing, try to fight their strong chemistry, but on a trip back from Charles Town, that changes. Black Jack managed to survive and was back in business for a time, until someone betrayed him and he was sentenced to hang. Court arranged for Robbie to have a few last moments with her father, and later have him buried at sea. The emotional ordeal lead to Robbie and Court making love, but when Court discovers she wasn't a virgin (not knowing it was thanks to him on their previous voyage) he's hurt and angry, as Robbie had told him she had never slept with any man (and never told him the truth about the night of mistaken identity) so he now thinks she lied. Soon he suspects Brock, and unfortunately, a hurt Ariel saw Brock and Robbie kissing in the parlor, and later Court saw the same thing when he discovered them on a picnic by the river. (Both times, Robbie just needed comfort, as she couldn't understand Court's sudden coldness, and she stopped things before they went further.) This leads to Court feeling a need for revenge, and he's pretty harsh about it, as he gets drunk, forces himself on Robbie (though he regrets that when he sobers up), pursues her at Brock's great-aunt's house, where she stays after he attacked her, seduces her the next time, then right after that announces his engagement to Jetta! Not exactly hero material for the time being.
Everyone has a something on their plate: Robbie's angry and heartbroken at Court's treatment of her, Court fights his true feelings, both because of Robbie's "deception", and because of his idea that, because she's not part of aristocratic society, (and her true identity has to be kept secret) he's better off marrying Jetta. He later tells a furious Robbie that he could make her his mistress, if not his wife! Ariel, meanwhile, is miserable that Brock has no clue how much she loves him, and Juletta is frustrated that Court's real affections are with Robbie, and vows to get revenge.
(Ironically, despite her "improper" background, Robbie's a good natured, caring person, with high moral standards, as Court, the man she loves, is the only one she slept with, whereas Juletta, a so-called "lady", is selfish, vindictive, and Court is just one of many men who've shared her bed.)
There's much more to the tale, as Juletta's vengeance backfires, Le Clerc shows up and stalks Robbie (who told Court, but he thought she imagined it), social events bring surprises, and kidnapping, rescue, more misunderstandings, arguments, passion, a long lost family member, and a proposal made at the worst possible time, followed by a sea chase, all add up to a fun way to spend your spare time. The perfect book for a rainy day indoors or a sunny day outside. Any time, in fact.
(BTW: it's occurred to me that, taken by today's political climate, both Robbie and Court can easily be accused of rape, Court because of his attacking her while drunk, and Robbie for letting him have sex with her while thinking she was Louise. Could you imagine the headline news today, quite a sensation it would be, with this quirky double rape case! They'd both end up in jail!)
Though it begins with a familiar device (a heroine disguised as a boy), the reason behind it is different. Instead of a willful, trapped heiress running away from home to avoid an arranged marriage, or trying to escape a lecherous guardian, we have here a pirate's daughter, who has lived as a boy her whole life, on a pirate island off the Carolina coast, where her notorious father Black Jack Tremont, wants to keep her sex hidden so she won't be subjected to the lusts of the other men while he's away. Her name's Robyn but she's known as Robbie, and she's made the best of her unusual circumstances. (Her mother was one of the British gentry; the ship she was on was captured by Black Jack, who fell for her and took her to the island, where she stayed and married him of her own free will. Sadly, she died when Robbie was born.)
Captain Court Lennox, a Virginia plantation owner, makes a reluctant detour to the island, to bring Black Jack home to supposedly die. His rather girlish looking son (18 and no signs of needing a shave) ends up making the return trip, as Rene Le Clerc, the worst of the bunch, has discovered Robbie's secret and wants to use it to his advantage. Robbie ends up with the job of cabin boy and shares quarters with the captain (won't go into details but it's a bit too close for comfort for a young woman who finds herself attracted to a man while pretending to be one, and a man who finds himself having feelings he doesn't dare acknowledge!) To make matters worse, Court's younger sister, Ariel, is onboard (they had been returning from visiting their married sister in London) and she becomes interested in the new cabin boy! Talk about a tangled web!
Things get even more entangled, when Ariel discovers the truth, which leads to a nighttime tryst between Court and Robbie, whom he thinks is Louise, Ariel's former governess and companion. The results are Robbie losing her virginity and Court getting a rather surprising reaction from Louise the next day! The scene where Court discovers the truth about Robbie's gender is a riot!
When they arrive at the plantation, Robbie soon transforms into a lady, though her language leaves something to be desired, and captures the eye of Court's best friend, Brock, who happens to be the man Ariel loves, though he thinks of her just as Court's kid sister. Soon, Court finds himself jealous of the time Robbie spends with Brock, while she feels the same about Juletta, the spoiled southern belle Court plans to marry.
There's one part of the story that maybe could have been done different, and I'm sure will bother a lot of readers. Court and Robbie, when they're not arguing, try to fight their strong chemistry, but on a trip back from Charles Town, that changes. Black Jack managed to survive and was back in business for a time, until someone betrayed him and he was sentenced to hang. Court arranged for Robbie to have a few last moments with her father, and later have him buried at sea. The emotional ordeal lead to Robbie and Court making love, but when Court discovers she wasn't a virgin (not knowing it was thanks to him on their previous voyage) he's hurt and angry, as Robbie had told him she had never slept with any man (and never told him the truth about the night of mistaken identity) so he now thinks she lied. Soon he suspects Brock, and unfortunately, a hurt Ariel saw Brock and Robbie kissing in the parlor, and later Court saw the same thing when he discovered them on a picnic by the river. (Both times, Robbie just needed comfort, as she couldn't understand Court's sudden coldness, and she stopped things before they went further.) This leads to Court feeling a need for revenge, and he's pretty harsh about it, as he gets drunk, forces himself on Robbie (though he regrets that when he sobers up), pursues her at Brock's great-aunt's house, where she stays after he attacked her, seduces her the next time, then right after that announces his engagement to Jetta! Not exactly hero material for the time being.
Everyone has a something on their plate: Robbie's angry and heartbroken at Court's treatment of her, Court fights his true feelings, both because of Robbie's "deception", and because of his idea that, because she's not part of aristocratic society, (and her true identity has to be kept secret) he's better off marrying Jetta. He later tells a furious Robbie that he could make her his mistress, if not his wife! Ariel, meanwhile, is miserable that Brock has no clue how much she loves him, and Juletta is frustrated that Court's real affections are with Robbie, and vows to get revenge.
(Ironically, despite her "improper" background, Robbie's a good natured, caring person, with high moral standards, as Court, the man she loves, is the only one she slept with, whereas Juletta, a so-called "lady", is selfish, vindictive, and Court is just one of many men who've shared her bed.)
There's much more to the tale, as Juletta's vengeance backfires, Le Clerc shows up and stalks Robbie (who told Court, but he thought she imagined it), social events bring surprises, and kidnapping, rescue, more misunderstandings, arguments, passion, a long lost family member, and a proposal made at the worst possible time, followed by a sea chase, all add up to a fun way to spend your spare time. The perfect book for a rainy day indoors or a sunny day outside. Any time, in fact.
(BTW: it's occurred to me that, taken by today's political climate, both Robbie and Court can easily be accused of rape, Court because of his attacking her while drunk, and Robbie for letting him have sex with her while thinking she was Louise. Could you imagine the headline news today, quite a sensation it would be, with this quirky double rape case! They'd both end up in jail!)
December 16, 2021
<3 Hands down my favorite book to date. I’ll admit the jargon is a bit much but is fitting for the setting & time period. This spicy pirate romance novel has everything a reader could ask for with twists at every turn and a satisfying ending ;b (without saying too much or spoiling ANY of the myriad surprises)! :D Please give this book a chance if you like sexy adventure stories!!! <3
October 2, 2019
If repeated rape and constant abuse turn you on, this book's for you. I love a tempestuous romance, but I don't find cruelty and unbridled male ego an aphrodisiac.
January 11, 2017
*Warning: Spoilers*
This book was like a train wreck - I hated it, but couldn't stop reading. I kept hoping it would get better, but it didn't.
The hero rapes the heroine REPEATEDLY throughout the novel. She says no (and the author makes it known that she actually fears him and MEANS "no"), yet he ignores her and insists she's just being coy. Um, no. He is ruthless to her, just because he believes she isn't a virgin (like that's supposed to give you the right to treat someone like that???). He claims to love her, but insists on marrying another woman.
Brock is the true hero...most of the time. He's sweet and caring, but he lacks that "adventure" that we usually look for in a hero. I didn't like the fact that he was all upset about Robbie being raped, but then suddenly put it behind him and continued socializing with Court.
Minerva is conveniently ill every time something happens that she would otherwise have been witness to. And then, knowing Le Clerc is in town, she leaves Robbie at home alone to attend the funeral. Seriously??
Ariel was a good character, but she's incredibly clueless. She seems (on and off) to notice Robbie's feelings for Court, but then either 'forgets' or is just oblivious to their actual relationship.
And Louise - she's obviously upset about what Court says to her, yet she returns with her family at the end and is perfectly comfortable around him all of a sudden. Then, once that storyline has been tossed under the rug in an attempt to quickly move on to other things, she just disappears from the story.
Then there's Robbie herself...
Even at the end, two pirates come to her aid and she doesn't give them a second thought as she leaves and the island is taken over by the British. Did they die? Were they imprisoned? She couldn't care less.
And the rose window that Jack commissioned? ALL of his treasure went into it? I find that hard to believe, considering he continued pirating after it would have been built. The duke doesn't make it sound like a recent thing. So where is the rest of the treasure? Sandra Dubay has no answer for a possible treasure location, so she pulled this out of thin air in order to quickly do away with any further questions on the subject.
This was a haphazardly thrown-together script that attempted to fill the pages with WAY too much content. It failed miserably. The characters are unlikable, the hero is a villain and the storyline often makes no sense at all as it bumps along and 'loses' pieces along the way. It feels like someone's jumbled dream and the reader is left with too many questions at the end for this type of novel.
This book was like a train wreck - I hated it, but couldn't stop reading. I kept hoping it would get better, but it didn't.
The hero rapes the heroine REPEATEDLY throughout the novel. She says no (and the author makes it known that she actually fears him and MEANS "no"), yet he ignores her and insists she's just being coy. Um, no. He is ruthless to her, just because he believes she isn't a virgin (like that's supposed to give you the right to treat someone like that???). He claims to love her, but insists on marrying another woman.
Brock is the true hero...most of the time. He's sweet and caring, but he lacks that "adventure" that we usually look for in a hero. I didn't like the fact that he was all upset about Robbie being raped, but then suddenly put it behind him and continued socializing with Court.
Minerva is conveniently ill every time something happens that she would otherwise have been witness to. And then, knowing Le Clerc is in town, she leaves Robbie at home alone to attend the funeral. Seriously??
Ariel was a good character, but she's incredibly clueless. She seems (on and off) to notice Robbie's feelings for Court, but then either 'forgets' or is just oblivious to their actual relationship.
And Louise - she's obviously upset about what Court says to her, yet she returns with her family at the end and is perfectly comfortable around him all of a sudden. Then, once that storyline has been tossed under the rug in an attempt to quickly move on to other things, she just disappears from the story.
Then there's Robbie herself...
Even at the end, two pirates come to her aid and she doesn't give them a second thought as she leaves and the island is taken over by the British. Did they die? Were they imprisoned? She couldn't care less.
And the rose window that Jack commissioned? ALL of his treasure went into it? I find that hard to believe, considering he continued pirating after it would have been built. The duke doesn't make it sound like a recent thing. So where is the rest of the treasure? Sandra Dubay has no answer for a possible treasure location, so she pulled this out of thin air in order to quickly do away with any further questions on the subject.
This was a haphazardly thrown-together script that attempted to fill the pages with WAY too much content. It failed miserably. The characters are unlikable, the hero is a villain and the storyline often makes no sense at all as it bumps along and 'loses' pieces along the way. It feels like someone's jumbled dream and the reader is left with too many questions at the end for this type of novel.
February 14, 2012
Rated 3.5
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews