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Pirates #1
Island Flame
Bestselling, award-winning author Karen Robards brings to life two extraordinary characters--an aristocratic beauty and a notorious pirate--in a love story that sizzles with passionate adventure and unbridled desire. . . .
Lady Catherine Aldley was en route to London when pirates attacked her ship. Just in time, Captain Jonathan Hale rescued her from his own men, sweeping her into his arms, staking his claim on the pampered daughter of England's ambassador to Portugal. All Catherine had were her wits and the will to beat her captor at his own game. His searing kisses kindled unfamiliar passions, but she vowed to make him her prisoner of desire. . . .
He was a legendary pirate, daring, triumphant, free. Jonathan Hale never took captives and always escaped--until he saw the headstrong beauty he couldn't leave behind. She was fire and ice, a lady outraged, a tigress in his arms. Cathy refused to be treated like chattel, yet yielded to his sensual invasion as she conquered his body and soul. She made loving truly dangerous, exposing his deepest fears--and his mutinous heart. . . .
Lady Catherine Aldley was en route to London when pirates attacked her ship. Just in time, Captain Jonathan Hale rescued her from his own men, sweeping her into his arms, staking his claim on the pampered daughter of England's ambassador to Portugal. All Catherine had were her wits and the will to beat her captor at his own game. His searing kisses kindled unfamiliar passions, but she vowed to make him her prisoner of desire. . . .
He was a legendary pirate, daring, triumphant, free. Jonathan Hale never took captives and always escaped--until he saw the headstrong beauty he couldn't leave behind. She was fire and ice, a lady outraged, a tigress in his arms. Cathy refused to be treated like chattel, yet yielded to his sensual invasion as she conquered his body and soul. She made loving truly dangerous, exposing his deepest fears--and his mutinous heart. . . .
384 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1981
88 people are currently reading
1834 people want to read
About the author
Karen Robards
135 books3,240 followersKaren Robards is the New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of more than fifty books and one novella. She has won multiple awards including six Affaire de Coeur Silver Pen Awards for favorite author.
Karen has been writing since she was very young, and was first published nationally in the December 1973 Reader's Digest. She sold her first romance novel, ISLAND FLAME, when she was 24. It was published by Leisure Books in 1981 and is still in print. After that, she dropped out of law school to pursue her writing career.
Karen was recently described by The Daily Mail as "one of the most reliable thriller....writers in the world."
Karen has been writing since she was very young, and was first published nationally in the December 1973 Reader's Digest. She sold her first romance novel, ISLAND FLAME, when she was 24. It was published by Leisure Books in 1981 and is still in print. After that, she dropped out of law school to pursue her writing career.
Karen was recently described by The Daily Mail as "one of the most reliable thriller....writers in the world."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 154 reviews
March 27, 2022
surprisingly not horrible pirate romance. definitely readable, like addictively readable. fast-paced, dialogue wasn't too terrible, and Robards can paint an evocative picture, felt like I was there. she also likes painting a picture of the pirate's bod. cover ignores the many hairy as an ape descriptions but does get heroine's hair color right. so I guess we'll call it even when it comes to the cover's hair imagery.
pretty rough at times, at the beginning and the end. rough as in rape. including a very mean spanking, which was a first for me. also some ongoing bathing of each other by our hero and heroine, another first. these two get really into each other. pleasant island times in the middle, my favorite part, I guess I'm a softie. heroine starts off awful and becomes not awful. was definitely rooting for her in the last third. hero is a psycho but sometimes very pleasant when not radiating cold silent treatment energy or raping the love of his life. neither character has too many dimensions that's for sure.
not enough historical stuff and not enough actual pirating. these are things I want!
2.5 stars, rounded up. which makes me feel kinda guilty. should I be giving rape romances 3 stars? I mean I just gave an Andre Gide book 1 star. mark, your tastes are questionable to say the least. man the lack of morality on display.
had to laugh at some of these angry reaction reviews. like the reviewers didn't know exactly what they were getting into. haha don't front, not buying it. this is a pirate romance and y'all knew that meant rape by pirate.
Pirate Rapemance Ranking:
#1: Bound by the Heart (good history, great battle scenes)
#2: Island Flame (best heroine of the 3 books I've read but that's not exactly saying a lot)
#3: A Pirate's Love (felt like it was written by a romantic concentration camp guard)
I think I understand Pirate Rape Romance formula now, it's basically: (1) pirate grabs girl and within a few pages it's hammer time - girl hates it but body betrays her etc.; (2) girl falls in love with pirate and pirate falls in love too but both never want to say I Love You because reasons; (3) sexy idyllic times in middle of novel; (4) bizarre nonsense happens usually based on misunderstanding, pirate gets punished; (5) misunderstanding leads to pirate being mean again and author gets to write one last rape scene; (6) they finally say I Love You and happily ever after happens very quickly, like the author is spent and just had to turn over and pass out.
now that I get the formula, not sure I need to read another pirate lolromancelol. but I will still be reading plenty of bodice rippers! they are way too addictive for me to stop.
pretty rough at times, at the beginning and the end. rough as in rape. including a very mean spanking, which was a first for me. also some ongoing bathing of each other by our hero and heroine, another first. these two get really into each other. pleasant island times in the middle, my favorite part, I guess I'm a softie. heroine starts off awful and becomes not awful. was definitely rooting for her in the last third. hero is a psycho but sometimes very pleasant when not radiating cold silent treatment energy or raping the love of his life. neither character has too many dimensions that's for sure.
not enough historical stuff and not enough actual pirating. these are things I want!
2.5 stars, rounded up. which makes me feel kinda guilty. should I be giving rape romances 3 stars? I mean I just gave an Andre Gide book 1 star. mark, your tastes are questionable to say the least. man the lack of morality on display.
had to laugh at some of these angry reaction reviews. like the reviewers didn't know exactly what they were getting into. haha don't front, not buying it. this is a pirate romance and y'all knew that meant rape by pirate.
Pirate Rapemance Ranking:
#1: Bound by the Heart (good history, great battle scenes)
#2: Island Flame (best heroine of the 3 books I've read but that's not exactly saying a lot)
#3: A Pirate's Love (felt like it was written by a romantic concentration camp guard)
I think I understand Pirate Rape Romance formula now, it's basically: (1) pirate grabs girl and within a few pages it's hammer time - girl hates it but body betrays her etc.; (2) girl falls in love with pirate and pirate falls in love too but both never want to say I Love You because reasons; (3) sexy idyllic times in middle of novel; (4) bizarre nonsense happens usually based on misunderstanding, pirate gets punished; (5) misunderstanding leads to pirate being mean again and author gets to write one last rape scene; (6) they finally say I Love You and happily ever after happens very quickly, like the author is spent and just had to turn over and pass out.
now that I get the formula, not sure I need to read another pirate lolromancelol. but I will still be reading plenty of bodice rippers! they are way too addictive for me to stop.
October 14, 2011
OMG
Lady Catherine Aldley is officially: TSTL!
Warning spoilers
The book starts with the erstwhile heroine being introduced as a spoilt pain in the ass who is Incapable of acting sensibly and whose main priority is to flirt with any sailor on board ship as she is bored.
When they are attacked by pirates she does eventually agree to go below and hides in a wardrobe, only to be discovered by two uncouth pirates who rip her bodice from her, exposing her heaving bosom and then attack her. She is rescued in the nick of time by Captain Jon Hale, who then molests her himself, although she finds herself responding to his kiss and groping. She is tossed over his shoulder and brought up to the deck where everyone can see her state of dishabille.
Navy ships are seen in the distance and so our enterprising hero decides that he will take Lady Cathy and 3 others hostage on his ship. The others are put in the hold but Cathy is placed in the Captain's cabin. There is a reprieve for a few days whilst the captain battles a storm, although he indulges in bed time groping.
When the storm passes, he decides the moment has come. He kisses Cathy and she initially responds. However when he gets her on the bed and things get more serious she panics, struggles, says no, resists and sobs throughout the rest of the rape. His response is to smirk and tell her it will be better next time.
Cathy is interrupted in her bath and there is a fight between the pair, where she grows soap and the chamber pot at him, when he tries to grab her. He then proceeds spank her until she is bruised all over demanding that she give the appropriate response to ' who's your master?'. I kid you not!
He then forces her to bathe him and then goes to have sex with her again but is prevented by her bruises. He gives a grudging apology for the bruises only, maintaining that there was no rape and that he had only taken what she had been 'dying to give' him. WTF? He then has her 3 times that night and she starts to enjoy it but feels that something is missing as he seems to have a bit of a problem with premature ej...
Anyway, our girl thinks that this has changed everything and so she goes swaggering on the deck expecting the a hole to fall at her feet. In fact he is cold, obnoxious and threatening. She meets the other prisoners and realises that they are being kept in miserable conditions. Captain Hale makes it clear that he is using her as a bed mate in front of them, thereby destroying what little reputation she had left.
For the next 11 days he rapes her continually 1 - 3 x a day, brutally and without her enjoying it. It appears that he is a bit put out that she won't co-operate...but nonetheless he decides to make arrangements for the ransom of the other hostages but not Cathy.
She finds out about this and escapes to shore dressed as a boy. She struggles to find a constable and in one of the most flabbergasting decisions of all time, decides that she will enter a disreputable pub to look for accommodation. Within minutes her shirt is ripped and her breasts are on display to all and sundry as she is tied up on a meat hook whilst various men throw dice to decide who will be the first to have her in the forth coming gang bang...
Jon enters the arena and rescues her but is beaten badly. She then decides that his injuries are her fault as they happened as a result of her wilfulness...
I'm only a third of the way through ; Car crash territory but kinda unputdownable.
Ugh!!!
Ok , it turns out he was stabbed and stabbed and stabbed but somehow he is not dead ( a real pity?). Jon is taken back to the ship and a doctor is fetched. Within minutes the First Mate Harry is shouting at the h, saying that it is all her fault and that she was no better than a street walker as she had been dying for it (page 129).
She nurses Jon patiently for 6 days.
When he finally recovers he asks her why she ran away:
Heroine: " you raped me brutally - not once but many times. Of course I was going to run away from you the first chance I got!"
A hole : "so you're telling me you ran away because you couldn't stand me making love to you?"
Heroine ( understandably fed up) : "raping me!"
a hole: "call it what you will....you are lying to me , my cat...you like the way I make your body feel"
WTF?????
I honestly don't know if I can continue....
By page 154 Harry is swearing he would kill Jon for what he has done to her, by stealing her innocence as she is so pure and fine but when the h doesn't seem too interested in dissing Jon, he turns abusive and asks if she would've fallen in love with him, if he'd bedded her first. What a change of heart in a matter of 20 pages....
Within 2 pages of this the a hole is declaring that she is his mistress and he wants to have a further go at her, at which point she wishes him dead. She runs out of the cabin but returns when told he has injured his leg. He thinks: 'little bitch, I'll cut her down to size'; Heroine : 'I am your mistress, do you have any idea how filthy that makes me feel?'
Her resistance lasts 2 seconds and then they shag.
She is in love! Oh the joy!
Reader experiences stunned disbelief?
Harry gets even more jealous ( " I see he rides you well!") followed by further insincere apology; Followed by harry grabbing her into a torrid embrace witnessed by Jon , who assumes the worst - his response : "that cheating little bitch!" just before he knocks her down. Knife fight ensues. She decides she has to stop the fight by declaring it wasn't Harry , it was her ! Jon shoves her to the deck in rage telling her to "go back to the cabin slut".
Harry owns up it was his fault and tells the a hole he treats her like a whore while she calls him darling.
I swear the dialogue really is this bad.
Given the opportunity back in the cabin, does our girl do the sensible thing and tell him the truth? Well yes, but only after he has his hands round her neck and is contemplating killing her.
He decides he is jealous of Harry, that he loves her but doesn't fancy getting married quite yet and he certainly doesn't feel inclined to tell her how he feels, especially as he goes off by himself on a jaunt to Tenerife.
Of course she is pregnant and after a moment of bliss it occurs to her that she is not overly enthusiastic about having a bastard child as it's not quite socially acceptable...
She decides to give him the good news in the middle of a battle scene on Las Palmas. The British navy capture Jon and are about to hang him.
Heroine pleads with her father and Jon is sent to the brig.
( papa has mysteriously turned up on a battle ship, being the Earl of Badstoke, and wrongly referred to throughout the book as Sir Thomas : pet gripe - I hate it when they get titles wrong; editor should have pointed out Sir is a title for a Knight and an Earl is addressed as Lord).
Anyway, she pleads for his life; announces to all and sundry that she is pregnant to him; lies to her father saying that he did not rape her; declares that she was willing and that she loves him and will marry no one else. Papa eventually agrees to the marriage and possibly a pardon and off they traipse to tell Jon about the grand plan.
It will not come as a surprise to hear that the a hole does not take the news well. " you opportunistic little bitch!"
he doesn't appear to see any merit in the argument that he has some degree of responsibility towards the baby - and only agrees to marry so as to save his life: a real prince amongst men...
Ship wedding ensues. Papa and his men knock Jon out afterwards and tell Cathy that he has escaped and abandoned her. No questions asked? They are on a boat for god's sake, there are limited options!
Cathy goes to London.
Turns out dearest papa has had Jon imprisoned in Newgate and pays to have him whipped and beaten in front of him on a weekly basis, whilst he awaits hanging at Tyburn. Daddy then decides it can only help to lie to him and tell Jon that the beatings are ordered by Cathy herself.
In the interim Cathy pines for her lost love and 6 months pass.
Somehow he escapes ( method undisclosed?) and he kidnaps her from the house, swearing revenge and that that he will make her suffer after the baby is born.
He hates her! He tells her he wants to kill her more than anything and may not be able to hold back until the baby is born - thinking of killing her was the only thing that kept him alive! oh , the romance of it all!
She discovers that Jon was in prison and decides that although they are in the middle of a terrible storm and she is over 7 months pregnant, it is a splendid time to go on deck and have a chat.
Yes, she really is : TSTL.
Of course she nearly gets washed overboard. she falls and almost loses the baby.
They sail to Charleston, where Jon decides to settle down and put money into his plantation.
She again tries to tell him she was unaware of papa's actions. baby boy born, and for some benighted reason Jon decides to call the poor child, Cray.
Within a day or so of the birth he is groping her and she is responding eagerly ( only woman in history of the world who feels randy within 48 hours of giving birth?) but within moments he is swearing at her, saying she is as hardhearted and calculating as a dockside whore! So much for any concern/ basic human decency on the a hole's part.
About 4- 6 weeks post birth, They go to a ball. Cathy has a bit too much champagne. Jon is furious that she is such a hit. In the carriage on the way home he realises that he ' loved the little bitch still' but she must never find out.
He decides that the best way forward is to rape her viciously in the carriage. We have him engaging in bodice ripping; pinching her nipples painfully, biting them and viciously sucking them drawing milk and humiliating her. She struggles but he then rapes her brutally, taking pleasure in hurting her and seeing her cry.
Quote: he wanted to hurt her, meant to hurt her.. She had accused him of rape before, but by God, now she knew what the word meant...
It really does go on like this.
She's in a complete state afterwards and his response is to say: 'hoping for more?'
She can't stand up or dress herself afterwards and he has to carry her into the house, at which point he growls " what the hell's wrong with you anyway? Did I hurt you?' At this stage it seems to have occurred to him that she recently given birth and that raping her brutally may not have been the best idea.
she throws up. He undresses her. She tells him he hurt her, remembering the rape. He tells her that she hurt him too when she slapped his face. This seems reasonable to our h as it is obviously an eye for an eye.
Who would ever demented enough to dispute that a pathetic slap to the face equated to a violent rape?
I mean WTF - Is this for real?????
She wakes up a couple of hours later, still drunk, decides she wants him and they have wild passionate consensual sex.
I repeat : WTF?
She wakes up the next morning only to remember everything and find out Jon has gone off toAtlanta for a week without notifying her. It does occur to her, to have some doubts as to whether or not he really loves her . UGH!!!!
Papa arrives in a timely fashion and she decides to leave with him. We have an unbelievable moment where her nurse tells her that she should stay with Captain Hale, as she will never find another man who would take such good care of her. I mean, seriously??? Even the h finds this hard to take.
He finds her in time. Tells her that she is not leaving him and actually has the nerve to ask what he has done wrong and suggests that he has not mistreated her in any way. We're told he has the grace to blush; gives a reluctant and feeble apology but at the same time asserts she was asking for it!
Grudgingly he declares his love. She reciprocates immediately. Everything is wonderful. Daddy dearest admits his role , forgiveness all around and they all go off to live hea...
This reminded me a bit of Tender Torment in the sheer Jaw dropping awfulness of the whole thing.
The hero was simply irredeemable.
The heroine was a doormat, who was beyond TSTL and why she loved and wanted to stay with the a hole was totally inexplicable.
The 'happy ending' took place within 30 pages of one of the most violent marital rape descriptions I have read in any of these books and I didn't believe it for a minute.
I note that this appears to be born out in that there was a sequel and one of the reviews comments that he continues to rape and abuse the heroine throughout book 2. I am going to do myself a favour and give it a miss!
Flabbergasting!
Lady Catherine Aldley is officially: TSTL!
Warning spoilers
The book starts with the erstwhile heroine being introduced as a spoilt pain in the ass who is Incapable of acting sensibly and whose main priority is to flirt with any sailor on board ship as she is bored.
When they are attacked by pirates she does eventually agree to go below and hides in a wardrobe, only to be discovered by two uncouth pirates who rip her bodice from her, exposing her heaving bosom and then attack her. She is rescued in the nick of time by Captain Jon Hale, who then molests her himself, although she finds herself responding to his kiss and groping. She is tossed over his shoulder and brought up to the deck where everyone can see her state of dishabille.
Navy ships are seen in the distance and so our enterprising hero decides that he will take Lady Cathy and 3 others hostage on his ship. The others are put in the hold but Cathy is placed in the Captain's cabin. There is a reprieve for a few days whilst the captain battles a storm, although he indulges in bed time groping.
When the storm passes, he decides the moment has come. He kisses Cathy and she initially responds. However when he gets her on the bed and things get more serious she panics, struggles, says no, resists and sobs throughout the rest of the rape. His response is to smirk and tell her it will be better next time.
Cathy is interrupted in her bath and there is a fight between the pair, where she grows soap and the chamber pot at him, when he tries to grab her. He then proceeds spank her until she is bruised all over demanding that she give the appropriate response to ' who's your master?'. I kid you not!
He then forces her to bathe him and then goes to have sex with her again but is prevented by her bruises. He gives a grudging apology for the bruises only, maintaining that there was no rape and that he had only taken what she had been 'dying to give' him. WTF? He then has her 3 times that night and she starts to enjoy it but feels that something is missing as he seems to have a bit of a problem with premature ej...
Anyway, our girl thinks that this has changed everything and so she goes swaggering on the deck expecting the a hole to fall at her feet. In fact he is cold, obnoxious and threatening. She meets the other prisoners and realises that they are being kept in miserable conditions. Captain Hale makes it clear that he is using her as a bed mate in front of them, thereby destroying what little reputation she had left.
For the next 11 days he rapes her continually 1 - 3 x a day, brutally and without her enjoying it. It appears that he is a bit put out that she won't co-operate...but nonetheless he decides to make arrangements for the ransom of the other hostages but not Cathy.
She finds out about this and escapes to shore dressed as a boy. She struggles to find a constable and in one of the most flabbergasting decisions of all time, decides that she will enter a disreputable pub to look for accommodation. Within minutes her shirt is ripped and her breasts are on display to all and sundry as she is tied up on a meat hook whilst various men throw dice to decide who will be the first to have her in the forth coming gang bang...
Jon enters the arena and rescues her but is beaten badly. She then decides that his injuries are her fault as they happened as a result of her wilfulness...
I'm only a third of the way through ; Car crash territory but kinda unputdownable.
Ugh!!!
Ok , it turns out he was stabbed and stabbed and stabbed but somehow he is not dead ( a real pity?). Jon is taken back to the ship and a doctor is fetched. Within minutes the First Mate Harry is shouting at the h, saying that it is all her fault and that she was no better than a street walker as she had been dying for it (page 129).
She nurses Jon patiently for 6 days.
When he finally recovers he asks her why she ran away:
Heroine: " you raped me brutally - not once but many times. Of course I was going to run away from you the first chance I got!"
A hole : "so you're telling me you ran away because you couldn't stand me making love to you?"
Heroine ( understandably fed up) : "raping me!"
a hole: "call it what you will....you are lying to me , my cat...you like the way I make your body feel"
WTF?????
I honestly don't know if I can continue....
By page 154 Harry is swearing he would kill Jon for what he has done to her, by stealing her innocence as she is so pure and fine but when the h doesn't seem too interested in dissing Jon, he turns abusive and asks if she would've fallen in love with him, if he'd bedded her first. What a change of heart in a matter of 20 pages....
Within 2 pages of this the a hole is declaring that she is his mistress and he wants to have a further go at her, at which point she wishes him dead. She runs out of the cabin but returns when told he has injured his leg. He thinks: 'little bitch, I'll cut her down to size'; Heroine : 'I am your mistress, do you have any idea how filthy that makes me feel?'
Her resistance lasts 2 seconds and then they shag.
She is in love! Oh the joy!
Reader experiences stunned disbelief?
Harry gets even more jealous ( " I see he rides you well!") followed by further insincere apology; Followed by harry grabbing her into a torrid embrace witnessed by Jon , who assumes the worst - his response : "that cheating little bitch!" just before he knocks her down. Knife fight ensues. She decides she has to stop the fight by declaring it wasn't Harry , it was her ! Jon shoves her to the deck in rage telling her to "go back to the cabin slut".
Harry owns up it was his fault and tells the a hole he treats her like a whore while she calls him darling.
I swear the dialogue really is this bad.
Given the opportunity back in the cabin, does our girl do the sensible thing and tell him the truth? Well yes, but only after he has his hands round her neck and is contemplating killing her.
He decides he is jealous of Harry, that he loves her but doesn't fancy getting married quite yet and he certainly doesn't feel inclined to tell her how he feels, especially as he goes off by himself on a jaunt to Tenerife.
Of course she is pregnant and after a moment of bliss it occurs to her that she is not overly enthusiastic about having a bastard child as it's not quite socially acceptable...
She decides to give him the good news in the middle of a battle scene on Las Palmas. The British navy capture Jon and are about to hang him.
Heroine pleads with her father and Jon is sent to the brig.
( papa has mysteriously turned up on a battle ship, being the Earl of Badstoke, and wrongly referred to throughout the book as Sir Thomas : pet gripe - I hate it when they get titles wrong; editor should have pointed out Sir is a title for a Knight and an Earl is addressed as Lord).
Anyway, she pleads for his life; announces to all and sundry that she is pregnant to him; lies to her father saying that he did not rape her; declares that she was willing and that she loves him and will marry no one else. Papa eventually agrees to the marriage and possibly a pardon and off they traipse to tell Jon about the grand plan.
It will not come as a surprise to hear that the a hole does not take the news well. " you opportunistic little bitch!"
he doesn't appear to see any merit in the argument that he has some degree of responsibility towards the baby - and only agrees to marry so as to save his life: a real prince amongst men...
Ship wedding ensues. Papa and his men knock Jon out afterwards and tell Cathy that he has escaped and abandoned her. No questions asked? They are on a boat for god's sake, there are limited options!
Cathy goes to London.
Turns out dearest papa has had Jon imprisoned in Newgate and pays to have him whipped and beaten in front of him on a weekly basis, whilst he awaits hanging at Tyburn. Daddy then decides it can only help to lie to him and tell Jon that the beatings are ordered by Cathy herself.
In the interim Cathy pines for her lost love and 6 months pass.
Somehow he escapes ( method undisclosed?) and he kidnaps her from the house, swearing revenge and that that he will make her suffer after the baby is born.
He hates her! He tells her he wants to kill her more than anything and may not be able to hold back until the baby is born - thinking of killing her was the only thing that kept him alive! oh , the romance of it all!
She discovers that Jon was in prison and decides that although they are in the middle of a terrible storm and she is over 7 months pregnant, it is a splendid time to go on deck and have a chat.
Yes, she really is : TSTL.
Of course she nearly gets washed overboard. she falls and almost loses the baby.
They sail to Charleston, where Jon decides to settle down and put money into his plantation.
She again tries to tell him she was unaware of papa's actions. baby boy born, and for some benighted reason Jon decides to call the poor child, Cray.
Within a day or so of the birth he is groping her and she is responding eagerly ( only woman in history of the world who feels randy within 48 hours of giving birth?) but within moments he is swearing at her, saying she is as hardhearted and calculating as a dockside whore! So much for any concern/ basic human decency on the a hole's part.
About 4- 6 weeks post birth, They go to a ball. Cathy has a bit too much champagne. Jon is furious that she is such a hit. In the carriage on the way home he realises that he ' loved the little bitch still' but she must never find out.
He decides that the best way forward is to rape her viciously in the carriage. We have him engaging in bodice ripping; pinching her nipples painfully, biting them and viciously sucking them drawing milk and humiliating her. She struggles but he then rapes her brutally, taking pleasure in hurting her and seeing her cry.
Quote: he wanted to hurt her, meant to hurt her.. She had accused him of rape before, but by God, now she knew what the word meant...
It really does go on like this.
She's in a complete state afterwards and his response is to say: 'hoping for more?'
She can't stand up or dress herself afterwards and he has to carry her into the house, at which point he growls " what the hell's wrong with you anyway? Did I hurt you?' At this stage it seems to have occurred to him that she recently given birth and that raping her brutally may not have been the best idea.
she throws up. He undresses her. She tells him he hurt her, remembering the rape. He tells her that she hurt him too when she slapped his face. This seems reasonable to our h as it is obviously an eye for an eye.
Who would ever demented enough to dispute that a pathetic slap to the face equated to a violent rape?
I mean WTF - Is this for real?????
She wakes up a couple of hours later, still drunk, decides she wants him and they have wild passionate consensual sex.
I repeat : WTF?
She wakes up the next morning only to remember everything and find out Jon has gone off toAtlanta for a week without notifying her. It does occur to her, to have some doubts as to whether or not he really loves her . UGH!!!!
Papa arrives in a timely fashion and she decides to leave with him. We have an unbelievable moment where her nurse tells her that she should stay with Captain Hale, as she will never find another man who would take such good care of her. I mean, seriously??? Even the h finds this hard to take.
He finds her in time. Tells her that she is not leaving him and actually has the nerve to ask what he has done wrong and suggests that he has not mistreated her in any way. We're told he has the grace to blush; gives a reluctant and feeble apology but at the same time asserts she was asking for it!
Grudgingly he declares his love. She reciprocates immediately. Everything is wonderful. Daddy dearest admits his role , forgiveness all around and they all go off to live hea...
This reminded me a bit of Tender Torment in the sheer Jaw dropping awfulness of the whole thing.
The hero was simply irredeemable.
The heroine was a doormat, who was beyond TSTL and why she loved and wanted to stay with the a hole was totally inexplicable.
The 'happy ending' took place within 30 pages of one of the most violent marital rape descriptions I have read in any of these books and I didn't believe it for a minute.
I note that this appears to be born out in that there was a sequel and one of the reviews comments that he continues to rape and abuse the heroine throughout book 2. I am going to do myself a favour and give it a miss!
Flabbergasting!
November 16, 2012
4 and 1/2 Stars! Exciting Pirate Adventure with an Alpha Male Hero and a Strong Heroine—and very well written!
Ok, so it is a bodice ripper from the early 80’s (reissued with new cover), but I liked it. I liked it very much. Every now and then an arrogant alpha male (in this case a sea captain) can be cathartic, reminding us that all historical romance heroes are not nice guys. This one certainly wasn’t. The heroine starts out as a 17-year-old innocent brat, but she quickly grows up and actually develops some very mature outlooks. Like Scarlett in the movie Gone With The Wind, she takes longer than most to see the light (by the way I do recommend SCARLETT, the sequel to the movie….it’s very well done), but eventually she gets there.
Set in 1842, this is the story of Lady Catherine Aldley, whose father sent her on a military ship to London from where he was Ambassador in Lisbon, never knowing it is a silver transport ship and bate for an American pirate named Jonathan Hale who thinks nothing of raping (an ruining) an innocent wellborn lady half his age to have his pleasure. Cathy may be young and innocent but she is not tame. When Captain Hale captures her and sets out to tame her in a most brutal and humiliating way, he has no idea he will become her victim as well.
Say what you will about the old romances that don’t reflect 21st century sensibilities, but I can tell you this: this story kept me reading hours past my bedtime and that, folks, is a well-told tale. The pacing is fast, the action never ceasing and the chemistry between the two is compelling. Great sexual tension. Modern historical romance authors can learn much from Robards. She makes some masterful twists and turns, I must say. All believable which counts for much in my book. What did bother me was the reaction of the heroine. There was definitely some Stockholm syndrome going on as she came to see herself at fault (“she had brought her injuries on herself”), and the captain as heroic. Yes, he saved her from a band of nasty thieves and murderers, but she never would have been exposed to them in the first place if he hadn’t taken her captive. Any strong heroine would have tried to escape, right? ‘Nuf said.
I also thought Robards did a great job with the sailor/ship jargon, bringing life on board the ship to life. You might take that for granted but it required much work on her part. Her descriptions put you in the setting.
I’ll tell you what: I liked it well enough to order the sequel, SEA FIRE. So there.
Ok, so it is a bodice ripper from the early 80’s (reissued with new cover), but I liked it. I liked it very much. Every now and then an arrogant alpha male (in this case a sea captain) can be cathartic, reminding us that all historical romance heroes are not nice guys. This one certainly wasn’t. The heroine starts out as a 17-year-old innocent brat, but she quickly grows up and actually develops some very mature outlooks. Like Scarlett in the movie Gone With The Wind, she takes longer than most to see the light (by the way I do recommend SCARLETT, the sequel to the movie….it’s very well done), but eventually she gets there.
Set in 1842, this is the story of Lady Catherine Aldley, whose father sent her on a military ship to London from where he was Ambassador in Lisbon, never knowing it is a silver transport ship and bate for an American pirate named Jonathan Hale who thinks nothing of raping (an ruining) an innocent wellborn lady half his age to have his pleasure. Cathy may be young and innocent but she is not tame. When Captain Hale captures her and sets out to tame her in a most brutal and humiliating way, he has no idea he will become her victim as well.
Say what you will about the old romances that don’t reflect 21st century sensibilities, but I can tell you this: this story kept me reading hours past my bedtime and that, folks, is a well-told tale. The pacing is fast, the action never ceasing and the chemistry between the two is compelling. Great sexual tension. Modern historical romance authors can learn much from Robards. She makes some masterful twists and turns, I must say. All believable which counts for much in my book. What did bother me was the reaction of the heroine. There was definitely some Stockholm syndrome going on as she came to see herself at fault (“she had brought her injuries on herself”), and the captain as heroic. Yes, he saved her from a band of nasty thieves and murderers, but she never would have been exposed to them in the first place if he hadn’t taken her captive. Any strong heroine would have tried to escape, right? ‘Nuf said.
I also thought Robards did a great job with the sailor/ship jargon, bringing life on board the ship to life. You might take that for granted but it required much work on her part. Her descriptions put you in the setting.
I’ll tell you what: I liked it well enough to order the sequel, SEA FIRE. So there.
July 17, 2020
⭐️⭐️💫 2.5 stars
This book was gross. So much casually explained rape. Jon was terrible. Both characters were too stupid to live.
Cathy (17) was the daughter of the English ambassador to Portugal. She was incredibly annoying. She was timid when she shouldn’t have been, but also temperamental when she shouldn’t have been. It was just odd.
Jon (34) was a nasty, terrible pirate. The only thing I liked about him was that he was an American because I like the American hero/English heroine trope.
This book reminded me of the The Flame and the Flower in the beginning, but a lot rapier and gross. This was a true bodice ripper in every sense of the name.
All in all, if you really like bodice rippers, this may be for you. But if not, you probably couldn’t even stomach this book, I barely could.
This book was gross. So much casually explained rape. Jon was terrible. Both characters were too stupid to live.
Cathy (17) was the daughter of the English ambassador to Portugal. She was incredibly annoying. She was timid when she shouldn’t have been, but also temperamental when she shouldn’t have been. It was just odd.
Jon (34) was a nasty, terrible pirate. The only thing I liked about him was that he was an American because I like the American hero/English heroine trope.
This book reminded me of the The Flame and the Flower in the beginning, but a lot rapier and gross. This was a true bodice ripper in every sense of the name.
All in all, if you really like bodice rippers, this may be for you. But if not, you probably couldn’t even stomach this book, I barely could.
December 14, 2025
5 enourmous ⭐️
Omg! This was riveting, and toxic. Both can be true.
I don’t even know what to think right now. It is by no means a perfect book, and boy, your triggers will be triggering, your anger will be livid. This book will make you feel!
It’s super fast paced, and so action packed that my head was spinning and I don’t think I have been into a book this much, for a while.
John is a piece of shit, that’s it. He is also a pirate, not a Disney pirate, but real criminal. He kidnaps Catherine, who is naive, spoiled and insulated from the rough realities of life. This is the journey of their relationship. Go in blind, don’t research because that will make you not read it. And you should. Booktok would have a complete meltdown, over this book, it is very clearly written a while ago, and women would be demonstrating on the streets had it been published today.
This is Pirates of the Caribbean meets 9 1/2 weeks. I don’t even know. My brain is screaming at me.
The one thing is wished for was for Catherine to respect herself a little more. She does grow and evolve ❤️
Should you read? Yes but put on your big girl pants, because it’s a ride and you will be angry!
Omg! This was riveting, and toxic. Both can be true.
I don’t even know what to think right now. It is by no means a perfect book, and boy, your triggers will be triggering, your anger will be livid. This book will make you feel!
It’s super fast paced, and so action packed that my head was spinning and I don’t think I have been into a book this much, for a while.
John is a piece of shit, that’s it. He is also a pirate, not a Disney pirate, but real criminal. He kidnaps Catherine, who is naive, spoiled and insulated from the rough realities of life. This is the journey of their relationship. Go in blind, don’t research because that will make you not read it. And you should. Booktok would have a complete meltdown, over this book, it is very clearly written a while ago, and women would be demonstrating on the streets had it been published today.
This is Pirates of the Caribbean meets 9 1/2 weeks. I don’t even know. My brain is screaming at me.
The one thing is wished for was for Catherine to respect herself a little more. She does grow and evolve ❤️
Should you read? Yes but put on your big girl pants, because it’s a ride and you will be angry!
August 9, 2016
If you enjoy the old bodice rippers, this one is a great example of the genre without the multi-partner element that many of the more 'hardcore' BRs have. It's disturbing at times and I would advise treading very carefully if you are triggered by domestic abuse and consent issues. There were times when I was feeling quite upset myself. If this were a contemporary, I wouldn't have made it through. I'm able to tolerate things in a historical that I can't in a contemporary, because I try and put on the filter of the times/culture. This book is action packed and I never became bored. It also wasn't entirely predictable like some romances. Hence the rating.
Re: the audio - Justine Eyre did an excellent job with the narration. Her Charleston accent wasn't correct, but it wasn't jarring or annoying to me. I could overlook it.
Jon is a real pirate. He is a complete d-bag for the most part and can be quite frightening. If you want to know the level of violence toward the h, here's a spoiler. Anyway, I honestly only liked him for a brief period of time. Some may argue that the villain of the piece was Cathy's father, but it's Jon. Jon's insecurities, anyway. The actions of her father were clearly those of a man who loves his only child and thinks he's doing what's best for her. He went too far, but he had the social status and sense of entitlement to allow him to do things most fathers would only be able to dream about.
I was surprised that I ended up loving Cathy. The first chapter sets her up to be self-centered, spoiled, willful, etc... all the things that make for your stereotypical foot stomping heroine. She was all those things, but she was also smart and able to learn from her mistakes and genuinely cared about people. She was not a malicious person even if she was always scheming and sometimes bratty. She did run off into danger once *eye roll*, but under the circumstances it didn't make me want to scream. She was a captive after all, she had to try to escape at least once. She was also 17 and extremely sheltered and privileged. Robards did a great job of taking a girl from her background with all the accompanying haughtiness of a beautiful woman of her station along with the basic self-centered ways of a teen and showing how she learns and grows. She really cracked me up at times and I found myself cheering her on. Cathy was a strong woman in the making and I loved that she didn't immediately fall in love with Jon. She also didn't buy the response = consent bull he was always spouting at her when she accused him of rape.
If you want an exciting bodice ripper with a pirate who's not from a Disney movie, then this is the place to go. However, as much as I enjoyed this book I'm not so sure about the sequel. It kind of depresses me to think that they may go through the same cycle of Jon's mistrust AGAIN. Not sure I could stomach it. I prefer to believe that he learned to trust Cathy after the 'big reveal' and stop all his ridiculous tomfoolery. At the very least, I'm going to let it sit for a while.
Re: the audio - Justine Eyre did an excellent job with the narration. Her Charleston accent wasn't correct, but it wasn't jarring or annoying to me. I could overlook it.
Jon is a real pirate. He is a complete d-bag for the most part and can be quite frightening. If you want to know the level of violence toward the h, here's a spoiler. Anyway, I honestly only liked him for a brief period of time. Some may argue that the villain of the piece was Cathy's father, but it's Jon. Jon's insecurities, anyway. The actions of her father were clearly those of a man who loves his only child and thinks he's doing what's best for her. He went too far, but he had the social status and sense of entitlement to allow him to do things most fathers would only be able to dream about.
I was surprised that I ended up loving Cathy. The first chapter sets her up to be self-centered, spoiled, willful, etc... all the things that make for your stereotypical foot stomping heroine. She was all those things, but she was also smart and able to learn from her mistakes and genuinely cared about people. She was not a malicious person even if she was always scheming and sometimes bratty. She did run off into danger once *eye roll*, but under the circumstances it didn't make me want to scream. She was a captive after all, she had to try to escape at least once. She was also 17 and extremely sheltered and privileged. Robards did a great job of taking a girl from her background with all the accompanying haughtiness of a beautiful woman of her station along with the basic self-centered ways of a teen and showing how she learns and grows. She really cracked me up at times and I found myself cheering her on. Cathy was a strong woman in the making and I loved that she didn't immediately fall in love with Jon. She also didn't buy the response = consent bull he was always spouting at her when she accused him of rape.
If you want an exciting bodice ripper with a pirate who's not from a Disney movie, then this is the place to go. However, as much as I enjoyed this book I'm not so sure about the sequel. It kind of depresses me to think that they may go through the same cycle of Jon's mistrust AGAIN. Not sure I could stomach it. I prefer to believe that he learned to trust Cathy after the 'big reveal' and stop all his ridiculous tomfoolery. At the very least, I'm going to let it sit for a while.
August 31, 2021
A swarthy pirate and a scandalized virgin? I mean... how can you resist?? 4.5 stars
This is a classic bodice ripper. Dubcon/noncon all over the place. Escaping, chasing, damsel in distress, rescuing, misunderstandings, revenge, fighting, hate-sex, surprise baby, forced marriage, spanking.... this book really has it all, and its a great read.
For the safety squad:
- no cheating or sharing
- no on-page OW drama, but h makes some assumptions and the H allows her to believe it
- forced seduction
This is a classic bodice ripper. Dubcon/noncon all over the place. Escaping, chasing, damsel in distress, rescuing, misunderstandings, revenge, fighting, hate-sex, surprise baby, forced marriage, spanking.... this book really has it all, and its a great read.
For the safety squad:
- no cheating or sharing
- no on-page OW drama, but h makes some assumptions and the H allows her to believe it
- forced seduction
July 24, 2016
This book was....(sorry for my words),pure stupid.
August 9, 2017
Hasta la página 314 iba a darle 3 estrellas. Es una novela con una relación tóxica, él es un abusón y ella una protagonista tipo felpudo, a pesar de eso la historia es adictiva, fácil de leer y entretenida.
Lo peor de la novela es que la protagonista, Cat , está empeñada en ganarse el amor del protagonista lo que hace que soporte el comportamiento (detestable) de él. Ella es un personaje poco creíble, su forma de actuar ante todo lo que le sucede no es coherente, su barco es atacado por los piratas, es casi violada por dos piratas y cuando aparece el protagonista, Jon, capitán pirata se derrite al ser besada por él. Y su forma de enfrentarse a los abusos de él, no es lógica, aunque, eso es comprensible, teniendo en cuenta que esto es una novela romántica y no podemos tener a una protagonista traumatizado por culpa del héroe.
Jon es un personaje bien construido, teniendo en cuenta que es un pirata, es duro, violento, celoso,posesivo y dominante, quizás es demasiado "intenso" para una novela romántica.
Como os decía hasta la página 314 la historia la llevaba bien, soy bastante tolerante, había veces que Cat me producía ataques de indignación por su tendencia a ser felpudo, pero llegó un momento que no, que mi tolerancia saltó por los aires... Pero más que por qué una vez más Jon fuerza a Cat a tener sexo, un sexo que buscaba vengarse, humillar y hacer daño; es lo que pasa luego, totalmente surrealista, después de esa horrible escena pasamos a una en la que él se muestra tierno, que la cuida, pero lo peor es que ella lo acepta todo porque la auyora se saca de la manga que ella estaba borracha y no es consciente de lo que ha ocurrido .... ¿perdona? Hace unos segundos ella estaba totalmente lucida, y le ha pedido varias veces que no lo hiciera, que ella quería hacer el amor pero no de esa forma tan cruel. Parece como si esas dos escenas estuviera escrita por dos personas diferentes, y para no hablar de la escena que tiene que cerrar una novela romántica, la declaración de amor, en la que él se declara llamándola perra y mirándola con odio porque le "obliga" a confesar su amor.
Lo peor de todo es que este libro me lo leí a los 20 años y no recuerdo que me indignará todo esto, si que recuerdo que la protagonista me ponía de los nervios con su actitud pero no me horrizo tanto.
Lo peor de la novela es que la protagonista, Cat , está empeñada en ganarse el amor del protagonista lo que hace que soporte el comportamiento (detestable) de él. Ella es un personaje poco creíble, su forma de actuar ante todo lo que le sucede no es coherente, su barco es atacado por los piratas, es casi violada por dos piratas y cuando aparece el protagonista, Jon, capitán pirata se derrite al ser besada por él. Y su forma de enfrentarse a los abusos de él, no es lógica, aunque, eso es comprensible, teniendo en cuenta que esto es una novela romántica y no podemos tener a una protagonista traumatizado por culpa del héroe.
Jon es un personaje bien construido, teniendo en cuenta que es un pirata, es duro, violento, celoso,posesivo y dominante, quizás es demasiado "intenso" para una novela romántica.
Como os decía hasta la página 314 la historia la llevaba bien, soy bastante tolerante, había veces que Cat me producía ataques de indignación por su tendencia a ser felpudo, pero llegó un momento que no, que mi tolerancia saltó por los aires... Pero más que por qué una vez más Jon fuerza a Cat a tener sexo, un sexo que buscaba vengarse, humillar y hacer daño; es lo que pasa luego, totalmente surrealista, después de esa horrible escena pasamos a una en la que él se muestra tierno, que la cuida, pero lo peor es que ella lo acepta todo porque la auyora se saca de la manga que ella estaba borracha y no es consciente de lo que ha ocurrido .... ¿perdona? Hace unos segundos ella estaba totalmente lucida, y le ha pedido varias veces que no lo hiciera, que ella quería hacer el amor pero no de esa forma tan cruel. Parece como si esas dos escenas estuviera escrita por dos personas diferentes, y para no hablar de la escena que tiene que cerrar una novela romántica, la declaración de amor, en la que él se declara llamándola perra y mirándola con odio porque le "obliga" a confesar su amor.
Lo peor de todo es que este libro me lo leí a los 20 años y no recuerdo que me indignará todo esto, si que recuerdo que la protagonista me ponía de los nervios con su actitud pero no me horrizo tanto.
Read
March 5, 2016I hate myself for re-reading this book. I really do. I am an idiot.
If anyone asked me what a "bodice-ripper" is, I think this book would be on my top 5 list. I read this book and its sequel, both featuring the same couple when I was a teenager. Now so many years later, I still remember how "angry" they were. Please note that I did not call the books "angsty". They were not angsty as in emotionally charged. They were angry books, books about 2 people who could not control their anger and pride, and books that make people angry.
Out of the 2 books I think I will only re-read this one, not the sequel. It gets really tiring, watching these two hurt each other. I also will not be giving this book a rating. I don't think it is poorly written, but seriously the subject matter is just intolerable. I am not usually bothered by "coerced seduction" in romance novels. They are historical romances and women were in truth, mere possessions. And in turbulent times, women were abused worse than usual. It happened. I do not need the writers to mince words or pretty things up for me. I prefer if the books stay original to the time period and not shy away to make things "prettier" or more modern for readers' sensibility. But this book pushed my limit.
What happened in this book was rape, rape, and rape. There is no other word for it. Nothing would disguise what Jon did. And nothing can excuse Jon of his behaviors. And Cathy was a spoiled brat. Abuse of any kind is never "warranted". But Cathy did taunt Jon. That is also a fact. What Jon did, was crime. What Cathy did, was a flaw in her character. So as readers we are reading about a rapist and an immature brat mistaking lust and vanity for love and romance. It is so outrageous that it becomes brainless. I needed some emotional distance from the story so the interactions between Jon and Cathy became meaningless to me. I didn't want to take them seriously. I don't think it was for historical accuracy that the book was written this way. I actually had the feeling that this book was promoting a rapist as a hero and a man in love. It disturbed me greatly. As I read on, I became more disturbed because I did not know why I was reading this book. I felt I was being disrespectful to the female population just by reading it. And at the same time I was ashamed of this Cathy character. She was first childish, shallow and spoiled. Then she was a brainless young woman who thought herself in love, wanting to use her body to make this man love her. What a pathetic specimen of womanhood.
So when I finished the book, I threw my hands up in the air and felt relieved that I was done with the rapist man and the shallow woman. I despised Jon for his sexual abuse and felt ashamed of Cathy. This is not an experience that I would like to repeat.
If anyone asked me what a "bodice-ripper" is, I think this book would be on my top 5 list. I read this book and its sequel, both featuring the same couple when I was a teenager. Now so many years later, I still remember how "angry" they were. Please note that I did not call the books "angsty". They were not angsty as in emotionally charged. They were angry books, books about 2 people who could not control their anger and pride, and books that make people angry.
Out of the 2 books I think I will only re-read this one, not the sequel. It gets really tiring, watching these two hurt each other. I also will not be giving this book a rating. I don't think it is poorly written, but seriously the subject matter is just intolerable. I am not usually bothered by "coerced seduction" in romance novels. They are historical romances and women were in truth, mere possessions. And in turbulent times, women were abused worse than usual. It happened. I do not need the writers to mince words or pretty things up for me. I prefer if the books stay original to the time period and not shy away to make things "prettier" or more modern for readers' sensibility. But this book pushed my limit.
What happened in this book was rape, rape, and rape. There is no other word for it. Nothing would disguise what Jon did. And nothing can excuse Jon of his behaviors. And Cathy was a spoiled brat. Abuse of any kind is never "warranted". But Cathy did taunt Jon. That is also a fact. What Jon did, was crime. What Cathy did, was a flaw in her character. So as readers we are reading about a rapist and an immature brat mistaking lust and vanity for love and romance. It is so outrageous that it becomes brainless. I needed some emotional distance from the story so the interactions between Jon and Cathy became meaningless to me. I didn't want to take them seriously. I don't think it was for historical accuracy that the book was written this way. I actually had the feeling that this book was promoting a rapist as a hero and a man in love. It disturbed me greatly. As I read on, I became more disturbed because I did not know why I was reading this book. I felt I was being disrespectful to the female population just by reading it. And at the same time I was ashamed of this Cathy character. She was first childish, shallow and spoiled. Then she was a brainless young woman who thought herself in love, wanting to use her body to make this man love her. What a pathetic specimen of womanhood.
So when I finished the book, I threw my hands up in the air and felt relieved that I was done with the rapist man and the shallow woman. I despised Jon for his sexual abuse and felt ashamed of Cathy. This is not an experience that I would like to repeat.
November 25, 2012
Oh my god...... another rapey hero? If you can call him a hero. Right don't get me wrong, I get that in those times pirates did rape there captures and I also understand that in those times husbands raped their wives as it was there right, historically it's correct..... But I was looking for a cheesy romance. Say the rape didn't happen he had WAYYYY to many anger issues. Okay so he rapes her to begin with..... Okay well no it's not rape because, in the "hero's" words, 'It's not rape because you wanted it.' Ah of course. How silly. You know, she wanted it so give it to her and all that, yer I understand mr hero, I hope I get treat that way in the future, she is awfully spoiled... So anyways they continue to sleep together... Or she stays rigid while he does it...... Yer she defiantly wants it Mr Hero... But the Hero does save her from getting abused by a group of men and almost dies himself... All is forgiven as she nurses him back to health. They continue to have CONSENSUAL sex... you know when both parties (or more in some cases, this is a non-discriminatory review) consent fully to the 'love making' But then disaster strikes and they are separated the hero is tortured, the heroine s pregnant, angst angst angst. the hero escapes kidnaps the heroine wanting revenge on her, thinking she ordered his torture... which to be fair, if i'd been kidnapped by pirates raped several times, threatened on a daily bases and dragged around I might have considered it.... but she did not. She loved him!! She gives birth and they nearly have sex a day later..... Okay I aint given birth before so i can't speak for mothers out there but i'm fairly sure that if id just squeezed something the size of a melon out of my vagina I would not want anything stuck back up there... it would hurt (I imagine) and, forgive my crudeness would perhaps resemble a wizards sleeve. But as I said I aint given birth nor have i seen a vagina the day after giving birth so I could be wrong... Anyways he goes on to brutally rape her ass punishment for something she didn't do, then she sleeps with him again fully consensual (crazy bitch I know) then she decides right, i'm leaving him.. It kinda goes like this. "where do you think you're going?" - Hero, "I'm leaving you, you brutally raped me and you are always moody and rar rar rar you hurt me", "you aren't leaving me" "Yes I am!"... "Is this because of the other night when I raped you and hurt you etc etc? I said i'm sorry I was drunk and you know i'm sorry." this is when I say aloud to myself, 'i'd stay away from hi he gets a little rapey when he's drunk, just a small flaw in his personlity. Anyways he then begs her. Yup guys, big tough man begs. It goes little like this... 'Okay you bitch you win i'll beg. Please dont leave me...' Yup he called her a bitch and yup she forgave him for that heartfelt begging.... The end.
I also hate the heroine, she's a whiney bitch... and childish.... altough she is only 17...
I also hate the heroine, she's a whiney bitch... and childish.... altough she is only 17...
April 24, 2025
5 clean ⭐️
Omg! This was riveting, and toxic. Both can be true.
I don’t even know what to think right now. It is by no means a perfect book, and boy, your triggers will be triggering, your anger will be livid. This book will make you feel!
It’s super fast paced, and so action packed that my head was spinning and I don’t think I have been into a book this much, for a while.
John is a piece of shit, that’s it. He is also a pirate, not a Disney pirate, but real criminal. He kidnaps Catherine, who is naive, spoiled and insulated from the rough realities of life. This is the journey of their relationship. Go in blind, don’t research because that will make you not read it. And you should. Booktok would have a complete meltdown, over this book, it is very clearly written a while ago, and women would be demonstrating on the streets had it been published today.
This is Pirates of the Caribbean meets 9 1/2 weeks. I don’t even know. My brain is screaming at me.
The one thing is wished for was for Catherine to respect herself a little more. She does grow and evolve ❤️
Should you read? Yes but put on your big girl pants, because it’s a ride and you will be angry!
Omg! This was riveting, and toxic. Both can be true.
I don’t even know what to think right now. It is by no means a perfect book, and boy, your triggers will be triggering, your anger will be livid. This book will make you feel!
It’s super fast paced, and so action packed that my head was spinning and I don’t think I have been into a book this much, for a while.
John is a piece of shit, that’s it. He is also a pirate, not a Disney pirate, but real criminal. He kidnaps Catherine, who is naive, spoiled and insulated from the rough realities of life. This is the journey of their relationship. Go in blind, don’t research because that will make you not read it. And you should. Booktok would have a complete meltdown, over this book, it is very clearly written a while ago, and women would be demonstrating on the streets had it been published today.
This is Pirates of the Caribbean meets 9 1/2 weeks. I don’t even know. My brain is screaming at me.
The one thing is wished for was for Catherine to respect herself a little more. She does grow and evolve ❤️
Should you read? Yes but put on your big girl pants, because it’s a ride and you will be angry!
December 7, 2015
Sexy pirates? Hardcore bodice-ripper? sign me the fuck up!
Man. This was such a fun, screwed up ride. I loved it. It is not for the faint of heart. Seriously, it's pretty messed up.
But i'm a dirty bird, so I enjoyed every second of these two flip-flopping
between boning and trying to kill each other.
They fight a lot, but it always ends pretty favorably
Man. This was such a fun, screwed up ride. I loved it. It is not for the faint of heart. Seriously, it's pretty messed up.
But i'm a dirty bird, so I enjoyed every second of these two flip-flopping
between boning and trying to kill each other.
They fight a lot, but it always ends pretty favorably
September 28, 2011
Alright, I don't know how I got it in my head to read this book. I downloaded it somehow and I HATE it. The writing isn't bad and since I have read KR's other books, I figured that I could enjoy it. No, that's impossible. No matter how much character development this book could have (usually my favorite part of a book), rape and abusive heroes totally kill the mood. The heroine is also TSTL, so I can't do this.
September 27, 2022
How did I rate this rapey old school bodice ripper four stars? Not going to be rereading this nonsense but it’s super funny what used to get four stars from me.
I probably deducted one star for all the raping.
I probably deducted one star for all the raping.
June 20, 2015
I'm not sure where to begin..first, yeah the Amazon reviewers were right. Not a single exaggeration. I didn't count but I'd be surprised if the word rape was used less than 100 times. Second she's 17 at the start and 18 by the end. He's about twice her age (no formal age given really) and is the WORST.
He rapes her, then spends the rest of the book correcting her by saying she desperately wanted it, he could tell. Uses sex and sexual violence as punishment. Routinely verbally and emotionally abuses her, physically abuses her, humiliates her and by the end has stopped apologizing.
Meanwhile Cathy starts the book complaining that she can't flirt with all the sailors, comments how fluttering her eyes gets her anything ahe wants, purposely sets out to provoke men she considers unsafe to be around, uses what little freedom she has to run to the WORST BAR EVER, when the chance to get home safe she RUNS THE OPPOSITE WAY (literally) and at some point in the middle decides to stop communicating completely regressing instead to tantrums.
There is literally NO redeeming values to anyone. Neither matures, Neither sees how fucked up they are.
And to touch on the other characters (spoilers ahoy) -
He rapes her, then spends the rest of the book correcting her by saying she desperately wanted it, he could tell. Uses sex and sexual violence as punishment. Routinely verbally and emotionally abuses her, physically abuses her, humiliates her and by the end has stopped apologizing.
Meanwhile Cathy starts the book complaining that she can't flirt with all the sailors, comments how fluttering her eyes gets her anything ahe wants, purposely sets out to provoke men she considers unsafe to be around, uses what little freedom she has to run to the WORST BAR EVER, when the chance to get home safe she RUNS THE OPPOSITE WAY (literally) and at some point in the middle decides to stop communicating completely regressing instead to tantrums.
There is literally NO redeeming values to anyone. Neither matures, Neither sees how fucked up they are.
And to touch on the other characters (spoilers ahoy) -
September 10, 2016
This book is disgusting , nasty and rotten !! It made me sick !! Rape and abuse by the hands of the evil villain hero , I don't care how historically accurate any of this is .. you don't put it in a book and file it under romance that's just sick and really messed up. The characters are revolting and this book is filth.
September 30, 2019
I listened to the eAudo. The narration was ok.
I don’t recall much about the book except that I liked it and promptly used one of my audible credits on the second book.
If you’re Looking for a hero who is a “nice” fellow, Jonathan Hale ain’t the one.
I don’t recall much about the book except that I liked it and promptly used one of my audible credits on the second book.
If you’re Looking for a hero who is a “nice” fellow, Jonathan Hale ain’t the one.
June 5, 2024
3.25 "He Shivered Her Timbers" Stars
Breakdown of Characters:
H/Hero/Jon: 34 years old, pirate captain originally from SOUTH CAROLINA in America (I'm such a weirdo. I get unnaturally excited when I see my home state in books. And not just my home state either, but CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA, which makes it even that much better!) Our Hero is a manwhore that ran away from home at the age of 16 when he witnessed his stepmother, whom he had been infatuated with and admired greatly, having an affair with some random man. He first signed on to the navy, but when his vessel was boarded and taken over by pirates, he pledged loyalty to them or would have been otherwise killed. Thus began his life and career of pirateering that would eventually lead him to meet our heroine of this story.
h/heroine/Cathy: 17 years old, daughter of the English ambassador to Portugal that was captured by pirates while sailing back to England to experience her fist season with the Ton and hopefully acquire herself a respectable husband. Though extremely flirtatious with gentleman and thoroughly enjoys their attention, she is an innocent young lady that knows nothing about the throes of passion between a man and a woman.
Brief Summary:
A ship carrying a handful of passengers as well as (I think silver...but not 100% on that, but basically something valuable that belonged to the English Navy, and they were trying to use the guise of passengers to dissuade pirates from thinking there's anything of value aboard the vessel to steal), was intercepted by pirates. Amongst these passengers is Cathy, the 17 year old daughter of the English Ambassador to Portugal. With her alluring beauty and innocent nature, she is too much for the Pirate Captain, Jon Hale, to resist. He takes her and a handful of other high class passengers to ensure that the English Navy doesn't blow their vessel to smithereens. All the passengers are placed in the brig, except for Cathy. She is placed in the Captain's private quarters... and thus begins the relationship and the story of our two MC's!
Things I Didn't Like:
The Hero is kind of a dick. Which normally I don't have a problem with, but he doesn't pull his head out of his ass until about the last 5-6 pages of the book. Every opportunity he had to either trust the heroine or assume the worst of her, he assumed the worst and then treated her accordingly, even though every. single. time. he did this, it turned out to be the wrong thing to do and not only blew up in his face, but also caused the heroine to suffer unnecessarily. Also, the Hero referred to the heroine several times as a child. Which, in his defense, she was, especially compared to him since he was 17 years her senior. But there were occasions that he thought of her in his inner monologue as a child while she's literally laying next to him after he essentially forced her to have sex with him. That hit differently. I mean, it's obvious that by today's standards he definitely shouldn't be having any kind of sexual relationship with her. BUT back in the day it was different. It was more socially acceptable and if a girl LOOKED like a woman and was perceived to be a woman, then it was understandable why a man would desire her as such. But if he was thinking of her as a child... that puts a whole different kind of dirty spin to it that I wasn't such a fan of. It made their relationship feel more icky at times, ya know what I mean?
Also, I wasn't exactly taken with the heroine. Especially in the beginning...she was very self-centered, completely boy-crazy, flirtatious to the point of nausea. I mean, her idea of fun was trying to get deckhands of the crew from her original vessel to become smitten with her and beckon to her every whim. Her inner monologues only proved that she was generally always conspiring to get the Hero to respond to her a certain way. And, lastly, what irked my nerve is that she would SOMETIMES claim that the Hero raped her the first time (when it suited her narrative) and then at other times she would say he didn't (also when it suited her narrative). I mean, I felt like I was being gaslighted the entire time because eventually, I was like, "Well, did he actually rape her the first time???" (the answer is yes, even though she initially was curious when he started kissing her, she very clearly tells him to stop when he starts to push it further and he DOES NOT stop) but the narrative of events when later recollected in the book flip flop so much that I truly did find myself questioning it. Maybe the author intentionally did this to show how easily someone can change the way they recall past indiscretions to rationalize their now positive feelings for someone who once hurt them, but the rest of the book didn't seem nearly that deep nor complex so I have a hard time believing that could be the case. Either way, I didn't like it. It just seemed to solidify the notion that the heroine coerces others to feel however way she wants them to at the time.
Things I Did Like:
I swooned over the scene when the Hero came to rescue the heroine after she had fled from the ship when they were docked. The way he handled her after getting her back in his arms... he had come to terms with the fact that he was probably going to die, but he would do so gladly if that meant that she could get back to safety. Just made my heart melt. Then, subsequently, the sequences of the heroine nursing him back to health and him yelling out for her amidst his fever dreams. This was hands down the strongest part of the book and what really drew me to actually root for and care about the two MC's as a couple. I also found it so sweet and endearing how concerned Jon was for Cathy's wellbeing when she was giving birth.
Lastly, the supporting characters throughout the story were very well written and helped keep my heart happy when the two MC's were severely irking my nerves through the vast majority of the story.
Quick List of Need-To-Knows:
~ Age Gap, H (34) h (17)
~ Non-Con with Body Betrayal Syndrome
~ Dub-Con
~ NO CHEATING even though the h thinks the H is with OW, he's not
~ OTT, Jealous, Possessive Hero
~ No Sharing (My dude would kill you if you tried)
~ Attempted rape to the h by someone other than the H (and YES my man does kill the SOB)
~ Innocent, Virginal heroine
~ Morally Grey, Manwhore Hero
~ Manipulative/Miscommunication Trope
~ MC's are separated from each other a couple of times throughout the book, but author utilizes very effective time jumps to make this more tolerable.
~ Surprise Baby (even though, I'm not sure how it was a surprise considering these two put rabbits to shame)
~ No Epilogue (such a bummer)
~ HEA
Breakdown of Characters:
H/Hero/Jon: 34 years old, pirate captain originally from SOUTH CAROLINA in America (I'm such a weirdo. I get unnaturally excited when I see my home state in books. And not just my home state either, but CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA, which makes it even that much better!) Our Hero is a manwhore that ran away from home at the age of 16 when he witnessed his stepmother, whom he had been infatuated with and admired greatly, having an affair with some random man. He first signed on to the navy, but when his vessel was boarded and taken over by pirates, he pledged loyalty to them or would have been otherwise killed. Thus began his life and career of pirateering that would eventually lead him to meet our heroine of this story.
h/heroine/Cathy: 17 years old, daughter of the English ambassador to Portugal that was captured by pirates while sailing back to England to experience her fist season with the Ton and hopefully acquire herself a respectable husband. Though extremely flirtatious with gentleman and thoroughly enjoys their attention, she is an innocent young lady that knows nothing about the throes of passion between a man and a woman.
Brief Summary:
A ship carrying a handful of passengers as well as (I think silver...but not 100% on that, but basically something valuable that belonged to the English Navy, and they were trying to use the guise of passengers to dissuade pirates from thinking there's anything of value aboard the vessel to steal), was intercepted by pirates. Amongst these passengers is Cathy, the 17 year old daughter of the English Ambassador to Portugal. With her alluring beauty and innocent nature, she is too much for the Pirate Captain, Jon Hale, to resist. He takes her and a handful of other high class passengers to ensure that the English Navy doesn't blow their vessel to smithereens. All the passengers are placed in the brig, except for Cathy. She is placed in the Captain's private quarters... and thus begins the relationship and the story of our two MC's!
Things I Didn't Like:
The Hero is kind of a dick. Which normally I don't have a problem with, but he doesn't pull his head out of his ass until about the last 5-6 pages of the book. Every opportunity he had to either trust the heroine or assume the worst of her, he assumed the worst and then treated her accordingly, even though every. single. time. he did this, it turned out to be the wrong thing to do and not only blew up in his face, but also caused the heroine to suffer unnecessarily. Also, the Hero referred to the heroine several times as a child. Which, in his defense, she was, especially compared to him since he was 17 years her senior. But there were occasions that he thought of her in his inner monologue as a child while she's literally laying next to him after he essentially forced her to have sex with him. That hit differently. I mean, it's obvious that by today's standards he definitely shouldn't be having any kind of sexual relationship with her. BUT back in the day it was different. It was more socially acceptable and if a girl LOOKED like a woman and was perceived to be a woman, then it was understandable why a man would desire her as such. But if he was thinking of her as a child... that puts a whole different kind of dirty spin to it that I wasn't such a fan of. It made their relationship feel more icky at times, ya know what I mean?
Also, I wasn't exactly taken with the heroine. Especially in the beginning...she was very self-centered, completely boy-crazy, flirtatious to the point of nausea. I mean, her idea of fun was trying to get deckhands of the crew from her original vessel to become smitten with her and beckon to her every whim. Her inner monologues only proved that she was generally always conspiring to get the Hero to respond to her a certain way. And, lastly, what irked my nerve is that she would SOMETIMES claim that the Hero raped her the first time (when it suited her narrative) and then at other times she would say he didn't (also when it suited her narrative). I mean, I felt like I was being gaslighted the entire time because eventually, I was like, "Well, did he actually rape her the first time???" (the answer is yes, even though she initially was curious when he started kissing her, she very clearly tells him to stop when he starts to push it further and he DOES NOT stop) but the narrative of events when later recollected in the book flip flop so much that I truly did find myself questioning it. Maybe the author intentionally did this to show how easily someone can change the way they recall past indiscretions to rationalize their now positive feelings for someone who once hurt them, but the rest of the book didn't seem nearly that deep nor complex so I have a hard time believing that could be the case. Either way, I didn't like it. It just seemed to solidify the notion that the heroine coerces others to feel however way she wants them to at the time.
Things I Did Like:
I swooned over the scene when the Hero came to rescue the heroine after she had fled from the ship when they were docked. The way he handled her after getting her back in his arms... he had come to terms with the fact that he was probably going to die, but he would do so gladly if that meant that she could get back to safety. Just made my heart melt. Then, subsequently, the sequences of the heroine nursing him back to health and him yelling out for her amidst his fever dreams. This was hands down the strongest part of the book and what really drew me to actually root for and care about the two MC's as a couple. I also found it so sweet and endearing how concerned Jon was for Cathy's wellbeing when she was giving birth.
Lastly, the supporting characters throughout the story were very well written and helped keep my heart happy when the two MC's were severely irking my nerves through the vast majority of the story.
Quick List of Need-To-Knows:
~ Age Gap, H (34) h (17)
~ Non-Con with Body Betrayal Syndrome
~ Dub-Con
~ NO CHEATING even though the h thinks the H is with OW, he's not
~ OTT, Jealous, Possessive Hero
~ No Sharing (My dude would kill you if you tried)
~ Attempted rape to the h by someone other than the H (and YES my man does kill the SOB)
~ Innocent, Virginal heroine
~ Morally Grey, Manwhore Hero
~ Manipulative/Miscommunication Trope
~ MC's are separated from each other a couple of times throughout the book, but author utilizes very effective time jumps to make this more tolerable.
~ Surprise Baby (even though, I'm not sure how it was a surprise considering these two put rabbits to shame)
~ No Epilogue (such a bummer)
~ HEA
dnf
June 10, 2025dnf 12%
not my type of H material at all.
i found this book on random reddit recs and interested with pirate bodice ripper. sadly i dont enjoyed it. totally disappointed and disgusted. my last fucking straw.
she's too young for me and in the past 10% it was so heavy. also the h too childish to me. im totally fine with dark romance but this one? too fucking rapey, have the body betrayal moment, and i want to shot his ass.
not my type of H material at all.
i found this book on random reddit recs and interested with pirate bodice ripper. sadly i dont enjoyed it. totally disappointed and disgusted. my last fucking straw.
she's too young for me and in the past 10% it was so heavy. also the h too childish to me. im totally fine with dark romance but this one? too fucking rapey, have the body betrayal moment, and i want to shot his ass.
May 8, 2012
Just finished reading Island Flame and loved it! I have in hand "Sea Flame", looking forward to reading it. I loved how true to word the story was told. Pirates were not lovable men or women back then...........so the hero played a very true part, but led to true love for them both.
I was taken back reading the bad reviews on Amazon and this was my reply:
This book is a 5 star for me!!! It was written in the '80's and times were different. So get with it readers, and also, the time or era this story was told in, were way different times and true to nature. I give the author much credit for bringing truth to the story.......
Rape, cruelty from a pirate weres nothing new back then and nothing new these days..........he mellowed eventually, and their love was so strong, nothing could break them apart, I will read the second of the 2 now, called, "Sea Fire"........if your not liking this book, then a good romance book is not for you.....I pute Karen Robards in top 5 Authors of all time.........
I was taken back reading the bad reviews on Amazon and this was my reply:
This book is a 5 star for me!!! It was written in the '80's and times were different. So get with it readers, and also, the time or era this story was told in, were way different times and true to nature. I give the author much credit for bringing truth to the story.......
Rape, cruelty from a pirate weres nothing new back then and nothing new these days..........he mellowed eventually, and their love was so strong, nothing could break them apart, I will read the second of the 2 now, called, "Sea Fire"........if your not liking this book, then a good romance book is not for you.....I pute Karen Robards in top 5 Authors of all time.........
January 8, 2013
it was so good. I didn't want to put it down to even do the house chores. Jon is one of my favorites & this will be a reread forever & ever.
April 10, 2023
Él la manosea, la secuestra, la golpea, la viola, y ella se enamora de él?
No señor. Todo mal con este libro 🚩
No señor. Todo mal con este libro 🚩
July 17, 2023
wow the pirates in this book were not nice. Not sexy jack sparrow kinda pirates, I first imagined. They were bad teeth, cheroot smoking grapist pirates with likely veneral disease. The H was a turd till we felt sorry for his beating endured to save the h in Cadiz. Then a plot 180, a few months of starving and whipping at the behest of his forced marriage father in law. Voila the H is all of a sudden he is a wealthy southern gentleman. Pirate no more. Love the Dad tho. Vengeance is his, till the end where they strangely agree to let bygones be bygones. wacky romance was fast read that would not jive with many modern sensibilities but was still super entertaining with an overall S&m vibe
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 19, 2010
Argh! Another one where the hero rapes and abuses the heroine, and never shows any remorse or even accepts that he's done wrong. He forces himself on her - predictably, she responds to his attentions - and then he claims that he only gave her what she wanted! When she puts up a fight, he spanks her hard enough to leave bruises, and she falls into his arms again! But at least at this point when she's in her right mind she's still trying to get away. Then she tries to escape, gets herself in a fix, and while rescuing her, he's badly hurt. She blames her own "willfulness" for his injuries, and that's the end of her resistance. Later, he hates her for things she didn't do, and takes out his rage in an intentionally brutal rape, after which she is physically ill and clearly distraught. But that same night she passionately responds when he seduces her again! When she finally decides to leave him, he asks her why (duh!). When she mentions that he raped her, he basically says, "Oh, that," then gives a very grudging apology and when he begs her to stay, she does - oh, happy ending!
It's an historical fact that until recent times, men often thought of women as little more than vessels for their sexual urges. It's historically true that conquerors and pirates usually raped their captives, that husbands had the right to have sex with their wives even by means of force, and that many noblemen considered compromised women, and women of the serving classes, to be fair game. I have no problem with reading books that show these historical facts. But if the male MC in the story is supposed to be a hero, by the end of the book, I want to see some kind of redemption of his character, starting with a recognition of the wrong he committed and some legitimate remorse. I never saw that here, to my immense frustration, which made it impossible for me to ever like this "hero."
I also have no problem with seeing an innocent heroine, unprepared for her body's responses to a man's attentions, responding to his attentions against her will. But if I'm supposed to respect the heroine, I really don't want to see her just melt into a puddle of goo after the guy has abused and humiliated her. And at some point I want her assert herself and demand respect and some sincere evidence that the hero has learned his lesson. The heroine here showed some fire, but I had no sense that she ever learned how not to be an accomplice to her own abuse, so I ended the book believing she was in for more.
Oddly, other than that I really did like the book. Robards writes well enough that I recently bought every book she's written, and I identified enough with the heroine here that my emotions were engaged. I cried for her when she was taken from her love, and though I had trouble being entirely happy for her when they reconciled, again, my mixed feelings were because I felt some affinity for her.
It's an historical fact that until recent times, men often thought of women as little more than vessels for their sexual urges. It's historically true that conquerors and pirates usually raped their captives, that husbands had the right to have sex with their wives even by means of force, and that many noblemen considered compromised women, and women of the serving classes, to be fair game. I have no problem with reading books that show these historical facts. But if the male MC in the story is supposed to be a hero, by the end of the book, I want to see some kind of redemption of his character, starting with a recognition of the wrong he committed and some legitimate remorse. I never saw that here, to my immense frustration, which made it impossible for me to ever like this "hero."
I also have no problem with seeing an innocent heroine, unprepared for her body's responses to a man's attentions, responding to his attentions against her will. But if I'm supposed to respect the heroine, I really don't want to see her just melt into a puddle of goo after the guy has abused and humiliated her. And at some point I want her assert herself and demand respect and some sincere evidence that the hero has learned his lesson. The heroine here showed some fire, but I had no sense that she ever learned how not to be an accomplice to her own abuse, so I ended the book believing she was in for more.
Oddly, other than that I really did like the book. Robards writes well enough that I recently bought every book she's written, and I identified enough with the heroine here that my emotions were engaged. I cried for her when she was taken from her love, and though I had trouble being entirely happy for her when they reconciled, again, my mixed feelings were because I felt some affinity for her.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 29, 2021
El libro hubiera sido bueno si la autora NO SE HUBIERA PERMITIDO ESCRIBIR A UNA PROTAGONISTA TAN IMBECIL QUE SE ENAMORARA DE SU VIOLADOR.
Ok ajá la violó al principio y ella por alguna razón lo logró perdonar, hasta ahí todo medio decente. PERO BRO VOLVER A VIOLARLA CUANDO SE SUPONE QUE YA SE HABÍA “REFORMADO”??? ES EN SERIO?? Y QUE ENCIMA ELLA LO VOLVIERA A PERDONAR Y DECIDIERA PASAR EL RESTO DE SU VIDA CON EL???
Simplemente absurdo
Ok ajá la violó al principio y ella por alguna razón lo logró perdonar, hasta ahí todo medio decente. PERO BRO VOLVER A VIOLARLA CUANDO SE SUPONE QUE YA SE HABÍA “REFORMADO”??? ES EN SERIO?? Y QUE ENCIMA ELLA LO VOLVIERA A PERDONAR Y DECIDIERA PASAR EL RESTO DE SU VIDA CON EL???
Simplemente absurdo
March 24, 2020
One of the most iconic pirate bodice rippers, Island flame is amazingly over-the-top but readers with a modern sensibility may have a hard time connecting with Jon and Catherine.
Even as someone who enjoys bodice rippers, I admit this was a hard one to simply sit back and enjoy the ride. Jon is such a disappointing hero. Oh sure he checks all the boxes when it comes to an asshole hero but he's so damn dumb. He's Gaston from Beauty and the Beast. Jon is a 34-year-old cradle robber that abducts Catherine, a 17-year-old child. He will believe in her bad character because he is punishing her for all the perceived wrongs he's ever received at the hands of the female sex. Unfortunately, he loves her so much but he can NEVER admit his true feelings or else she'll just use them against him! And when you find out why he's such a misogynist, you just want to tell Jon to GROW UP and GET A BRAIN. Jon, Speaking of, Jon reminds me of the hero in Catherine Coulter's Devil's Embrace because both heroes are pirates/ship captains with a creepy mother fixation.
I dig unreasonably cruel heroes but Jon seemed dumb, which is unappealing. As a casual misogynist, Jon has a bad sense of humour. When Catherine asks him if he has ever been in love, he groans and says to himself, "she wants to talk about it, I want to do it." *cue canned audience laughter* In another time, Catherine bows to him like a "Chinese coolie" (!!) as she gets something for him and he slaps her backside. Ugh it's so cringing and awful.
Catherine is feisty but she never challenges the misogynistic structure as other bodice rippers sometimes attempt to do. Other bodice rippers will have a poignant transformative moment when the heroine will stand up for herself. Whether that's standing up for her spirit, her house or her man. Catherine doesn't have this. Instead, she is called a bitch in the same breath that Jon admits he loves her, which again, while amazingly over-the-top, does not inspire confidence in the reader that he has learned anything from clearing up the multiple misunderstandings that they had to get over.
I did enjoy this but I never fell in love with it. As a fan of Karen Robards, I loved Forbidden Love and Loving Julia. Both stories included a hero swearing at the heroine and calling her names, physical violence, and abductions yet I fell in love with both of the characters so that these dramatic moments heightened the emotional and physical tensions between the leads.
I did not fall in love with Jon and Catherine. Jon doesn't have a reason to like Catherine except for obsession and possession, and while that's par for the course, Jon comes across as a dumb jock, King Kong in human form. Catherine is treated as an inanimate object by Jon from how he dumps her on the ship deck like a sack of potatoes as his prisoner to being referred to as "this" in the sentence, "this is mine" that Jon says to his second-in-command. Jon is a masculine myth, he's so tedious and insufferable.
Even as someone who enjoys bodice rippers, I admit this was a hard one to simply sit back and enjoy the ride. Jon is such a disappointing hero. Oh sure he checks all the boxes when it comes to an asshole hero but he's so damn dumb. He's Gaston from Beauty and the Beast. Jon is a 34-year-old cradle robber that abducts Catherine, a 17-year-old child. He will believe in her bad character because he is punishing her for all the perceived wrongs he's ever received at the hands of the female sex. Unfortunately, he loves her so much but he can NEVER admit his true feelings or else she'll just use them against him! And when you find out why he's such a misogynist, you just want to tell Jon to GROW UP and GET A BRAIN. Jon, Speaking of, Jon reminds me of the hero in Catherine Coulter's Devil's Embrace because both heroes are pirates/ship captains with a creepy mother fixation.
I dig unreasonably cruel heroes but Jon seemed dumb, which is unappealing. As a casual misogynist, Jon has a bad sense of humour. When Catherine asks him if he has ever been in love, he groans and says to himself, "she wants to talk about it, I want to do it." *cue canned audience laughter* In another time, Catherine bows to him like a "Chinese coolie" (!!) as she gets something for him and he slaps her backside. Ugh it's so cringing and awful.
Catherine is feisty but she never challenges the misogynistic structure as other bodice rippers sometimes attempt to do. Other bodice rippers will have a poignant transformative moment when the heroine will stand up for herself. Whether that's standing up for her spirit, her house or her man. Catherine doesn't have this. Instead, she is called a bitch in the same breath that Jon admits he loves her, which again, while amazingly over-the-top, does not inspire confidence in the reader that he has learned anything from clearing up the multiple misunderstandings that they had to get over.
I did enjoy this but I never fell in love with it. As a fan of Karen Robards, I loved Forbidden Love and Loving Julia. Both stories included a hero swearing at the heroine and calling her names, physical violence, and abductions yet I fell in love with both of the characters so that these dramatic moments heightened the emotional and physical tensions between the leads.
I did not fall in love with Jon and Catherine. Jon doesn't have a reason to like Catherine except for obsession and possession, and while that's par for the course, Jon comes across as a dumb jock, King Kong in human form. Catherine is treated as an inanimate object by Jon from how he dumps her on the ship deck like a sack of potatoes as his prisoner to being referred to as "this" in the sentence, "this is mine" that Jon says to his second-in-command. Jon is a masculine myth, he's so tedious and insufferable.
May 5, 2017
2,,4 stars. A true to type old school bodice ripper with a 17 year old heroine (at least she is portrayed to be her girly age) and a 34 year old pirate who abducts her, rapes her (although the heroine later says she wanted it), marries her under duress, then abandones her (although there is another explanation) while she is pregnant with his child and then abducts her again. The couple at last find their HEA but the author lets it all hang in the balance till the very last page.
I skimmed most of it, the writing in itself was ok (this is not one of those flowery prose books), but the plot was too predictable for me to read every sentence. I needed to read untill the end though, just to know what horrors the author would inflict onto the main couple. Lol.
Why this book?
A while ago I bought a pile of second hand Old School romances for next to nothing. I thought it would be fun to read into the history of the genre. And it is. But because I mainly read on my e-reader, the going has been slow. Also because I discovered I can only handle these oldies when used sparingly. With some recent new additions to my shelves, I needed to make space. I picked this one random to see whether it was worth keeping. And I only keep those that get a 4 star or above, or are part of a series with mostly 4 stars and above.
So my goal is achieved: found a book to be donated and I enjoyed the read. But I do like the cover... Maybe i'll keep it? Opinions?
I skimmed most of it, the writing in itself was ok (this is not one of those flowery prose books), but the plot was too predictable for me to read every sentence. I needed to read untill the end though, just to know what horrors the author would inflict onto the main couple. Lol.
Why this book?
A while ago I bought a pile of second hand Old School romances for next to nothing. I thought it would be fun to read into the history of the genre. And it is. But because I mainly read on my e-reader, the going has been slow. Also because I discovered I can only handle these oldies when used sparingly. With some recent new additions to my shelves, I needed to make space. I picked this one random to see whether it was worth keeping. And I only keep those that get a 4 star or above, or are part of a series with mostly 4 stars and above.
So my goal is achieved: found a book to be donated and I enjoyed the read. But I do like the cover... Maybe i'll keep it? Opinions?
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April 11, 2020NOP.
Lo abandono a las 202 páginas porque ya no tenía ganas de leerlo y por mi salud mental prefiero no seguir aguantando a estos personajes y su historia chota.
No tenía grandes esperanzas sobre este libro, para ser honesta, pero esperaba al menos reírme un poco. Para mi disgusto me topé con una protagonista boba que solo piensa en coquetear, que es bella y privilegiada pero pobrecita, unos piratas la toman de rehén y el capitán queda fascinado por su belleza y decide hacerla suya. A lo que siguen diversas escenas de violación, Cathy se hace la dura pero no niega que le encanta el pirata y lentamente empieza a ceder.
Son re tóxicos los dos, y aunque Cathy por ahí le pone los puntos sobre las íes a Jon me aburrían soberanamente con sus discusiones vuelteras, con su romance barato y no pasaba nada interesante en esta historia de "piratas". So... después de leer el inicio de una discordia me dije "Ya fue! No tengo por qué seguir leyendo esto."
Una pena que no pasara nada interesante porque le tenía un poco de fe a doña Robarda... pero igual capaz pruebo alguno de sus suspensos románticos que quizás por ahí me copa más.
Lo abandono a las 202 páginas porque ya no tenía ganas de leerlo y por mi salud mental prefiero no seguir aguantando a estos personajes y su historia chota.
No tenía grandes esperanzas sobre este libro, para ser honesta, pero esperaba al menos reírme un poco. Para mi disgusto me topé con una protagonista boba que solo piensa en coquetear, que es bella y privilegiada pero pobrecita, unos piratas la toman de rehén y el capitán queda fascinado por su belleza y decide hacerla suya. A lo que siguen diversas escenas de violación, Cathy se hace la dura pero no niega que le encanta el pirata y lentamente empieza a ceder.
Son re tóxicos los dos, y aunque Cathy por ahí le pone los puntos sobre las íes a Jon me aburrían soberanamente con sus discusiones vuelteras, con su romance barato y no pasaba nada interesante en esta historia de "piratas". So... después de leer el inicio de una discordia me dije "Ya fue! No tengo por qué seguir leyendo esto."
Una pena que no pasara nada interesante porque le tenía un poco de fe a doña Robarda... pero igual capaz pruebo alguno de sus suspensos románticos que quizás por ahí me copa más.
May 23, 2016
Classic Bodice Ripper style (literally happens to her at least 3 times lol) If you enjoy the type then you will love this one. A really good read. Cathy is on her way to join English Society when the ship is beset by pirates and she is taken hostage by Captain Jon Hale. "Forced seduction" takes place fairly early in the story and many journeys await them. Lots of misunderstandings and distrust ahead. Battles, near deaths, pirate islands, and more. Jam packed full of "omg" moments. I will definitely be reading the next one!
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