A Pirate's Love

by Johanna Lindsey

Bettina Verlaine sets sail to fulfill her promise to marry the count she has never met, but en route, the spellbinding pirate Tristan wins her heart, inspiring a love that must be consumated at any cost.

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Historical, Pirates, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Adult

506 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

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

In 1970, when she was still in school, she married Ralph Lindsey, becoming a young housewife. The marriage had three children; Alfred, Joseph and Garret, who already have made her a grandmother. After her husband's death, Johanna moved to Maine, New England, to stay near her family.

Johanna Lindsey wrote her first book, Captive Bride in 1977 "on a whim", and the book was a success. By 2006, with over 58 Million copies of her books have been sold worldwide, with translations appearing in 12 languages, Johanna Lindsey is one of the world's most popular authors of historical romance.

Johanna's books span the various eras of history, including books set in the Middle Ages, the American "Old West" and the popular Regency England-Scotland. She has even written a few sci-fi romances. By far the most popular among her books are the stories about the Malory-Anderson Family, a Regency England saga.

Johanna Lindsey died on Oct. 27, 2019 in Nashua, N.H. She was 67.

Reviews

[Jim son of Jim (formerly PhotoJim) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'll have to write a proper review of this rape-o-rama tomorrow. It's crap like this that turns me off to historical romance novels.

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

____________________________________________________________________
Bettina (AKA Simpering Obnoxious Victim or SOV for short) -'Hi, I'm Bettina. My daddy doesn't love me enough. So I became so obnoxious that he sent me away to a convent. Now that I'm home he is sending me to a man I've never seen to be his wife. Woe is me!'

*enter the mother*
mom - 'I know you are being sent away so your father doesn't have to see you anymore to someone you've never met. But I have good news. The man you thought was your father really isn't. Since he is such an ass, I took to screwing sailors in port. Best time of my life! So remember, if you get to your new husband and don't love him, I suggest you find someone who knows how to treat a wanton woman right.'
SOV - 'Thanks mom. I'll keep that in mind.'

*sails for the new world - a brief interlude where the captain tries to keep SOV away from the horny sailors but she doesn't listen and one is almost whipped to death for attempted rape. Then they are attacked and she is captured by pirates.*

Rapist (AKA Captain Tristan) - I've captured a fair young maiden! Take off your clothes so I can rape you now.
SOV - I'd rather you didn't.
Rapist - If you don't, I'll kill all the prisoners.
SOV - Well, if you put it that way, OK.

*rape ensues*

SOV - Now set the prisoners free!
rapist - I lied, there are no prisoners.
SOV - I only disliked you before. Now I will scream and cry because you lied to me!
rapist - get used to it. I'm going to continue to lie to you and rape you daily.

*days of sailing with more lies and as promised a daily raping*

maid (who had birthed SOV and miraculously stayed with SOV throughout this ordeal - how you like it when Captain Tristan gives it to you?
SOV - how do you think? he rapes me daily.
maid - you might want to think about enjoying it. He certainly does. No reason only one of you should be having fun. He's actually pretty good looking.
SOV - were you dropped on your head alot? i said he RAPES me daily.
maid - I'm just sayin' is all.

*Instead of being ransomed to her future husband, she is taken to the rapist's super secret lair*

SOV - why are we here?
rapist - I'm not done with you. In fact, I really like raping you daily.
SOV - this sucks
rapist - speaking of which...

*SOV actually does something and escapes, is miraculously picked up by a passing ship, mistaken for a boy and captured by a press gang, escapes, is captured by the first would be rapist, escapes, and finds her way to the home of her fiancee*

SOV - I'm saved!
fiancee (hearafter referred to a douche bag or DB) - Oh. Well, um...
SOV - it was terrible! I was raped again and again!
DB - yeah, about that. I don't want to marry you any more. But why don't you bend over this table and we'll see if the pirate measures up to me.
SOV - um, no. You really are a douche bag aren't you?
DB - yeah. Pretty much. By the way, your mother is here. Something about your ass of a dad being dead.

SOV - mom!
mom- Sweetie! so did you get any?
SOV - WTF is wrong with you people?!
mom- i'm just askin' is all.

*that night SOV and mom are kidnapped by none other than the rapist himself.*

rapist - so glad to be raping you again.
SOV - rapist, meet mom. Mom, the rapist.
mom- oh he's a big feller. and handsome too. You remind me of a certain sailor I used to know...
rapist - if you don't mind, I'm going to strip your daughter, tie her up, keep her imprisoned, and screw her six ways to sunday every chance I get.
mom - you two have fun!
SOV - mom! those screams you hear every night? Does it sound like I'm having fun? Does it sound like I enjoy this?

*after a few weeks of separation from everyone but the rapist where she is kept locked up, naked, and raped daily something occurs to our SOV*

SOV - shit. I'm knocked up.

*with promises of good behavior she's released from her room and allowed to wear clothing again.*

SOV - mom, how's it going?
mom - pretty good. You have such a dashing young man. He's very thoughtful and considerate you know.
SOV - I've got a bun in the oven.
mom - I'm so happy for you both. Are you enjoying yourself yet?
SOV - I really think you like to see me humiliated and raped daily.
mom - I just want you to be happy.

* after months of raping and other pointless episodes, enter the bad paper thin stereotype slaver murderer who kidnaps SOV to lure the rapist to him*

rapist - hello, my name is inigo montoya. You killed my father. prepare to die.
paper thin character - aha! you fell right into my non-existent trap. I've tied your woman up in the other room in such a way that the baby will fall to it's death unless it can bungie on the umbilical. and last I looked the baby's head was about to come out. AAARGH! you can't kill me! i'm the ... *falls dead*

rapist - I've found you!
sov - yep. now get me down from here. baby's on it's way.
rapist - I noticed.
sov - you don't have to rape me anymore.
rapist - I was going to wait until you were done with this. I'm not completely uncaring.
sov - thanks for that. I appreciate the compassion. Oh and just so you know. I love you now.
rapist - reaaly? Cool. let's get married.
sov - mom will be so proud. This is just how I always imagined it would be.

the end.
_______________________________________________________________________

Maybe this is just your sort of thing. I just don't see how anyone would like this.

[Jasmin · Rating 2 out of 5]

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

Welcome, welcome!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[mark monday · Rating 1 out of 5]

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

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

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

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

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

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

And Bettina's character was this helpless damsel in distress who was kidnapped by a man AT LEAST 7 times until I lost count. And then she suddenly realizes that she actually loves Tristan. Yet when she realized she loved him, we had no more sex scenes. No, the only intimate scenes we got on page were when Tristan was forcing Bettina to sleep with him. This book was hard for me to finish and I would not recommend picking it up.

[Rebekah Weatherspoon · Rating 1 out of 5]

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

Bettina...I wasn't wild about your name there, sweets. Bettina, Godblesser, tries to escape 75 times. She is thoroughly pissed for most of the book. Why? Because Rapey McRaperson WOULD NOT STOP RAPING HER. I wish I was joking. I'm not. Then every single woman in her life is like WHATS THE BIG DEAL? HES CUTE. HE TREATS YOU NICE. Bettina's reaction was perfect. - HE KEEPS RAPING ME!

Seriously though, 90% of this book is her being raped or talking about being raped. In first third of the book I'm sure it says "rape" 40 times. The last third of the book was actually kind of funny because of the mishaps and conversations that are had. I cackled a few times, but really the bulk of this book is about her being raped and a lot of talk trying to justify her rapes. And then she marries her rapist and it's all good.

Lindsey, woman. Ya Crazy! But I laughed a bunch of times so I'm not too mad at you. FYI - I had to force myself to take a lighthearted approach to this book, cause serious;y there's a whole bunch of justifying rape in this bitch.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

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


I have seen all the negative reviews because of the rape scenes, but this book was written back in 1978. Back then, in the romance writer's world it was called forced seduction, not rape. Forced seduction was the norm for books back then. Kathleen E. Woodiwiss who will always be the Grand Dame of historical romances, also wrote a forced seduction book "The Flame and the Flower" and Laurie McBain also had the forced seduction scene as well. I could go on for a long time naming all the great authors of the 1970s who wrote these "forced seduction" scenes. What makes me sick is everyone is blasting Johanna Lindsey for a book that was written 35 years ago, yet these are the same people who are giving 5 star praises to Bertice Small, for her book "Skye O'Malley" A book that involves rape, multiple lovers, incest, bestiality, and the rape of a child.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

HORRIBLE!

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

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


HORRIBLE.

SENT AWAY FROM HER FAMILY.
KIDNAPPED BY PIRATES
RAPE
RAPE
TRICKED
RAPE
RAPE
RAPE
TEMPER TANTRUM
RAPE
RAPE
LOCKED IN A HOUSE, ON A PIRATE OWNED ISLAND
RAPE
RAPE
ESCAPED
ALMOST RAPED BY DIFFERENT RAPIST
FINDS MOTHER- TOLD FATHER IS DEAD
RESCUED BY PIRATE RAPIST
RAPE
RAPE
LOCKED AWAY WITHOUT CLOTHING
RAPE
RAPEY RAPE
PREGGERS
RAPE
RAPIST BRINGS IN ANOTHER WOMAN
NO RAPE *SIGH*
CRYING
FALLS IN LOVE WITH RAPIST *WHAT THE #@$% *
FINDS LONG LOST "FATHER"
RAPIST HAPPILY EVER RAPER


YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

[Stacey O'driscoll · Rating 2 out of 5]

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


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

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

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

The end!

[Danielle The Book Huntress · Rating 4 out of 5]

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

I thought Bettina was an interesting heroine, and had Tristan treated her more kindly, I would have liked him as well. She was very young and innocent. Certainly not old enough to handle an unscrupulous hero like Tristan. Also it was unfortunately that she was treated as a possession instead of a human being with feelings and needs and aspirations. During the time period, a well-bred virgin of good family was a highly prized commodity, so that is realistic for the time period. I have to take this book into the perspective of the time it was written in. Rightly or wrongly, it was very common to have hero rape of the heroine in romances, hence the term 'bodice ripper.' That certainly doesn't justify it. This book has scenes that you can't even say are forced seduction. They are fairly violent rape. And this is the kind of story that non-romance readers like to use to justify their belief that romance is trashy and has no redeeming value. However they neglect to see that a fair amount of these books are very well-researched and provide an eye into history that informs and entertains the reader.

I'm hardly the person to get on a moral soapbox about this. If I was that morally offended, I probably wouldn't own the book. To me, it is what it is. But I do feel very disturbed when I read those scenes. If I could erase them from the book, I'd probably give it five stars. But I cannot in good conscience make this a five star book for the reason of those scenes.

[Regan Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

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

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

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

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

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

[Jena · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dumber than I remembered. 🤷🏻‍♀️

There’s rape, but the type where she can’t control her body, these scenes are not very detailed or long.

Reviews saying how she’s raped the entire book is correct, but the scenes are basically 2-3 sentences long. They’re all rapes because she’s been kidnapped by a pirate. And if she doesn’t take off her dress and lie quietly while he does his business then he threatened to whip her (it was a way to control her, not something he does).
Rape scenes aren’t violent, because he tricks her into staying still, or seduces her body the whole book.

This a terrible book, very true, but if rapes bother you in a fictional story written in the 70s where bodice rippers were so popular, and if everyone is complaining about the rapes in the book, then maybe you shouldn’t have read it? 🙄


- The h is feisty, but the Tstl kind, where you just want to shake her for being so immature and stupid.



Cheesy. Their love was all surface level, I felt nothing is why I m only giving it 2 stars.

No cheating.

[Serial Romance Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an old bodice ripper from the seventies with forced seduction trope. It is very much rape and the word is used often throughout the book, but I do not judge it against today’s standards. I’m a fan of vintage bodice rippers. I enjoyed this book. There were way too many coincidences for the book to seem the slightest bit realistic, but it was a fun romp. There was a bit of angst due to the H’s refusal to marry the h despite her pregnancy. This book is not safe, as other reviewers have pointed out. I enjoyed the HEA.

“Now you know, Tristan, what I could give you if I didn’t hate you. You may exact passion from my body when you rape me, but there is still a part of me that is not affected by your touch. This part of me you will never reach, because it is only mine to give. You will never have my love.”

Excerpt From
A Pirate's Love
Johanna Lindsey
This material may be protected by copyright.

[Carlae · Rating 3 out of 5]

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

[Katherine 黄爱芬 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Setelah baca untuk kedua kalinya...aku makiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinn cinta..cinta sama Tristannnnnnnnn!!!!

Bettina, yg dijodohkan dengan Comte Pierre de Lambert, pada saat pelayaran ke Karibia, tiba-tiba kapalnya disergap dan ditangkap oleh Tristan. Tristan yang terpesona oleh kecantikan Bettina, menipu (membohongi lebih tepatnya) dan memperkosa Bettina berkali-kali sehingga Bettina tidak tahan dan melarikan diri.
Upaya meloloskan diri dari cengkeraman Tristan berhasil sampai Bettina bertemu dengan Lambert, yang sialnya ternyata tidak berniat untuk menikahinya tetapi mennginginkan Bettina sbg simpanannya. Bettina yang kedatangan ibunya, menceritakan kemalangannya. Namun pada malam itu juga Bettina dan ibunya diculik oleh Tristan dan dibawa ke pulau milik Tristan.
Cerita berlanjut, Bettina mengetahui dirinya hamil 2 bulan, namun Tristan yang sudah ditanamkan keraguan oleh Bettina (bahwa Bettina pernah tidur dengan Pierre) mencurigai bahwa itu bukan anaknya, tapi anak Pierre. Tristan yang marah berusaha memburu Pierre dan utk mendapatkan informasi ttg Bastida, musuh besar Tristan yang telah membunuh orangtua Tristan dengan kejam. Setelah sia-sia mencari Bastida, Tristan memutuskan pulang. Walau masih ragu bahwa Bettina mengandung anaknya, hal ini tidak mengurangi keinginan dan hasrat Tristan untuk bercinta dengan Bettina.
Ibu Bettina, Jossel bosan dengan tindak-tanduk Tristan yang gelisah dan pemarah tersebut, mendesak Bettina untuk memberi kepastian pada Bettina bahwa Bettina mengandung anak Tristan. Walau Bettina sudah mengakui kepada semua orang bahwa ia mengandung anak Tristan, tapi Bettina masih enggan bersumpah kepada Tristan. Hingga kedatangan Gabby, perompak perempuan yang cantik, salah satu kekasih Tristan, yang membuat Bettina dirundung kecemburuan dan kesedihan. Seminggu kemudian, Tristan mengusir Gabby dan berterus terang bahwa ia sengaja membuat Bettina cemburu dan sengaja menguping pembicaraan antara Bettina dan ibunya ttg anaknya. Pada saat itulah mereka akhirnya berbaikan.
Belum surut kebahagiaan mereka, tiba-tiba Casey, sahabat Tristan, datang ke pulau tersebut dan terbukalah rahasia bahwa Casey adalah ayah kandung Bettina dan memaksa Tristan untuk menikahi putrinya dan tidak mengizinkan Tristan sekamar dengan Bettina jika Tristan tidak menikahi putrinya. Tristan, dengan berat hati menerima pengaturan tidak sekamar itu (padahal itu di rumah Tristan sendiri, hihihihi).
Setelah kelahiran anak Jules, sahabatnya, Tristan memutuskan untuk mencari Bastida kembali dan direstui kepergiannya oleh Bettina. Baru 2 hari Tristan pergi, tiba-tiba Bastida nongol di rumah Tristan dan memaksa bertemu dengan Tristan yang sudah tidak ada. Dengan kekecewaan, Bastida menyandera Bettina dirumah Bastida supaya Tristan datang mencari Bettina. Bettina yang sudah mencintai Tristan, berjuang dengan membohongi Bastida bahwa Tristan sudah tidak peduli lagi dengannya. Namun pada saat Bastida sudah nyaris percaya dengan cerita Bettina, tiba-tiba melihat sosok Tristan di daerahnya. Dan Bettina yang akan segera melahirkan, diikat dan digunakan sebagai senjata untuk mengacaukan pikiran Tristan.
Saat Tristan akhirnya bisa mengalahkan Bastida dan nyaris saja Bastida menusuk punggung Tristan, Jules datang dan menembak Bastida. Dan akhirnya, Tristan yang menghindar untuk menyaksikan kelahiran anaknya, malah harus membantu persalinan anak pertamanya.

Novel ini patut diacungkan jempol karena merupakan karya pertama Johanna Lindsey ditahun 1978. Dengan setting tahun 1667, sebenarnya karakter Tristan termasuk "jempolan" yang diciptakan oleh Johanna Lindsey. Memang novel ini pro-kontra. Sebagian yang sudah membaca menganggap novel ini tidak romantis karena terlalu banyak perkosaan dan pemaksaan, tapi kalau dilihat dari segi sejarah, pada masa pertengahan dan perbudakan masih ada, tokoh Tristan termasuk "lembut" utk ukuran pria. Tristan yang disarankan untuk memukul Bettina, tidak pernah melakukan hal itu. Adegan lucu tetap selalu ada dimana Bettina berhasil memaksa Tristan untuk mencukur janggutnya. Atau Bettina yang terpaksa terus menerus menjahit bajunya yang dirobek oleh Tristan yang menuntut. Atau Casey yang baru saja mengetahui Bettina adalah putrinya, langsung berlagak sebagai ayah sejati dan mengkudeta rumah Tristan yang tidak bisa menguasai pengaturan yang dibuat oleh Casey. Kedua tokoh utama novel ini memang agak "childish" mengingat mereka sama-sama berusia masih muda, dimana tokoh Bettina sebagai lady yang masih polos, tidak pernah mengenal dunia luar, pemarah, dan keras kepala. Sedangkan Tristan tidak kalah kacaunya, egois, keras kepala, pengatur, dan pemarah juga. Maka adegan perang mulut mereka layak dibaca dan tidak pernah membuatku bosan membaca.

[Wendy, Lady Evelyn Quince · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hated "A Pirate's Love" for many reasons, some based on logic, most others based on pettiness. If you're looking for a great review that does a better job explaining why this book blows search here: Katie V's review. I'm just going to go on a diatribe based on my ever-waning recollections of this book:

The multiple rapes that the hero commits upon the heroine didn't really faze me, although they did get redundant. This is, after all, a bodice ripper, and that's what comes with the territory. If a hero raping the heroine offends you, best not read this genre. It was everything else, in this, Johanna Lindsey's second book that I despised.

I hated Bettina and her knee-length hair and her flashing eyes that were blue one minute, then green another. Not blue-green eyes, mind you, that look different depending on the light or what she wears. Her eyes just change color randomly with her emotions. She's like a human mood-ring.

I hated Tristan. He was such pussy, shaving his beard off when Bets demanded it of him. Some tough pirate, eh? Plus I don't like the name Tristan. I joke about the overused names in Romancelandia that are so overbearingly macho and repetitive, but Tristan Matisse just doesn't inspire fear. Why not Captain Sauvage? It may sound cliche, but it's better than that prissy name.

I hated Casey O'Casey. There's another stupid name for a stupid character.

I hated Bettina's mother. Or was it the maid? Or was it both women who gave Bettina horrible life advice? Don't remember, don't care.

I hated the lack of romance. I hated the lack of variety in action. It all seemed to blur together: rape, fight, escape, repeat, rape, fight, escape, repeat, etc.

I hated how the antagonists are portrayed. In a pirate book set in the 1600s, it was natural to have Spaniards playing the villains to the English/French buccaneer heroes, but in "A Pirate's Love" Lindsey laid it on a bit thick, reaching Leyenda Negra levels of ridiculousness, their wicked deeds falling just short of infant necrophilia and cannibalism.

I hated the stupid coincidences at the end of this book. I mean, really?

Why would I despise this book, when it's not so different from Lindsey's early, more "serious-toned" works, like "Fires of Winter," which was one of my teenaged favorites?

Beats me. Maybe I was feeling sick that week or was stressed by heavy loads of classwork or I was on my period or maybe, just maybe, this book does indeed reach epic levels of suck.

"A Pirate's Love" is not the worst Lindsey book because at least I could finish it. As boring as it was, it did draw out emotions from me, which is more than I can say for her later, far more boring works.

1 big fat star

[Nazia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Do you think raping someone is romantic....? If you think so then you can enjoy this book immensely because it contains rape rape rape rape rape and rape.I can't think rape as romantic in any way because it's the worst crime possible on earth so i am sorry i just hate this book immensely.This book is fucked up horribly.......I was a fan of johanna lindsey after i read once a princess,secret fire,loving scoundrel but now after reading this grotesque book i hate her to the core. This book showed rape as such a little consequence as pinching or yelling. The heroine gets abducted by the pirate Tristan and is raped by him continuosly every night for several months and at the end she gets pregnant and finally realises that she is in love...what the fuck is this. This book is a complete no for me and this book will not be enjoyed by any self respecting romance fan.The hero wasa maniacal bastard, who's better off being castrated and then thrown in an asylum or better yet shot dead!The heroine should have ended her life or the pirates when she got a chance, atleast i would have done the same thing. This book is just fucked up and horrible enough to make me scream in frustration and bang my head on the wall. It was so disgusting really.I would have given it less than one star if possible. The hero was a psycho rapist who did'nt show even little mercy on Bettina the fool.
Bettina had no pride whatsoever,she had no principles or scruples or else no dignified lady would fall in love with her rapist,an animal who treated her like an animal just because the guy was good looking. ARGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

Recommended for: People I want brain damaged.

[Not Now...Mommy's Reading · Rating 1 out of 5]

Johanna Lindsey has been a favorite author of mine since I first read, "Say You Love Me". I've taken in to consideration that this book is supposedly one of her earlier writings. All in all, the book was a fair read. The plot was interesting enough but I soon tired of the interaction between Tristan and Bettina. Granted, a lot of readers were turned off by the whole "rape" thing but having been made an avid reader of historical romances after reading "The Flame and The Flower" and "The Wolf and The Dove" by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, I was able to understand that the whole "forced seduction" theme was found in quite a few romance books written during this time frame. What did bother me was that, unlike the characters in the novels I mentioned before, most of the interaction between the two main characters in this book consisted mainly of rape and the author didn't seem to take the time to show how the two developed feelings towards one another as time went on. It was more like..."I'm going to rape you." "I hate you." "I'm going to rape you". "I hate you." "I'm going to rape you." "I think I may be falling in love with you." WHAAAT???
The storyline has enough to keep you reading but one reading was enough for me. I'll not likely be pulling this one out of the bookcase again any time soon.

[Lelyana's Reviews · Rating 1 out of 5]

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

This book summary,

Legalized RAPE.

RAPE is okay.

RAPE is legit

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

This is the worst of the worst book I have ever read in my entire being.

Seriously.!!!!

And to make it worst, this is my favorite author, J.L. Which I adore because of The Malory Family.
This one was just... "NO"

[Isha · Rating 1 out of 5]

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

Firstly i would like to clarify that i get that this is a 'Bodice ripper' and the heroine is supposed to be physically violated.The low rating is NOT because my inner feminist is appalled at the idea of rape in the book.I knew it would be there , so i was prepared. Also having read a lot of great bodice rippers like
, and , all of which have overly possessive heroes who take their respective women captive, i was in the mood for another torrid , tumultuous captive romance.Johanna Lindsey is all over the place with her supposedly intense and impacting heroes , the exact kind that i like, so i bought the ebook.Little did i know, that Ms Lindsey , who is so popular for her raw and stomach turning 'bodice rippers' had a temporary forfeiture of her vocabulary and imagination while writing this book.Ugh, i dont even know where to start, but I'll try anyway.

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

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

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

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

[Reimi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Se que dije que nunca más iba a leer un libro de Johanna Lindsey, pero la verdad es que me di cuenta que hace algunos años yo leí un fanfic basado en este libro... y como soy una persona masoquista, decidí leer el libro para compararlo con el fanfic.
Grave error, porque resultó ser exactamente lo mismo: violaciones y personajes extremadamente insoportables.

[Tutti Dolci · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh. Outside of the rape-her-til-she-loves-him part, this story lacked the usual mutual contempt (or downright hatred) from BOTH protagonists that is typical in most Bodice Rippers. Because of that, the hero in this story (Tristan) seemed emotionally submissive from the onset, even though the reader was constantly reminded of how large and fearsome he was. However, the fact that this wisp of a girl (Bettina) was able to best him again and again, utillizing emotional manipulation and his own desire against him, made him seem wishy-washy and not the kind of Bodice Ripper "hero" which fans of this Romance branch (myself included) LOVE to hate (until we fall in love with him, that is).

And the external conflict in the story? Well, despite having been told about it early on in the book, it was essentially left to the very end of the story, and then way-too-easily resolved within less than a chapter. Furthermore, the story's heroine went from wanting the hero dead for continuously raping her, to being madly in love with him and accepting a life as his whore in less than two chapters (which, at the time, was a scandalous thing for a "well-bred lady"), making the transition between hate to love hard to accept as natural. The fact that the heroine's MOTHER and nanny thought she should love the man who took her virtue by force and then every night after (again, a much guarded thing for well-bred ladies at the time), did not do much to help the hate-to-love transition at all. In fact, it seemed downright ridiculous. Even for a Bodice Ripper, as neither of them knew the hero as more than a pirate and rapist, and could therefore not vouch for his virtues as "a good man."

All in all, it wasn't a terrible story, but it WAS a bit lackluster for THIS avid Bodice Ripper lover.

[KatieV · Rating 2 out of 5]

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

***original review***
I am one of those who like the captor/captive, forced seduction, noncon type of romance. It's a guilty pleasure and doesn't reflect my RL attitudes. BUT this is not one I liked. The hero is far too selfish and rapey and there was at least one time where he raped her when she was not ready for him and it was painful for her. If you want a better book on a similar theme by Lindsey, check out So Speaks the Heart. It has more of what I like in that he rapes her once (not brutally) and then after that he wants her to come willingly. He doesn't like the fact that she is frightened of him and really tries hard to be gentler and make her happy.

[Anita Osifo · Rating 1 out of 5]

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

The most annoying thing is that he saw his mother get raped and was on a revenge mission to kill the man yet he did the same and his line was "I may have raped her but I did not kill her husband in order to have her nor did I share her with my crew or kill her afterwards. I kept her and she will bear my child and become my wife."

Well as long as he rapes me, gets me pregnant, and marries me, I should fall in love with him. Pfffft!!!!

[Ari Reavis · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Stars

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

[Tina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Trashy, but enjoyable.

[Lorien · Rating 1 out of 5]

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

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

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

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

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

[Chloe Reads Books · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just… can’t.

[Mayrareads · Rating 3 out of 5]

1.5 for the setting

[♡ Sassy ~ Amy ♡ · Rating 2 out of 5]

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

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

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

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

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

Can you say Patty Hurst?

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

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

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

OH! Pirate rescues woman from bad spaniard. She has a baby girl & they love each other & live happily ever after on the island... Oh... They get married! Totally unexpected right!

[Maureen Feeney · Rating 3 out of 5]

NOT A ROMANCE, MORE OF A DRAMA.

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

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

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

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

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