A Pirate's Love by Johanna Lindsey (1996, Hardcover, Large Print)

I am and always will be a big fan of Johanna Lindsey's. But this 'romance' , originally written in 1978, was anything but. And what you hear from fans of this story, is that 'one has to remember that in 1978, stories where the hero rapes the heroine were in'. What the living HECK was going on in 1978 that made writers come up with stuff like this???

'A Pirate's Love' takes place in 1667 when women could be humped on without question or consequences. The heroine is a 19 year old girl named Bettina Verlaine. The 'Hero' is a twenty-six year old pirate named Tristan Matisse. Bettina is sent to the Caribbean to marry a man named Compte Pierre De Lambert.

But Bettina's ship is raided by Tristan's pirate ship. He tells her that if she does not allow him to make love to her, he'll kill everyone on the ship. She does so, but gets snippy with him so he makes it painful, them hints that the next time will be better.

Bettina finds out that Tristan lied about killing anyone and after that, there are about 5-6 other rape scenes to follow, and a doozy of a one that kind of reminds you of that God awful rape scene from the movie 'What's Love Got to Do With It'.

The writing in 'A Pirate's Love' is not bad. But when you read the back of the book, then read the book, it is misleading. Lindsey, maybe unintentionally, did a masterful job of portraying Bettina's sense of terror and dread, knowing that she would be raped every night in Tristan's cabin, sometimes in the morning or when he shaved... that was a clue too. Tristan always held her down during every act and left bruises on her wrists as well. Meanwhile, her ignorant nurse, a woman named Maddie, was telling her to just 'give in' and that 'Tristan rapes you because you resist him...but he's handsome'! Oh criminy!

After trying to run away twice and meeting up with the Compte, who isn't interested in marrying her, now that she's been 'dishonored', Bettina becomes pregnant after another rape by Tristan, when he finds her and ties her to the bed before forcing himself on her again.

Now it wouldn't be fair not to talk about how Bettina, at times, enjoys Tristan's attentions...though at 19 she doesn't understand why her body responds to him. Oh and she 'responds' only about 3 times(twice when she's pregnant). All the other sex acts are not anything she looks forward to, or revels in afterwards.

And to be clear, Ms. Lindsey doesn't imply a 'forced seduction'. Bettina uses the word rape in her dialogue and her thoughts. Tristan used the word rape several times as well, mostly when he's grabbed her to force her down onto the bed. There really is no other way to see the relationship between the two: a rapist and his victim. Bettina falls in love with Tristan when she's too big with his child to run off.

I guess to me, what 'A Pirate's Love' needed was ANOTHER hero. I didn't want to see Bettina with Tristan. I was sorry she couldn't get rid of his kid and I wished that another man could've been introduced into the story that could show her the loveliness of sex, especially when it is with someone that loves and cares about your feelings. If Tristan had been half a man at all, he could've charmed Bettina into consensual sex.

I guess in the end, when I read romance books, there is a part of me that would love to switch places with the heroine. There is no way in the HECK I would've wanted to be poor Bettina Verlaine.