The Pirate Lord by Sabrina Jeffries (1998)

I will be switching gears for my second review to a book that I quite enjoyed – not just as a pirate romance novel, but as a book in general. The first unexpected thing about this book was the dedication: “To Emily Toth, my favorite feminist, and to my parents, who taught me to stand up for my rights”

That’s different!

THE PLOT 

Sara Willis is a reformer. Her do-gooder antics are a thorn in the side of her stepbrother, Jordan, the Earl of Blackmore. So Jordan is especially displeased when Sara announces that she is going to accompany a ship of convict women to New South Wales. Their ship is captured by The Satyr, captained by pirate captain Gideon Horn. Gideon and his crew are looking to retire from piracy and build a community on a paradise island, Atlantis. They figure they need women to do it, and that a ship of prisoner women will be happy to be given freedom in exchange for helping out. Sara doesn’t take too kindly to Gideon’s presumptuousness, and resists – telling him that her brother is the Earl of Blackmore. Well, Gideon has a grudge against nobles so he kidnaps her, too. Once aboard The Satyr, Sara negotiates a deal with Gideon – give the women two weeks to decide who of the crew they want to marry. If they do not make a choice on their own in the two weeks it takes to reach Atlantis, they will have husbands chosen for them. In their heated back-and-forths, of course, Sara and Gideon become taken with each other – much to the consternation of both.

When they arrive on the island, the women must admit that Atlantis is indeed a paradise, and they begin to help build it into a home. But just when Sara and Gideon fall in love, Sara’s brother arrives on the island to rescue her. She does not want to be rescued, but agrees to go back to England with him as long as he promises not to let the fleet waiting off the coast attack Gideon and his men. Back in England, Sara is miserable. She also discovers that Gideon’s much-maligned mother is alive and well and had not abandoned him, but he had been kidnapped by some jealous lover who pretended to be his father and told him all sorts of lies about her. 

Once he realizes that Sara did not leave him, but was taken by her brother, her sets out to find her. Before he can get very far, however, he runs into the Earl of Blackmore, who is returning Sara – and his parents – to him.

MY TAKE

I really, really enjoyed this book. It the closest thing to a feminist-friendly pirate romance novel I have ever come across. Each chapter begins with a relevant quotation from a historical feminist figure. And it’s not just lip-service. The book is structured around pirate romance novel formulae, but it is much more fleshed out. There are a number of side stories focusing on the lives of, and budding romances between, the prisoner women and Gideon’s crew. The writing is good, and the style and storytelling are engaging.

THE HERO

Gideon is a hero I could swoon over. He starts off well-intentioned, but arrogant. Through his interactions with Sara, he learns and grows. Sure, his original plan is dumb, but he pretty quickly realizes that. He is respectful of the women throughout. All pirate romance novel pirate captains have some sort of (alleged) heart of gold, but Jeffries actually shows how much he cares about his men and his dedication to building a home on Atlantis. He has mommy issues, as all pirate romance novel pirate captains do, but it doesn’t manifest as misogyny.

THE HEROINE

Sara is great. She’s smart. She comes off as kind of a righteous harpy, which is unusual for a pirate romance novel heroine, but not in such a way that makes her unlikeable. She has a depth of character which is rare in this genre. Take this scene, when Gideon first captures the prisoner transport ship:

“’Good day, ladies,’ he said with a distinctly American accent when all the women were above decks and the hatches closed. With a grin that took some of the edge off his fierce looks, he surveyed the crowd and added, ‘We’ve come to rescue you.’

His words were so unexpected, so completely self-assured, that Sara bristled. After all his blatant methods of intimidation, after he’d stood here surveying the women like cattle before the slaughter, he had the audacity to say such a thing!” – page 51

Sara has values! Finding a man isn’t her main priority! Did I mention that she masturbates? Way to go, Sara! Way to go Sabrina Jeffries!

THE SEX

The relationship between Sara and the Horn-dawg (my nickname for him, not Jeffries’) develops, in a structural sense, the way most of these relationships do – witty barbs and antagonism mix with sexual tension to turn into something steamy. But Jeffries takes the time to actually develop the relationship. There is a spark of attraction between the two from very early on, so it’s not a sudden seduction. In fact, there’s no seduction at all. They build a respect for each other from their interactions, and begin to like each other, and fall in love. Sara does feel some shame, but it’s not shame about having sex, but shame about liking it, which I suppose can be written off to the time period. The sex scenes are well written. Sometimes they are sweet and sometimes hot. This is when he “break[s her]maidenhead”:

“’Do you trust me not to hurt you more than necessary?’

Every muscle in his face seemed taut from the effort of entering her slowly, and his eyes glittered with need. Yet he held off, waiting for her answer. That reassured her as nothing else could have. He might be a pirate, but he would not deliberately harm her.

…

It was only a quick little burst of pain, but enough to make her cry out. He caught her cry with his mouth, kissing her until she relaxed. Then he began to move, sliding into her with long, slow strokes. At first it felt tight and unfamiliar. Then the slick friction of him inside her began to warm her, to rouse intriguing new sensations inside her. She felt herself open and loosen for him, like a sail unfurling to accept the mighty thrust of the wind against it, inside it.” – p.246

Sure, the obligatory nautical metaphor is cheesy, but the trust and care is such a refreshing change from the flat-out rape in books like A Pirate’s Love.

THE PIRACY

The crew is representative of a number of different nationalities, which is true to historical pirate crews. Also, while Gideon does make a number of decisions for the crew, he is open to negotiation and discussion, which is emblematic of how democratic pirate crews were.

MY RATING

Feminism: 4/5 stars

Supporting cast: 5/5 stars

Long-lost mother ex machina: 5/5 stars

Overall: 5/5 stars

A Pirate's Love by Johanna Lindsey (1978)

For my first trick, I will review a book that typifies what most people probably think a pirate romance novel is like.

THE PLOT
On the voyage from France to Saint Martin, where she is to wed the rich Comte that her father has chosen for her, Bettina Verlaine is captured by Captain Tristan, a fearsome pirate. He can't resist her, so he rapes her a lot. Every time she tries to run away and escape, she gets kidnapped and nearly raped by someone else who is inevitably far more foul than Tristan, who is good to her even though he rapes her and who saves her from being raped by these other guys. Tristan decides that he's going to take her to his island estate and keep raping her there for a while before returning her to her betrothed, Comte de Lambert. She escapes to find her fiance but finds out that he's a total dill hole. Then Tristan kidnaps her back. Bettina tells Tristan she is pregnant, and tells him that he is the father but leaves enough room for doubt that the baby could belong to Lambert. Meanwhile, Tristan has been searching for his nemesis, Don Miguel de Bastida, who raped and killed his mother when Tristan was a boy. Tristan's ex-flame, the piratess Gabby, comes to visit and Bettina gets super jealous and realizes she's in love with Tristan. Tristan kicks Gabby out because he loves Bettina. But then Bettina gets kidnapped by Bastida and Tristan goes to rescue her. Tristan and Bastida engage in a sword-fight while Bettina is in the other room, shackled to a bookcase and in labor. Tristan kills Bastida, delivers the baby, and they go back to the island paradise and live happily ever after.


MY TAKE
There is a part of me that wants to believe that this book is a big joke. No book could possibly be so blatantly misogynistic, right? For example, Bettina's nursemaid advises,

"Why do you still resist him, Bettina? ...He is a handsome young man...It would be much easier on you if you gave in... He rapes you because you resist him. He wants you, that is all. I thought you would have accepted your situation by now"

Srsly, Johanna Lindsey? There are three main takeaways from this book:

1) Bettina is at fault for being kidnapped and raped all the time because she is so damn attractive. As Tristan says, "No, I didn't [have to rape you]. But you are just too tempting, little one. I'm afraid I don't have the will to resist you." In fact, the only reason her ship gets captured by pirates in the first place is that she was on the deck of the ship and the pirates saw her. It's her own fault. She wasn't supposed to be on the deck in the first place because her beauty could incite her own crew to rape her!

2) If Bettina would just give in, it wouldn't be rape! Her own mother insists, "He does not strike me as such a bad man, even though he forces you to sleep with him." I mean, at least he's handsome, unlike the other scummy dudes who try to rape her. And his logic is infallible: if she just consented to sex, he wouldn't have to rape her!

3) Arousal = desire, which is as good as consent. "What you are feeling now is not disgust, little flower. It is pleasure, pure and simple - you know it, and I know it. You curse me, but you want me. Your passion conquers your hate, and your body cries out for the fulfillment that only I can give." Riiiiight. (In my head that sounds like the part in The Mask where Jim Carey turns into a French horn-dog. Even though Tristan is English.)

It was pretty tough to make it through this book because lines like that kept making me want to throw the book across the room. (And it would be the book's own fault. It's so deplorable, it's just *asking* for punishment.) But I soldiered through it for the sake of one day blogging about it. Luckily, the plot is intricate enough that it held my attention.


THE HERO
Tristan is pretty much a jerk. He is arrogant and possessive and manipulative and condescending. He also fails to see the irony in hunting for the man who raped his mother to death while he rapes Bettina every night.


THE HEROINE
I can't say I like Bettina a whole lot, either. She's got determination, though, running away again and again. She falls in love with Tristan out of nowhere. It might be more Stockholm Syndrome than love. And when she is tied up and in labor, she forces herself not to scream because she doesn't want to distract Tristan from his duel. Come on, guys.


THE SEX
There isn't very much sex in this book, just lots and lots of rape. Like this:

He went deep inside her and remained still as he covered her face and neck with kisses. His lips found hers again, branding her with the passion of his kiss. He started to move inside her, slowly at first, then faster. A feeling was building, spreading through her loins like liquid fire. And soon Bettina clung to Tristan as ecstasy exploded inside her.

Bettina heard Tristan laugh deeply, triumphantly, and she felt more humiliated by this than by anything she had gone through so far. So this was his revenge – to give her that wonderful, that unbelievable pleasure. And at the height of the moment, she had clung to him as if she couldn’t bear to let him go.

I know some people are into humiliation, but I found this repugnant. Maybe Johanna Lindsey wants the reader to be simultaneously repulsed and aroused so as to identify with Bettina. But I don't think that's what she's trying to sell. And if she is, I ain't buying it.

THE PIRACY
Tristan is a privateer. He commandeers the ship that Bettina is on. That's about it.

MY RATING
Rape: 5/5 stars
Writing: 3/5 stars
Backwards logic: 4/5 stars
Overall: 1/5 stars. Blech