Rating: 
Summary: It was okay
Review: This book was okay. The plot was interesting and I liked the little secondary romance with Bettina's mother. My biggest problem with the book was the relationship between Tristen and Bettina. The fact that he raped her wasn't that bad since many books written in the seventies and eighties had this theme in common. The trouble was there was never any reason for Bettina to fall in love with Tristen. He never changed. He never grew to respect her feelings. The two of them fell in love abruptly and unbelievably. All in all okay to read once. I do enjoy Johanna's other later books and I would recomend them.
Rating: 
Summary: Horrible
Review: I can't believe I spent my money on such a trash! I usually enjoy pirate stories (McKinney "Till dawn tames the night"), but this was stupid and the style of writting was simply unreadable. I hated Tristan from the beginning and although I hoped to start to like him, it wasn't possible and I thought I'd never finish the book. There's only one book as boring as "Pirate's love" and it is "Temptress" by Jude Deveraux. Don't read it.
Rating:
Summary: Not A Favorite
Review: 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 this was a theme 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.
Rating:
Summary: Ugh...I Feel Dirty...
Review: As much as I was morally appalled by this book, I still read the thing all the way through. I think this is evidence that Lindsey is a star storyteller no matter how bad the material might be.I don't buy into the "pardon the rape, madam, but it's a primitive work" excuse. Relentless violence towards women may be a nasty gritty truth of the real world. So how exactly does it fit into a bit of romantic escape? One thought I had was that Bettina had fallen into complete dispair. Tristan had altered the course of her life so completely that she understood it was beyond repair. Thinking this and not being a foolish girl, her mind flips over and she begins to make herself think amorous thoughts towards Tristan. She had nothing to lose and possibly a lot to gain. It's the only justification I can think of for Bettina falling in love with the man who has continuously raped her. This book makes literary history by being so terribly twisted. It's akin to Ed Wood and his films. Pirate's Love is significant in just how awful it is.
Rating:
Summary: Sick!
Review: I agree with these 1 star reviews and their reasons for not liking the book. Having the man rape the woman and then having her fall in love with him is sick and irresponsible! I can't believe this book was written by the author who wrote the wonderful Malory series of books. What was she thinking! Plus I can't believe the comments by women who defended the rape especially the woman who called it darkly erotic. Ewwwwww!
Rating:
Summary: This Pirate Needs A Heavy Yardarm Smacked Into His Head
Review: I was seduced into reading this...this foray into the unpredicatable world of romance fiction by the promise that it was the worst novel ever written. The worst? Not quite. I think Johanna Lindsey could write a state driver's manual in such a way that it would be enjoyable. But this is the story of an irritating little girl who is forced to have sexual intercourse without her consent (that is, rape) with this pirate who needed a ship to keep his ego afloat--but somehow by the last page, they are forever and a day in love. At least the Lindsey driver's manual would be plausible. The plot is thrown together cliche by cliche, held together with bubble gum, and easily blown over by the slightest breeze. I mean we've got childhood trauma, childhood trauma II, the wise and gentle nursemaid, the lust for a woman (little girl) because she's the most beautiful creature ever created and nevermind her sour demeanor, the wise sidekick, the nefarious fiance, everything but a petulant pet. I think there's a theme here--Bettina will give her heart to a man she has never met. Unfortunately, this happens only after she's had to give over a lot of other things to Tristan, every man's varsity pirate. Don't mind the characters as there really aren't any--they have as much depth as the print on the page. On to the big issue--can a woman fall in love with a man who continually raped her? I suppose one could argue that it was the manifestation of fate with a timing somewhat odd to human readers. Maybe one could argue that Bettina was somehow sexually repressed and needed to be taken by Tristan to attain her true womanhood. But please, these arguments are out on a limb. Tristan's treatment of Bettina as nothing but a body to relieve his lust upon is disgusting. Since this isn't the disgusting genre, I'm left to conclude that Lindsey wandered astray with this particular work.
Rating: 
Summary: Stockholm Syndrome Run Amok
Review: I gave this book three stars precisely because the plot was quite different from that of most romances, thus less predictable. I've read several romances lately where I've been able to accurately guess plot developments long before I reached the point where the author revealed them, which ultimately disappoints. This book, I can safely say, is most definitely not a predictable formula romance. One does not necessarily need to like or approve of the characters in a book in order to be engaged by the story. This was, after all, a work of fiction, not a prescription of how romance should be. Though the writing style in this book is not as polished as that of some of Lindsey's more recent works, she pretty much avoids the trap of anachronism I see in many romances: characters with modern sensibilities placed in historical settings. This book is most definitely not politically correct and those who are offended and distressed by reading about rape even in a fictional setting would do well to avoid this book.
Rating:
Summary: Lindsey on Crack!
Review: I, along with many other Lindsey fans, like most of her earlier works. But this one just grossed the hell out of me! I have read other reviews where people say rape is a standard thing in a lot of romances. Maybe. But what I like about romance novels, is that usually, the man, while aggressive, has a modecum of decency. Meaning, if they know a woman has never been with a man before, they won't just hump on her day and night! The won't just ram themselves into her! But of course, this guy was a pirate, so I guess he had no manners. This is what went on in 'A Pirate's Love'(by the way, it also went on in 'Fires In The Winter' and 'Captive Bride'). Another reviewer here said it best: 'Bettina was nothing to Tristan but a body to relieve his lust upon'. I never grew to like him and of course, he was never sorry. What's romantic about that? I have to also say, I didn't feel too much sympathy for Tristan's little 'childhood trauma'. He watches his mother get raped repeatedly as a child, then grows up and inflicts the same kind of pain on a young girl? A woman wants to feel what the woman feels in romances. There is no way I'd want to be Bettina. I thought the pregnancy was sick and I would've thrown myself in the ocean the minute I got the chance, before some scuzzy pirate put his hands on me again! Like I said in my title, maybe Johanna Lindsey was on crack at the time she wrote this book.
Rating:
Summary: Horrible
Review: I can't believe I spent my money on such a trash! I usually enjoy pirate stories (McKinney "Till dawn tames the night"), but this was stupid and the style of writting was simply unreadable. I hated Tristan from the beginning and although I hoped to start to like him, it wasn't possible and I thought I'd never finish the book. There's only one book as boring as "Pirate's love" and it is "Temptress" by Jude Deveraux. Don't read it.
Rating:
Summary: Not A Favorite
Review: 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 this was a theme 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.
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