Sir Thomas Aldley, the Queen's ambassador to Portugal, believes such a savage place is not fit for his budding 17-yr old daughter, Lady Catherine. God help us if she happens to fall in love with a rakish Spaniard, or something. Well, Lady C would have been better off, and the ol' man should have left well enough alone. He sets her to sail for his sister's place in England so she can enjoy the season and marry well. The sailing vessel is apparently ripe to be plucked for its rich booty by cutthroat pirates, and it is indeed taken over by Captain Jonathan Hale and his band of merry men. He releases the hostages, except for Cathy, whom he berates, spanks and then rapes, not once but over and over again. Despite all of that, Cathy seems...smitten.Eye-roll and Sigh.The alleged hero, Jon Hale, is absolutely horrible--probably the vilest 'hero' I have ever seen in romantic fiction. The whole kidnap-rape-Stockholm Syndrome thing has been done over and over again in modern fiction, so I was surprised to see this theme in what can only be described as a bodice ripper that should have us all swooning. Instead, this character has not one redeemable feature, and the author doesn't see the need to scrounge one up for him. Through most of the book he's busy in a rage, calling her slut/whore/trollop, and then treating her like one, all the while justifying his actions. My favorite moments in the book were the many times he said to her, 'Have I beat you, or hurt you in any way?'No, sweetie. You were great.By the middle of the book I started hating Cathy, too. She luuuurves him. Jeepers, really? REALLY? He seems to blame her for something or other and won't listen to reason. The man spends so much time sulking, calling her names and raping her that he comes across like a spoiled, horny teenager whose frontal lobe hasn't fully reformed. We are told, ad nauseum, via the author, via Cathy, how masculine, how 'all man' he is. Not so much--more like a malformed brat. And as far as getting to the point of his 'rage' (rage isn't all that sexy), not much happens to get him to the Ah Ha! moment, so when we get there, it's like, duuuuh. You can see the light bulb go on over his head (I imagined such things so I didn't start screaming at my poor Kindle Paperwhite) Anticlimactic just doesn't describe it.When, toward the end of the book, Jon tears off her clothes, verbally humiliates, and then rapes Cathy (Really? Again??)--now his wife and mother to his newborn son--in the back of a carriage, and then declares them 'even' after she slaps his face, I almost threw Professor Paperwhite across the room. I am at a loss as to how, and why, the author thought this man was sexy, how she thought this horror show of a man would bring tingles to female readers, and how she could have written such a weak character as the dim-witted Cathy. Instead of swatting him over the noggin with her favorite cast iron pan, she continues to pine after this a-hole, and in the end they get their HEA. Sadly, I didn't buy it. Even for the time period in which the book was written, and the year in which the author wrote it, this dude is over-the-top horrid. We all adore the lovable cad who has his odd moments (and a tiny bit of rage, which IS sexy), yet his love for our heroine is clearly at the forefront, and we can find forgiveness for him in the end. That's how it's done. Robards missed this one by a sea mile. What was she thinking?Really. Bad.
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.
What do You think about Island Flame (1998)?
though im not yet finished with this book, and there is still much to read... i cant seem to put it down. even now as im writing this, i really do want to get back to the book. the editing is aweful and miss karen seems to overuse exclamation marks. i have also noticed a lot of... dot, dot, dots. which is vaguely annoying but it does help with pauses and to actualy be there though just like the exclamation mark, miss karen overuses this tool as well. though my insults are small, they are still there and what is all that is keeping me from rating this book as a 5 star book. overall i think the story line is a little over-dramatic and lusty. but i do like it.finishing this book i would love to read more about that pirate... when pirates of the carribean came out on DVD, i was in love with pirates. soon the obsession subsided and i was left with vampires, well that has lost its shiny-new-feeling and after reading this book i am now... once again, on to pirates. karen robards keeps you on edge until the last page. she is a wonderfukl writer that just needs grammer lessons, though i think i also do so maybe we could take a class together. once again, the only thing keeping me from rating this book as a 4 start book is the editing problems.
—Sarah
This is a reread of a book that has been on my keeper shelf for at least 20 years. It was recently reissued so I decided to read it again. It's a pirate story, which I love. However, the criteria for a book making it to my keeper shelf has apparently changed. This time around, the characters just didn't work for me... I just didn't like them very much. There is a second book with these characters, "Sea Fire". It has also been reissued. I'm sure I read it back in the day, although it's not on my shelf. I don't think I'll be revisiting these characters in the second book though, which is a pity given the dearth of pirate reads nowadays.My previous 'keeper shelf' book is now being relocated to the 'swap box.'
—Jane
This one tore my heart. I'm not sure Jon truly redeemed himself as a blackheart. I really wanted him to. He truly was a pirate. Cruel, self-serving. His callous use of Cathy in the beginning sickened me but his saving her in Cadiz showed me depth of character. But his attitude about marriage was appalling. Then when he was imprisoned, his hatred was truly justified (although wrongly and cruelly directed at Cathy). I could understand his withdrawal, conflicted emotions, raging jealousy but I COULD NOT take the cruel rape of her in the latter part and that half-hearted apology. That sickened me. And Cathy was way too forgiving, way too quickly. I really wanted to love Jon and I really wanted these two to work. I'm just not sure that he was truly a changed man. So with a review like that, why did I give it a 4 star? Because I was emotionally engaged and I couldn't put the damn book down. I do wish it focussed more on pirate battles and pirating rather than the Jon/Cathy battles. I don't know if I can handle the sequel though.
—Diane Hoover
