You did it! We figured this one out! It is a truth universally acknowledged (by me for certain) that the Bitchery pretty much knows everything, and really, it's true. Scroll down to see the solution for this HaBO - and many thanks!
Bitchery reader Kelly writes:
I was working a double (afternoon shift then night shift) and had nothing
to do so I read the romance novel left in the desk drawer. I HATED it. But,
I figured if something that fucking bad was published there had to be better
stuff out there. In any case, I was hooked because, as you know, there was
waaaaaay better stuff out there. Thank you, Julie Garwood, Laura Kinsale,
yeah, and Johanna Lindsey. Go figure, the worst book I ever read is what
made me a fan for life – it’s been 18 years since that fated tome.
I am dying to know the title and author…this is how it went, if memory
serves.Heroine ends up on a pirate ship, wait for it…he rapes her…and when he
sees the bruises he left he feels remorse. Now, that’s my kind of guy! So
dreamy and sensitive. They have unforced sex, I think. They are falling for
each other and something happens – she gets sent back to her father and he
goes to prison. The father tells the heroine her pirate-lover is dead, she
mourns and wears black.Pirate-lover breaks out of prison and kidnaps her, the night she was told
she can no longer wear black or something.For some reason he’s angry with her but still has to have her and takes
her to his super-secret pirate island. At some point, he’s all beat up and
near death and she sings to him and he can remember that stunning
voice…Now I’m probably just mixing shit up.So, if anyone can tell me this title and author that’d be swell. I need to
look her up and maybe even read it again, if it’s at the library. There’s
no way I’m paying for that again.
Can I have a super secret island? No? Dammit.
Well I read this LONG time ago, but Lauren Wilde had a Pirate book out at that time, red headed heroine, and a fushia/purple background cover… Zebra was publisher with the metallic heart sticker I think. Not sure if she was raped, but most of the late 80’s early 90’s romance had “forceful” (ie forced, non-consensual) sex in them. So that wouldn’t stand out in my memory. Had secret island, her father hated him of course, she get kidnapped and taken to his “secret island etc . .. . Hope this is it! If not good luck, I know the trauma of searching for the one book that have character names that escape you but the plot and book cover is clearly layed out in your head.
Sorry title was “Rapture’s Revenge” by Lauren Wilde
So I kept going back to Crimson Rapture by Jennifer Horsman and Island Flame by KR – even though neither covers fit in with what I recall. But they could’ve changed with printings.
I decided to check reviews….Ding, ding, ding, I think we may have a winner – Island Flame. Here’s a review I found that describes good bits of what I recall, minus the singing.
“…Jon takes Cathy’s innocence and continues to keep her captive throughout the long voyage. Once they stop for supplies at the Spanish Port of Cadiz, Cathy makes an escape attempt and falls into even rougher hands. Jon saves her, only to almost lose his own life. Through the long days of nursing Jon back to health, she learns from his man Petersham the hard boyhood and life Jon has had and she begins to realize she is falling in love with this dark, troubled pirate. When Jon awakes from his illness he realizes the same about Cathy and struggles with his feelings of love that are new to this hardened man. He takes her to his island home in Las Palmas and they have a short idyllic life, still not expressing their love.
As Cathy discovers she is carrying Jon’s child, the island is attacked by British ships. Her father is among them and he captures Jon and is ready to hang him. Cathy pleads for his life and that of her child and convinces her father to allow her to marry Jon. After the ceremony Cathy’s father knocks Jon unconscious, has him hauled off to prison, but tells Cathy that he has escaped and left her alone and pregnant, while at the same time whipping and torturing Jon in prison telling him that all of his torture is at the request of Cathy. Jon eventually escapes and once again kidnaps a very pregnant Cathy, taking her this time to America to his Charleston plantation. There they struggle through their relationship and the mutual lies and betrayals.”
I couldn’t find this detailed a synopsis – thank you gentle reviewer – you rock. And BTW, this reviewer is the only one that liked this book. Go figure.
Eileen – right off the top – you had it. You rock, too. I have to believe this just might be the book in question. Unfortunately, there are no copies available at my local library. Boo. But after reading all the bad reviews I’m fairly certain I couldn’t read it again.
Thanks for rallying and helping a bitch out. You guys are the best.
Oh, I hope you’re not talking about the “classic” (and I use that word loosely) Sheik by Edith Hull.
Yes, unfortunately.
If I had known I would have warned you in time to avoid this book like the plague. Sometimes I think this is the story to blame for all these you-raped-me-so-now-I-love-you books we’ve been talking about.
Yeah, that had crossed my mind as well. I’m not particularly versed in early romance novels (of the trashy variety, that is – I’m fond of Austen, Gaskell and the Brontes), but I couldn’t think of anything similar that pre-dated it. Apparently it’s totally ok to rape a girl repeatedly as long as you’re secretly an English nobleman and you eventually apologise… after said girl’s spirit is completely broken.
Little Mermaid? ROFL. I almost spat out my sandwich reading that!
Kelly, I’ve always considered Island Flame one of my all-time favorite books, I even mention it on the About Me page on my website because it was one of the first romance novels that really sucked me in and eventually lead me to write them.
But I don’t think I’ll ever reread it because my tastes have changed over the years (I’m in my early 40s versus my early 20s when that sort of thing seemed somehow romantic), and I don’t want to ruin the illusion of how amazing it was. *grin* Same with A Kingdom of Dreams by Judith McNaught, which is my all-time very fave book. I want to reread it, yet I’m terrified I may not care for it as much all these years later.
I never bothered reading Sea Fire, sequel to Island Flame, because my SIL hated it; he thinks she cheated on him, so cheats on her or whatever. But I have loved many of her books over the years. 🙂
Sorry, off topic, but this jumped out at me. Without at all knowing the book you’re talking about (so it may not apply to this particular character), no, raping a prostitute is not ok. I’d be much more inclined to forgive a hero who used prostitutes regularly but paid them fairly for services rendered and treated them politely than an ass-hat who felt all scrupled about raping some delicate flower of his own class but had no problem with using violence against “that kind” of woman. For more info on this particular rant check out this website; http://rodedraad.nl/other-languages/english.html
Hear, hear, Rebecca.
Dear Goddess, the *stuff* that gets published!
I haven’t read Island Flame, but it sounds so similar to one of my favorite books, Magic Embrace by Jennifer Horseman. The hero in this one Black Garrett rapes to heroine not one but twice. The first time is actually more forgivable because he believes that she’s a well-ridden slut. And the second time he wants her so much he gives her old-timey roofies and has his erotic way with her. It’s so wrong, but I rationalize it by knowing that they feel true love for one another and will eventually be together. The really unfortunate aspect of the book is that after all she’s put through the heroine actually rescue the hero. It’s so well plotted and paced I just wish it wasn’t tainted with rape and I didn’t feel guilty for enjoying it so much.
When I said “even though he raped Heather, he believed she was a prostitute” I meant that he thought she was a prostitute and he had sex with her. He didn’t hit her. He wasn’t violent. He did, however have sex with her and she did not consent – hence – rape.
He did pay her (or, at least he planned to – she escaped and took some money and left her dress in exchange) – his men, tasked with finding Brandon a “lady of the night” for an eager sea captain after a long lonely voyage (are the violins playing yet?) mistook Heather for a hooker (cause she was alone at night in a sexy dress, near the docks). Brandon thought she was a hooker and treated her as if she was one. She didn’t at any stage say – oh, by the way, I’m not a hooker, I’m an innocent maiden who’s escaped from evil servitude and BTW I’ve just killed someone and I’m running away from the police (at least, IIRC!).
Please don’t misunderstand me. Rape (of anyone, anytime) is wrong, wrong, wrong.
All I meant was that it was genuinely a case of mistaken identity (occupation?) for him and this made it easier for me to forgive him. He thought she was a new hooker and treated her well (well, if she had actually been a hooker) BUT she wasn’t.
I found it much harder to forgive Sebastian in To Have and To Hold who knew exactly what he was doing and to whom and did it anyway.
Plus right near the end of the book, it has one of the best lines EVAH – “Madam, you will ride tonight after all”. (and guess what sort of riding he was talking about? *snort*)
Uh, Brandon didn’t treat Heather well. At all. She fought him and he laughed it off as a game. She cried herself to sleep after the first time he raped her and the next morning he raped her for a second time, anyway, despite the fact that she was fighting against him AGAIN. And while he didn’t hit her, he certainly did use force against her:
That is a clear-cut case of rape. It’s not mistaken identity or occupation. Regardless of whether the woman in that scene is a prostitute or not, the man in it is certainly a rapist.
Why should she have had to say that in the first place? She was a terrified seventeen year-old girl who was being raped by a thirty-five year-old man, and she didn’t even know he thought she was a prostitute until the next morning. She thought he was the police.
But what about the fact that Brandon rapes Heather even after he learns that she’s not a prostitute, and doesn’t see anything wrong with it? And what about the fact that once they’re married and he’s admitted to himself that he loves her, he threatens to rape her again if she won’t willingly have sex with him?
Ah! That just goes to show that actual research trumps my imperfect memory.
Again, let me say that rape is wrong. No ifs ands or buts.
I understand that this issue can push some hot buttons for many people. Overall, I guess it’s less of a hot button for me.
I still loved the book though….. go figure (maybe cause I remember it wrong!)
I popped back in to see if the mystery had been solved. Now I find myself wonder if all the rape in romance novels isn’t caused by the same reason many women have “rape fantasies.” To make the reader feel less guilty about the sex scene. After all, it’s not the heroine’s fault, she was raped.
(My personal opinion on RFs is that they’re really forced orgasm fantasies. Because some women, myself included, were raised to believe that good girls never have orgasms. My mom used to lovingly tell me “Only men and whores enjoy sex. Good girls never do.”)
I didn’t like rape scenes in romances when I was younger and I still don’t. I recently read one called In The Garden Of Ruth where a 13 year old girl is raped, then starts sleeping with her rapist’s brother – the future King David. Then when David throws her over she “discovers” she’s in love with her rapist and offers to be his concubine since he’s already married. I wanted to beat the crap out of the author.