The Pirate Prince
Connie Mason
ISBN: 0843952342
Read May 18, 2014
As an aside, I was out shopping at a used bookstore and found a whole slew of romance novels in a bin out front labeled "Free" and I couldn't resist.
The bad: this is one of those really squicky romance novels where the girl says "no," means "no," doesn't consent at any point, and actively tries to resist, and the "hero" rapes her anyway, but it really isn't rape actually because it felt good/he wasn't using his penis/she's still technically a virgin/and really if she hadn't been raised to be frigid and hung-up about morality and sexuality, she would have said yes, and she ended up falling in love with him anyway, and he really loved her after all so it's all ok in the end!
I HATE that. It really raises my hackles. If it were presented as a tactic of the bad guys, that's one thing. But to have it be the accepted "seduction technique" of the character we're supposed to empathize with and lust after? It's disgusting and wrong, and it's a terrible example to set. Any writer ought to be ashamed of themselves for not being able to do better than that.
The story:
The hero is an Ottoman Turk named Dariq who turned pirate when his older brother assumed the throne and began his rule by killing everyone else who might challenge him for it. Dariq's mother (an English lady) saved his life that long-ago night, and he'll do anything to save her, especially after his brother threatens to kill her if Dariq doesn't return to be killed like a good responsible younger brother.
The heroine is named Willow (she's an English lady) and Willow's part in all this is that en-route to see her mother in France, her ship was captured by pirates, and she was sold into slavery and eventually bought to grace Dariq's brother's (you know, the Ottoman Empire's Sultan) harem. Except that Dariq knows that a certain ship is carrying a "treasure" his brother wants, so he steals it. Er, her.
Then comes the squicky rape parts, after which they fall in love, complications arise due to said love, and also to jealous concubines, and also to both of them having more hormones than braincells.
Willow's faith in her parents' rescue is well-placed, and Dariq also finds a formidible ally in his English mother, leading to a slight twist at the end that I didn't expect.
If you value your history, please expect a goodly portion of poetic license - if "Willow" didn't offer enough of a clue.
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