Commentaires client les plus utiles
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2.0étoiles sur 5
Not her best effort, Juil 14 2004
Karen Robards has written some of my favorite historical romances, but this is *not* one of them. The characters of Cathy and Jon are too one-dimensional and their emotional growth in the story is just about nil (particularly amazing since this book is the sequel to "Island Flame"--300 plus pages of more of the same.) The two books were written in the early 1980's, so I believe that they are some of Karen Robards's earliest efforts. Near the beginning of "Island Flame", beautiful Lady Catherine is captured by a pirate ship captained by the very handsome Jonathan Hale. Despite the fact that she is half his age and a virgin, Jon rapes her repeatedly (he later denies that it was rape because he has managed to wring a little response out of ther on occasion.) Looked at objectively, his behavior is what you might expect from a pirate captain in the mid-1800's, and I might even have been able to get past it and forgive him for it if he had ever really taken responsibility for his bad behavior and *changed*! But he never changes. He is still the same violent, insanely possessive, thoughtless, serial mis-understander and rapist almost all the way through "Sea Fire". All this *after* he has declared his love to Cathy at the end of "Island Flame" and has lived as her husband for two previous years. Needless to say, Jon is a very troubling "hero". To my mind, he is unsatisfying even as an anti-hero as he lacks any underlying vulnerability and redemption. His misogynistic tendencies are explained away as a result of the trauma of discovering that his stepmother was a whore--but that seems inadequate given the depth of his pathology.
The problem with the hero is compounded by the lack of a compelling heroine. Cathy is constantly described as beautiful and desirable (even immediately post-partum! How is that for romantic fiction!) but she is also a vain, thoughtless, tantrum-throwing twit. She is also plenty verbally and physically abusive in her own right. Although she never does anything to deserve Jon's horrible treatment, she does frequently throw kerosene on the fire of his rage by her reactions and insults. Not smart, in my opinion and she *never* learns. The "I hate you/I love you" thing gets very tiresome before the book is half done.
They are also *terrible* parents (abandoning a 2 year old for a year with the nanny and leaving a one month old baby alone on a beach while they frolic all night at a distant site on the island--shudder!)
Given what has gone on in this and the previous book, the ending of "Sea Fire" is not satisfying. I was waiting for Jon to come crawling back *on his knees* and to prove that he really had changed his ways--and I am still waiting. The comments from Cathy's nanny and her father about what a great guy Jon was and how well he had treated her were *appalling*.
In summary, this book was ultimately unsatisfying and not one of Karen Robards's best efforts. I would recommend instead one of her other, much better, historical romances, such as "Dark of the Moon", "Tiger's Eye", "Loving Julia", "Desire in the Sun" or "Dark Torment". For a much more entertaining take on the "innocent kidnapped by pirates" theme read "Windflower" by Laura London--well worth it if you can get ahold of a copy.
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1.0étoiles sur 5
only if you like characters who are really DUMB!, Jui 18 2004
Par Un client
I've read several of Karen Robards' more recent books, so let me start by saying that at least her storytelling and character development have greatly improved since she wrote this book and its predecessor, "Island Flame". After reading these two books, I felt like a motorist who passes a major car wreck and slows down to look at the carnage. I've read many novels: romance, mystery, mainstream fiction, etc., and I have never encountered two more stupid people than the "hero" and "heroine" in these books. I put the terms in quotation marks, because these characters are definitely not heroic in their behavior, especially the male character. I realize that in the old days of "bodice-rippers" nobody thought that there was anything wrong with the male protagonist forcing himself on the female protagonist, no matter what her age (in this case, she's half his age!!), but this book was written in the 1980s! I would think that Ms. Robards might have had her feminine consciousness raised just a little bit by then!
As for the female character, she does one stupid thing after another until the reader can no longer sympathize with everything that happens to her. Like I said, there are other books by this author that are worth reading, but this one is not one of them!
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1.0étoiles sur 5
Yuck, yuck, yuck!, Avril 21 2004
I know everyone has a different opinion, but I don't understand how anyone can say this book is excellent. I needed a shower and some therapy after reading it. There is no excuse for 99% of the crap in this book. Anyone who has read romance books for a while knows that rape used to occur in them from time to time...as horrible as that was, at least romance authors used to make their heroes redeeming in some ways. There is nothing good about the hero. He nevers once feels bad about the way he treats his wife. The heroine is stupid, weak, helpless, and nearly as bad as her husband. I understand that this is a historical novel and that domestic violence and rape weren't looked down upon so much at the time, but we are modern readers, so how can we not cringe when reading this book? And first and foremost, this is a ROMANCE NOVEL! If you can read this book and feel all lovey dovey afterwards, go and see a shrink please.
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