Customer Reviews

The Pirate and the Pagan

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I love this book. Obviously from all of the other reviews everyone has an opinion. This was my first Virgina Henley book, and I must say, I will definatly be buying more of her books. Her style is bold and very refreshing but apparently not for the 'faint of heart' people who do not appreciate a self-reliant woman to be the heroine of the story.

I highly recommend this book! Very loving and very dramatic read. It took me less than 2 days to finish!

I bought the Pirate and the Pagan by Virginia Henley because I was looking for a good Pirate themed romance book but instead I found that it was very disappointing! The hero and the heroine were both unlikeable and had no endearing qualities whatsoever! For me personally this was a waste of money and time!

When I saw that this book has an everage customer reviews more than 4 stars, I unquestionably believed it's the most overated book I've ever read.

Though the book got my whole attention very quickly from the beginning, I felt something wrong just after the hero and heroine getting together. This couple, Cat and Ruark, spend too much, and I mean TOO MUCH, pages after that showing their spectacularity, eagerness and variety in making love with a little progress in the story. I found myself read past the first quarter of the book very fast because I skipped most of those unnescessary and meaningless sex scenes. When I finished the book and returned to read those part, I knew that I didn't miss a thing by skipping them.

However, the most disgusting thing in this book is the heroine. Cat is potentially the most annoying, bitchy and stubborn female character in romantic fictions. Some might think she's a strong and independent girl for her love to take care of her own bussinesses without accepting any help from someone -even when she should. I'd have though the same if it wasn't for the fact that she's never solved her problems successfully by herself and that made me unable to admire her and felt sorry for her instead. Her anger and her erratic pride drove her to do a lot of silly things that cause her more troubles and in the end it caused her the worst. Most of arguements she had with Ruark (especially the one I hate the most when she got mad at him about her beloved brother) weren't suppose to happen if only she'd known a civilised way to control her temper and try to be reasonable. Moreover, she did a very shameful thing by sleeping with Rory and even fancied him when she'd been in love with Ruark, no matter what's her excuse. And in the end it seemed to me that she didn't really feel guilty for those silly things she'd done, nor did she appologise for her lack of loyalty.

Ruark isn't my ideal hero either. He's abusive, cruel, and often unreasonable. The unusual thing he'd done just to have a peace with his crazy wife made me felt sorry for him.

Even the twist in the end couldn't satisfy me. I knew all along the true identity of Rory. It's very predictable that I'm still wondering why should I call it a twist in the first place.

I admitted that the love story between Cat and Ruark is a page turner because I couldn't put the book down no matter how frustrated I was. The historical background was great as well as the secondary characters. However, to feel like stabbing someone's face throughout the story certainly isn't an ideal outcome I've expected from reading a romance. I knew how much I hate the book when I finished it and still thought the leading character didn't deserve a happy ending.

I love when the characters are thrown into an emotional roller coaster. This book is one of those. Summer is a typical woman of the era and having not many choices in life she went for the one option that was at hand for her. Marriage. The thing is that she didn't count on falling in love with her husband. It is utterly amazing how her character evolves from a simple love struck girl, to a mature woman and mother. A woman, I should add, with emotional and physical needs just like anyone else. I found that it was quite hard for her to put those needs before anything that society or her husband might have thought. It was good for her to cheat on Ruark even if she loved him still. It was good that she let her hair down and went for a little fun for a change. Ruark deserved being cheated on.

Ruark, the husband, is such a strong character that sometimes you hate him for being such a close minded jerk. He gave Summer so much pain and heartache that it's almost imposible not to hate him. But then again, you have to put yourself in his shoes. Falling in love with a woman and then finding out that one of the reasons for her marrying you is money is quite hard. Of course you're going to doubt her! But again, if only he had listened. Then we wouldn't have a book to read.

Rory is the "third" character in the book. A very charming, open minded pirate rouge who seduces Summer into cheating on her husband. He gave Summer everything her husband didn't; fun, good sex, and freedom. Who wouldn't cheat with someone like that when you are in such need???

Basically these three characters interact thoughout the whole story making it extremely emotional and very, very interesting. You see the change in Summer whenever she's around Ruark or Rory. You see her struggle to make peace with herself and her husband but you also see how her love affair with Rory is an obstacle for that marital peace and a bigger obstacle is her husband's pig headed attitude.

I found the ending to be totally unexpected. The plot twist at the end is amazing!!! A true romantic will absolutely appreciate it. I think you will enjoy this book as much as I did.

I am an avid reader and I was looking to find another good author to read, becuase I have read all of my favorite authors' books already. After reading the other reviews for this book I had very high hopes, but I was majorly disappointed. To the author's credit I will state that this is the only book of hers that I have read. The only thing that I can say I enjoyed about this book is the historical references, which I thought were very interesting. Other than that, I have rarely encountered a female character who was as annoying, stupid, and completely brainless as Summer. She did things that made no logical sense, and was sleeping with what she thought two different people throughout the book. I don't appreciate characters who don't have a drop of loyalty in them, although I will say that Henley made Ruark (the main male character) so dispicable, mean, abusive, and horrible that no woman in her right mind would have stayed with him. I don't care if in the end she knew that Ruark and Rory were the same person, Ruark had done things so vile and hateful that there was no way she should have forgiven him. Another problem with this book is that the story had elements in it that disrupted the flow. For example, what was the point in having Summer dress up as the Black Cat? Or Ruark/Rory as a thief as well? They were already smuggling pirates, and being highwaymen just seemed to be thrown in there to take up space and serve as a reason for Summer to be thrown in jail. The story jumped from place to place and problem to problem with no transitions so that it felt like they were appearing out of the blue. I really feel that the story elements could have been better thought out and a little more believable.
Another area that I have a problem with is that these characters have sex EVERY 10 pages and I am not exagerating! These scenes are not romantically portrayed, instead I felt that I was reading a very descriptive and vulgar script to a porn movie. I realize this is a romance novel and I don't have problems with the characters having sex, but not every 10 pages in a 350 page book. It really got old, to the point where I was skimming entire sections. My final problem with this book is that there is a scene between the king and his mistress in which he slaps her and the mistress actually replies something to the effect of "that a man needs to give his woman a good slap every now and then and a man who doesn't is not much of a man" (I don't have my book copy with me to quote word for word). I am sorry, but there is no place for an attitude like this in literature. I don't care if the author was trying to portray what people at this point in time might have been thinking. It is just wrong. She reaches thousands with her books and the attitude she portrays to these women is very negative.
In conclusion, if you like books by authors such as Judith McNaught, Johanna Lindsey, Julie Garwood, Jude Deveraux, or Nora Roberts you WILL NOT, and I repeat will not, like this book. These women write about intelligent, independent women with spirit and guts and you will not find any of these traits in Summer or this story.

I have just recently "found" Virginia Henley, and so far with the exception of just one book (The Raven and the Rose) I have loved them all. Set during the reign of Charles II Raurk and Cat's love story is a page turner. A wonderful love story with a surprise twist at the end. From the Court of Charles II to the wild wind swept Cornish coast to the wild and sexy pirate Rory this is a great love story. The characters are human and make mistakes but in the end what brings the characters together in the first place, ties them together in the end. Rich with historic accounts of the Great London Fire, the Plauge, and the Dutch war and actual historic figures you will not be let down.

This was a good story and Ms. Henley is know for that. The only thing that I could not say about this book is that I liked the main characters. They did things that were silly and caused a lot of drama by not talking about their problems. I found that I wanted to slap Cat and Ru on a number of occasions, but I still kept reading. In fact, I have read it twice.

A stimulating novel that explored the depths of the heroine's mind. Summer is a headstrong female who goes after what she wants. Roark and Rory are two virile men who will stop at nothing to get the girl. If I could have given this book more than five stars I would have. I couldn't put it down there were so many twists and turns this book kept me guessing until the end. I've suggested this book to all of my friends and I plan on giving it as a gift to my grandmother. Virginia Henley is under-rated.

I've acquired a collection of about 70 novels, but only about 10 are reserved in my mind as "the BEST I've ever read". This is one of them. Just finished reading it for the second (or was it third?) time - and it never ceases to stir my emotions. The heroine is the strong, willful, and persevering woman that we all want to be - with a bit of wonderful attitude. We come to know her very well (I love well-developed characters) as the book is written mostly from her perspective - but the neat thing is you come to know the hero's mind and emotions just as well in a different and unusual way. The pure passion between the characters is great entertainment, the emotional turmoil is wonderfully wrenching, and the bond of perfect love between them makes you want to LIVE this book - not just read it. If you like this book, you'll like more by Brenda Joyce, Virginia Henley, Susan Johnson, Lisa Kleypas, Laura Kinsale, etc. They are the authors of most of the books in my "BEST EVER" collection. I will never get rid of these books, but continue to read them for years and years.

I loved this novel.....First Summer is a great heroine who would do anything in her power to save what is rightfully hers...like any good woman would. Second, the contrast between Ruark and Rory is so powerful... it shows that Summer wants her cake and to eat it too! It also shows that Ruark would go to any lengths to be with the woman he loves...even if that does mean tricking her to be with her. Third, Summer is so brave and headstrong, something most women wish they were, and Ruark is powerful, sensual, and definitly a rake...something every woman wants in a man. Hensley did a fantastic job on this novel!