Publisher: Avon
Where did you get the book: e-ARC from publisher
Release date: Out now
In Eloisa James’s companion story to The Ugly Duchess, Sir Griffin Barry, captain of the infamous pirate ship The Poppy, is back in England to claim the wife he hasn’t seen since their wedding day . . . but this is one treasure that will not be so easy to capture.
*blurb taken from Goodreads*
Seduced by a Pirate is a novella that follows on from The Ugly Duchess. The hero is Sir Griffin Barry, who was a fellow pirate from the last novel, and is James’ cousin. After my less than positive review of The Ugly Duchess, I suppose I have no one but myself to blame for reading Seduced by a Pirate. I was curious to see how the romance plays out as Griffin abandoned his wife on their wedding day for fourteen years, and became a pirate.
The reason Griffin became a pirate was because of how his Father held on to the strict moral codes of the Ton and society. And because of the pure beauty of his wife, Griffin couldn’t perform his husbandly duties on their wedding night. Oh poor Griffin.
So for fourteen years, Griffin happily plays the pirate, plundering the mighty seas and having a jolly good old time. But his pirating ways are put to a halt when James, the hero from The Ugly Duchess, gets his throat slashed and decides he’s still in love with his wife. But Griffin only stops pirating because the same person that slashed James’ throat goes and slashes Griffin’s leg, leaving him wounded and with a limp. And no pirate can go pirating with an injury such as that. So the two return home, and instantly become part of society again, demanding their wives comply with their wishes because the men have returned home.
I call it a whole lot of bullshit.
The heroine, Phoebe, stays pure and virginal for fourteen years whilst her errant husband does his own thing, and that includes other women. But Phoebe doesn’t have any desire of her own, has made a place of her own and she was happy with it. When Griffin returns home, he sees that Poppy/Phoebe (he remembered her name incorrectly. what a charmer) has three children, and he gets all angry that his wife dares to have sex with another man whilst he left her. Oh the shock and horror. But no, the children are not Phoebe’s biological children. Phoebe adopted them after her cousin dies. But she doesn’t tell Griffin the truth.
Dear Phoebe puts up a token protest that Griffin can’t suddenly arrive home, and tell her they will be husband and wife, including in the bedroom. Phoebe can’t help but be attracted to this wonderful man who abandoned her for fourteen years, and he makes her feel all tingly inside. And it’s not before long that Phoebe welcomes home her pirate of a husband, and they live happily ever after. Even Griffin’s Father warmly welcomes the return of Griffin.
*headfuckingdesk*
What riles me up so much is that Griffin feels no guilt for what he’s done over the years. He says if his leg hadn’t gotten injured, he would have carried on pirating. How is that romantic? How is this story romantic?
The woman stays home happily for all these years without any sexual desires of her own, but suddenly when her errant spouse arrives back, her sexuality comes to life and they all live happily ever after, because men do what men do. What’s also frustrating for me is if Griffin wasn’t a selfish hero and there was some other backstory plot other than being a pirate, and no separation for fourteen years, I would have enjoyed this book as the writing is good and the character interactions are great, especially between Griffin and the children.
I don’t think I’ll be picking up a EJ book again. I prefer heroines with some self-respect.
I give Seduced by a Pirate a D
