Never Trust a Pirate by Anne Stuart

Madeleine Rose Russell has never been one to sit back and let fate do it's work. If her sister Bryony can go undercover as the hired help in order to reveal the person responsible for the fall of House Russel and the murder of their father, then so can Maddie. And anyway, all the help Bryony had been absconding off with one of the suspects on an illicit elopement and leaving behind only a cryptic note not much more informative than their father's own last few words. Maddie can definitely do better than that. So what if her new employer happens to be a devilishly handsome half-gypsy pirate who she can't seem to keep herself away from. It's nothing she can't handle. Or at least that's what she keeps telling herself. 

*WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD* *DO NOT proceed if you have not read Never Kiss a Rake* 

*Minor spoilers for Never Trust a Pirate* *TRIGGER WARNING: contains discussion of physical abuse, assault, rape, and other sexual themes* 

Never Trust a Pirate is the second book in the Scandal at the House Russell series and sequel to Never Kiss a Rake, a book I enjoyed so thoroughly that my enthusiasm for the next book in the series was very high. However I have to say that overall I was sadly disappointed. This novel, though not necessarily a bad read (I read it very quickly), rubbed me the wrong way.

Firstly, I had a pretty big problem with the repetition of this story. The entire plot was basically a recycled from first book, down to the masquerade as a servant in the house of a domineering, rich, and amazingly beautiful man who is already attached to another woman by rules of society but not by the heart. Of course there were differences in setting, characterization, and plot variations to at least keep some things fresh, but overall it was still a cooky-cutter version of the same story. Another repeat issue was in the dailouge and inner thoughts of the characters. Their thoughts were rehashed over and over, sometime word for word until I was frankly tired of reading the same montage again and again. A little rehash of something is pretty normal throughout a story. It shows characterization and how the mind holds on to certain thoughts, especially when a character is in denial. But when it become noticeably cumbersome, and I as a reader feel like I'm being told something I clearly already know, then there is a problem.

Minorly, I would also like to point out that there was a lot of inconsistency in Luca's character. I thought that Maddie, and her denial, were pulled off very well. I understood the pathways of her back and forth feelings and didn't find them farfetched. With Luca's character however it gave me something like whiplash and didn't seem realistic. One moment he was admitting so much, being so tender, the next he was acting like Maddie was some dockside whore he needed to drop off. It seemed as if Stuart was trying too hard to demonstrate his denial.

Putting aside the writing issues however, I think one of the biggest problems I had with the story was the nature of the romance within it. I am not going to even pretend that there weren't parts of Never Kiss a Rake that weren't problematic in the consensual romance area. In both books there was a lot of the 'domineering male' bending the will of the woman to meet his needs. I let it go in the first book because 1) It wasn't that pervasive, in that Kilmartyn was a little less pushy and callous, and 2) Bryony was a lot more receptive of it all. Also, neither of them were physically harmful to each other. I really enjoyed the shenanigans of that book, enough to not be bothered by morality quibbles. 

In Never Trust a Pirate though, I kept getting so bombarded with the abusive undertones of the relationship that I could hardly enjoy the romance. Not only does Luca never remotely understand the word "no" and pushes the boundaries of consent constantly, but he takes it a step further in being physically violent for supposedly "good reasons"... Like, in what way is knocking someone out, kidnapping them, and tying them up for hours something protective and romantic? It isn't!! It is creepy and rapey and stalkerish!!!! Also, news flash, if a girl tries to hit, kick, slap, or knee you in the groin, chances are you shouldn't be pushing sex on her because she actually doesn't want it! I know from the narration that Maddie did very much want it. However it was in that exact set up that lies the detrimental message: the girl is saying no, but what she really means is yes. This is exactly the kind of thing that not only encourages young men to think they are entitled to a woman sexually and that the woman should like it, but it shows women that assault is romantic. 

I know the whole point was the idea that the woman is having her sexual awakening and she is afraid of the feelings that are opening up inside her. But I just can't agree with how Luca reacted. In that situation a lover should be patient and caring and give the person time to want what their getting, not forced into sex. 

With Bryony and Kilmartyn, the situation felt so different because she actually wanted to be with him. She didn't care about being "ruined" because she never thought she would get married anyway. And at one point Kilmartyn actually walks away from her because he is unwilling to have sex because she is inebriated (granted they get pretty far before he does stop, but he still does stop). For all the times Luca insists, aloud and in his own mind, that he doesn't rape and that forcing "isn't fun", the novel was fraught with dubious consent and situations bordering on non-con. Though Maddie is portrayed as a fiery spirit and a woman who takes charge of her own life, the fighting that goes on between her and Luca only seems to undermine her agency rather than enforce it. 

In fear of ranting still more, I'm going to stop myself here and end with saying that between the constant bouts of dubious consent and the abusive overtones, I couldn't properly enjoy this story and it even gave me pause in my pleasant memories of the first novel. I would not recommend this book.