Dukes Prefer Blondes by Loretta Chase
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Lovely Bickering Couple Who Are Wrongly Perfect for One Another
“To begin with, he was obnoxious.”
FINAL DECISION: Simply adorable with a hero and heroine who are clever and witty to one another. The banter is high in this one. A social mismatched between an aristocratic heiress and a barrister is filled with laughter and a serious romance that is a keeper.
THE STORY: Lady Clara Fairfax is slowly being smothered by her role in society. She keeps getting marriage proposals from men who don’t interest her. She has begun to want more. When she sees a young seamstress in training upset because her brother has disappeared, Clara becomes determined to help. Clara ends up seeking legal help and meets Mr. Oliver “Raven” Radford, a barrister who also is in line of become a duke unless his cousin straightens out his own life. Raven is brilliant and steps on people’s toes. As the two join forces to help the young boy, they also bicker and argue into a sens of respect and then something more. But can a man who wants nothing to do with the aristocracy and a woman bred for nothing else ever have a future together?
OPINION: This was a book that snuck up on me. The pages went by and when the book ended, I realized that I adored it and went back to re-read my favorite parts. The fact that I wanted to re-read so quickly is a good sign that this book will be on my keeper shelf for years to come.
Clara and Raven make such a terrific bickering couple. No one does bickering love better than Loretta Chase. The main characters argue and push against one another and seem to be entirely wrong for one another until the moment when it becomes clear that there could never be anyone better.
This is a cross-social love story where it turns out that both social positions are necessary to the success of the romance. I love what Chase has done with Clara’s character. She has grown from the young woman who was willing to be led to become a woman of substance and determination. My favorite part of the courtship between Clara and Raven is his willingness to allow her to be herself and not be constrained by the rules for women. HIs acceptance of Clara is rather sexy and romantic. He sees her for who she is and he falls in love with her.
Honestly, however, my favorite part of this book is Raven himself. Irritating, brutally honest, brilliant and willing to annoy people to do right, he is one of my favorite heroes. This is a self-made man who is happy with his life but finds it turned upside down by this beautiful aristocratic woman. When he falls for her, he is willing to change everything for her. Sexy, sweet, annoying, nerdy, talented — I adored him as a character.
The plot of this book is multilayered. There is the story of the children who bring Clara to Raven and her determination to save the brother who has fallen into bad company. There is the story of the person who is trying to kill Raven (because he is the kind of man that people think about killing). There is also the story of Raven’s relationship with his cousin the duke. The threads of these stories are seamlessly woven into the romance in a way that everything advances as a whole.
WORTH MENTIONING: This book has a slow buildup for the romance but it is so worth it.
CONNECTED BOOKS: DUKES PREFER BLONDES is the fourth book in the Dressmakers series but it can be read as a standalone as it is really a spin off from the original series.
STAR RATING: I give this book 5 stars.