Dukes Prefer Blondes

Smartly written, sharp, wonderful characters, phrasing that flows directly off the page…I don’t think I read this so much as devoured it whole. One of my favorite Loretta Chase books (and that is saying something!)

A good read

No surprise, this was a great book. The dialogue between the main characters, Clara and Oliver, was so witty and wonderful.

Loved the characters in this book! Loretta Chase hasn’t, in my opinion, ever written a bad book!

Probably my all-time favorite Loretta Chase book.

I re-read this book once a year, just because it’s so fun. The meet-cute between the two of them is infuriatingly adorable!

As my first read by Loretta Chase, this book was not a fast read, I do read rather quickly but this read needed my undivided attention.
Firstly, as I’m self taught in English language, I had to pay careful focus on all the details and the battle of wits proceeding under my eyes.
Secondly, this book is like a fine wine (I’m French!), it must be enjoyed slowly, to asses and enjoy all its aspects.
I didn’t have laughing out loud laughs but this book put a permanent smile on my face during my whole read, the banters between Clara and Raven were amazing, full of wits and charms.
The time period puzzled me, I had to google some details to comprehend better the storyline.
Now about the main characters, from far away they could have been the usual main couple often seen in regency romance, even if the story is set later at the end of the Georgian era, they are both gorgeous persons but their intellect is what separates them from the pack.
Raven, surname of Oliver Radford as a man if freer to speak his mind, and he does it unrestrainedly, these accomplishments earned him a long list of people who would like to see him dead. He always preferred books to people and with his sharp mind, he was always different, and he liked it this way, never afraid to raise anger around him.

“Do you know, Lady Bredon, I do believe in time, with the proper guidance, you might become almost . . . intelligent,” he said. She put a hand to her head. “Where are my smelling salts?”

I adored him, his vision of his Peer, his inner dialogue with his other half, the “uncivilized ” one, his way of express his views, his openness about many subjects and Clara, his clear picture of his own flaws and the fact he goes for what he wants, assessing every aspect of things as it was a battle.

“The women are swooning,” she murmured, when they’d finished receiving their guests. “That’s because I said very little,” he said. She looked up at him. “You’re not to stifle yourself. You know I only tease about your talking.” “I know an element of truth when I see one,” he said. “Besides, I’m a debutante, supposed to behave modestly. Not to mention, it hardly mattered what I said. Everybody was preoccupied with staring from me to you—and wondering what you saw in me.”

Clara Fairfax plays the perfect lady but is bored of her so organized life, she knows she has limited prospect as a lady of the ton, but she wants in her own way do something that matters, however small that may be. She must hide her intellect as women are not supposed to think beyond a certain amount.

“You’ve no idea what it’s like to spend your life wrapped in cotton wool, with all about you protecting you, mainly from yourself, because you don’t behave as they think a girl ought to do, and they believe something’s wrong with you. You don’t know what it’s like to watch your brothers go away to school and make new friends and have adventures you’ll never have, even vicariously, in books. You don’t know what it’s like to be scolded for reading too much and knowing too much—to be taught to hide your intelligence, because otherwise you’ll frighten the gentlemen away—to stifle your opinions, because ladies aren’t to have any opinions of their own, but must always defer to men.”

Raven is the first one to challenge Clara as she is too for him, she intrigues him and questions himself.

“”You’re murdering my brain.” And he took hold of her shoulders and bent his head and kissed her.”

“But it was his habit to view the world through the spectacles of logic and reason. Emotions were her department””…”

There are secondary plots orbiting the main romance, with different protagonists, I do loved Davis and Westcott.
Plus the story does not stop to their wedding day, it goes afterward, setting them in their marital life.

“I don’t remember anything about that in the marriage vows,” she said. “There was obey—I noticed that came first—but I privately added a lengthy footnote to that item.” “This surprises me not at all. But there was the part about serving me.” “It, too, needed a footnote. Then love and honor and keeping you and sticking with you and nobody else. I remember all those. But I don’t recall the minister mentioning anything about keeping you excited.”

A great discovery!

Any book by Loretta Chase makes me happy, and isn’t that what you want for a vacation beach read?

An unshakeable case of bronchitis is making me quite cranky so I am going to settle in at three stars.

I read the first two books in the “Dressmaker” series plus Loretta Chase wrote Lord of Scoundrels, yum, so this deserves a read on those merits alone. I didn’t love it; don’t know why, and don’t have the cough, cough, cough energy to figure out why.

I will say, I was more than a little disappointed not to see more of the characters in the first two books. I really enjoyed the sassiness and conniving-ness, if that’s a word, of the two designing sisters and their ability to make the most of their opportunities. (Haven’t read the third one.) So having this be a part of the series with minimal contact with the designing duo was disappointing. Turns out Clara, this h, is the rejected bride in the first. Ho hum, and the wedding gown sounded tacky as well.

Clara and Raven are two solid characters though with plenty of witty banter. Major sexiness ensues even though he is a boring solicitor soon to be Duke heir-to-be. There is a subplot dealing with London underground that interfered with blowing my nose and popping generic Sucrets, but that’s what skimming is for.

There are days when we need characters to “root for”. this is a wonderful book – for those occasions. There is enough complexity to make it interesting.