Loretta Chase: Dukes Prefer Blondes

Just this time, can the beast tame the beauty?

Biweekly marriage proposals from men who can’t see beyond her (admittedly breathtaking) looks are starting to get on Lady Clara Fairfax’s nerves. Desperate to be something more than ornamental, she escapes to her favorite charity. When a child is in trouble, she turns to tall, dark, and annoying barrister Oliver Radford.

Though he’s unexpectedly found himself in line to inherit a dukedom, Radford’s never been part of fashionable society, and the blonde beauty, though not entirely bereft of brains, isn’t part of his plans. But Clara overwhelms even his infallible logic, and when wedlock looms, all he can do is try not to lose his head over her.

It’s an inconvenient marriage by ordinary standards, but these two are far from ordinary. Can the ton’s most adored heiress and London’s most difficult bachelor fall victim to their own unruly desires?

It goes without saying that the title of this novel is just awful. That aside, I have had some hits and misses with Loretta Chase so was up to check this one out, despite the unfortunate title.

I only heard of the term Mary Sue a couple of years ago, but have thinking about it a lot lately, mostly because in my own writing I have realized that the comedy usually comes in the imperfections or flaws of a character. I am hesitant to ever ascribe that label to someone else’s writing, particular romance authors, because I also realize the importance of writing a likeable heroine that in some respects serves as proxy for the reader.

However, if Lady Clara isn’t a Mary Sue, then she is something pretty close.

First, she is The Most Beautiful Woman in All of England. Second, she is rich and titled. Third, she cares. So much so that it gets her in to scrapes. Fourth, she is as intelligent and witty and quick and smart as our savant hero. The flaws are what make people not only funny, but more importantly loveable. I didn’t love her.

The hero is a barrister in a family of barristers, the working branch of a Duke’s family. He is dark and has the observation skills of Sherlock Holmes. He is also pissy and a bit short with people. This contrasts with neverending crusade to help those less fortunate. I think the reader is supposed to find him complicated, I just found him to be a bit Vulcan.

So already, I was feeling a bit meh.

This book is set post Regency in the formative Victorian era. I actually enjoy this era, because the industrialization kicks up a bit, and Chase definitely makes that a huge focus of this book. A lot of the source of the action focuses on the underworld of the lower classes of London, and we get introduced to all sorts of interesting things like ragged schools and the criminal system. The glitterrati and glamour of the Regency is a thing of distant memory, and what remains are Serious Issues. Both the H/h are out there in the muck and mire working on Serious Issues, and cross paths trying to solve a “case”.

Meanwhile, someone is trying to kill both of them. Don’t worry, that’s less important to the plot than it sounds. What is more important is the non-stop fighting between the H/h, which Chase serves up like sexual tension, but may be a bit misogynistic.

I am torn about this book. Chase is no doubt a top notch author with excellent skills, interesting topics, and a huge fan base. Reviews on GoodReads are mixed with a fair amount of folks loving this book, the tension between H/h, and the romance. This is not the first Chase book where I have gone against the grain in my more critical opinion, so perhaps the trend suggests that she just might not be an author that resonates with me.

Therefore, I recommend trying her out for yourself.

I just thought the middle sagged and by the end I was skimming and ready to move on to the next book in my stack. Needless to say, this one will not make it to my reread pile.

5 Stars 3 out of 6 Interesting historical details can’t completely overcome the caricature H/h