Dukes Prefer Blondes

By: Loretta Chase

Narrated by: Kate Reading

Length: 12 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

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 town's most adored heiress and London's most difficult bachelor fall victim to their own unruly desires?

©2015 Loretta Chekani (P)2015 HarperCollins Publishers

Lady Clara Fairfax's story was worth the wait!

She has always been a favorite of mine & it was great to watch her meet her match. In Dukes Prefer Blondes the plight of intelligent women is articulately expressed with all the passion and humor to be expected from Lady Clara. Raven Radford is a perfect foil for her. Many thanks to Loretta Chase and Kate Reading for such an enjoyable few hours.

Great Listen

Chase's newest book features the trademark witty banter between Lady Clara and Radford that listeners of the Carsington series would expect. Clara is a pampered aristocrat who feels smothered in her pampered life. She decides to help one of the girls at a charity she is involved with. It leads to a meeting with Radford who she had met as a child. What follows is a delightful and somewhat unconventional courtship. I appreciated the book didn't end with a wedding, but allowed readers to see Clara and Radford work thru the first days of the marriage. Kate Reading's narration is top notch as always. I can't wait for the next collaboration between Reading and Chase.

Loved this series!

This series was always a wonderful break after a few listens on murder, torture, suspense.
Funny, great love stories, wonderful endings and fabulous narration! I love Chase/Reading!

My favorite Loretta Chase!

The dialogue to die for.
Characters to absolutely adore.
Great narration.
Story to love.
Just fabulous!

Utterly wonderful

This is a smart, funny, sexy romance. Loretta Chase does romance like no one else, and when her prose is read by Kate Reading the story becomes incandescent. I loved this, inhaled it in pretty much one sitting, and will very likely re-listen soon. If you like Ms Chase you'll love this. If you like historical romance, you'll love this. If you like Kate Reading, you'll love this.

You can read the blurb for a plot summary, but here you have love between equals. A very smart woman frustrated to the point of hysteria over having to pretend she has no brain. A man so smart he's never surprised...and Lady Clara surprises him. Quite a bit. The sexual tension is palpable, the dialog is hilarious, the narration is sublime, the plot is unique and unpredictable, and the whole thing is a delicious delight. I especially enjoyed how, when she became deathly ill, Raven nursed Lady Clara. That's the opposite of nearly every other romance I've ever read.

This is Ms Chase's best so far, IMO, and the narration makes it sizzle and pop even more. I highly recommend this one!

Re-visited and loved the book

As so often happens with me, I re-listened to what I had originally rated as "not for me". I'm so glad I did, because I loved the book and the characters. The main female character was all sweetness and light in the previous books of this series. And THEN in this book she became a screaming harridan.....not likeable at all. In this second listen, I stuck with it long enough to get past wanting to throttle her. The witty repartee between the male and female leads was hilariously entertaining. Soo... I highly recommend listening to this book.

Well worth the wait

I loved this! Lady Clara was my favorite character in the previous book in this great series. I'm so glad she got her own story

Clara is one of my top female characters ever! I love that she puts up with nothing. The beginning of the book relates her first meeting with "Raven" and it's memorable. She reads books when it's not considered proper for women. She drives her own carriage. She's an amazingly "modern" woman for her time. And then she runs into Raven again (of course) and it's a very fun adventure. Oliver, aka Raven, is also one of my favorite characters. Their banter makes the book. Both characters are intelligent and that contributes to a great story.

The writing is phenomenal. The dialogue is a riot. I found myself laughing out loud and surprising my husband since I was listening with headphones and he had no idea what was going on.

Kate Reading does another perfect job with the narration.This book was well worth the wait.

Clara's story - nice addition to the series

First off Kate Reading is BRILLIANT - as always.

This book started off very slow IMO. I feel like this is partially because there seemed to be little interaction between Clara and Radford.

Once Clara and Radford were together in the story more - the dialogue was WONDERFUL. The story really caught my interest and I didn't want to put it down for the last 3-4 hours. Chase does an excellent job with characters and the back and forth banter between the main characters is always so engaging and fun.

You may have to listen to the first half on 1.5x speed to get to the really good stuff, but it is definitely worth it in the end.

well written and humorous too

many parts made me giggle. well written and very well read. bravo to both author and narrator.

Not the best book ever

The narration was weaker than I'm used to in this genre. It was frequently difficult to determine who was speaking -- two women or two men in one dialogue blended together.

The story line was inventive, unique -- but she seemed like too smart a girl to go for a man who yelled at her so much. There I go applying modern values...