REVIEW: Dukes Prefer Blondes by Loretta Chase
C+ Reviewsbarrister hero / Dressmakers Series / English Historical239 Comments
Dear Loretta Chase:
I requested this book on a whim though I haven’t read all of the previous books in the series (I think I read the first one?). I don’t think that fact affected my enjoyment *that* much, but it’s fair to say that I wasn’t blown away by Dukes Prefer Blondes.
Lady Clara Fairfax and Oliver “Raven” Radford first meet as children, when she chips a tooth trying to protect him from his bullying cousin Bernard. They meet again years later when he briefly saves her on the streets from being run down by a carriage, and then again shortly afterward when she comes to him for help. Radford is a barrister with a reputation for fighting on behalf of lost causes. Clara is involved in a charity through which she’s gotten to know a young woman whose younger brother has fallen in with a vicious street gang. She wants Radford’s help getting him out. Radford is also notoriously irascible and quickly tells Lady Clara that she’s on the wrong side of a lost cause. At the same time, he’s taken with her almost legendary beauty, beauty marred only by the chipped tooth by which he finally recognizes her as his long-ago defender. It’s only at the end of this encounter that Raven realizes that Clara remembers him, too.
Raven at first declines to help Clara, but finds himself drawn into doing so anyway. From the first, he’s attracted not just to her stunning looks but to her mind; most people can’t keep up with Radford’s intelligence and wit, but Clara gives him a run for his money.
(He frequently comments at the unlikeliness of a mere woman doing so; it’s mostly to get Clara’s goat that he keeps saying it, but I still didn’t find it that cute. It may have been accurate to the period, but I don’t find casual sexism from heroes that much more acceptable than I would casual racism. I don’t expect or necessarily want them to spout anachronistic attitudes, but I don’t need to have their prejudices either shoved in my face or played for laughs, either.)
From there the plot is pretty much a series of slightly unlikely set-ups to ensure that Raven and Clara spend a lot more time alone together than an unmarried man and woman generally would have in their society. First they’re meeting secretly to arrange for the rescue of the boy that Clara wants to help (a lady such as Clara can’t be seen to be visiting a barrister, of all things); later she falls ill and it falls to Raven to nurse her, for reasons. (To be fair in the context of the story it made sense – sort of – but still felt like kind of an obvious deus ex machina.)
There were a number of aspects of Dukes Prefer Blondes that felt familiar, and not in a good way. Why is it that in SO many historical romances the “good” characters know about germs (even if they don’t call them that) and the inefficacy of blood-letting, whereas everyone else (including trained and respected doctors) are quacks/idiots/unethical? I’m not sure how this got to be a litmus test for virtue in romance characters, but both Raven and Clara seem to know much more than everyone around them about modern medical practices. I found this irritating, perhaps because I’ve read that scenario so often.
There’s also a lot of mental lusting in the book; I’ve developed a fair aversion to mental lusting. Raven slobbering over Clara in her nightgown when she’s seriously ill was unnecessary. I get it; she’s hot, and he’s really attracted to her. But I would expect someone as cerebral and upright as Raven to know that there’s a time and a place for everything, and that wasn’t it.
Also, while I know it’s a common characteristic in Loretta Chase romances, Clara and Raven’s verbal sparring got tiresome after a while.
To be fair, there were aspects of Dukes Prefer Blondes that did work better for me. I liked Clara’s quiet bitterness over the constraints of the life she led, and Raven’s recognition that she deserved to be seen as more than an ornament; that she should be LISTENED to and paid attention to. Raven’s complicated feelings about his cousin Bernard showed hints of his depth and gave him some nuance as a character.
I also liked that part of the conflict between Clara and Radford centered on the fact that he was a mere mister, and she was raised to marry a duke. The resolution to that was disappointingly predictable, though. Overall, the book and the characters were pretty flat for me. The fact that this review is probably about 2/3 the length of one of my normal reviews is a reflection of the fact that I just don’t have a lot to say about the story.
I have the feeling that Dukes Prefer Blondes is one of those historicals that will work better for someone who is not burned out on the genre the way that I am. It’s well-written, with sympathetic characters and a perfectly fine plot. My main objection was the presence of a number of familiar tropes, but where would romance be without tropes? Still, for me Dukes Prefer Blondes felt bland, and so my grade for it is a C+.
Best regards,
Jennie
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@Ann Somerville: OOO have not tried Japanese buckwheat noodles, will look for it. Thank you.
And somebody suggested today steel cut oatmeal (I do eat the regular one, but have not tried steel cut yet), so thanks again.
@Sirius: I’ve never made massaged kale at home, only had it at restaurants. There’s a vegan fast casual restaurant chain called Veggie Grill that makes this tasty salad called All Hail Kale. I usually get it without any additional dressing because some of the dressing is already in the kale itself. I think the kale is either massaged with it or marinated in it, or maybe both.
To try to answer your question, I just checked a salad cookbook that I really like, Salad Samurai by Terry Hope Romero, and she has a recipe for Relaxed Shredded Kale. Depending on the type of kale it is, the kale is either ripped by hand or sliced (chiffonade style), and then she combines it in a mixing bowl with a little olive oil, vinegar and salt. She says to “Massage for 1 or 2 minutes until the kale is soft and shiny.”
Thank you Janine.
@Sirius: I’m really excited about making it. I’ve actually been trying to minimize the traditional grains I eat, because they can be inflammatory. One of the reasons I love buckwheat is that it’s really not a grain, but a seed (like quinoa, amaranth, and others). So it has the properties of a grain when you cook it, but without the inflammatory properties (I have very severe arthritis, so this is a concern for me).
Re your call for recommended recipes, I have to tell you that I love this cookbook on ancient grains: http://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Grains-Modern-Meals-Mediterranean/dp/1580083544
Also, the site I linked to earlier has a lot of grain recipes: http://www.101cookbooks.com/whole_grain_recipes/
Epicurious has a whole grain section of recipes, too: http://www.epicurious.com/archive/healthy/nutritiousdishes/grains
My current favorite baking flour is Einkorn, and there are some great recipes here: https://jovialfoods.com/recipes/ (it’s like the first, un-hybridized wheat and can even be tolerated by people who don’t do well on wheat)
You can also cook with Teff, Amaranth, bulgar barley, millet, and, as Ann Somerville said, Japanese Soba noodles. My only caution with those is to check the ingredients, because they’re not all made exclusively with buckwheat. If you’re sensitive to wheat or gluten, for example, you will want to avoid the brands that use wheat flour.
Oh, and if you want to try something really funky, go for chia seeds: it’s like a cross between tapioca and poppy seeds. It become gelatinous with liquid, but has a lot of protein and other nutrients. You can buy it from Whole Foods-ish stores or, again, order from Amazon. I LOVE the stuff (and it’s great baked into quick breads, too): http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/chia-seed-pudding.html.
@Sirius: Do you like farro? I find that to be very versatile; it works well as a replacement for pasta in a pasta-style salad. Like, I’ve made farro with kalamata olives, red onion, feta cheese, parsley and a balsamic-olive oil dressing. It’s very good!
@Ann Somerville: Cauliflower is one of the few veggies I don’t like (the other main one is beets; they taste like dirt to me). I feel like I need to give it another try, though; I’ll admit I haven’t had it in a long while, and my opinion has long been colored by the smell of the cauliflower soup my mother used to cook when I was growing up.
@Sirius: I had Japanese buckwheat noodles (soba) when I was in Japan. My Japanese brother-in-law made a simple dressing for them from toasted sesame oil and shoyu. There may have been one or two other ingredients in there but if so I can’t remember what. I should ask my sister-in-law. But they were good that way.
@Jennie:
“Sheesh, you are passive aggressive. I can’t tell if you think you’re fooling anyone by claiming not to be personal while throwing little digs out, or if your maturity level is honestly such that you feel good about being catty while disingenuously claiming that you’re not being catty. ”
It is not “passive aggressive” to say that I did not believe you articulated fairness in your most recent review. I’ve stated that opinion a number of times as clearly as I possibly can. On the other hand, it is also not “passive aggressive” to state that I genuinely agree with the Janine’s statement that if you are reviewing other historical romances fairly, that is a good thing, because it is, for all readers and the process in general. I do actually still like to log in to this site and read reviews and I love reading reviews in general. My ideas derive from genuine beliefs about what it means to review a literary work. I feel though as if DA reviewers and regulars here question motives of those criticizing the review itself, and search for intrinsic bad faith. In any case, my ideas are sincere and meant to be taken at face value.
@Janine: “You characterized Jennie as “biased,” “sour,” and unable to enjoy the genre any longer. All that seems plenty personal to me.”
Not what I said. I said the *words* she used in her review express bias and a sourness against an entire genre. An ad hominem argument (logical fallacy) attacks people and usually as a way to divert a genuine discussion of ideas to an attack against someone. Donald Trump springs to mind as a chronic perpetrator, and you and others might note how he frequently and quickly attacks a person (their face, their morals, their temperament, etc.) rather than stay on target and deal with the issues. Ad hominem arguments pervade our society and are literally everywhere. But it is important to understand the difference, and I think people struggle to determine this and view any argument against content and ideas as a personal attack against them. I have no interest whatsoever in attacking anyone here, engaging in name-calling or speculating about anyone’s possible motives. I am reading words and assessing words and arguments people made, and the words used in the review call forth to my mind a sourness and bias against a genre, or in the reviewer’s own words, “burn out.” My words address only the criteria Jennie presented in her review. I do not care about any of the rest of it and will not engage in that type of discourse.
@Sharon:
“In any case, my ideas are sincere and meant to be taken at face value.”
Christ, shut up, will you, Sharon? You’re just tedious now, and convincing no one but your chums back at AAR. You keep saying the same things over and over and over and over….
Booooooring!
@Janine:
“I had Japanese buckwheat noodles (soba) when I was in Japan. ”
Me too! Did you drink the broth they were cooked in too? That’s considered healthful. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I loved the soba we had, and the broth was good too.
I really have nothing to say about the rudeness and readers/reviewers can decide for themselves how they feel about that kind of language on this site. **However, I was kind of curious about the “AAR” comment because I’ve seen it here before and I’ve seen references to Dear Author mentioned on threads on the AAR site too. I’ve read references on Smart Bitches too with comments about other sites as well. I have the feeling that there is tension among some on different romance websites, almost like rival gangs, which strikes me as funny in way. I guess I just tended to think that many readers, myself included, generally bounce around among many sites without being necessarily loyal to one or the other. Or maybe DA readers here feel that other romance readers travel around as a pack :)
Can we stop with the comments about how one site is better than another. It’s different. That’s all. This whole
Conversation has devolved away from the book into petty name calling. So either everyone shapes up or I close the thread.
Robin that’s right I forgot that my friend who has celiac disease and has to have completely gluten free diet mentioned to me that buckwheat is not a grain. I did not know that quinoa is not one either though so thank you.
Jennie I never tried faro and don’t know what it is, will look it up. Unfortunately I don’t particularly care for raw cauliflower either ( I suspect that kale will win between two if I were to compare taste :)). However sometimes ( not often because once again fried), I boil it for few min, then break the head into pieces , flour, egg and on the frying pan it goes. I like it but probably not much nutritional value left.
Ann Somerville and Janine – I found buckwheat noodles on Amazon but decided going to try it in Japanese restaurant first .
Thank you guys!
I’ve been thinking about this thread and trying to figure out why it’s been so (uncharacteristically) acrimonious. Here’s my analysis, fwiw.
There were two catalysts. Some readers were upset / taken aback by Jennie’s statement about being burned out on certain tropes in historical romance and thought it lessened the value of her review. Other readers were upset / taken aback by Jean’s initial comment about it and thought the comment was rude. (I’m paraphrasing and making generalizations here – apologies if I mischaracterized anyone’s comments).
In hindsight, I think some of the acrimony could have been avoided if more participants had been able to give each other the benefit of the doubt in their responses. But it’s very hard to give someone the benefit of doubt when your dander’s up.
So that’s my learned analysis – 2 things happened early on that upset a lot of commenters in a way that they felt insulted and on the defensive, and it went downhill from there.
For the commenters who are newer to DA, I’m sorry you’ve had a bad experience here and I hope you’ll come back and participate in other threads. This is rare for DA – we do have the occasional acrimonious thread, but they’re usually over bigger topics like rape or racism in romance (not always – I can think of a couple, pre comment policy threads that devolved like this one over silly things, but those are very, very rare).
@Sirius — I’m not much on the “newer” older grains, but I do love steel-cut oatmeal. It takes forever to prepare from scratch, but if you boil it just a few minutes the night before, then store it (in the pan) overnight in the refrigerator, it cooks very nicely and quickly. I like it with buttermilk and a pinch of raw sugar.
I also occasionally stir it uncooked into plain Greek yoghurt with a bit of honey. A nice summer breakfast, especially if I have some fresh fruit along with it.
(And I’m really not as disgustingly healthy as that sounds; my other favorite breakfast is a cheese Danish, so it really is tasty)
@Ann Somerville: I think my brother-in-law made soba without broth. I’ve emailed my sister-in-law for the recipe and will post here if I get it.
@cleo: I agree it was the early comments that set the tone for the rest of the thread. Sometimes that happens. I did try to give the benefit of the doubt initially, despite the early accusation that Jennie decided to read and review the book so that she could assign it a bad grade, rather than because she thought she might enjoy it. That did seem rude to me, but I tried to put that aside. Alas, I’m only human, and as the argument went on, it’s been hard to stay patient.
@Everyone: I have to step away from this discussion and from other DA discussions for at least the next few days for reasons that have nothing to do with this conversation. Something has come up IRL that demands a lot of my attention. But if I get the recipe for the soba my brother-in-law made us when we were in Japan, I’ll try to pop in to post it.
@Sirius: Quinoa, buckwheat, and amaranth are all seeds. I don’t have a gluten intolerance (to my knowledge), but I find that grains in general can aggravate my arthritis, so I am trying to minimize them in my diet, and to steer clear of processed wheat. I’m currently experimenting with fermentation, which is the new “big thing” (even though it’s really an old thing, lol) in both bread and vegetables. Which reminds me that I need to feed my neglected sourdough starter.
Also, if you want to experiment with grains that require long cooking times (like steel cut oats), I HIGHLY recommend this: http://instantpot.com. It makes steel cut oats in like 10 minutes and can cook a whole chicken in 15 minutes. It even makes the most yummy yogurt and can produce amazing, fall-off-the-bone short ribs in 35 minutes. I got mine from Amazon and they often run specials on it (around Thanksgiving it was like half price).
@cleo: “There were two catalysts. Some readers were upset / taken aback by Jennie’s statement about being burned out on certain tropes in historical romance and thought it lessened the value of her review. Other readers were upset / taken aback by Jean’s initial comment about it and thought the comment was rude. (I’m paraphrasing and making generalizations here – apologies if I mischaracterized anyone’s comments).”
I think this is accurate. I definitely fell into the first in that I disagreed with Jennie’s burnout statement as a review criteria, but I tried to use reasoning in our exchanges. Since though I’ve been surprised at the vitriol and that it’s permitted at all. I have no idea if DA has a netiquette policy, but it should. Anyway, thanks to those who responded here. It’s been an interesting forum!
@Janet:
Will check the pot out thanks.
Hapax, my next oatmeal purchase would be steel cuts , we shall see what I think, thank you :).
@Janet:
“Also, if you want to experiment with grains that require long cooking times (like steel cut oats), I HIGHLY recommend this: http://instantpot.com. ”
A good pressure cooker is absolutely essential in a kitchen, to my mind. Chicken cooked in one can be so beautifully tender,
Hapax I forgot to ask, when I boil the steel cut oats night before do I put them in the fridge overnight in the same water or do I drain it? Rhanks !
@Ann Somerville: What’s great about the IP is that it’s a pressure cooker, a slow cooker/crock pot, a yogurt maker, a rice cooker, and you can sauté in the stainless steel insert, too. Oh, and you can even make an entire cheesecake in the thing! It even has a “porridge” setting, although we generally don’t use it for oats, lol.
@Sirius: Same water.
@Janet — Oh, that looks nifty! Right now I have books in my budget under “Entertainment” and kitchen gadgets under “Household Necessities”; I’m giving serious thought to switching categories. :-)
@Janet:
Unfortunately the IP isn’t available here, but there are local clones which claim the same functionality. I nearly bought one this morning using my airline loyalty points (because I will never fly with that airline again ;) ) but the reviews on reliablity brought me up short. It’s still high summer here, so not really stew/soup making season, but I will keep my eye out for specials. I had no idea such devices existed, so thanks for letting us know! I nearly bought a crockpot a couple of days ago, so I’m so pleased I didn’t. A multicooker is much more what I need.
@Ann Somerville: I have one of these. I love it. Use it all the time during winter especially. http://www.kitchenwaredirect.com.au/New-Wave-The-5-in-1-Multi-Cooker-6L You can get a 6-in-1 version also.
@Kaetrin:
that’s an excellent price! Thanks for the rec.
@hapax: A number of us share recipes on Twitter, so if you get one, let me know. It also makes AWESOME bone broth in two hours.
@Ann Somerville: You will love it. I got mine on a whim and it’s easily the most used appliance in my kitchen next to my Nespresso machine (that is the #1 most important kitchen appliance!)
Thanks Hapax , bought the oats today will try soon – when regular one is finished and it almost is .
@Sirius: I got my buckwheat groats today, and I think this: http://natashaskitchen.com/2015/02/15/how-to-cook-buckwheat-kasha/, plus this: http://natashaskitchen.com/2015/02/18/easy-mushroom-gravy-recipe/ will be the first dish I try. This pudding looks awfully good, too: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/buckwheat-pudding-recipe.html.
Buckwheat kasha is exactly that – how we used to cook it most often . Yeah pudding looks good too.
@Sirius: I got the raw groats, so I could toast or not, depending on my preference and the recipe. I will let you know how it turns out (I probably won’t get around to cooking it until next week).
@Sirius: I’m also thinking that it would make a good filling for stuffed cabbage rolls (I make the sweet and sour rolls – YUM).
Robin we always get them toasted :), so I am curious how the raw would taste. Stuffed cabbage rolls we make with meat, used to with pork now with chicken, but with lessened amount of meat that I consume , this sounds like an excellent idea. Thank you.
@Sirius: Yes, I use meat + rice, and I think the toasted buckwheat could substitute for either or both. It’s a complete protein, too, I think.
Popping in to share my brother-in-law’s soba recipe: Make kombu dashi , and add sake, shoyu and mirin to taste. You can put ground sesame seeds, and/or ginger, and green onions in the sauce. If you make hot soba you can put fried tofu (age), etc on it or nori.
Thanks Janine! I don’t know what shoyu and mirin are – but am going to ask for this in the restaurant next time I am there ( in the Japanese restaurant I mean). Appreciate you coming back and letting us know .
Sirius, Shoyu is soy sauce and Mirin is sweet rice (cooking) wine.
Thank you!