Dukes Prefer Blondes/ Loretta Chase / 372 pgs

I loved some of Loretta Chase's earlier books but I haven't really been interested in her most recent  series. I think I read the first book and decided not to read any more. However, the premise of this one intrigued me. Clara is a duke's daughter, a very beautiful duke's daughter, who feels constrained by the way a lady is supposed to act. She feels she cannot ever be herself and she really just wants to live. She is also disillusioned with all the gentlemen who propose to her, despite not knowing anything about her. The hero is Oliver Radford who, in my opinion, is given the ridiculous nickname Raven. He freely admits that he's an obnoxious know-it-all but since he became a barrister, he's put all that arrogant intelligence to good use. It was a little difficult to like Oliver but I enjoyed the witty dialogue between him and Clara and the way he treated her with such respect. This essentially sums up the book for me. It was very uneven. First half was full of plot, sharp dialogue, mutual attraction. Second half, by which time Clara and Oliver are married, was slow and repetitive, and ended in a silly argument. Still, I couldn't help but enjoy Chase's writing. She is a master.