Among romance readers, the question of which Loretta Chase novel is the greatest has never been settled. There are SO many fabulous choices.
Lord of Scoundrels dominated our Top 100 polls for nearly two decades. Dain is one of the genre’s great creations—an alpha so exaggerated he borders on caricature—yet Chase makes him unforgettable. Jessica Trent matches him at every turn, and their battle of wills produced a book many readers still place at the top of the genre.
Mr. Impossible offers a hero written off as a fool who proves steadfast and endearing, matched with a heroine whose intellect drives the story. Lord Perfect takes Benedict Carsington, the model of restraint, and pairs him with Bathsheba Wingate, burdened by her notorious family yet determined to build a respectable life for her daughter. Their pursuit of runaway children makes for one of Chase’s most memorable road romances.
Other titles surface whenever the question is raised: Silk Is for Seduction, Dukes Prefer Blondes, Ten Things I Hate About the Duke. Maybe your pick is something else entirely. Which Loretta Chase novel stands at the top for you—and why?
I haven’t read any Loretta Chase novels in years and I don’t remember much about those I did read, with one exception. I enjoyed Lord of Scoundrels at the time but I wonder how well it would hold up for me today. Mr Impossible though, has a much more nuanced hero and a more interesting dynamic between the two leads. I remember Rupert and Daphne much better than most of the couples I read about in the historical romance heyday of the 1990s and 2000s. Rupert was an unusual hero at the time whereas the tortured hero was already old hat.
They are a great couple.
I’ve always been amazed that no movie has been made of even one of Chase’s books. WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH HOLLYWOOD? They’ve clearly decided that horror is the way to get people in the theaters, but don’t they remember the great (and profitable!) rom coms?
My fav is “Dukes Prefer Blondes” with a hero who is so smart and so honorable and protective (I like protective men) who runs into a woman who blows his assumptions about women to smithereens–she’s smart. Even though it is unbelievable that he would care for her in her house when she had a deadly disease, contracted in the slums, I find it intensely romantic. If you liked Jessica in “Lord of the Scoundrels,” you’d like “Duke Prefer Blondes.”
PS Any info about Chase’s next book–its debut, its plot?
I am re-reading Dukes Prefer Blondes and am head over heels in love with Raven!
The dialogue in that book is spectacular–so many funny lines and threads throughout the book. It is my fave among them but I don’t think there are duds, especially among the Scoundrels books. Her side characters are so entertaining.
I so agree! I love her dad in this one!
Loretta Chase is one of those authors I really wanted to love, but her books never quite passed beyond just liking (granted, I haven’t read all of her catalog). Looking at my Goodreads scores, Lord of Scoundrels and Lord Perfect got 3*, and Not Quite a Lady got 4*. I guess it makes it my favorite? Lord of Scoundrels has to be one of the most overrated HR novels from the 1990s.
Lord Perfect, though many of her books are perfect.
I love Dukes Prefer Blondes and I remember blubbing at the end of the prologue for The Last Hellion. It’s been quite a while since I read or listened to it, but I remember really enjoying A Duke in Shining Armour.
I can’t help wondering if she’s going to write any more HR. Her last series was EIGHT YEARS in the making for THREE books and she was upfront about the fact that she struggled with the final one (My Inconvenient Duke). I guess everyone runs out of steam eventually – and honestly, I think one of the reasons she struggled with that last book is because many of the current trends in HR aren’t ones that resonate with her. (Solely my opinion – I have no inside info!)
She’s also 75. I’ve certainly been slowing down in my old age; maybe she is, too?
Good point! She’s got over a decade on me and I’m mostly knackered!
I have a T-shirt that says, “Being tired is now a permanent part of my personality.” I wear it when I need to let people know I haven’t had a nap and am in no mood for their shenanigans.
My first thought is Mr. Impossible, though I also love Lord Perfect, Dukes Prefer Blondes, and The Last Hellion and… The thing is, I don’t not like any of her books, and I can’t think of another author I would say that of.
But the thing about Mr. Impossible is that it was the first one of her books I read. In fact, it was the first romance novel I read, and hence is responsible for much of my reading habits since that fateful day. (It’s probably also the reason I have tried my hand at writing historical romance, but I don’t know if that should be considered a play or a minus.)
I’ve only read 14 of her books (actually I have listened to them all on audio with Kate Reading as narrator), and I enjoyed them all. I only gave Ten Things I Hate About the Duke an A, and A Duke in Shining Armor and Miss Wonderful both got an A-. The rest were B’s or B-‘s brought up by being narrated by the incomparable Kate Reading. I thought Lord of Scoundrels (I rated it B) lacked a coherent plot, and I rated Mr. Impossible B- for much the same reason. Nice characters and stuff going on but not a much actual plot. I have a feeling that if I had been reading the books instead of listening they might have fared worse. 🙂 As a series I probably enjoyed The Dressmakers the best of what I read. I have not read Lord Perfect.
The Paris first half of LoS.
Still Lord of Scoundrels for me. They’re both such operatic characters who fit so well together. Not in love with the boring plot moppet in that book, but when Jessica shoots Dain is just chef’s kiss perfect to me. And so unexpected.
Operatic! What a perfect word!
Over the years I have liked many of Loretta Chase’s books, however Lord of Scoundrels was my first and I will always remember it as a great favorite. Who could possibly not love Jessica!
I have only tried to read Lord of Scoundrels, I didn’t like it and gave up around chapter 5. I found the MMC and Jessica to be a bit dramatic and too modern for my tastes.
Are Loretta Chase other books less dramatic and more keeping with the times she’s writing in or all her books like this?
Well, that one is maybe her most dramatic.
If you want to try and calmer one, you might try Ten Things I Hate About the Duke or Vixen in Velvet.
Thanks!
I want to put in a vote for Knaves’ Wager, which is one of Chase’s earlier novels and a traditional (i.e. steamless) Regency. The heroine has a reputation as an ice queen, and the hero wagers that he can seduce her; true love ensues. I think I love it so much because it’s got a Heyeresque flavor.
I also adore Lord Perfect — I love a duty-bound, uptight, emotionally repressed hero! And I do enjoy Lord of Scoundrels as well, even though it is absolutely bananapants.
I’ve always thought the criticisms leveled at Lord of Scoundrels often don’t take into account that it is deliberately bananapants. It’s wildly over the top on purpose and much funnier for it. It makes me laugh every time I read it. Other authors have humor in their historical romances but it’s not over the top humor in the way that book is. It’s one of the main reasons I love it so. It’s not my fave by Chase–I’d probably pick Lord Perfect–but I’ve enjoyed it for years.
I think she is the best!
Lord Perfect my favourite, closely followed by Lord of Scoundrels. I had high hopes for Mr Impossible but it didn’t quite live up to the hype for me. I loved Not quite a lady a couple of years ago which doesn’t often get the love it deserves. A duke in shining armour and Ten things also EXCELLENT.
The last two books you mention are superb!
I’ve heard so many good things about Loretta Chase, I really wanted to like her books. That’s why even after being disappointed by lord of scoundrels I still read three other books by her. When I started my fifth book of hers, Mr. Impossible, and despite the glowing reviews hated it, I finally gave up. I don’t know what I’m missing with her. I find her plots bland, dialogue not very funny, and some characters very annoying. Overall it just falls flat for me.
Hopefully other authors with glowing reviews will work better for me.
I find that my favorite Chase novel is usually the one I’m reading at the moment. I regularly reread them when I’m in the mood for HR. Dukes Prefer Blondes (which is such an offensive title for a writer of Chase’s caliber) is my current favorite. But next week I’ll pick up Lord Perfect or The Last Hellion and it will be my favorite. As others have noted, it isn’t often we get a body of work that is so consistently excellent.
For the readers who do not care for Chase’s work, I’m curious. Are there any Regency historical writers who do work for you? Or is Regency HR just not your thing?
Lord of Scoundrels