ARC Review: Lady Claire Is All That by Maya Rodale

Recommended Read!

“…one of my favourite books of 2016”
~ Under the Covers

I’m so glad that I am ending 2016 on a high, especially with one of my favourite genres; historical romance. In fact Maya Rodale’s Keeping up with the Cavendishes series has been one of the highlights of 2016 for me, I fell in love with the first book Lady Bridget’s Diary and that feeling has only increased with the subsequent books. And now we have Lady Claire is All That, which has now has the honoured place of ‘fave in series’ so far at least.

Have you ever watched the film She’s All That? Well if not you should, I was a teen when it was released and along with 10 Things I Hate About You, it has become one of those films that remind me of a certain time in my life…teenagerdom. Not that Lady Claire is All That has anything to do with moody teenagers. But, much like She’s All That, it is centred around a stupid bet, that an idiot jock makes with his equally idiotic friends. Rodale takes this concept and runs with it.

Lady Claire is the brainy one in the Cavendish tribe and she uses her sharp intelligence and aptitude for math’s to keep the ton and especially gentleman away. That is until Lord Fox enters the scene. Because of the aforementioned bet made under the tyranny of his Male Pride. He must make Lady Claire the most the belle of the ball or lose the one thing he loves most in the world…his loyal companion, Stella. His dog.

So, you need to bear with me, for once it is easy to explain why I liked the heroine but a little harder to explain how Lord Fox, who is essentially the male equivalent of a dumb blonde with all the depth of a puddle, manages to win me over. Lady Claire, she’s clever, she’s loving, she goes for what she wants despite the heavy restrictions placed upon her because of her gender. What’s not to both admire and like?

Fox…he enjoys women and sports and tries to enjoy all the aspects of being a rich, ridiculously handsome, entitled peer. At least that’s how he seems at first. Until he starts to both grow on you and grow as a character. Much like Claire, he pursues his sporting activities to the best of his abilities, he dedicates himself to them. This supposedly dumb character understands the dynamics and science behind a boxing match…so it isn’t simply two grown men pummelling each other, but instead an elegant dance, a battle involving both skill and tactics. And slowly and surely you realise that perhaps, much like Claire herself, you’ve misjudged him as a pretty but witless addition to a ballroom. Perhaps he’s a little bit more, perhaps that puddle is a little bit deeper.

And that is why I liked this book so much, it made me change my opinion of a character I thought he was thing, yet watched him transform into something else. Without him really changing at all. And the romance? It’s a case of opposites attract, Claire and Fox are completely different kinds of people and yet they somehow fit perfectly. I really enjoyed reading as Claire slowly and surely, much like me, came to realise that actually Fox may be exactly the right person for her.

I highly recommend you give this book a try, it’s one of my favourite books of 2016. You don’t need to have read the previous books in the series but they are well worth reading first anyways. As you can tell from the length of this review…I loved it and now can’t wait to read the next in the series.

[about-author author=”Maya Rodale”]

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