Novel Review: Impetuous by Lori Foster

Rating (Out of 5): ~1.5

Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Harlequin

Release Date: 1995

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Grade school teacher Carlie McDaniels trades in her frumpiness for the look of an exotic harem girl, at least for one costume party. So long, spinsterhood--and hello tall, dark and handsome Tyler Ramsey....Even after the best night of their lives, Tyler hasn't guessed the identity of his harem hottie...and Carlie plans on keeping him in the dark. After all, a gorgeous guy like Tyler would never fall for his smart-talking best friend. And Carlie's not sure she wants to know what would happen if he ever unveiled the naked truth.

The Cover:

I honestly kind of like this cover, and I'm a little embarrassed to admit it's what drew me to the book. It's embarrassing, sure, and the position looks kind of uncomfortable, but I still kind of like it. It's hot or something, I don't know.

Review:

This is very obviously an early book by Lori Foster. And I did not really enjoy it. I was glad when it was finally over.

The characterization is not good. Foster’s new books are stereotypical, sure, very formatted, each of her books extremely similar—but that’s what you’re looking for when you read one of her books (at least, I am). Her characters have good backstory, they’re relatable, they’re understandable. The characters in this book were not.

Their attraction to each other was instantaneous, but not buyable. I didn’t believe it from the beginning. I understand how characters can have a crazy one-night stand, but not like these two. That in itself was a big problem, because it’s a very large part of the book, and I was just not buying it.

I did not care for Carlie. She’s a bit annoying, playing too hard to get, and not very likeable. As in, I didn’t really understand why Tyler liked her. I didn’t really care for Tyler, either.

Strangely enough, the characters didn’t seem all that stereotypical. There were glimpses, but it wasn’t so over the top like in her newer books. Tyler wasn’t a huge alpha male, and Carlie was more hard-edged than her normal characters. It’s actually disappointing, seeing that she could create more original characters, could have made them better as she grew in her writing, but instead stuck with the same format.

The writing wasn’t very good. It didn’t pull me in, it didn’t show the attraction or the characters’ feelings very well.

Overall, this book has proven to me that I need to stay away from Foster’s earlier books, and stick with her newer ones.