Impetuous Innocent by Stephanie Laurens

After her father's death, Georgiana Hartley found herself at the mercy of her lecherous cousin. Seeking refuge at the neighboring estate, she came across a danger of another sort in the form of Dominic Ridgely, Viscount Alton of Candlewick, who was only too willing to help her, even in such a highly improper situation.

This was my first Stephanie Laurens book. It was a sweet Regency Romance. Now normally, I like every romance book I read...because, well, it's romance and I can live in a fantasy world just for a little bit. While I didn't abhor this book, it's not on my list of favorites.


At first, Georgiana is portrayed as an innocent, young girl who is trying to escape from her lecherous, drunken cousin. And she does, with the help of her abigail and it is then that she meets Dominic for the first time. To help her get away from Charles, her cousin, he sends her to his sister in London for the Little Season/Season. 

And so begins Georgiana's introduction to the ton, and her encounters with a multitude of suitors. Laurens pays great detail to certain aspects of the main protagonists' features--for Dominic, it's his blue eyes, and for Georgiana, it's her golden blond hair. These physical traits run rampant in the counterpart's mind whenever they see each other. While physical traits are of course important in the attraction, I don't see why they must be such a commonplace thought...that's just me though. 

Towards the end, Georgiana became a little TSTL to me...I mean, when she tells Dominic that she can't marry him because she doesn't think he would kiss her as he did Lady Changely. That really put me off to her character. And then, she became depressed about it all during the day, but at night she was bubbly and happy. Reminded me of bipolar disorder a little bit, but I suppose it was the effect of seeing her beloved Dominic at night, and pining away for him during the day in silence. What I really could not understand was how she could think herself to be in love with him while still doubting his motives for everything that he had done in her interest. She was an innocent yes, that much I could surmise...impetuous...not so much. She pondered a great deal on just about everything--how to handle seeing Dominic, her return to Italy, etc.

Conversely, I actually liked Dominic. Yes, he fought his initial attraction to Georgiana because she was very much younger than he, and he thought she was in love with another man amongst her beau. So he endeavors to "woo" her and all of the romantic hero type stuff, including saving her from her cousin and finding her father's long lost paintings. 

Would I read this again? Probably not. Would I throw it on the ground and stomp on it? Again, probably not. Would I try reading other books by this author? Most likely I will.  

Until next time,
- J