I was so excited to get approved for Acting on Impulse on Edelweiss, you have no idea. I love sweet love stories, I love diverse books and authors, I love contemporary romance – I’m here for this! I flew through this book, too, even if my Goodreads account doesn’t show it – I was exhausted this week but was literally reading this book in every spare waking moment I had. It was so good, and more importantly, so real. Here’s the rundown:
Tori Alvarez is a personal trainer from Philadelphia who met her boyfriend by challenging him to a push-up contest. Mason is a city councilman who has even bigger aspirations, and Tori hates being in the limelight like that. When he announces that he’s no longer dating anyone (which is a surprise to Tori), she hops on a flight to Aruba for some time away to clear her head.
Who would have guessed she’d be sitting on the plane next to Carter Stone, A-list television actor who is trying to break into film?
Carter Williamson (stage name, Carter Stone) was sent to Aruba after he attacked his doctor, who threatened a lawsuit. He had good reason – his doctor sold him out to the paparazzi to make some petty cash – but it still isn’t a good look. He’s at the end of filming a gritty role that required he lose thirty pounds very quickly, so he’s not looking like himself. But he knows he’s met someone special when he meets Tori on the plane, and he’s all in from the very first minute. But he holds back who he truly is when he starts talking to Tori, afraid of people who take advantage of him.
Once Tori figures out that Carter Williamson is Carter Stone, actor, she flees back to Philadelphia. Carter also returns to the city, where the filming of his last movie was set. He wants to apologize to Tori and spend more time with her; she wants nothing to do with someone in the spotlight like he is.
Enter one of the sweetest love stories I’ve ever read. *swoon* ❤
3 Things I Loved
- Tori! Sassy, Puerto Rican, personal training Tori is potentially my favorite romantic heroine of all time. She’s smart and she’s strong and she doesn’t need a man… even if she wants one. I loved her. I loved everything about her. I want more of her. So much more.
- Carter’s relationships. While I loved Carter as well, what I especially loved was how Carter related to other people. I loved how he and Julian interacted, and I loved how he and his assistant interacted. The way he is characterized is wonderful, and again, I wanted more. Plus, obviously, his interactions with Tori were some of my favorites of all time.
- The setting. I think this is the first time I’ve read a romance novel with several drastically different settings. They start on a plane to Aruba, spend the first quarter or so of the book on the island, then travel back to Philadelphia for the majority of the book. But much of the end takes place in Southern California. I just loved the contrasts, the differences the setting makes on what’s happening in the plot. I wouldn’t have hated more Aruba, though… because it’s Aruba!
Dislikes/Problematic Content
I finally updated this section’s wording, since I’ve been talking about both for several weeks anyway. Hopefully this better encompasses what I’m normally discussing in this section of my reviews.
In terms of problematic content, I didn’t see anything. I thought Mia Sosa did a very good job with diversity in all regards. So I’m saying no, there wasn’t any overtly problematic content in this book. If you see something I missed, please inform me!
As for dislikes? This is tricky for me. I loved the characters, the setting, the world in itself. I loved how real Tori and Carter’s hang-ups were – nothing earth-shattering, but definitely the kind of thing that could break up a couple. But I felt a little let down by the whole thing. I wanted more. I loved Tori’s backstory, but I wanted more scenes with her family, her sister especially. I loved Carter’s backstory, but I wanted more information about his former agent and the doctor who sold him out. I wanted it to go deeper. And their relationship didn’t even start until almost three quarters into the book! I don’t necessarily need more sex scenes in my romance (although I don’t hate them, I’ll be honest), but I just wanted more relationship. It felt like Tori and Carter finally got together, then did their flip-flopping all in the span of days, rather than weeks or even months. The problems were real, and in the world of Hollywood, they probably are elevated to that degree. But I wanted a slower burn, I guess. I wanted more of them. More of everything.
I’m not sure how much of a criticism it truly is when all you want different in a book is more book. 🙂
Rating
A reminder of the rating scale:
- Red = DNF, I hated everything
- Orange = Ugh, no thank you
- Yellow = I mean, I’ve read worse, but there were problems
- Green = This was good!
- Blue = Oh my gosh, I loved this book!
- Purple = This is the unicorn of books and I will be rereading it until the binding falls apart and EVERYONE should be reading it!
You’ll notice I updated some of the language in my rating scale! Small changes make big differences sometimes. This is a lot more equal to my Goodreads rating scale, which is a good thing. So! I’m going to give Acting on Impulse a GREEN rating. I really enjoyed the book, but I wanted more! More Carter, more Tori, definitely more of them together – they didn’t have sexy time for the first time until more than halfway through the book! So yeah, I wanted more. But I really loved what was given to me.
Thank you to the publisher and to Edelweiss for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion in any way.
Happy reading!
-A.
Snark & Squee 
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