After college, Ryan Kowalski decided to leave Whitford, Maine, rather than watch Lauren Carpenter marry another man. Now his siblings need his help to refurbish the family-owned Northern Star Lodge and he’s forced to face the past sooner rather than later when he collars a vandal—and learns the boy is Lauren’s son…
The last person Lauren needs back in her life is Ryan Kowalski. With a bitter ex-husband and a moody teenage son, she has enough man trouble already. But her son needs to learn a few lessons about right and wrong, even if Lauren has to escort him to Ryan’s door every day to work off his crime.
With all this close contact, Ryan and Lauren can’t deny the chemistry between them is as powerful as ever. But can a few searing kisses erase their past and pave the way for a second chance at true love?
Type: Contemporary Romance
Heat: 3 out of 5
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
As much as it pains me to say it I think it's safe to say I've fallen out of love with the Kowalski family, or rather with Stacey's writing. A damn hard thing to swallow after being so smitten with the first three books in the series. They were that perfect mix of delicious romance, heat, real emotion turmoil and, what I think made them so fantastic, laugh-so-hard-you-cry humor. Unfortunately, as with the previous release, hardly any of that was seen in All He Ever Desired.
One of the problems, I think, was that the book suffered from too much "real life" monotony without even a hint of humor to make it fun, fresh and not so...boring. Though things do pick up the last half of the book (except in the humor department) for a good portion of the story I found myself tapping my fingers on my thigh and wishing I could read faster so I could just finish the book already and move on. And that's not something that happens to me often especially with a book that doesn't even break 200 pages.
As for the romance while it did take a while for me to see that spark between Ryan and Lauren their relationship was more real and believable than the previous book and I could really buy into these two in the end. The sex was much steamier and more abundant and I could see the two together as a couple. See them falling in love and being happy together.
As a drama? All He Ever Desired would probably work. There's family clashes, relationship bumps, illnesses, etc that will sort of pull you in. But as a light contemporary romance that lifts your spirits, which is how the series felt in the beginning, it falls utterly short and left so much to be desired. In the end I think it's time I called it quits with this series. I'll always treasure those first three books but the magics just not in them for me anymore.
*A copy was provided in exchange for an honest opinion
Have you ever fallen out of love with a series/author?
Have you read this series? Are they still working for you?
Have you read this series? Are they still working for you?
