Stacia in Progress

This isn't necessarily a bad thing. I like TTV and DA. All I Want is You had a certain sort of appeal which kept me glued to the pages. I love stories where a young girl meets an older man and we have to wait years for the man to notice that she's finally grown up.

However, I don't think I have it in me to champion for another "author's got balls" moment twice in one week. My patience is wearing a little thin. I blame Allegiant.

The good news : This is the ending that I'd wished for The Luxe series to have.

The bad news : I got to erase the bad news for this step! (see edit below)

The good news : This was a sensual, captivating read.

The bad news : The characters carried out the back-and-forth indecision about three misunderstandings too long.

The good news : The writing was flawless.

The bad news : I was somewhat confused by the mash-up of literary fiction, historical romance, childlike innocence, and dark erotic themes. If I'd known going into the read that the story would have ups and downs similar to Tipping the Velvet, I might have enjoyed it in a more thorough manner, instead of trying to analyze the constant mood shifts.

Who would enjoy this book?

Fans of stories with scarred heroes who need a woman to break through their walls. The chemistry was gorgeous, and the prose was lush. I will say that the nod to a Downton Abbey setting was not so much the draw, since Sophie was all over the place throughout the story. 

I liked that the hero had his alpha moments when it came to his sexual desires, but still had sort of the quiet and mysterious recluse thing going on. Ash was extremely protective and kind, then he'd break out with these "you're mine" moments which gave me the delicious type of chills. He was a great balance of honorable and devious. 

The draw truly is in the sensuality and chemistry between Ash and Sophie. 

My complaints are few, but they are not minor.

As mentioned earlier, I didn't know what I was getting into and something about the cohesiveness between style shifts didn't always work for me. While I have no issues reading f/f stories (and have enjoyed several in the past, including the aforementioned TTV), the part of the story featuring the f/f interlude felt clunky and awkward. I would have preferred this part of the story to have been used a vehicle to explore Sophie's sexuality, instead used of as a strange way to show how Sophie was being used by the upper class. Actually, I probably would have preferred in this instance for the "outside" conflict between Ash and Sophie to have come from some other idea entirely. There was enough to draw from in the conflict department from Ash's past. 

*edit*  Complaint number 2 is no longer valid after finding out that there is a second book coming soon!

Final thoughts :

I think All I Want is You was worth the read, even if just for the sake of getting to watch Sophie write to Ash over the years and dream of a day when she would see him again. When we got to see these two together, it was very rewarding indeed.

This book provided from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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