All You Desire

In All You Desire, the story opens with Haven and Iain living, they think safely, in Rome, away from the Ouroboros Society and the horror of past lives lost. Having been quietly in Rome for a year, things begin to change when Haven starts to suspect someone is following her, then the money she "inherited" upon Iain's faked death is cut off; but most disturbingly, Haven's best friend Beau travels to New York and ends up missing. Trying to draw on a past life to help Beau, it doesn't take long for Haven to realize she must go to NYC herself in order to save her friend, and Iain, though it will place him in danger, must follow. Once there, she comes face to face with Adam Rosier once again, but is it possible that he's changed? Does he really intend to leave Haven alone in this lifetime and to cleanse the Ouroboros Society of the greed that has overtaken it? And should Haven be having the feelings she is for him?

What I Liked: I love the relationship between Haven and Iain. Even when there is friction, you can still feel the deep emotion these two share. I also liked the introduction of new characters Owen and Alex, and I adore Leah and her visions. There are lots of twists and turns in All You Desire, and I love that I'm just not sure whether Adam has changed. The idea that Haven and Iain could go from living relatively normally to being pulled back into the OS was well handled, and I'm anxious to see how everything is going to play out in the next novel. After being taken on an exhausting ride in AYD, I can only begin to imagine where we'll finally end up.

What Annoyed Me: Haven is *still* too naive and gullible and I seriously wanted her to grow a spine at times, especially when dealing with Adam. The Horae, the mysterious sisterhood woven into the OS and Beau's disappearance, was full of mean-spirited, hateful women and I wish Haven could have stayed away from them fully, though I know they were central to the story. Doesn't mean I have to like them. And the speed at which Haven solves the mystery occasionally felt slow...at times she became too sidetracked with Adam and Beau became lost in the shuffle.

I was concerned that this installment would be a letdown from the excellent The Eternal Ones, and I was pleasantly surprised that this edition built soundly on the original story. Very complex, All You Desire was every bit as good as The Eternal Ones; I cannot imagine how it's all going to play out and that's the beauty of the story. And that ending? Killer cliff hanger! Well done and absorbing.

~taminator40