Years ago, Ryan Kowalski asked Lauren Carpenter to leave her husband and move away with him.  She refused but almost two decades later she’s a divorced mother of a teenager and occasionally still thinks about what if she’d said yes.  Now Ryan’s back to help his siblings repair the family’s lodge but if they thought they could avoid each other they were wrong.  Lauren’s son, Nick, is caught vandalizing the Kowalski property and his punishment is to work around the lodge to pay off the damages… throwing Lauren and Ryan together again.  Will this mean they get their second chance?

Shannon Stacey’s All He Ever Desired actually falls before last month’s All He Ever Dreamed and since I’d read the other one I already knew the basics of this story.  Although, since it is a romance and anyone can figure out what will happen, it wasn’t that big a deal.  I liked Ryan and Lauren – they are fun, charming and real.  Their relationship and the way it develops is genuine, so much so that you can see this happening to people you know.  They have normal, everyday problems and have to come up with normal, everyday solutions.  It makes for a very quick read that is believable and realistic. There are also some updates on previous Kowalski stories and Stacey puts out threads for future ones.

As always, Shannon Stacey does a great job of giving her readers engaging characters that they can relate to, a passion that sizzles, and a smart story that touches the heart.  All He Ever Desired is another delightful story in the Kowalski world, one guaranteed to keep readers returning for more.  It isn’t necessary to have read the others in the series, but if you enjoy this one keep in mind that this is Book 5 in a 6 book series, so there’s plenty of Kowalski love to go around.