Despite being an apparently run-of-the-mill historical romance, with a title and cover artwork that suggest it's akin to most of the other books
in the genre out there, there is one very different aspect to All He Desires: its initial setting. The first half of the book takes place on the island of Crete and the author
convincingly presents life on the island and its wildness and beauty. Our heroine, Caroline Huntingdon, is travelling with a friend when she falls from a horse and is injured on Crete. There's no official doctor in the village, but there is an Englishman who used to be a physician.
It is to him that Caroline is taken.
Alex Trentham stopped practicing medicine and took himself to hide away on Crete.
Despite his reluctance, he does help her, nursing her through recovery from a severe concussion. As one would expect in a story like this, Caroline and Alex become enamored with each other - but Caroline has to return home to England, and Alex can't bear to set foot there again.
But of course, a love story wouldn't be complete without someone overcoming something significant in their life.
Anthea Lawson effectively portrays the attraction between Alex and Caroline, and
this is always an enjoyable book to read. It succeeds less when we discover why Alex fled England - it
seems a bit of a damp squib by then, and he too unreasonable to react the way he did to a particular event. Still, the overall story
is enjoyable with well-matchede main protagonists.