Reviews

All I Want by Erica Ridley

sara_va's review

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4.0

Great, quick read. Talented writer to pack this much detail and background into the short story.

00laura23's review

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lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.5

This is a fun, sweet, quick read. Matilda and Owen are interesting, relatable, intriguing, entertaining characters. There is a lot packed into the small amount of pages, but I wish that we had gotten more. More of these characters and more of their story. For me there were things missing in the story. Overall, I enjoyed the story and characters. It’s easy to read and get into. Most of all these characters captured my attention from the start. 
 
I enjoyed the audio version of this story and the narrator. 

kay_slayerofbooks's review

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4.0

The cutest of all

This was so short I barely count it as a novella. However, just like the others, it was perfect and I wanted more!

casseyt's review

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3.0

Very, very short...and oh so sweet.

fringebookreviews's review

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4.0

I’m gonna assume he didn’t go back off to war lol? But he did build her a library and got two chairs for them to sit in forever so

kayedacus's review

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4.0

Cute novella; and given that it's listed as the eighth story in a series, it stands on its own just fine---no need to have read any of the other books in the series. It also served as a great introduction to this author. I'll definitely be reading more of her books in the future!

bananatricky's review

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4.0

Three and a half stars.

Super short free novella.

Lady Matilda Kingsley is an orphan under the care of her Cousin Egbert. Against her will she is drawn into a gamble on behalf of her uncle against Major Owen Turner, her childhood friend and the man she was in love with before he abruptly went off to war four years earlier.

I enjoyed this but it was very short. Also, for some reason I was hoping for a rehash of the cheesy film A Hazard of Hearts, based on a Barbara Cartland novel, in which a father loses his daughter in a game of chance to the evil Lord Wrotham ...

Anyway, a sweet novella.

bhavani's review

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2.0

Rating 2.5 stars

All I Want is a 3-chapter short story about childhood sweethearts Matilda and Owen. Lady Matilda Kingsley, as she is officially known, is the daughter of a marquess, who met Owen Turner, when they were children. But when she was 16, Owen suddenly left to join the army without saying anything to her. Four years later he's back from France. Now a Major, she meets him at an event she's attending with her cousin and guardian, Lord Addington. Owen has wagered his only possession, a cottage in North Yorkshire over a game of twenty-one with Addington. Addington makes Matilda play his hand for him and the lovers find themselves caught in a game against each other.

The strength of this story is Owen's and Matilda's interior monologues, which I think is essential given the story's length. I'm not in favour of short stories because I think there's not enough time to explore the characters, their motivations, settings, and themes. While I liked All I Want, it hasn't changed my mind that story length matters, especially in a romance tale.

P.S.: I like the reference to Roald Dahl's Matilda and her love of books.

bernab's review

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2.0

An extremely short but sweet story

emilylouisef's review

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2.0

Cute, but would've been better as a full length rather than a novella I think.