Buy Link: Object of His Desire
Author: Ava March
Publisher: Samhain
Length: Novella

Rating: 4.5

Henry Shaw is visiting the country home of Arsen Grey, Marquis of Somerville, for one of his famous house parties.  Henry has no real interest in the wild debauchery, but he can’t resist the chance to spend time with Arsen.  Henry lusts after Arsen but has no expectations of a future together.  Arsen is well known for his mistresses and it is commonly accepted that this party is a chance for him to pick the next one.  So Henry is quite surprised when Arsen makes it clear that Henry is the one he really wants.

For Arsen, this house party is just an excuse to get some time with Henry.  He has secretly desired him for quite some time and now intends to make Henry his.  But as much as Henry wants Arsen, he has just come out of a bad relationship with a man who abused him and took advantage of him.  He worries that he will not have an equal partnership with the older, more powerful marquis, something he can’t handle after his difficult past.  His concerns grow when he realizes Arsen has been testing his loyalty and discretion over the course of the week.  Arsen must convince Henry that he truly cares for him and wants a real relationship before Henry walks away.

I love March’s historicals and really enjoyed Object of His Desire.  Henry and Arsen are incredibly hot together and even in short book we get a lot of steamy goodness.  I loved the differences between them, with Henry as sort of a gentle giant.  He is younger and from a less prominent background than Arsen, but also solid, dependable, and caring.  And while Arsen is wealthy and privileged, he is also a good and thoughtful man.  I loved watching each man’s pleasure as he realized that the object of his desire actually wanted him badly in return.

This is a fairly short story (just a bit over 50 pages) and it focuses mostly on a two-day period at the end of the house party.  At this point both men have strong feelings for one another that have developed before the book begins.  I wish we had just a bit more detail on how their relationship bloomed prior to the party.  We know they travel in similar social circles, but the strong  feelings they have for one another presumably developed out of more than casual contact, but that is not really explained.  Again, in such a short story all these things can not be fleshed out in detail, but I think it would have helped me to better understand the connection they had prior to night of the party.

Overall I really enjoyed this story.  I really liked both Henry and Arsen and loved the way they come together despite their different backgrounds.  They both seem like such good men that I was happy that they could find their way to one another and found that their affections and desires were returned.