What You Wish For

First off, I wish to thank the Publishers for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

At first I did not think I was going to enjoy this book as much as I did. Normally I'm not one for romances, especially ones set in small towns where the smallest molehill of problems are made into mountains - however this book is just so charming and real, it was an absolute joy to read!

The plot is that Sam works as a school librarian in an elementary school which is the darling of the local community, with its Principle and Art Teacher being such staples of it that nobody could imagine what life, or the school, would be like without one of them... Until the Principle dies, and they are left with a vacancy. Thankfully show more the head of the School Board who just so happens to be a massive jerk hires Duncan Carpenter. According to Sam, Duncan is the coolest of the cool teacher we all had as a kid, so there must have been a mistake by the jerk who hired him right? Wrong. The guy who shows up is Duncan, but not the one Sam knew at her former school. This Duncan is bent on sucking the colour and creativity from their school all in the name of safety. Well, Sam isn't going to let him do this, and after finding out about a horrific incident in Duncan's past, she's determined to make him see the colour, creativity, and most importantly - the joy of living.

It reminded me a little bit of a Sophie Kinsella novel, with its wit, its lighthearted comedy and not being afraid to show darker tones when appropriate. The characters all felt like people, not hyped-up, one trait portrayals of people we so often see in Hallmark movies or books in this same genre. Alice ended up being my favorite character, probably due in part to a running gag she's tied to throughout the narrative, but also for her friendship with Sam. The two genuinely care about each other, and contributes a lot to the overarching theme of found-family.

My only criticism was the Epilogue felt a little bit rushed, and the plot was a tad predictable. However predictable does not always mean bad, I mean it in that I correctly guessed what happened in Duncan's past after picking up on all the author's clues on his behavior and appearance. Which, in my opinion, was good and consistent.

I would definitely recommend this, especially for somebody looking for a good Summer read! show less

What I wish for is that Katherine Center will just keep on writing amazing books like this. The blurb describing What You Wish For sounds so average, just a normal love story about choosing joy. But come on, the author is Katherine Center after all, so you know you will get something more than that. But a few chapters in I had the “Aha!” moment again as I always do with one of this author’s books and started to realize just how much more I was getting – and it kept on like that, one more amazing thing after yet another amazing thing. I was oh so hooked.

Katherine Center populates her novels with people that are unusual, uncanny, quirky - but quirky isn’t really the right word. Somehow she makes them seem average so that we are show more able to connect with them, to feel their pain, and their joy, but at the same time they are so much more than average. They are everyday people in everyday circumstances but they’re not. Turns out they are just the most amazing characters you’ve ever met, with traits and behaviors and qualities, and yes, quirks, that keep revealing themselves layer after layer, like peeling back that proverbial onion.

Samantha is a young woman who is bright and sunny and happy and bold and quirky, loves her job as a school librarian, loves the kids, loves the principal and his wife. Samantha loves life, except some of that is a façade and she works hard each and every day to be sunny and bright.

Duncan could have been the love of her life except that he didn’t know it. She remembers him from her previous school as bright and sunny and happy and bold and quirky. She left that school when Duncan got engaged and used him as her inspiration to be bright and sunny and happy and bold and quirky, to choose joy even when her heart was breaking over Duncan.

So when tragedy strikes at Sam’s school and she learns Duncan is to be the new principal she believes that that might be the silver lining in the tragedy of the death of the former principal. But this Duncan is not her Duncan. This Duncan is rigid and harsh and seems afraid to break any rules. What happened??

There is tension – and a mighty attraction – between them every single time Sam and Duncan are on the page together. The chemistry jumps out at you. What Samantha has been through in her life, and the huge secret she keeps, and what Duncan has been through and is afraid to reveal, and what’s in store for the school and its already joyful children is a wonderful story skillfully crafted by the author. There is always a point in one of Center’s books when I am almost overwhelmed with sadness, both for what has happened to these people I’ve come to love and also for what I’m afraid is about to happen – or won’t happen – to them. What You Wish For is just like that.

The characters are strong, deep, surprising and the plot so smoothly and flawlessly developed that you turn page after page after page, enjoying every word, looking forward to and afraid of what will happen all at the same time.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of What You Wish For, and thanks even more to author Katherine Center for writing another marvelous book that I thoroughly enjoyed and recommend without hesitation. Read this one and everything else she has written. Note: All opinions are my own. show less

Awwwwwww, this book was just perfect for that lousy day when I was waiting for a repair that never happened. Loved Samantha Casey and all her buddies; Max a nurturing person and the principal of a progressive elementary school in Galveston, Texas, Alice with her math jokes and T-shirts, Babette with her quiet, stoic grief, and Clay, the most unbelievable third-grade “brainerd” who is too smart, too sweet, too understanding of so much beyond his years. The negative forces opposing these wonderful characters were so realistically drawn that I could give a name and place to each one from my experiences.

There is so much to laugh about in this book, crazy antics, foot-in-the mouth comments, great, meaningful life lessons: “never miss a show more chance to celebrate”; “pay attention to the things that connect you with joy” “Love is only for the brave”. And then there is the question ‘can you confront someone with joy”...Pelt him with joy. Attack him with it. Joy-bomb him.” Can You? Does she?

Awwww, this was the best on one of my unbestest (another one of my special words) days and I really want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a copy. show less

This is the second Katherine Center book that I have just absolutely LOVED and wanted to snuggle up with and read ten times in a row. (I also adored THINGS YOU SAVE IN A FIRE.) Sam is a school librarian at the best school in the world. The teachers are free spirited, love their jobs, put a thousand percent effort in to making a fun and nurturing experience for the kids.

Then their beloved principal dies and his replacement comes. Duncan is someone from Sam’s past. When she knew him he was fun-loving. The life of the party teacher who would juggle apples and make the kids laugh. (She secretly had a huge crush.) When he shows up as principal, he is the classic textbook administrator… and worse.

What happened to Duncan, and why show more doesn’t he seem to remember Sam? The beauty of Center’s novels is in her characters, and this was no exception. As the story slowly unfolds and more is revealed, I fell in love with this book more and more. A lovely read for lovers of romance and women’s fiction.

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader. show less

Purely delightful, this book could also be titled Ode to Joy, because that is ultimately what it espouses. The title as is refers to the adage "be careful what you wish for..." and that is where we find 28-year-old Samantha Casey in Galveston TX, the librarian at a remarkable elementary school that manages to make learning joyful. That is due in large part to Kempner School's founders, Max and artist Babette Kempner. The vision they have carried out for the school makes really fun reading - if only education could be so vibrant and infused with fun! When Max dies suddenly celebrating his 60th birthday, a new principal is hired: Duncan Carpenter. Sam is flabbergasted. He is the reason she fled CA to come to TX - she had a big-time crush show more on him when they worked together there and convinced herself it would never be reciprocated. Personal issues aside, Sam is sure he'll be a good fit for Kempner. In CA, he was the super-fun, creative, goofy, energetic risk taker teacher who wore crazy ties, had Dance breaks, etc. However, when he arrives, he is all gloom and doom and wants to turn Kempner into a "model security school" with the backing of jerky board President, Kent Buckley who also happens to be Max and Babette's son-in-law. Levels of complication. Sam is determined not to let that happen and mounts a feisty resistance that puts her in Duncan's path daily. We learn what happened to each of them since they worked together in CA, which humanizes them both and prevents them from being just caricatures. Lots of great supporting characters too: Sam's best friend, Math teacher Alice, Kent Buckley's son Clay, Duncan's dog, Chuck Norris to name a few. In the end, everything comes to good, but not in the way you would've predicted. The author manages to create a make-believe place and character relationships that ring true without being smarmy or trite and actually made me get a little teary. A Kirkus starred review, for the skeptics.
Some great quotes: conversation between Max and Sam: "Joy is an antidote to fear. To anger. To boredom. To sorrow." "But you can't just decide to feel joyful." "True, but you can decide to do something joyful." (59)
"She [Babette] knew that joy and sorrow walked side by side. She knew that being alive meant risking one for the other. And she also knew as I was starting to understand in a whole new way, that is was always better to dance than refuse." (240)
"The world keeps on hanging on to this idea that love is for the gullible. But nothing could be more wrong. Love is only for the brave." (263)
"This is what it means to be fully alive. To feel it all - the joy and the sorrow, the hope and the fear. This is what life demands of us. You just have to stay and try, and let life break your heart." (286) show less

“…you can decide to do something joyful. …You can hug somebody. Or crank up the radio. Or watch a funny movie. Or tickle somebody. Or lip-synch your favorite song. Or buy the person behind you at Starbuck’s a coffee. Or wear a flower hat to work.”

I loved Center’s two previous books, “How to Walk Away” and “Things You Save in a Fire,” and was not disappointed with this one. (And I adore the covers of her books – so colorful!)

“What You Wish For” has awesome characters that drew me in and made me care about them as though they were my friends. Chuck Norris was the absolute best! I loved the positivity, so sorely needed right now. I loved the celebration of family, community, and friendship. After personal show more struggles, librarian Samantha Casey has learned to find the joy in life. But now the guy she had a major crush on will be the new principal at her school. But Duncan Carpenter isn’t the goofy, lovable, “never miss a chance to celebrate” man she used to know. He is now a heartless three-piece-suit bureaucrat. What happened to him? Can Samantha and Duncan overcome the fears that hold them both back?

The story was somewhat predictable. I suspected almost from the beginning what had happened to Duncan to turn him into such a different man. But I still found the story delightful. There were several laugh-out-loud moments. And I really needed a happily-ever-after story.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the ARC. show less

Having enjoyed the previous two novels I've read by this author, I didn't hesitate to request an ARC of this story. Katherine Center packs an emotional punch with her writing and the topics she chooses. Unfortunately, What You Wish For just fell flat for me. I figured out pretty early on what triggered Duncan's personality change and I absolutely never connected with Samantha. I don't feel like the two actually even liked each other but bam, here's your relationship. I also felt like a lot of Duncan's emotional labor was put on Sam and I just didn't really ever find my groove with this one. I will continue to read Center's work but this one wasn't my favorite.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.