ONE OF POPSUGAR’S BEST ROMANCE NOVELS OF NOVEMBER 2020!“A story of love long postponed but never forgotten, Little Wishes is a tale to be treasured. Michelle’s Adam’s lovely, luminous writing is a beacon that draws readers closer and brings them home to the lasting truths about life and love.” —Marie Bostwick, New York Times bestselling author of The Restoration of Celia FairchildFor anyone who … of The Restoration of Celia Fairchild
For anyone who loves One Day in December and Me Before You, a sweeping love story, written with tenderness, warmth, and a generosity of spirit, about first love and second chances, a lifelong dream and finding the courage to follow your heart.
On her favorite day of the year, Elizabeth Davenport awakens in her cottage on the wild and windy Cornish coast, opens her front door, and discovers a precious gift: the small blue crocus and a note that begins I Wish . . . The notes are never signed, but she knows they’ve been left by her first and truest love, Tom Hale. Each of these precious missives convey a simple wish for something they had missed, and the life they might have shared, if circumstances hadn’t forced them apart all those years ago. She has kept them all.
But on this day, what should have been the fiftieth anniversary of their falling in love, the gift fails to arrive. Could something have happened to Tom? Elizabeth has always been plagued by thoughts of “what if?” Propelled by worry and decades of pent up longing, Elizabeth packs a little suitcase, leaves Porthsennenon, and journeys to London . . . to find the love of her life once again.
Finding him, Elizabeth is faced with the desperate knowledge that any time they might have now is running out. Never before had she thought that she might truly lose time—forever. And now, knowing that life is too short, Elizabeth vows to fulfill as many of Tom’s wishes as she can. Yet she fears that her efforts may expose the shameful secret that, until now, has kept them apart.
Can she continue to hide the truth, or will she have the courage to reveal herself completely and finally make their dreams come true—before it’s too late?
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Little Wishes is such a sweet, heart-warming love story. For almost fifty years, Elizabeth has received a little gift on her doorstep from the love of her life. But then, one year, there is no gift. Elizabeth sets out to find the man who stole her heart all those years ago and to possibly right a wrong. Hopefully it’s not too late.
This is a story that stole my heart and filled me with hope and redemption. The love that these two people expressed for one another was such a beautiful thing to see. This book made me smile through my tears and I loved every second of it.
Tender and touching non-traditional love story. This book has all the feels, highly recommend it.
I’ve never read a book quite like this one. From the first page to the very last word I was hooked. I cried so hard almost all the way through it too. It’s a love story that is so touching and tender. So heartbreaking and so deep. So much and so little. I would say that I hated to love this book so much but that would not describe how it made me feel. This is the story of true love that spans fifty years and a lifetime of wishes.
“What if I told you I loved you,” Tom said, “and that I could love you until my dying day, whether that’s next year or next century.”
“Sometimes I think you forget the way I love you.” Warmth flooded her then as he squeezed her hand. “I was always thinking of you.”
“This,” he said, flicking a finger back and forth between the two of them. “And maybe we should see it too. Together one last time in the place where we met, so that if there was something we needed to say to each other, we would have the chance that we never got the first time round.”
Just before he fell asleep, she whispered, “I’m going to make all these wishes come true, Thomas Hale,” but he didn’t hear her. Sleep came, and that night he dreamed of being back in their cottage, their first night together, Elizabeth wrapped up safe in his arms.
There are three main characters in this story. Elizabeth, Tom, and James. Elizabeth is engaged to James but she does not love him. Tom has loved Elizabeth for many years but knows she is engaged to another. This story tells exactly what happened between the three. Elizabeth loves Tom Hale with every ounce of her being. He’s the love of her life and she is his also. Because of circumstances they are separated shortly after and thus the story is told.
What happened to keep these two apart? Was it actually true love or just a fling? This story will take you on an emotional ride you won’t know what to do with. You won’t want to get off but you will have to take a few breaks. It’s hard to read with such amounts of tears flowing.
Every year Elizabeth awakes and on her stoop is a blue crocus and a note with a wish attached. A gift is often there too. It’s the anniversary of her first kiss from Thomas Hale. He pledged his undying love to her as she did him. Then one year there is not flower or wish. Nothing. Elizabeth decides she needs to go find the love of her life and off she goes. What she finds will shake your heart to the core. Will leave you breathless. Will they finally have the life they deserved together or will it be taken away too soon?
You will love Elizabeth and Tom. James I fully detested. I could not stand him. I think it was meant for us to feel sorry for him and possibly forgive him but I sure didn’t and don’t. He was selfish on so many levels. But that is what makes this story exactly what it is. What makes it play out the way it does. What makes it so heartbreaking and tender. So full of a love so deep you will wonder if it’s possible. It is!!
It is told from two different time periods. Now and then. What happened when Elizabeth found Tom and what happened when they first met all those years ago and fell so deeply in love.
I loved this book. Certainly it made me so a whole lot of crying. Weeping actually. But it was one of the very best romance/women’s fiction books I have ever read and possibly the very best. I don’t read a lot of romance but when I do they are usually good. This one was not just good. It was spot on perfect. Maybe it brought out the romantic in me. Maybe it made me look at the love of my life a bit differently(in a good way). Maybe it was just the love between a boy and a girl, a man and a woman. Whatever it was it’s beautiful. It is told in a way that you just can’t stop looking. You will feel the emotions. The sand. The water. The lighthouse. All of it.
Thank you #NetGalley, #MichelleAdams, #HarperCollins for this beautiful book. This is my own true feelings about this book.
5/5 stars and a very high recommend for anyone that loves a good yet sad romantic story of love and loss. Then and now.
This story takes place in both the “now” and the “then” as each chapter shifts between past and present.. Elizabeth, the main character, is in her sixties now and reflects on how her life has unfolded over the years. The reader travels back in time with her as she meets the love of her life and discovers throughout the remainder of the book just why things went so horribly wrong and how she is given another chance to make them right before it is too late.
Every year since they met and fell in love, Tom has left Elizabeth her favorite flower with a wish for them attached. It’s Elizabeth’s favorite day of the year, and it’s the fiftieth anniversary of the day Tom promised to love her forever. Will this be the year he knocks? Will it be the year she opens the door? When the day passes and there is nothing from Tom, Elizabeth is disappointed and wonders why? Did he finally give up? Or did they wait too long? Leaving the safety of her tiny village, Elizabeth embarks on a journey to find Tom, basket of wishes in tow. When she finds him they realize how much time has been lost with misunderstandings, small town dynamics, and lack of self-confidence. Is there still time to make all their wishes come true?
A beautiful second chance love story told in a dual timeline alternating between the current time and when they fell in love, this was a story that was both heat-warming and heart-breaking. There were so many times I had tears running down my face.
Thank you to the publisher for an advanced copy of this novel. All opinions are my own and freely given.
#littlewishes #michelleadams #thebookclubgirl #bookclubgirls #harpercollins #williammorrow
“Love presented itself in all manner of different ways, even in places where she could barely see its existence. Love could be all but invisible, but still it was there ….” – Little Wishes by Michelle Adams
I didn’t expect this novel, with its pretty cover and unusual size, to break my heart. Little Wishes is a British dual lifeline story (“Then” and “Now”) of true love separated by 50 years. The “Then” storyline is set on the Cornish coast, and I could easily place myself there since the prose has such a strong sense of place.
I was surprised to read reviews calling it a sweet, quickly-read love story. For me, this was deeply emotional, especially the ‘Now’ timeline. If a reader recently lost a loved one due to a prolonged illness, this novel could be a trigger. While not every aspect seemed realistic, much of it rang true.
3.5 stars rounded up, Little Wishes is a second chance at love story. For forty-nine years, a flower and a wish for a life that could have been has shown up on Elizabeth’s doorstep. This year the special day comes and passes with no wish. Elizabeth finally decides to go looking for Tom. Told in alternating past and present viewpoints, the story unfolds in a predictable mix of sweetness and what could have beens laced with a twinge of sadness. The ending is much stronger than the beginning but the story leaves an impression and a lesson learned that life is always too short to waste time. My voluntary, unbiased review is based upon a review copy from Netgalley.
I wanted to take a break from something heavy and find a book that would allow me to escape and feel good. Little Wishes is a sweet little story of a love that didn’t quite work out. Tom, a fisherman, jumped in the ocean off the Cornish coast to save the life of a woman who was drowning. The lady had Alzheimer’s and had wandered away from her house. Her daughter, Elizabeth, is engaged to James who is a doctor who is getting ready to take over Elizabeth’s father’s medical practice. Elizabeth seeks out Tom to thank him for saving her mother. There is an attraction between the two and a short romance but obstacles intervene.
Tom moves to London and has a new life. Each year, Tom comes back and leaves a note and a blue crocus on the front stoop. Elizabeth never sees him. On the 50th year, there is no note on the other side of her front door, so she decides to go to London to find Tom. The book alternates between “then” and “now.” I thought the book was sweet but it was too slow. I think it would have been better as a short story or a novella. I can see it as a Hallmark movie. My thanks to Harper Collins William Morrow and NetGalley for an ARC. The opinions in this review are my own.
3.5 rounded to 4
Little Wishes by Michelle Adams is a charming story of young love thwarted, which somehow turns around in the last weeks of life. Elizabeth Davenport was the daughter of the doctor in the village and therefore a cut above mot of the villagers. She was engaged to her father’s young partner, De. James Warbeck although she was not really sure she loved him. It began when her mother, a victim of early onset Alzheimer’s, wandered away from home and fell into the water. A young fisherman named Tom Hale saved her from drowning and that was when it began. It was innocent enough. She thanked him; they went for a walk. It morphed into more. Through the machinations of the town, as well as her father and James, their lives were split, although he said he would always love her. And he had. For 49 years, on this day there had been a flower and a wish on her doorstep. But, not this year. She decided she had to go to London to find out why not. She found out and so began her journey; hers and Tom’s.
This was a beautiful book. It jumped from current day to 50 years earlier when all this had happened. The story unfolded gently, mostly through Elizabeth’s memories. Tom was there, too. Then and now. Elizabeth was a prideful and stubborn woman. As are most thwarted love stories, this one was a lack of communication; perhaps a refusal to communicate. The times they had tried, something got in the way, so they gave up. Tom never believed himself good enough, but her never stopped loving her. It was truly a great love story, one well worth the read. I recommend it. A way to live; a way to die; a way to love.
I was invited to read a free ARC of Little Wishes by Netgalley. All opinions and interpretations contained herein are solely my own. #netgalley #littlewishes
For some, a soulmate is met while young. This happens with Elizabeth and Tom, but they have so many hurdles in their way. In a small village in the English countryside, everyone knows everyone, rumors are rampant, and cover ups happen. What is your favorite day? For Elizabeth, it the day she fell in love. For 49 years, she receives a flower and a sweet note of ‘I Wish’. This year is the 50th, but she doesn’t receive a note…she needs to find out Why.
Oh. My. Goodness. This book gives you all the feels….first love, lies and truths, longing, lost opportunities, last love and family. For some reason, this book gives me some of the same feelings as PS I Love You, my favorite love story, but without any of the laughs. It’s beautifully, written, setting the scene of a small seaside village outside of London so perfectly you can feel the damp, ocean spray. The cast of characters is exceptional, so real and conflicted. There is still a lump in my throat.
Thanks to Ms. Adams, HarperCollins Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC. Opinion is mine alone.
I don’t usually read romances, but Ms. Adams’ gentle, lyrical writing style and her complex and realistic characters drew me in from the start.
The tale of Tom and Elizabeth, told in Then and Now timeframes, is so engaging and heartwarming, it’s easy to root for the couple. Meeting when they were young, kept apart through circumstances and deception on the part of others, they meet again in old age. This story reminds us of the power of first love, and of the grace of second chances. Even if not given a lifetime, moments treasured can suffice.
This is a heartwarming read focused on love. A perfect diversion during this pandemic, it refreshed my perspective and reminded me that love is what matters, and love endures.
My thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow publishing for allowing me to read a review copy of the book. Publication is set afor 11/17/2020. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.
This is a beautifully written, tender, heartfelt, as well as tragic, love story that spans 5 decades. Michelle Adams expertly developed characters that will live in my thoughts long after the last page was turned.
The story begins when Tom jumps into the ocean and pulls out a woman, saving her life. The woman is Catherine Davenport, the mother of Elizabeth. Elizabeth is engaged to James, a doctor who is targeted to take over the practice of Dr. Davenport, Elizabeth’s father, upon his retirement. Elizabeth comes from a family of privilege, however, she and Tom, who is a fisherman, went to school together where they live, on the Cornish Coast of England, in the village of Porthsennen. They strike up an instant friendship when Elizabeth expresses her gratitude to Tom for saving the life of her mother. This friendship begins a heartfelt, beautiful, yet painful road over the next 50 years.
Adams weaves the years, people and circumstances into a beautifully written love story. One that I suspect you’ll have trouble putting down, as I did.
Little Wishes by Michelle Adams is great fictional story that kept me interested from beginning to end.
This book has several positive points:
1. I love the main location: Cornwall, England. I have always loved anything and everything Cornwall. The quaint structures, atmosphere, the coastal location, the days-of yore tied into contemporary. All of these things have continually drawn me to this area. So, anything a book has that included in its premise, I am hooked.
2. This book has wonderful main characters: Elizabeth Davenport and Tom Hale. The full character cast were well-developed, realistic, imperfect yet likeable, and complex. Everyone has insecurities, secrets, flaws, hopes, dreams, and the dreams to be needed, loved, and
3. I love a good stars-crossed, push-pull possible missed-chance romance. If it is done right, it evokes a heartwarming yet heartbreaking feeling all the while being realistic and interesting. A tall order. I feel Ms. Adams pulled that request off effortlessly. Well done.
5/5 stars
Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow/Harper Collins for this ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.
I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication.