“The story’s message, that people should choose joy even (and especially) in difficult and painful times, seems tailor-made for this moment. A timely, uplifting read about finding joy in the midst of tragedy, filled with quirky characters and comforting warmth.”–Kirkus (starred review) From the New York Times bestselling author of How to Walk Away comes a stunning new novel full of heart and … a stunning new novel full of heart and hope.
Samantha Casey is a school librarian who loves her job, the kids, and her school family with passion and joy for living.
But she wasn’t always that way.
Duncan Carpenter is the new school principal who lives by rules and regulations, guided by the knowledge that bad things can happen.
But he wasn’t always that way.
And Sam knows it. Because she knew him before–at another school, in a different life. Back then, she loved him–but she was invisible. To him. To everyone. Even to herself. She escaped to a new school, a new job, a new chance at living. But when Duncan, of all people, gets hired as the new principal there, it feels like the best thing that could possibly happen to the school–and the worst thing that could possibly happen to Sam. Until the opposite turns out to be true. The lovable Duncan she’d known is now a suit-and-tie wearing, rule-enforcing tough guy so hell-bent on protecting the school that he’s willing to destroy it.
As the school community spirals into chaos, and danger from all corners looms large, Sam and Duncan must find their way to who they really are, what it means to be brave, and how to take a chance on love–which is the riskiest move of all.
With Katherine Center’s sparkling dialogue, unforgettable characters, heart, hope, and humanity, What You Wish For is the author at her most compelling best.
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Sam Cassidy loves her job as librarian in the cute and eccentric elementary school she ran to after falling for a fellow teacher at her previous school. The staff are the best and Principal Max and his wife, Babette, accepted her like a daughter.
Then Max died and everything changed.
Babette’s neurotic son-in-law becomes head of the board and immediately appoints a new principal about as different from Max as it was possible to be- oh, yeah, he’s also the man Sam had fallen for in her previous life.
But this Duncan Carpenter wasn’t anything like the funny, sweet guy she remembered. This Duncan Carpenter wanted to bleed every drop of personality out of their precious school. He installed security gates, locks, metal detectors, and painted over their bright colorful artwork, turning their whole world gray.
He had to go.
Then Sam learned Duncan’s deepest, darkest secret and suddenly getting rid of him became so much harder to do.
This is my first book by this author and I am so glad I picked it up! Filled with insightful, heart-wrenching moments it will live on in your thoughts for a long time after turning the last page. I will definitely be reading more from Katherine Center.
“I voluntarily read an ARC of this book which was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.”
4 1/2 stars!
Do you need a book that inspires you to keep moving forward when the chips are down? Do you need a book to encourage you to let love in? Do you need a book to tell you it is ok to be you?
If so, then What You Wish For is the book for you! I didn’t want to put this book down. It is a fast read but has a lot of depth.
Every Katherine Center book I have read has left me with something I can use in my own life. This book was no exception. I have a feeling I will be drawing from its wisdom for many years. It is a book that will stay with you.
I received a complimentary copy from the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, through NetGalley. Any and all opinions expressed in the above review are entirely my own.
Ever since I read How to Walk Away, Katherine Center’s books will be a must read for me. This new novel was equally wonderful! I love the way her characters are brought to life. The story is a combination of emotional situations and fun and humor. Samantha has overcome so much from her past and is finally enjoying her life and her job working at a school library. But then someone from the school she used to work at shows up. And Samantha finds herself becoming assertive in ways she probably never dreamed of being. I felt sad sometimes, angry sometimes, and laughed sometimes as I was reading. It was the interactions of the characters that stayed with me when I read How to Walk Away and this new novel had the same effect on me.
This author keeps getting better with her inspirational stories that remind us that we are surrounded by everyday heroes and that we, ourselves, must also be the heroes of our own journeys. I love the message about seizing and celebrating joy, and while this is a women’s fiction novel, the strong romantic thread will tug at your heart, too. I don’t like to give spoilers, and you can read the blurb for the “premise”…so all I will say is pick it up and prepare for a great ride and a happy, hopeful ending.
Another emotional and entertaining story that teaches strong life lessons about the courage, joy, and perseverance. Katherine Center is a sure thing. Check it out.
A wonderful book which follows a woman after a health crisis. She chooses to live her life to the fullest, in a world of color instead of neutrals, enjoying all it has to offer. When a man from her past comes to her school, she’s shocked to find how he has changed. Little by little, it’s revealed why he is different, and with her ebullient influence, he finds his way back to living life. Their journey shows you can get what you wish for.
**Received an ARC from netgalley*
I have become a huge Katherine Center fan. Her stories draw me in and the characters are well developed so that they spark strong feelings of love or hate.
While the main character, Samantha (Sam), got on my nerves at the beginning of the book, once she takes on the “Duncan” challenge, she became a different person. Her intense desire for the school where she is the librarian, and its students is touching. Sam is a caring individual and her relationships are full and life affirming.
As you travel through the story, you will discover what has happened in Sam and Duncan’s lives that have made them into the person they are today. And those stories will touch you deeply.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own. I can’t wait to be entertained by the author’s next book!
School librarian Samantha Casey loves everything about her job working in an elementary school on the idyllic island of Galveston. When their beloved principal dies, it leaves the entire school reeling, but then Sam learns that Duncan Carpenter is slated as a replacement. Sam and Duncan used to work together, and besides having an unrequited crush on him once upon a time – Sam knows Duncan’s fun and outgoing personality will fit right in with her school.
But when Duncan shows up and begins forcing drastic changes upon the faculty and students, Sam is shocked at the person Duncan has become and immediately situates herself as an advocate for the school, which sits her squarely in the position as Duncan’s foil. As the year progresses and Sam and Duncan butt heads constantly, she slowly starts to see who this man has become, she finds out that it’s fear that dictates his actions. But how can Sam help when she has let her own fears dictate how she’s lived?
I love how Katherine Center takes traumas and fears – in generalized forms that everyone encounters – and turns them into these positive stories of strength and perseverance.
It took me a moment for the book to grasp my attention. I think because it takes a moment to really feel out where Sam is coming from and what she’s dealt with in her life to get her to this point. I hate to say this but Sam feels slightly flighty before we get into the true grit of her story. We see how, when faced with an unrequited love, she quickly packs her bags and moves on, not really facing her feelings or situation, just moving on and moving forward. It soon becomes clear that this is how Sam deals with tough situations, she shuts down and moves on, of course this is a preservation technique. She doesn’t want to have her hear broken so she closes down her feelings. As her story continues to unfold readers get an even better understanding about this flight mechanism.
Where the story really clicked for me was when Sam, instead of throwing in the towel and leaving again when her school dynamic is in upheaval, she stays and decides to make a stand. Fight mechanism. As soon as Sam asserted that she was going to show Duncan what the school stood for and why his changes were detrimental to the actual idea of learning, I was pulled in.
To be honest, I was not surprised by where Duncan was coming from. I figured out the base points of what the reveal would be that led him from fun-loving teacher to being so serious and strict. I like how Katherine Center tied Duncan and Sam’s fears together. Although completely different scenarios it speaks to the idea that everyone experiences fear, and it’s how we each let that fear manifest in our lives. Do we give it total control? Or do we acknowledge it, account for it, but continue living? Turns out, both Sam and Duncan hold themselves back because of fear. They both have to learn how to move in the world with their fear, not let it stifle who they are. Katherine Center is a pro at this type of storytelling. Making it a universal feeling. However, I will say that I feel Duncan’s fears overshadow Sam’s a bit. Not that Sam’s aren’t valid, but I think for me, on a personal level, I could identify with Duncan’s fears more. But I like that, essentially, both Duncan and Sam learn to lean on each other and learn that letting someone in can be the first step in assuaging your fear.
Overall, Katherine Center’s stories never fail to leave me happy and hopeful. What You Wish For will certainly have you leaning toward the bright side.
I’ll start by saying that I am a true Katherine Center fan. I am absolutely drawn into her stories by the way she creates characters that are so realistic you feel as though you know them personally. What you Wish For was no exception. The book description might make this story sound like somewhat of a romance, but it is so much more. It is a story about believing in yourself, trusting your instincts, and doing what is right, even when it’s the most uncomfortable thing in the world. Samantha Casey is a woman like many of us, who at one time was living a life as drab as the clothing she wears, it took a tragedy to push her out of her shell and into the bright colors of who she could be. With a new attitude and a colorful wardrobe, she has found joy in her life, now the question is can she hang onto that joy even in the face of adversity? This book itself is a joyful 5 star read.
Katherine Center is a reliable must-read for me and last night I finished WHAT YOU WISH FOR. She has a way of describing the most endearing characters and communities–this time it’s a school librarian in an elementary school on Galveston Island in Texas. Can you be charming and light even while tackling heavy issues? This writer definitely can.
Max: “Pay attention to the things that connect you to joy. Joy is the antidote to fear, to anger, to boredom, to sorrow.”
Sam: “But you can’t just decide to FEEL joyful.”
Max: “No, but you can DO something joyful.”
A quirky, hopeful story about choosing to find & share joy no matter what life throws your way. And I totally agree that when adults model this before children, it has a major impact on helping them view life as a gift filled with fascinating possibilities.
When I started the book, I wasn’t sure how I felt about the main character, but then she grew on me! I’m so glad I stuck with it until the happy ending.
I really enjoyed this book! The characters and the author’s voice are fun and original. The book left me uplifted with the central message that sometimes we must consciously choose to be joyful. This is great women’s fiction but I also really loved the central romantic thread.
Books about books are the stuff of dreams for this bibliophile. I was thrilled when I found out Katherine Center’s new book, What You Wish For, features a quirky young librarian. I loved Sam Casey from the first chapter. The principal and his wife at her school, personal friends of Sam’s, have recently died. The grief is compounded when his replacement is an old friend, Duncan Carpenter, who seems intent on changing much that made the school special. While somewhat predictable I’m comfortable with it here. Sometimes you just need happily ever after, neatly tied up without a lot of plot twists. I highly recommend What You Wish For for lovers of summer beach reads, women’s fiction, and romance readers.
I received an advanced reader copy (eGalley) from St. Martins’s Press through NetGalley. This review reflects my honest and unbiased opinions.
What You Wish For was the book I needed right now. Wow, this is truly an uplifting and encouraging story focused on finding joy and having courage. What Sam and Duncan each have endured is heartbreaking, but to see them each learn from the people around them and grow to be stronger and mentally healthier people was inspiring. I had so many feelings while reading. As someone who is passionate about creative and engaging learning, the school setting was wonderful. I enjoyed that Sam is a librarian and has a genuine love for students and seeing the spark when they are actively learning. I also loved reading a story that takes place on the Texas Gulf Coast. I’m a fan of Katherine Center and this book did not disappoint.
I really like Katherine Center’s books in general and while this was not her best, it was certainly an enjoyable romance with a good story, likeable characters, some serious undertones and some wonderful insight about joy as a life choice
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 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.
As an educator, I found this book incredibly relatable. The fears and the passion of educating children while trying to balance your own life is difficult and Katherine Center depicts it so well!
This book was so good. It shows what tragedy does to people through illness, death and other ways that are out of your control. It shows how friendship and love can heal most wounds. I just loved the people in this book (well not all) especially a special little boy. A must read, one of Katherine Centers best yet!
I really enjoy Katherine’s books so I knew this one would not disappoint. Great book!
Sam Casey, librarian at a private elementary school, is one of many left to pick up the pieces when the school’s beloved principal and founder dies unexpectedly over the summer. But when she hears that Max’s replacement will be none other than an old crush that she remembers being an awful lot like Max, she’s partially excited for him to come, but mostly terrified that her old crush, which is really more like a full-blown obsession, for Duncan Carpenter will rear its ugly head and destroy the nice life she’s made in Galveston. So it’s kind of a blessing when Duncan turns out to have drastically changed since she saw him. A blessing that becomes a curse when he starts changing everything she loves about the school–everything Max built and stood for.
There was a lot about this book that I wasn’t able to connect with, like the hidden pasts of both of the MCs and Sam’s life-altering obsession with Duncan. However, I think it’s saying something that, even still, I enjoyed the overall story. The burdens and joys the characters went through felt real. Things didn’t fall into place easily–they were really worked for.
I strongly suspected Duncan’s secret based on the way he was acting; in fact, I’d imagine most would. But that didn’t make it any less heart-breaking when it was revealed. Sam’s secret seemed to pale in comparison to his, but I don’t think that’s really fair to her. However, considering the way she spoke and acted throughout the book, she greatly annoyed me near the end. I think that part may have been a bit overdone, but at the same time, I can’t say a real person wouldn’t have acted just like that. Trauma can affect people in a lot of ways.
Like with the previous book of this author’s that I read, Things You Save in a Fire, I liked the slow burn to the romance and the fact that it wasn’t so in-your-face as it so often is in these types of books. It was maybe a little bit anticlimactic at the end, but it didn’t leave me disappointed. For those who want to know about how clean a book is before reading–it’s light on language (but with a couple of f-words), and there is more physical interaction and description than I prefer, but not enough to make me too uncomfortable. (Not even to the detail of what I remember from Things You Save in a Fire.)
The overall theme in this book, as many others have mentioned, is the idea of choosing joy. While that theme didn’t really come up until the second half or so of the book, it is heavily focused on in that latter half (not in a bad way). Of course that is always easier said than done, as Sam herself makes clear. I have found that following and trusting God, the giver of every good and perfect gift (James 1:17), is the only way I’ve ever had true and lasting peace and joy. I appreciated the message here, though as a Christian, I found it a bit empty. This did not factor into my rating, though, and I do recommend this book for anyone looking for a sweet, goofy, mostly uplifting romance (I only say “mostly” because there is definitely some darkness along the way).
Thank you so much to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me a copy of this book to review!