I received a free copy of this novel from the publisher via Netgalley about two years ago, and have only just got around to reading it. Sorry about that (so many books, so little time).

I wish I’d read this sooner because it was great. A page-turning story where you think you know where it’s headed, but you’re not sure, because new things keep popping up out of the blue.

Bonnie sometimes feels a little too “good” to be true - there’s not a bad bone in her body, which is a little annoying because everyone has some flaws. And her only apparent “flaw” really isn’t as bad as it’s initially made out to be. I get a bit annoyed at women who don’t stand up for themselves, which Bonnie seems to have done quite a lot in the past, but luckily she redeems herself as the book progresses.

An engaging and believable read which i thoroughly enjoyed. I’d be happy to read more of this author’s work.

I loved the first Johnson book I read, Afternoon Tea at the Sunflower Cafe, and I was keen when I saw this book offered on Net Galley.

Our female lead character is Bonnie. Bonnie has had a hard few years and personal dramas have taken their toll, meaning she tolerates her husband's, Stephen, deplorable behaviour. Stephen is an OCD tight-fisted manipulative character who has no redeeming qualities.

Bonnie’s boss doesn't help matters. She works in an antique store which was once owned by her father and his partner. The two old men have both passed away, and Bonnie's circumstances have meant her father’s partner’s son has taken over the business. He treats Bonnie like a low class citizen and shows her zero respect.

I don’t think it’s any big spoiler to say that Bonnie soon leaves and takes up a job with a rival antiques store, one owned by Lew.

Lew has had a couple of his own tragedies of late. Lew's marriage is shadowed by the tragedy of his wife's, Charlotte, miscarriage. He is also lucky to be alive after suffering a heart attack. The heart attack became a wake up call for him. He resigned from his well paid banking job in the city and bought a village antique shop.

Johnson has a gift for making even the most mundane occupations seem exciting. In Afternoon Tea... it was cleaning, this time we get a glimpse into the antique business. I suppose it might be that Australia has far less antiques to peddle and therefore, I’m quite clueless, but I was surprised and quite fascinated by the way these shops work and enjoyed all the scenes set there. There is a huge cast of supporting characters at the shop and they add a bit of colour and fun to the book (The Leo the lion story is so mad, I assume it’s true.)

There is less fun with the main storylines of Lew and Bonnie.

Stephen was so creepy that at times I thought I was reading a psychological thriller. And not only is Lew’s wife horrid, I would run a mile from his entire friend group!

There are a few topical issues the book touches on such as domestic violence, depression and mental health. There is also a focus on assisted suicide which is an understandably touchy subject. Johnson manages to weave them all into the story seamlessly and quite respectfully.

Lew is a lovely character. I adored him. Bonnie was also nice enough but I must say that the title of the book didn’t suit her at all. I got rather frustrated by her intense pessimism in fact. Perhaps a better title would be Negative Nelly.

This book has a lot of traits I adored in Afternoon Tea… Despite being around 500 pages long, it was a fast easy read; for the most the characters were ordinary people who you could imagine live down the road; the setting was cute and typically English; the characters too were very English; and I appreciate the fact they were older.

The book lost me a little by concentrating perhaps too much on the breakdown of Bonnie and Lew’s respective marriages. Yes, it needed to be explained and we needed to believe they were both doing the right thing by leaving their spouses, but I would have liked a bit less of Stephen and Charlotte and more of Lew and Bonnie.

4 out of 5

This was another I wasn't too sure what to expect, it is my first Millie Johnson book and I kinda went into it thinking it would be a straight forward romance kinda book. I was more than pleasantly surprised when I found myself hooked into yes a romantic kinda book but also one with a ridiculous amount of twists and turns that led me to finish it up in one sitting, no regrets! This is definitely an author I will be looking out for in the future.

The Queen of Wishful Thinking is a nice, breezy tale that sweeps you up into the English countryside with it's tale of a quaint little antiques shop, it's owner Lew, his assistant Bonnie and the motley crew of dealers and customers that inhabit it's world. It tells the story and Lew and Bonnie whom, despite appearances, are living in relationships that are far from good. The characters in the story are well written and you do get to see how their feelings and thought processes shape their actions. I did manage to predict Bonnie's big secret before it was revealed, but that didn't deter me from liking the book. The twists in Lew's story were harder to see coming, even though you knew something would change his course at some point. The twists in the story were all good and befitting the story.

If I could give this book 3 and a half stars I would. There was only one part of the story near the end of the book, involving some of the surrounding characters, which stops me from giving it a higher rating. It felt too much like slapstick comedy to me which felt a little too our of place with the rest of the story. Other than that, this was a very enjoyable, light read into a world which was lovely to escape to.