This is my third book by Katherine Center and it did not disappoint! Center’s characterization is stellar and her ability to connect the reader to the story is just one of the reasons I enjoy her books so much. If you’re looking for a good pick me up, I recommend What You Wish For.

I just love Katherine Center's books!! I have read all the ones she wrote so far and she has yet to disappoint!

As a person who spent over 30 years in education, you would think I knew more about charter schools, but I don't. I was a bit surprised about some of the politics and situations, but if I put that aside and just enjoy the ride, I enjoyed this story. Samantha Casey (Sam) was one of those characters that you couldn't help but love. She was an amazing and caring teacher, who just wanted her school to be a wonderful place for kids to learn. She was loving, yet afraid to put herself out there and have a relationship. She had great daydreams though. When this story started, I did not like Duncan very much. He was a stereotypical administrator that everyone loved to hate, although readers know there has to be something that caused him change. I figured that part out pretty quickly. There were so many wonderful characters in this book, and I especially loved third grader, Clay Buckley. He was smart, caring, strong and ignored by his dad. Operation Duncan was a hoot. All the things they tried to get Duncan to do in order to have him realize how important having fun was, was quite touching. I do not want to ruin this story for anyone, so I will just say, this was another wonderful story by Katherine Center. Not as good as her last one, but still an enjoyable read. It is a second chance story. One about friendship, loyalty and following your dream. It deals with insecurities and fears. Even family dynamics and drama come into play. Of course, there is also romance, so something for everyone.

WHAT YOU WISH FOR by Katherine Center (How to Walk Away) is a light summer read which was selected as a LibraryReads choice for July. Set on the Texas Gulf Coast, a main character is Samantha (Sam), a librarian who has changed schools and re-imagined herself as a colorful, fun-loving, caring professional. She works at a private school whose new principal, coincidentally a former co-worker, is named Duncan and has evolved into a rule follower after a trauma in his life. Together, the two struggle to find a common ground that provides both safety and a free, innovative atmosphere ("never miss a chance to celebrate!") which is so integral to the culture of the Kempner School. There is an uplifting, feel good sense to this book: "'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.'" Recommended for fans of JoJo Moyes, WHAT YOU WISH FOR received a starred review from Kirkus ("timely… filled with quirky characters and comforting warmth").

Link in live post:
https://libraryreads.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/JULY-FLYER-PDF-FINAL.pdf

What You Wish For by Katherine Center
JOY !!! Just three little letters but when put together are so important. Max was someone who believed that JOY was everything and lived his life to the fullest. He had the “joie de vivre” and “he shares it. You can’t be around him without catching some.” But what happens when everyone’s focal point of joy is gone. How do you get it back? Is it really as simple as choosing joy? Samantha was the librarian that every school should have. Crazy socks. Bright colors. Polka dots. Hawaiian shirt day. But what happened to Duncan? He used to be that way when they worked together at Andrews Prep years ago. But now as the new principal at The Kempner School, he was all about his grey suit and security, security, security. He did not even seem to remember Sam.
However, through a series of run-ins, the two slowly learn what has changed. And why each and every day you need to choose JOY. Remind yourself what It feels like to be happy. We all have trauma to overcome but we also need to “scratch and claw“ our “way to happiness everyday.”
This book was a JOY to read. I highly recommend it.

My first book by Katherine Center and it was amazing!
Samantha "Sam" Casey is a school librarian at the progressive Kempner School in Galveston, Texas.
She loves her job and has a zest for life.
When a new principal arrives she thinks he will fit right in, she knew him before.
But the Duncan Carpenter she was familiar with has changed.
Gone is the fun loving, slightly zany personality. Replaced by a straight laced, buttoned up, rule follower, obsessed with safety.
As Sam clashes with Duncan over what's best for the school, she also tries to help him find joy in his life again.
A whimsical, charming and heartwarming story that felt like a perfect read right now. Was it a bit over the top at times? Maybe. But I think I needed all the feels it gave me.
I love quirky characters and this has some special ones in it.
Thank you St. Martin's Press for the e-ARC via NetGalley.

I struggled a bit with this book. I felt like the first 2/3 moved really slowly and then the last 3rd was where the action happened. I loved Duncan and his character and his story and how he became who he was. I wasn’t a big fan of Sams - she kinda jumped from being in love with Duncan to not wanting to be with him and we learn why toward the end of the book and it just seemed a bit like Sams background was a bit of an afterthought. I honestly didn’t like how she reacted to Duncan toward the end but no spoilers here. I did however love that the entire message of this book was joy and finding and capturing joy again - even if it’s juggling a “watermelon” or blowing bubbles.

A contemporary romance that provides the sweetest escape. Sam, a school librarian brought this story to life with such an authentic whimsical personality and an outlook on life I adored. Both the main characters are at the beginning of starting new in life each in their own way for different reasons which gives the reader the opportunity to see them grow which I enjoyed. The romance is rather predictable between this stoic, serious guy and the quirky girl full of whimsy but I enjoyed their interactions so much and how they evolve throughout the story. It was such a light easy read it provided the perfect break from reality. There was so much to be admired in the love this community shares, it defines what makes friends your family. There were points I felt the storyline became a little repetitive a bit overdone in moments but the overall message of finding joy where you can was simply perfect and exactly what I needed. The characters and story set within this little Texas elementary school delivered that message in such a touching way I felt uplifted and ended the book smiling. We all could benefit from the idea of surrounding yourself with that which makes you happy and embracing the joy in unexpected places.

2.5/5 - I'm bummed that I didn't love this. The idea of choosing to see joy and happiness in situations no matter what is okay. My biggest issue with this story is Sam. She irritated me so much. She was super wishy-washy and I just couldn't take her seriously. I think my inability to connect with this story is mostly because of my inability to connect with Sam. If I had connected with her on any level, I might not have felt like the tough issues were never-ending. This is really unfortunate, because I did like most of the other characters.


Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy for review!

I adored Things You Save In A Fire so when this book became available I requested it right away. This book was lovely! It hit some hard topics and had you rooting for a love connection. Katherine Center is a gem in the writing world. I look forward to her next work of art.

I couldn’t wait to read What You Wish For especially after finishing Happiness For Beginners. In that book I was introduced to Duncan who is the lead in WYWF. Sadly this book didn’t work for me. Maybe I had high expectations.
First off I didn’t like Samantha. She’s twenty eight but didn’t act like one and she was just stuck in the past when it came to Duncan. He took a long time for me to warm up to. A lot has happened to him since Happiness For Beginners and of course that would affect him but I struggled with him.
Samantha and Duncan has known each other in the past but I couldn’t feel a connection between them and the new one they formed lacked depth and an emotional connection.
I was thrilled when Duncan’s sister Helen and his best friend Jake showed up in the story. Along with Chuck Norris. Sadly they couldn’t make this story work for me.
What You Wish For has some great topics but I felt they could’ve been explored further.
Even though What You Wish For isn’t my favorite book from this author I’ll look forward to reading more from her in the future.

What You Wish For
Partner - Netgalley and St. Martin's Press

I've only read one other Katherine Center book (Things You Save in A Fire) and quite enjoyed it. I was therefore excited when this was briefly a read now on Netgalley. Unfortunately we turned out to not be a reading match. I really struggled with the main character Samantha. Her actions and choices surrounding Duncan just struck me as very odd, particularly as they had never dated and he barely knew her. I have to admit it really annoyed me and I found myself unable to get into the rest of the story.
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I recognize that many people did enjoy it so I recommend you try this one yourself and see what your thoughts are.

What You Wish For is another beautiful story from Katherine Center! Sam and Duncan's transformation was both inspiring and heartwarming. I loved them, flaws and all :)
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

I received a reviewer copy of What You Wish For by Katherine Center from St. Martin's Press from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What It’s About: Sam is a librarian who works for one of the best schools in the country, where children get experience based learning in Galveston, Texas. Then one day, the beloved Principal of the school dies suddenly. Suddenly, the school has a new principal, Duncan Carpenter. Sam, previously worked with Duncan and had a giant crush on him. He was the kind of fun loving teacher she wanted to be. So when Duncan shows up super serious and focused on school security to the extent he removes aspects of the school that make it special, it's war.

CW: School shootings mentioned.

What I Loved: When I need a good read that touches my heart but isn't too much and is overall happy, I turn to Katherine Center. I think Center writes truly generally good stories and I know that there will be some level of entertainment and break from all of the crazy world. In fact, this is a follow up to Happiness for Beginners (my favorite Center book), though you don't need to read that book for this one at all. The character introduces us to a new group of lovable misfits characters on a beautiful setting. There are dance parties, communities, people generally supporting others, cute children. It's definitely have the up-lit aspects. There are also some hard portions too. I also loved that Center had a labradoodle as a guard dog, hilarious.

What I didn’t like so much: At times, I found portions of the story a bit wonky. Sam's relentless happiness can be a bit frustrating and sometimes she seems to have quirks for the sake of having quirks. And some of the aspects of Sam's crush on Duncan or dealings with Duncan remind me of a girl in high school rather than a nearly 30 year old girl (honestly, she reminds me of Jennifer Garner's character in 13 going on 30). So it got frustrating in that realm.

Who Should Read It: People who love up-lit. People who loved 13 Going on 30. People who like a light and breezy read.

General Summary: Up-Lit centered on the battle to keep a school a happy fun place to learn.

I liked this story about spunky school librarian Sam and uptight principal Duncan, and their differing views of how to run a private artsy elementary school in Galveston, TX.

Though much of the book is light-hearted, a lot of dramatic backstories come to light, which really add to the characters.

I loved the descriptions of historic Galveston and the school where much of the story takes place. Currently, first day of school amidst COVID looms, so reading this was almost nostalgic.

Something about this book didn't grab me at the start, but I pushed on because I've had good experiences with Katherine Center in the past. While I did get more drawn in and stuck with it, there was something missing for me. I never felt fully connected to the stories or the characters.

Katherine Center doesn’t disappoint, yet again. Well-developed characters, realistic dialogue, humor and some romance all come together seamlessly in this 5-star read.

This book gave me all the good feels. It’s been a rough couple weeks, with so much uncertainty in my world and this book was just what I needed. It lifted my spirited and provided a much needed pick me up. It was exactly what I needed, without realizing it. If you’re looking for something to provide light and joy in your world, definitely pick this up.

Another story with a perfect message during difficult times: choose joy.

Samantha Casey is a school librarian in Texas who loves her job and the children she helps but, life wasn't also this happy for Sam. Her school is well run by principal Max who is loved and respected by all. When Max dies unexpectedly, the community is devastated but, things seem to get worse when Duncan Carpenter, the new principal arrives as replacement principal.

Duncan is a shocking change, a rules and regulations enforcer as he knows bad things can happen in schools. Sam knows Duncan from a previous school in California and this isn't the same man she had a secret crush on. Can Sam's influence make Duncan come around?

I liked the way this story unfolded, Sam was a sympathetic character and I liked getting to know Duncan (although I wish we learned even more about the old Duncan). The secondary characters were well written too. This is another story where I expected a light, fluffy read but, there were definitely some heavy topics to this novel as well. Fortunately, they did not overpower and take away from the joyful moments of the story.

The audio book was read by Therese Plummer who did a great job. The audio download was provided to me by MacMillan audio via NewGalley for my unbiased review.

(audio download - 4/5 stars)

I’m still trying to get through this book. If put down it’s easy not to pick it up again. I’m hoping I’ll be able to get into the story since I’m still not that far into the story. Hopefully it’s a slow build up and it will pick up.