I’ve become an automatic purchaser of Center’s books. This book was great. The characters were quirky. The main male character was very drab but thankfully turned around. Another enjoyable read, especially with the background of schools.

Want the perfect beach read? Love stories about the south, the Gulf of Mexico, or the great state of Texas? Then, this is the book for you!!

Katherine Center is seriously a wonderful writer, her novels carry love, forgiveness, lessons on life and just pure goodness in them.

This story begins with our main character, Sam, short for Samantha, a school librarian discussing her past crush, a fellow teacher named Duncan. We get to know her present friends, Babette & Max, the owners of the school on Galveston Island, that she teaches at and that’s when the worst happens. In What You Wish For, the common denominator is LOVE. Facing your fears and allowing things to happen, not giving up on Joy, at all costs.

I devoured this novel and I know you will too! What’s even better, today is the publication day!! Thank you again to the author, St Martins Press and NetGalley for the advanced readers copy!!

Do yourself a favor and order it! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Katherine Center has a way of writing characters that you instantly like. I've always connected with the characters in her books and cared about what happened to them. This book was no different, and as a teacher, I think that I loved it even more!

This is a story of love and loss, about taking chances and being brave. Samantha Casey is a school librarian who loves her job, the kids, and her school family with passion and a 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.

Unexpected Story of Love
This book weaves an unexpected story. Having spent some time on Galveston Island, this author truly captured the spirit of the town. She also really captured the spirit of a modern, nurturing elementary school. The story featured the growth and healing of many of the characters. It is a very enjoyable story that hit home a bit too often. I received this ARC book for free from Net Galley and this is my honest review.

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 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.

Title: What You Wish For
Author: Katherine Center
Publisher: St. Martin Press
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Four
Review:

"What You Wish For" by Katherine Center

My Speculation:

"What You Wish For" was quite some story leaving one with so many different emotions that changed after
some time. There were several exciting topics from the read from 'gun violence, physical ailments, overbearing parenting, abandonment, and even more' that will keep you turning the pages to see what was coming next for Sam and Duncan's situation. By the end, it was good seeing Sam and Duncan coming out and finally getting and finding the joy of just living and not hiding from there past. It was good seeing them learn how to 'embrace the joy even in difficult times and choosing happiness.'

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's, for this e-ARC, which I genuinely enjoy reading it and giving my honest opinion of the read.

The author focuses on the importance of family and community in her writing. I thoroughly enjoyed this one and thought it was the perfect escape! The storyline wasn't too heavy and was predictable, but sometimes books like that make for the best reads. This was just a great piece of chick lit to enjoy on a hot summer day!

What You Wish For by Katherine Center was a cute crush to enemies to more story. I love this community that Samantha lives in. Do these places exist? I need to live there. Duncan was a fun loving guy when she knew him previously, but something has changed. He's a totally different person.. the kind of guy no one likes now. I have to say, I get his point about the school. Maybe not to the extreme jail like situation he wanted to turn it into, but it definitely needed some safety measures in place. So, I get both sides here. There needs to be some compromise.

This was one of those cutesie stories that make is easy to escape from reality a bit, which is just what I was wanting!

I have a sweet tooth I won’t deny that, I love love sweet things but this book was just too much. I found the story to be predictable and sappy and overall just a little bit overboard with the sweetness. I am sure there will be loads of people that love this book but I’d just could not get past the sappy factor.

Last month I read my first Katherine Center book and I was hooked. When I found out she had a new one coming out I knew I had to get my hands on a copy, and boy did it not disappoint. It was the one book I actually finished last weekend.

Sam is the head librarian at a non-traditional school on the sea. She's devastated when everyone's favorite principal passes away unexpectedly, and then quickly overwhelmed when she finds out an old crush will soon be replacing him. When Duncan shows up he's the polar opposite of the man she remembered. Her mission soon becomes helping him remember who he used to be, but also saving her beloved school from his reign.

I really enjoyed this book once Duncan showed up and I found myself drawn into the characters. Katherine Center did a good job of discussing hard topics (school shootings, PTSD, epilepsy just as a warning) in a way that's both heartbreaking but also leaves you optimistic. I was worried when I read the synopsis it would be too heavy but just like she always does I found more reasons to laugh and smile, than cry.

Thanks to @stmartinspress and @netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved Katherine Center's How to Walk Away, but I could not get into What You Wish For. The story did not captivate me the same way that How to Walk Away did and I could not relate to any of the characters. I ended up DNFing around the 40% mark. I am sure that many will read this book, but it was not for me.

Katherine Center has a rare gift of creating characters that are remarkably average and human, even when their circumstances are not. I felt this way about the characters in What You Wish For. It is an enjoyable read, though it does deal with some extremely heavy subject matter at times.

Sam is a fun and sweet librarian, a perfect fit for the funky and inspiring school where she works. Duncan is a cold and disciplined man who wants to stomp all of the joy out of the school, for their own good, of course.

I enjoyed watching Sam and Duncan fight over what they each whole heartedly felt needed to be done at the school. Both characters wanted only the best for their students, they just had some dramatically different ideas of what that meant.

The secondary characters are also really well written and I loved several of them wholeheartedly.

Even though there are some tough subjects touched on by this book, it is a wonderful read and at its heart a story about thriving and accepting whatever happens as it happens without letting it change who you are as a person.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys well written books.

What You Wish For features feisty Sam Casey, librarian of a hand-crafted, progressive school and all-around awesome human. She lives on an idyllic island in a carriage house on the grounds of a historic mansion within walking distance of the school.

Don't you love books about beautiful libraries and cool librarians? I know I do.

Sam has "adopted" the principal and his artist wife as her parents, which causes no end of friction with their biological daughter, but Sam takes that in stride.

Everything else in Sam's life is perfect. Until it's not.

Following the sudden and untimely death of the beloved principal, the community is plunged into grief. When the new principal, Duncan Carpenter, is announced, Sam realizes he is a figure from her past—the love of her life. Once Duncan arrives, however, things go anything but smoothly for Sam and the school. Both Duncan and Sam harbor secrets and live with long-buried pain that threatens their relationship and their careers.

What You Wish For explores the interplay between desire and retreat, resentment and fear, vulnerability and love.

Aside from Sam and Duncan, the other most compelling character is Clay Buckley, Sam's soon-to-be third grader student and son of Sam's nemesis. In fact, more than the story of Sam and Duncan's relationship, it is Clay who, despite a conflict-ridden home life, infuses this novel with heart. Clay is smart, sensitive, and perhaps even a touch presentient—traits his domineering, selfish father scorns. The climax in which Sam, Duncan, and Clay come together is dramatic and beautiful.

What You Wish For is a story of a true community written with a breezy, inviting voice—sometimes funny, often poignant, always engaging. If what you wish for is a book with heart and soul and second chances, then I suggest you pick up What You Wish For.

I received a copy of What You Wish For from Netgalley.

One of my top five favorites this year. In the midst of all this madness comes along a story about choosing joy. To be mindful. I dove into this story and wallowed there. I savored every word and did everything I could to delay finishing the book became there's only a first time for a fabulous book. Pick up this gem of a book and prepare to be dazzled. A must read. Happy reading!

The synopsis covers the story quite well, so I'm not going to recap it in the review. This is a quiet story that is more women's fiction than contemporary romance, although it does have some romantic elements as Sam and Duncon navigate their lives and everythig that happens to them.

This is a story of Sam and Duncan's search for joy. If that sounds basic, well it is, but often those basic emotions aren't all that easy to come by. Both Sam and Duncan have had situations that have changed and defined them, and really left them adrift in a sea of lonliness. It's up to them to find their way back, with the help of some very good friends. That was one of the best parts of this book -- how friends helped each other at those critical moments.

There aren't a lot of surprises in this as it is really about these characters and their personal growth, but that was okay by me as Katherine Center does a good job of telling this story in a way that keeps you glued to the pages. I read this in about a day, and I couldn't put it down until I knew how it was all going to work out (or not- no spoilers !) for Sam and Duncan.

The secondary characters of Max and Babette and her family, Duncan's family, and Sam's friends were a treat in this book. I loved how they all came together, even when Duncan was at his worst. There was such a commitment to the students at the school and its values were an integral part to the story. It made me feel good to know they wanted to save something good. And Clay was totally adorable and a super likable part of this story.

And that's What You Wish For -- it's a feel good tale that has a message for everyone about what it takes to find your joy, even when it seems impossible. I absolutely loved this message and for that reason, the ease of getting caught up in the story and some extremely likable characters, I'm giving What You Wish For 5 stars. It's a quiet story, but impactful. This is my second book from this author and I will be looking for more.

An ARC was provided for review.

Samantha is a school librarian and she loves her job. But the sudden loss of the school principal, brings Sam's former crush into her life. Duncan Carpenter is appointed as the new principal, but his joyful personality that was once captivating has disappeared and its place is a cold, humourless person. ⁠
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Duncan is determined to make irrevocable changes to the school that will impact the community and Sam will do anything to stop him from erasing everything she loves about the school. ⁠
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This is such a heartwarming book! It was my first Katherine Center book and I really enjoyed her writing and her characters were unique and loveable. ⁠The story touched on some difficult subjects and had emotional moments, but still managed to be light and joyful.
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A cute read mostly about the relationship between a school librarian and principal. Although it was fairly predictable, I enjoyed the backstory of how a character's former experience affected the way he handled his leadership at a new school. As a teacher, I was interested in the setting and the occupations of the characters but was critical of the politics of how the school operated. I suppose writing it as a private school leaves it open to less strict adherence to general policy. Some of this would never fly at a New York City public school. While I liked this book and it was a quick read, I think I enjoyed Katherine Center's book, What You Save in a Fire, more.

There is so much that could be said for this book. This is my first story by this author and what an impact it left with me. It was an emotional story with so much joy, hope, sadness, love, and a man that had so much to give named Max that when you were down, he had a way to fill you with joy. One of Max’s quotes is: Never miss a chance to celebrate.” He wasn’t the main character of this book but he certainly left an impression as well as was loved by the whole town. Sam was a librarian who loved her job but was also dealing with a health issue she didn’t want anyone to see or know about. She also had loved Duncan but moved away when she thought he was going to get engaged and couldn’t handle watching it happen. Now he is at her school and the changes in him were so drastic she wouldn’t have known it was the same man. What happened to change him was a secret he planned on keeping to himself. I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press and this is my honest review.

Thank you #netgalley #stmartinspress for the complimentary e-ARC of #whatyouwishfor upon my request. All opinions are entirely my own.

Samantha is a happy elementary school librarian in Galveston, Texas. One day, the school loses its beloved principal and his replacement is Duncan Carpenter, someone that Sam knows from her past. She’s a bit concerned about how this will play out because she used to have a crush on Duncan. She keeps this a secret while assuring everyone that the new principal is a great person and they are lucky to have him. However, Duncan shows up as a stiff and humorless person who is preoccupied with school safety. Everything that Sam loves about her school is suddenly being systematically destroyed. How will she stand up to him and fight his policies, and how will this affect their relationship?

What You Wish For appeared on my radar right during the initial stages of the COVID-19 lockdown orders in our state. I was finding it difficult to focus on my usual heavier content reads, and I knew I needed something light and engaging. I’m happy to report that this well-written contemporary fiction was a perfect choice.

What I Liked Best:

* mostly likable characters
* highly spirited, fearless, and outspoken main character
* poignant themes including friendship, belonging, found family, deliberate pursuit of joy, healing from trauma, living with a chronic health condition, philosophy of education, PTSD, taking risks
* enemies to lovers trope
* witty tone
* a sweet romance
* school/library settings and book references
* engaging plot that made me want to keep turning pages (read in a day)
mostly PG (only a couple of instances of profanity)
* cover love!

I Wished for (personal preference) stronger editing for the overuse of the word “just” and the phrase “fair enough” and more realistic events toward the end.

Overall, What You Wish For is an engaging and easy read that I enthusiastically recommend for fans of chick lit, romcom, and Katherine Center, for book clubs looking for a quick and easy read, for those looking for a book to take them out of a reading slump, or for readers who need a light weekend or vacation read. What You Wish For kept me turning the pages, put a smile on my face, and is one I would recommend in the genre. My favorite Katherine Center title.

Content Considerations: (may contain spoilers) references to a school shooting, discussions of epilepsy, a seizure, PTSD

“That’s the thing about joy. You don’t have to wait for it to happen. You can make it happen.”

Katherine Center has mastered the art of weaving heartfelt, inspiring stories with some of the sweetest romances. She never fails to make my heart feel utterly and completely at peace. Simply put, her books radiate warmth and joy.

What You Wish For made me laugh, smile, and cry. It’s a story about hope and finding the courage within yourself to grasp onto happiness. Trust me when I say you’ll be rooting for the two main characters by the end of the book. Watching Sam and Duncan’s journey was beautiful and healing. That’s what this story is really about. It’s about healing from your past and finding the strength to be happy again.

If you’re a fan of slow-burn romances, then you’ll love this book! I loved that Sam and Duncan knew each other years ago. We got to see flashbacks in Sam’s mind of who they both used to be, which was cool to contrast with who they were now in the present time.