I was provided a free copy if this book by Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
This is only my second book by Katherine Center but when I saw it available I requested it super quick because I remember loving the other one so much (How to Walk Away)! This one did not disappoint!!! I think it may have helped me get out of my reading slump! I tore through it in three days (it would have been faster but I had to work some too)!! When tragedy hits a small school with the death of their beloved founder and principal, the employees are unsure of what the next school year will entail. When they are told who the new principal will be Sam, the school librarian, reassures everyone. She knew the new guy, Duncan, at a previous school and he was a fun loving jovial guy, and also, her huge crush! However, the Duncan that shows up is not the same Duncan she knew. While Sam has blossomed in the years since they met, Duncan has become closed off and rigidly strict! Will they be able to loosen him up? Will Sam be able to get over her huge crush? Will the school she loves be turned into a prison or can it hold onto it's fun loving hominess with the new guy in charge? You will love the journey this book takes you on, navigating heartache and joy, grief and happiness, pain and the love that pulls us out of pain!
This book will be published on July 14th so definitely put it on your TBR list and get this book!!
#NetGalley #WhatYouWishFor

Katherine Center is a new-to-me author, so I wasn’t sure what to expect but the book was the perfect story to read during stressful times.

The characters had various issues from either childhood or adult situations that affected how they acted, felt and thought. The more I read, I understood why Sam struggled with self-worth for valid reasons and it was wonderful how Max had given her such wonderful advice to find the joy in life. I took that to heart for myself.

When we meet Duncan, I figured out what probably caused him to act so differently than how Sam remembered him, but it was still difficult to learn the reason.

The community, school, and close friends made for a compelling story. I fell in love with the area, the school and how much everyone wanted the best educational experiences for the children. The school sounded like a wonderland, especially the library.

Even with the painful situations that many were experiencing, this was an uplifting story and provided realistic situations. I fell in love with so many of the characters, especially Clay, the well-read 9 year-old, who could spout any number of details and stories about several topics.

I LOVED it when Duncan had to have a procedure and due to being heavily medicated, told Sam many things that she wouldn’t otherwise have known. Seeing him with his sister and her family, showed a bit of his previous personality and I was just waiting for the actual details of what he had lived through.

There were many funny, sad, poignant, and life-affirming events in the book, characters that I want to have as friends, a location that has great historical significance, and all meshed into a nice change of pace for me.

I look forward to reading more of Ms. Center’s work. I want to thank the author, publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this new work.

What you wish for

This book was sent to me from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Here it is.

I love Katherine Center and her way of making me live women’s fiction. Because if you’ve been following me for a while you’ll know that I LOVE thrillers and anything that has to do with spooky, mixers and mystery. Love and romance are a once in a while thing for me and that is where Katherines books come in.


I believe all romance books are a bit predictable. There may be a bit of a twist here and there but ultimately they end on a good note. So I can’t say that I didn’t see the ending coming. Because I did. And I still enjoyed the book because I wanted to see it play out.

I enjoyed finding out what really happened to the characters before they were introduced to us. Finding out their backstory and why they act a certain way. It left me laughing, crying and generally I felt so happy reading this story. Katherine does a great job bringing characters to life, making them human and full of emotion.

Why her books haven’t been made into movies yet is crazy.

I highly recommend this and all her other books to anyone looking for a feel good story.

At first glance, What You Wish For seems like it will be a pretty straightforward novel. Girl sees guy she used to have a crush on, but he is much different (in a bad way) than he used to be. Girl hopes to make him remember who he used to be; they live happily ever after. It's a fun story but it's not this one.

Sam is a more or less happy person (she's definitely content) but there are a few insecurities there, mostly linked to the fact that she has epilepsy and people in her past have been less than understanding about her disease and the fact that every so often she will have seizures.. And Duncan...his backstory will completely break your heart. But watching the two of them slowly reconnect is actual magic.

I'm pretty sure I've been talking about my love for Katherine Center's books since I read Happiness for Beginners three or four years ago. Every book she's released since has only made me love her more. I especially love how her books are always fun but never simple and how her writing is so beautiful that I will occasionally stop and text people sentences. (One in this book was "They were the kind of couple that made you believe in couples," which I texted to a few different friends who are ALSO in a couple that makes me believe in couples.)

Katherine Center's books just make me really happy, even as they also make me cry. Sometimes a lot.

Highly recommended.

I enjoyed this more than I expected. I don't tend to seek out romance stories, or rom-coms as a genre. I really liked the characters, the reality of school-life (though it is set in a private school, and clearly public schools face different realities, much was realistic).

I liked the build up to finding out what happened, and the healing all of the characters go through. I enjoyed the writing style as well.

“Joy is important. It’s one of the secrets to life that no one ever tells you. Joy cures everything. Everything emotional. Joy is an antidote to fear. To anger. To boredom. To sorrow.”

In What You Wish For, Samantha fled a situation to start over because she didn’t want to face what may happen. Specifically she fled Duncan Carpenter. She is now a librarian at a school in Galveston Texas. She found a new family in the schools founders. They supported her and helped her discover a part of herself, that was there all along, it was just hiding behind bland colors and fear.

Now several years later, Duncan survived his own trauma and fled the place that changed him. He ends up in Galveston Texas, as the new principle at Samantha’s school. But he is not the same man that Samantha knew, he is now someone different.

Katherine Center you had me swooning, grieving and cheering for the people of the Kempner school in TX. For the small town trying to move past the loss of Max, the one that guided them all. But everyone soon realizes, Duncan isn’t the only one that needs saving, the school will too with all the things he is trying to change. This story is one of loss and love. Grief and joy. Friendship and pain. But finding the courage and joy to push forward and continue anyway.

I loved it. I marked pages, wrote down quotes. I immediately wanted to change my letter board to one of the quotes from the book.

“... you can decide to do something joyful. It’s not about fixing all your problems, you’ll never fix all your problems. The point is to be happy anyway. As often as you can.”

This was the best surprise when I received this book in the mail from St Martins Press. I cannot thank you enough for this ARC copy. Plus this cover (like her others) is everything.

A quick read that will put a smile on your face! Although I was not a fan of the main characters at the beginning, they do grow on you. However, the supporting characters were fantastic from the start. The storyline was a bit predictable and there were some plot points I didn’t love but in the end it is a great feel-good novel.

There was an awful lot to like about this book. I enjoyed the school that Max and Babette created. I think that every kid could find a way to learn in an atmosphere like that. I also appreciated the seriousness of Duncan’s past experiences and how they shaped his perspective in his new school. I thought that the journey of Sam was less successful. A major part of her character was not mentioned until later in the story. Then it all of a sudden became this huge part of her. It felt a little contrived. I would have appreciated it more if that had been a bigger issue in the beginning as well. As a result, I didn’t feel like I got a good grasp on her until more details were shared. It was as if sections of the book got moved around in editing, and something that should have been earlier was moved to later. The subplot of Max and Babette’s daughter, Tina, and her son Clay also wasn’t fully recognized throughout the story. It was in the beginning and then a catalyst for the climax near the end. But that’s it. I guess it all felt a little disjointed overall. The pieces were all there; I just wish they had been put together a little bit tighter. Still, I liked Duncan’t journey the most and would love to have worked for a principal like him when I was teaching. Rounded up to four stars for the unique climax that was a little screwball but a lot of heart.

What You Wish For by Katherine Center was such a joy to read.

Sam lives in the carriage house of Max and Babette on Galveston Island in Texas. She is the librarian at the school that Max and Babette started. Her best friend is Alice, a Math nerd and Tina (Max and Babette's daughter) hates her. Everyone loves Max and when they find out that Sam is planning his surprise birthday party they all chip in. It is a night to remember and then tragedy strikes.

I won't give away any more than that. This author tells a wonderful story. There is not one character that wasn't fleshed out. And the story flowed just the way it should! This was my first book by this author and I can't wait to read her backlist.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

At first I wasn’t liking Sam, she seemed too immature and then the story took a better turn, especially when she undertook ‘project Duncan’. One should adopt the ‘always look for joy in their day’ that Max instilled in Sam, the world would be so much happier. I look forward to more from Katherine Center.

🌊An emotion-packed story beautifully told🏫🌅

What You Wish For was, for me, a compelling plot with stand-out characters, not the least of which was young "Brainerd" Clay, precocious marine life expert extraordinaire. Set on the Texas island of Galveston, it conjures up the image of a safe, loving, close-knit community. Yes, there is a bad egg who stirs things up and Duncan, a newcomer who seeks to expiate his own feelings of guilt and fear by forcing them into an age of prison-like high security and dismal surroundings. But school librarian Samantha and her dear friends and colleagues fight the good fight to keep color, nature and joy in their and their students' lives. Along the way grief strikes, some innocence is lost, and love sprouts in spite of the obstacles Sam and Duncan stack against it.

There's some inspirational messaging here and, to paraphrase just a few of the points that struck me most:
- Choose joy on purpose;
- Joy and sorrow walk side by side; being alive means risking one for the other; and
- Make a choice to value the good things that matter.

With stirring messages like that and such delightfully complex characters, this story hooked me and never let go.

I did wish that Duncan's traumatic secret, hinted at throughout the first half of the book, had been revealed sooner, but I really can't say that the wait was not appropriate in relation to the bigger story's progression. The details of his harrowing experience when finally revealed are graphic but in no way gratuitous and they need to come out to fully understand his actions once he arrives in Galveston.

This was my first time reading a Katherine Center novel. Based on the quality of this work, I will definitely be looking to read more.

Thanks to publisher St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review.

This is such an engaging story, filled with memorable characters in the setting of a creative and progressive elementary school. There are lots of issues to build the plot upon, including coping with grief, trauma, and medical conditions. But the sheer hopefulness and joy of simply living one's best life shines throughout its pages.

4 stars for What You Wish For by @katherinecenter. She does it again, folks! Don’t mind me wrapped up in all the feels over here.

Sam is a fun-loving librarian at a school in Galveston, Texas. When the school tragically loses it’s beloved principal, they are forced to find a replacement. Who is it? None other than Duncan, former coworker and long-time crush of Sam’s from her previous school. Yikes. Except when Duncan shows up for his first day, he’s nothing like the goofy Spongebob tee wearing, juggling, dancing, over-the-top guy she knew at her last job. He’s serious, stoic, and hellbent on turning their precious school into a glorified prison. What happened to Duncan? And why is he acting like a drill sergeant who doesn’t even recognize Sam? How can she save their special school and most importantly, her heart?
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In typical Katherine Center fashion, she weaves a beautiful story full of broken people, hope, love and most importantly JOY. While I still think Things You Save in a Fire is my favorite book by her, this comes in at a close second.

Don’t miss What You Wish For, hitting shelves THIS TUESDAY 7/14/2020!

I absolutely love Katherine Center's writing. It's touching and real and you can't help but feel what her characters are feeling. And this was no exception. 2 people in what seems to be an impossible situation, and yet love and hope prevail.

Sam is a small-town school librarian who absolutely loves her job. She loves her town, her school, her library and all of the people in those places. Then the school principal (and her fatherly role model) spontaneously passes away and leaves a huge hole in all of their lives.

The school board brings in a new principal and it's someone from Sam's past. She'd had a crush on Duncan at her last job and knew it would never go anywhere so she left. And now he's coming to her town and she just knows she'll have to leave again. But the Duncan that showed up at the school was definitely not the Duncan she fell in love with.

He showed up guns blazing (literally and figuratively) and turned the entire school against him. Gone was his warm, goofy personality. He had turned into a drill sergeant and Sam can't figure out what happened to him.

It's so heartwarming in its honesty about what happened to both of them. I smiled and teared up throughout this entire book. But I loved it. I love that it teaches you to seek joy in life rather than waiting for joy to find you.

Enjoyed this read although not as much as the other books from this author. I didn’t feel like the characters were as easy to connect with as her previous books. The story line was unique and overall I am glad I read this. Thank you netgalley for the advanced read in exchange for an honest review.

“My beautiful, magical beloved library…home of a million other lives. Home of comfort, and distraction, and getting lost – in the very best way.”

5/5 stars!

What is it about Katherine Center’s book that just hit the spot for me? Every time I think “I doubt it will be as good”, it always is? And to my surprise, this is my most favorite Katherine Center book yet!

This book is about Samantha, who works as a school librarian at the coolest, bestest school ever. But the school’s principle passes away leaving behind an irreplaceable hole. When Duncan Carpenter shows up as the new principle, Samantha remembers him from her old life, one where she was completely obsessed with him and deliberately left to escape him. But he’s different than she remembers, colder, sadder. He starts to tear apart everything she loves about her school. She makes it her mission to figure out what happened, how to fix it, and keep her school from falling apart. If she can keep herself from falling apart.

There is so much to love about this book! The small town has a beautiful cast of characters that add life to the town and make you care about the school at stake. I was absolutely invested one hundred percent in the people of the book. They made it so easy! It really made the whole book worthwhile to follow not just Samantha, but everyone as they try to recover together from tragedy.

Samantha is awesome though, she’s quirky, she’s funny, charming and sympathetic. I loved her from the beginning. Of course, it was easy to love someone as passionate about books as I. I loved how brave she was too. I thought it was the most amazing part of her character, the way that she is able to lead and teach bravery. She was someone I could really put my heart into.

Duncan was the perfect hero! Ahhh! I honestly love his journey. I for sure hated him when he arrived and hated everything he did, right along with Sam. But I did suspect a bit about what he’d been through from the beginning of the book and his journey completely makes sense and made me love him. I love how he had many sides to him and was constantly fun to read. Every scene between Sam and Duncan made me literally so happy.

I also think that this book was very considerate and gentle with the tragic topics it covers. I really commend the book for balancing the heavy with the humor and giving due respect to both. The book has a lot of sad times, but I never felt like any of it was done recklessly. I feel like everything had a purpose and the story really benefits from this.

This also just has some serious re-read value. There are scenes I loved reading and want to read again. This is a book that I wish I could read again for the first time. It’s also a book that would make a splendid movie, no joke.

Tl;DR: This book has so many feelings! You’ll fall for the town and heal with them. The romance is amazing. Can’t recommend enough.

E-galley from St.Martin’s Press and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All quotations and opinions are based off an uncorrected proof.

I have mixed emotions about this one. For the beginning half of this novel I was disappointed and frustrated with the overwhelming focus on the school. I was thinking this book might only appeal to teachers or schools administrators. There is also a large focus on school safety and balancing that with enjoyment of the school environment for kids. This issue could be hard on parents of school aged children. Towards the middle when Sam and Duncan are interacting more I felt the novel picked up but then focused too often and repetitively on their issues. They both have sad and heart wrenching back stories but I hate being forced to read about the same thing over and over.

The issue is never the author’s writing as she can be a brilliant writer but for me it was too focused on the school, these repetitive issues and things that didn’t really move the plot forward. For example the beginning of the novel paints a sweet but sad start that will be the reason that Duncan comes to the school. It focused on this for far too long and was unnecessary. I absolutely loved the author’s book How to Walk Away and that book is just so much better than I found this one so I recommend reading that instead. I would much rather read a plot or character driven novel than what I found here. The school itself seemed a much bigger character than anyone else. Even the Epilogue seems to disagree with the blurb as to who was important in this story. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Cute, but feels overstuffed at times. Like in her previous book, Center opens this one by putting the plot immediately into motion and it never really lets up; there is often little room for developments to breathe or the narrative to settle into a comfortable groove. Protagonist Samantha is given many defining characteristics, several of which do not entirely make sense until late in the book. That being said, I did like the bones of the story and the characters are often very charming. If some of these minor wrinkles could have been ironed out, this would have been a real winner.

💫what you wish for💫
The protagonist of this book is Sam, a elementary school librarian who had a tough childhood. She loses someone close to her, the school principle, who was a father like figure in her life. The replacement principle turns out to be someone she knows from her past and used to have a huge crush on, but when he shows up to her school it’s like she never knew him, he is completely different. Throughout the book we get to know the new principle, Duncan, and some of the trauma he has experienced.
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I love the stories that Katherine Center writes, there’s always so much more depth to them than you think there will be. This story spoke so much about healing, making your own joy and finding the best in each day. There were so many quotes throughout the book that were so beautiful.
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My only criticism of this book is that the first half was pretty slow. The story is told in first person and through Sam’s POV and I think a lot of her inner monologue could of been cut out in the first part of the book. It took me a while to get invested in this one but then I loved it!
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Overall I liked this one! Not quite as good as things you save in a fire but better than how to walk away!!!
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What you wish for releases July 14th!!!! So definitely go snag yourself a copy. Thank you @stmartinspress for my review copy☺️
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TW: death, loss, school shootings

3.5 stars

What You Wish For is the third book I’ve read by Katherine Center and while I enjoyed it well enough, my favorite book of hers so far is still Things You Save in a Fire from last year, which I felt was a much better written and more emotionally resonant story.

This time around, the story revolves around Samantha Casey, a librarian at an elementary school on the island of Galveston, Texas. Sam arrives at the quaint little school a few years ago after spending most of her life alone in California. The school’s founder Max and his wife Babette are beloved figures in the community and despite having a daughter of their own, they welcome Sam into their school as well as their home, becoming surrogate parents of sorts to her. When Max dies unexpectedly, a man named Duncan Carpenter is brought in to replace him as principal of the school — it turns out Duncan is a former colleague of Sam’s from her previous school, but not only that, she also had a huge crush on him back in the day. The Duncan that Sam knew was sweet, funny, charismatic, and beloved by everyone (a personality very similar to Max), so despite her conflicted feelings, Sam tries to convince the faculty at the school that he is the right man for the job. But she soon finds out how wrong she is, as the Duncan who shows up is stoic, stiff, completely devoid of humor, and super obsessed with school safety, almost to the point of paranoia. When Duncan threatens to make significant changes to the school, Sam decides to oppose him and, working together with the rest of the faculty, a plan is hatched to save the school. At the same time, Sam finds out the truth of what happened to Duncan in the years that they lost contact — this revelation, along with a secret about her own self that she had been hiding, alter Sam’s perspective in ways that she didn’t anticipate.

This is a romance, so of course the love story between the two main characters— in this case, Sam and Duncan — will undoubtedly be front and center. Given the premise, I expected there to be a certain amount of predictability to the story, which is fine. What felt different for me with this book compared to Center’s previous ones is that there didn’t seem to be as much emotional depth to the story this time around. Yes, there were difficult subjects and issues the characters had to deal with, just like in the rest of her books, but I felt like much of it just scratched the surface instead of exploring more in depth. Perhaps it is because of this that I didn’t feel much of an emotional connection to the characters or to the story. While I liked Sam as a character well enough, sometimes she did behave immaturely, which did annoy me a little bit. In fact, with some of the scenes and dialogue, I kind of felt like there was a bit of a YA vibe to the story and the writing, which I wasn’t expecting — though it (thankfully) didn’t permeate the story, it did make the writing feel uneven in places.

Overall, this was a decent read — lighthearted, fun in certain places, a bit sappy in others. I also found this one to be a bit dialogue-heavy during some of the more emotional scenes, which had the effect of taking me out of the moment at times — another reason why it was harder for me to establish an emotional connection to the story. As I mentioned earlier, I like Katherine Center’s previous novel better, but this was one I didn’t regret reading. And of course, I definitely don’t mind reading more of her novels either!

Received ARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley.