@katherinecenter has this magical way of creating an entire world, one that i already feel enveloped in and invested in, from the very first chapter. There's a lightheartedness about it and yet an urgency to continue. There's an ease to reading, and yet substance and depth to each character. Needless to say i very much enjoyed her latest novel🥰

What You Wish For is about Samantha Casey, an elementary school librarian who picked up and moved her life to a small town after years of living her life around a crippling unrequited crush on fellow teacher Duncan Carpenter. When tragedy strikes and a new principal is needed at Sam's current school, guess who is recruited and hired as a replacement? You got it, Duncan Carpenter. Only this Duncan is not at all like the one she remembers. He's hollowed out, serious, stony and all business. What happened to the guy who used to wear vibrant colored pants every day and zany printed ties? Who used to do magic tricks for the children and instituted crazy hat day? While Sam has every intention of getting out of there, unable to fathom reliving that all consuming crush, something about the new Duncan forces her to stay. How could she leave her beloved school in the hands of a man who wants to destroy all the joy and happiness that this school stands for?

It's very easy to lose hours at time reading this novel. It's just so down to earth, the feelings so relatable and it includes a host of characters u just want to hang around with. There's something about her novels, a magical quality that just leaves u feeling self actualized in some small way. Which means I'm always ready and waiting for her next novel.

4-4.5 stars. Love Katherine Center books. She writes beautifully and the story always wraps up nicely loved the librarian and her issues with seizures. The characters were great and taught each other so much.

Katherine Center has written another book with an important message...Choose joy even in the midst of tragedy. You can’t live in fear. This is the message we need to hear in these troubled times.

Ms. Center has created wonderful characters that come off the pages and into the reader’s heart. Duncan is a once beloved quirky teacher who has suddenly become a strict, almost dictatorial principal of a school where the former principal encouraged laughter and joy among the teachers and students. Samantha knew him when he was that fun-loving teacher who inspired joy in his students. What caused such a drastic change in Duncan’s personality?

I recommend What You Wish For. It has a a captivating storyline that held my attention from the first chapter to the end of the book. There was laughter and a lot of tears as I read of Samantha’s journey to discover what caused the change in Duncan.

I received an ARC of What You Wish For from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

I received a free copy from NetGalley. Part romance, part cheesy, the idea of just smiling and getting through the day is very much needed right now and was a great little read to escape the seriousness of the current time. Not my usual "type" but just right for the timing.

In exchange for an honest review, I read the advanced readers’ copy of What You Wish For, by Katherine Center, courtesy of St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley. This may be one of Ms. Center’s best books yet. How she weaves so many important issues into one book is both amazing and entertaining.

Samantha “Sam” Casey is a school librarian at a charming school where children are loved and nurtured. After the untimely death of their principal, the one person Sam wants never to see again – Duncan Casey – is hired as principal.

Sam knows Duncan from her last school where she fell in love with him, but felt invisible to him – to everyone, in fact. When Duncan arrives, he is not the man Sam remembers. Stiff, dictatorial, and unmoved by the faculty’s ideas and pleas, he insists on turning the school into a prison for the protection of the kids.

It’s pretty clear he has had a traumatic experience since Same last saw him, but she can’t figure him out. While the faculty is trying to get him fired, Sam works to find out what changed him. It takes a near-tragedy to bring him around.

What You Wish For explores epilepsy, self-esteem, relationships, gifted children, school shootings, fathers who are so absorbed in making money, they ignore their children, even saving whales. This is a book you don’t want to miss.

What made The Grumpy Book Reviewer grumpy?

• Most importantly, the incorrect use of the phrase, “begs the question” when “raises the question” fits the dialogue. They do not have even close to the same meaning.
• Using a word that doesn’t actually exist: “preventatively”. It should be “preventively”.
• Confusing “further” with “farther”.

What You Wish For is a perfect summer time, feel good and happy story. I thoroughly enjoyed Samantha’s life, love, compassion and sense of humor. This is a wonderful story about family, friends and those who keep us going. It takes place on an island, Sam is a librarian at a private school who has lived in her young life with some sorrow along with those who care about her. Of course, there is a bit of love and passion! Thank you #NetGalley#WhatYouWishFor#StMartinsPress

Samantha Casey, school librarian at a close-knit school in Galveston, brings joy to her job every day. She loves her school, is devoted to her students, and has used her joy to move on from childhood issues and her last school. When a crush from her former school, the full-of-joy Duncan Carpenter, shows up as the principal in Galveston with a new all-business attitude, she and her coworkers need to prevent their happy community school from being transformed into another boring, gray, lifeless building.

This was my first Katherine Center read and I was excited to pick it up after hearing so many good things. It did take me a while to get into the story, though. Samantha seemed a bit too quirky for my tastes, and Duncan seemed like someone without a shred of personality. So why did she have a crush on him, and how did she find that same crush returning, even though he had changed for the worse?

About the halfway point, the story turned around for me and I finished the story that same night. Once I had the opportunity to "meet" Duncan outside of the school walls, I found him a more likable character and was pushing for the romance between Samantha and Duncan.

This was a sweet and joyful book. A nice break from the heavy news of today’s headlines. It’s a good reminder that you don’t always choose your family, family can be found when you need it. The love story was inspiring and the characters were well thought out.

Thank you NetGalley for a review copy of this amazing book.

I have to say this may be my favorite book of the year. Once I started reading it, I could not put it down. I love the fact that an author is writing about a woman who actually has epilepsy and what it is like to live in fear of having a seizure once you experience one as an adult. This book spoke to me so deeply because I felt so connected to this character. The whole cast of characters in this book feels like people I know every day in my life. I cried with this book, I laughed, and I felt immense joy. Katherine Center has wrote a book that speaks to the heart of the human condition and that is we all want someone to love us as we are- no matter how nerdy, damaged, old, goofy, weird, or sick. “Just throw on a flower hat and give them something else to talk about”- this quote was so incredible and will stick with me. Katherine Center is a fantastic author and I will recommend this book in all my book clubs, my IG, and to all my friends.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for an early copy of What You Wish For! I really enjoyed Katherine Center's last two novels, and was so excited to read her latest book.

Unfortunately, this wasn't my favorite. What I love about Katherine Center's novels is how she balances humor with more serious storylines. What You Wish For didn't work for me in this aspect. Reading the dialogue between Sam and her fellow teachers felt like a cheesy sitcom at times. The descriptions of her outfits were clownish, rather than zany or goofy. I didn't connect with the love story - it seemed like a high school relationship, fraught with miscommunication and immaturity. I also disliked how Sam, Babette and Alice treated Duncan as a problem to solve rather than helping him deal with his past trauma in a more delicate and compassionate way.I struggled through the first half of the book, it was just too over the top. Although it did get a bit better, I found myself rushing through just to get it over with.

Although What You Wish For was a miss for me, I look forward to Katherine Center's future books.

Just so very cheesy and predictable. I understand why other people have been enjoying, but this just wasn't the book for me.

This is the first book that I have read by this author so I didn't really have any expectations. I was pleasantly surprised and had an overall good experience.
I thought the book had a good pace and interesting characters. The story was dedicated to the idea that people should find joy instead of dwelling on the negative. A very thoughtful and uplifting theme.

Beautifully written, heartfelt book of hope and healing after extreme heartbreak. Sam is a kind hearted librarian at an idyllic elementary school near the ocean. Enter Duncan, the new principal of the school who is hired after the current much loved principal dies. Even though Sam and Duncan have very different views of the world because of their own experiences, they try to see eye to eye for the good of the school. Fast paced, beautiful story of finding joy in life. Highly recommend.

Katherine Center writes another lovely slow burn love story. When Sam's former crush is hired as the new principal of her new school, she's excited and bragged him up to her co-workers, But he shows up in a completely different manner than expected with none of the fun-loving Duncan she remembers from before. In fact, he doesn't even remember her! As Duncan works to lock down the school and implement every safety measure possible, he also manages to ruin the fun and artistic side of the place. Sam has to work hard to get through to Duncan and finds out more than she could've imagined as she unfolds his history.

A beautiful story of love! Katherine Center has such a way with her character and the settings (this one being Galveston Tx) that just draws you in and makes you imagine you are there. This book left me with such joyous feelings long after I was done reading. Highly recommend!

This book had me hooked from the very first chapter! It’s such an easy read and the characters are all so relatable. Loved it and would recommend!

This was my first book by Katherine and I loved her writing, work choice, and the way she makes you feel about the characters.

With all that being said there are definitely positives and negatives to this book. Positives are how deep we go into Samantha’s life and how we experience this loss and rebuild with her. This true second chance to learn who she is and how to be without her best friend. The negative is there are some really unbelievable and unrealistic aspects to this story that make you draw back a bit. It’s so disappointing because the writing makes you become attached to the characters and feel for them.

I’m very glad that I got the opportunity to read this story and would suggest it! I’m curious if her other books follow the same kind of aspects or how they take you along the journey.

3.5 stars

I was a big fan of Katherine Center’s book Things You Save in a Fire and was extremely excited to read her latest book, What You Wish For.

What You Wish For is set in Galveston, TX and the story told from the perspective of Samatha Casey, a librarian at a private elementary school. After the sudden death of her dear friend and the principal of the school, Sam must deal with the inevitable changes and challenges that come with the new circumstances. The new principal, Duncan Carpenter, was a teacher at Sam’s previous school and she harbored an unrequited crush on him. She fully expects those romantic feelings to be her biggest challenge when she learns he’s the new principal but she is surprised to learn that Duncan has completely changed from the man she once knew.

The story is compelling, and Katherine Center’s writing style flows easily and keeps me turning the pages. There are some great characters in this book - I particularly enjoyed Alice and Chuck Norris as well as the role that the Galveston plays in the story. I also thought Sam and Duncan’s individual character development and relationship were interesting.

This story was a little less believable in some ways than her other books and the cheese factor was higher as some previous reviews have mentioned. I enjoyed this book, just not as much as her Things You Save in a Fire. This is an easy read for the pool or the beach and I will definitely read whatever Katherine Center writes next. 

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press. I received a free e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

In What You Wish For by Katherine Center, the main character, Samantha gets a second chance at the man of her dreams. Sam is a quirky elementary school librarian who seems to be loads of funky fun,, but kind of a spinster in the making. She doesn’t date, she mostly spends her time with books and building crazy and colorful outfits to amuse the students at her school.
When the beloved principal (and founder of the school), suddenly drops dead, the whole community feels lost until a new principal is named. And when Sam finds out that Duncan is coming to the school, she has mixed feelings. He’s the guy who got away. Although, she never really had a grip on him, most of it was in her head.
Sam is a full character and the reader gets a front-row seat to her neurotic thoughts surrounding Duncan. I mean, she left a job in a school because she thought Duncan was getting engaged to someone else, but she never actually had a real relationship with him. And overall, she’s just super insecure, to a fault.
Her biggest fear is falling back in love with him and having to run from him again (irrationally, of course, who does that?) But when Duncan arrives at her school and he is nothing like who he was before, she has to work her way through another nightmare – that someone could ruin the idllyic school and life she has built since Duncan.
Both Sam and Duncan are extreme characters, and not always believable at times. But What You Wish For was charming, nostalgic and just a good light read. This from a girl who mostly reads thrillers and horror, but still! And the pages flew, it really was engaging throughout.
Special thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for an advanced e-galley in exchange for my honest review. This one is out July 14. My review will be published on my blog, Women in Trouble Book Blog on June 26.

I fell in love with Katherine Center’s novels when I read How To Walk Away. But I have to be honest and say I have mixed feelings about her latest book. Though it is about finding joy even in the face of illness, grief and tragedy (and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that), I didn’t really find that strong connection with the main character, Sam.
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What I liked: I love that Sam was a passionate school librarian at a progressive elementary school. I love that she found joy in flowers and colorful clothing and pink bangs. I loved that she embraced resilience in the face of her own struggles. I loved her best friend, Alice. I loved Babette, the co-founder of Kempner School.
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What didn’t work for me: Sam and her over-the-top obsession with Duncan even before he showed up to be the new principal of the school. There was some serious subject matter in this book and the cheesiness of it really didn’t balance out the seriousness. That would be a tough thing to balance out, and it just didn’t seem to work here.
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Just because this book wasn’t quite what I wished for, that doesn’t mean it won’t work for other readers. Thank you to @stmartinspress for the invitation to read this book.