Katherine Center delivered a great piece of work as always!
This was the perfect summer beach read. Quick and fast paced I really enjoyed getting to know these dynamic characters. The loss, love and heartbreaking backgrounds were easy to follow and made you want to invest your time getting to know each and everyone of them. The author knows how to grab the reader and pull you into the story. They all had issues they were dealing with and they felt real from page one. I enjoyed their interactions with each other and when it was over I was sad to see it end.
I highly recommend this one. Jump on that roller coaster and enjoy the ride!

My thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really needed this little gem of love, joy, and life.................................................................................................................................................................

This is my least favorite Center book. I don't think she did a good job setting up our main character, Samantha Casey. Also, I didn't really like her (sorry, not sorry). I thought she was way too entwined with the founders of her school and her justification for trying to elbow their daughter out of things was a bit...yeah. And I thought her "romance" with the new principal was nothing but fizzle. It didn't work and the whole be joyful thing started to make me roll my eyes. I don't know what happened while reading this, I just started to get more and more annoyed and the centering around school shootings felt glib? I don't know, it just didn't work.

"What You Wish For" follows librarian Samantha Casey. Samantha is happy at her job working as an elementary school librarian in Galveston, Texas. When the school's founder dies, the board elects a new principal, Duncan Carpenter who Samantha used to know from another school and who she had a crush on. Duncan though is not like the man she used to know. He's unsmiling and focused on upgrading the school in event of active shooters. Samantha and others though are planning on making Duncan remember how to be joyful again.

That sounds like something from the Hallmark movie channel. And I say this as someone that loves the Hallmark movie channel. It was just too much. Samantha and her whole be happy and bright thing was aggravating. We get some insight into her past, but eh. I don't know, I just didn't like her. She was too focused on everyone else and on the former principal's widow and how she was grieving.

Not too much to say about Duncan. He is bland as bland can be. I don't think he and Samantha made any sense as a couple. Center doesn't set them up to even get along for the majority of the book and I don't get why either one of them were attracted to each other.

The other characters are not developed at all. I can't even remember Samantha's best friend's name and the only thing I recall is that she is into math and wore math pun shirts.

The founder's daughter, Tina, doesn't like Samantha and honestly I got why. She was trying to push her out of her own life. I wish that someone had pointed that out to her. It was a bit creepy and I recall one of my friends telling a story of how a friend of her sister's was always going on about how their mom was her second mom. She just felt offended by the whole thing.

The writing didn't work for me and the flow of the book was pretty bad. It just stops and starts. Probably because we follow Samantha's POV throughout the book and Center jumps back and forth a lot.

The ending was just...nope. I got nothing. It didn't work for me even a little. I think another reviewer said this was a book about nothing and honestly it read that way to me a little. Maybe if Center had actually focused on grieving and realizing that Tina is grieving her father's death. Samantha being judgey towards her through the whole book was not even a little bit cute. Or if Center had actually shown that school shootings in the US are serious and have a lot of repercussions to how we teach kids nowadays. Center seemed to stay away from that whole thing. Not that a school should be a prison and not a place for learning, but what are educators supposed to do when it comes to safety? Just saying be joyful and in the moment is up there with thoughts and prayers with me.

DNF at 40%. I've enjoyed all of the author's previous books and was willing to give this a fair shake even when something seemed very different early on. It seemed more New Adult than women's fiction - which is how it had been promoted. I never got on board even though I read to 40%. Given so many 4 and 5 star ratings on Goodreads I'm going to assume I'm just not the right reader for this novel.

Center's writing is solid! It's a strong novel as always is the case with Center's work but What You Wish For is not like her others. It's a heart-warming story about love, loss and friendship. It's an easy read but don't confuse that with fluff - the characters are complex and are dealing with traumatic life events.

I enjoyed this more than I thought. If you read happiness for beginners you’d already know Duncan. I love how she made this about his story. I also loved how they sprinkled on Helen and Jake and you find out what happened to them. I love how joy and the love in this.

This is a heartwarming story that at the end of the book you may feel that you are bidding farewell to dear friends. Throughout the story you may ask yourself a few questions, can you maintain joy and happiness in this difficult challenging environment where everything seems to be out of control? Optimism during uncertainty as you wait to get to the other side knowing the current situation will pass?

Although i enjoyed the book, I initially thought that Sam was judgmental and a coward. Her first instinct was to quit\run; she ran when she had a crush on a co-worker and then decided to quit immediately when she found out she would be working with him again. However, as her character develops and you gain more insight into her past, you appreciate that she is merely trying to protect herself from getting hurt.

You may go through mixed emotions while reading the book but at some level you will enjoy it. Thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for granting an ARC of this book.

I loved this book so much, I have fallen in love with her writing style. I don't want to say too much about my review because I don't want to give to much away. This book had me inhaling the pages I wanted more and more and I had to find out what was going to happen with Duncan and Sam.
Sam is an elementary school librarian who loves her small town. her job, and all the new friends that she has made. She ran away from her old town and school because she was in love with Duncan the next thing you know Duncan is coming to her new town and school to be her school's new principal.

Sam had never told Duncan how she felt about him, and now here he was like he was following her here. She has a secret that she doesn't want anyone to know about, as she is scared her new lover won't like what he sees. Duncan has come to the school due to the loss of the school's founder.

Little does she know that Duncan has an agenda and a secret of his own!! Will they come clean and let each other know how they felt about one another? Will they fall in love finally and confess the way that feeling?

What You Wish For by Katherine Center is a happy book, a book filled with a lot of things - romance, sorrow, tragedy and fear - but above all else joy. The author does a fabulous job of writing in such a casual, conversational voice that you begin to feel like you're just sitting with your new BFF Samantha Casey as she tells you about this incredible thing that happened to her one year.

I've never read a Katherine Center book, but before I was even finished with this one, I downloaded three others.

After reading a bunch of heavy reads on heavy topics with lots of footnotes and mental gymnastics, What you Wish For was exactly what I wanted, and what I needed.

Sam is a changed person since moving to Galveston and meeting Max and Babbett, the owners of the school where she is the librarian. Where once she was all about fading into the background, four years later, she's wearing clown socks, sporting pink bangs and looking for joy wherever she can find it. Altho Max turned her on to the whole joy thing, she finds herself channeling a former colleague, Duncan Carpenter, a teacher who loved to make people laugh and feel good about themselves and learning. Did I mention Sam was secretly crushing on Duncan?

So when Duncan shows up at Sam's school, the expectations are high.

This is a story about finding joy, about being joyful and about being willing to be fully alive despite circumstances. It's a terrific message presented in a wonderful story. The characters are fully formed and fun to hang out with, their conversations are real and meaningful, hard and funny, and the situations they find themselves in are - if not exactly unique - at least consistent and appropriate to move the plot along.

If you're looking for a fun read that makes you feel good and reminds you to seek joy wherever it might be hiding, this book is for you. It's uplifting without being preachy, romantic enough to make your heart twitter a bit, tragic enough to choke you up and humorous enough to make you laugh.

It's simply a joy to read!

This review is based on an advance copy read.

I read Katherine Center’s “Things You Save in a Fire,” and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was, therefore, excited to read her new book, “Things We Wish For.” For me, it was quite a disappointing read. I had trouble getting into it at the beginning, and, in fact, forced myself to read all of it in hopes that it would get better. It seemed as though the author picked a theme, “Choose joy on purpose,” and tried, unsuccessfully, to write the book to fit the theme, Also, the book seemed to have very little depth, and I kept wondering if it was written for a YA audience. The dialogue was shallow and sophomoric.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

Samantha Casey came to Galveston, Texas town, to get away from heart break at her previous locale. She loves the elementary school she has worked at for the last 4 years, as the librarian . The school principal, Max and his wife are like second parents to her, and living beside them on their property makes her life there even better. She hasn't much to complain about, until Max dies at his birthday party, and soon there is a new principal. The problem is, he is Duncan Carpenter, the very man she came to Galveston to escape from. She cannot work with him again, she simply cannot, and so she plans her exit strategy. But this Duncan is not the same man she left behind. This is some very strange shell of that person, with crazy plans that will ruin her beautiful school. She cannot leave everyone behind at his mercy. Thus begins a crazy adventure to save the school, and there is a lot of fun to be had when your are trying to make something bad into something good.

What You Wish For is likely my favorite book of the season. It was a light read and page turner from page one. You could not help but fall in love with Samantha and the other cast of characters Katherine Center created. I rooted for all of the things they tried to do, to make things better and keep the sinister characters from stealing the joy from these wonderful people. I rooted for possible relationships, and talked out loud to the book when someone did something to keep that relationship from blossoming. I was sad when the book ended, not because the ending was sad, but because I loved these characters and wanted their antics to continue. In the midst of a pandemic when everything is heavy and scary, What You Wish For is a perfect antidote.

I'm fairly new to Katherine Center, having only read her last two books ('How to Walk Away' and 'Things You Save in a Fire'), which I loved. However, What You Wish For, fell a little short for me. Based on the description of the book, you know the turning point of the book before your start reading, and it takes almost 30% in before you get to it. It was frustrating because I felt we could have had more to the story if wet got past that point sooner.

Otherwise, I did enjoy the book. I think it was a nice, light read, and good for a summer release. Most of the characters were enjoyable and the small town made for a nice scenic backdrop. I did want more from the ending. The epilogue was almost too short and left you wanting more. Maybe Katherine will branch off their stories into her next book?

I have read two Katherine Center novels so far and really enjoyed them. I was so excited when I heard about What You Wish For about a young, quirky school librarian that butts heads with the new school principal. I'm a book nerd that secretly (or not so secretly) harbors fantasies of being a librarian, school or otherwise, so I thought it would be really fun. Samantha (Sam) loves her job at a small private school on Galveston Island in the gulf coast of Texas. Her coworkers are her family and the school is practically her home. When a new principal comes in with plans to change everything Sam loves about it, she is furious and vows to find a way to fight back. When that principal also turns out to be someone on whom she once had a huge crush, it becomes even more complicated.

I was really sad that I didn't like this book as much as I liked the previous two Center novels I had read. There were glaring flaws in the plot that anyone who has dealt with an elementary or middle school would have seen, namely the lack of parental push back to all the changes the new principal wants to make. Given that this is a private school, and not one restrained by state laws or district oversight, it made even less sense that so many of the qualities that presumably attracted people to this school in the first place would be changed without it turning into a full scale war. (No, that's not hyperbole. When was the last PTO meeting you attended?)

Additionally, can I say that I am way over the trope of two extremely different people who don't get along at all suddenly falling in love? I think it goes back to Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy and I really wasn't all that big a fan of them as a couple either. GASP! Did I just commit the cardinal sin of not loving Pride and Prejudice? I'm really sorry and I hope it won't make you disown me, but that dynamic between Lizzy and Darcy is the same thing I don't like in other books meant to be romantic. It annoys me and I just don't get into it.

All that said, I did like this book, I just didn't love it. There were lots of lovely characters and I adored Sam's quirks. And I loved the lesson about finding joy in whatever circumstances you may find yourself. You may not be able to make yourself feel joy, but as one sweet character says: "You can decide to do something joyful."

"Joy cures everything....Joy is an antidote to fear. To anger. To boredom. To sorrow."

"I'm not happy because it comes easily to me. I bite and scratch and claw my way toward happiness every day....I know all about darkness. That's why I am so hellbent, every damn day, on looking for the light."

So, sure, there were problems with this book, but I still liked it. Maybe you will, too.

A light, quirky, feel-good love story with a strong female heroine.

Samantha Casey, a librarian at an alternative school, is going through some major changes. Sainted principal Max has passed away, and his replacement Duncan is not quite up to task. Funny thing is - Samantha knew a very different Duncan when they taught together previously. Can she help him recapture his old magic?

I loved Katherine Center's last two books - she knows how to write strong, complex female characters. I found myself rooting for Samantha in this novel, and I related to her struggles with illness and her feelings of inadequacy. I also loved seeing her commitment to her students, even if she was a bit "extra" at times.

Unfortunately, the other characters were more difficult to connect with. Because Max dies at the beginning of the novel, we don't get to see what made him so great and so important to Sam. Duncan's character complexity doesn't begin to be fleshed out until about 50% of the way through the book; until that information is revealed, he seems a bit like a caricature. I am glad I kept reading as Center develops the characters more at the end of the book.

Although this wasn't my favorite book by Katherine Center, there's still a lot here that readers can enjoy. If you need a quick, zany, over the top light read to forget about the struggles of daily life, this may be a good choice for you!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for providing an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When their beloved principle passes away unexpectedly, the faculty at Kempner
School is horrified that a cut throat businessmen will be choosing the replacement. When they announce it will be Duncan Carpenter, Sam Casey can’t believe her ears! Having worked with him previously (and having a huge crush on him) she assured her colleagues his fun & caring teaching style will fit perfectly at their school. However, when Duncan arrives he is hardened, has no idea who she is, and only cares about security. Seeing the changes to the school and Duncan break Sam’s heart, she is driven to find out what hardened Duncan, and hopes to help bring back the man she once knew.


Katherine Center has an uncanny ability to take difficult, heart wrenching topics and turn them into the most heart warming stories. What You Wish For has a ton of heavy content, yet almost feels like a romcom without taking the seriousness out of issues. I am already impatiently waiting for What You Wish For to be turned into a movie (seriously where are the people that make these things happen? This would be the besssst movie). The dancing scene is probably my top feel good book moment of 2020. I can seriously see it on the big screen already.


Centers writing is also just so devour-able (is that even a word? I don’t care it’s accurate) that you just can’t help but what to hang out with her stories all day. Her writing and characters truly come to life off the page.

Make sure to keep your eyes peeled for this one coming July 14, 2020. You won’t be disappointed.

“She knew that joy and sorrow walked side by side. She knew that being alive meant risking one for the other. And she also knew, as I was starting to understand in a whole new way, that it was always better to dance than to refuse.“

I really enjoyed this book! It was a quick, easy read, for me. The plot was good and I connected with many of the characters. There was a little of everything; friendship, love, tragedy, comedy, adventure and it ended on a feel-good note. The moral of the story is one that will stick with me.

The story centers around Sam Casey, who is a librarian at a local school. She has found a place there, surrounded with friends whom she loves. And then, tragedy strikes and a man from her past, the ONE who got away, is hired as the principal at her school. Except, he has completely changed. He is hardened, unrelenting about security and safety and cold towards her. This version of Duncan is completely unlike the man she had known before. He comes in and tries to make changes to their little school community and the plans they had for it, and Sam and her friends aren’t having it. So, they hatch a plan to get him in touch with his old self and bring him back into a joy-filled life. You’ll have to read the rest to find out what happens on that journey...

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

Samantha Casey cultivates quirkiness in her professional life as a private school librarian on Galveston Island, Texas. She loves her job, her environment and her colleagues. But when the school’s founder and beloved principal suddenly dies, all that may be in jeopardy. Or maybe there is a glimmer of hope. The new principal is Sam’s former colleague. Sam remembers him as being creative, fun, and handsome. She had a major crush on him. So, what could go wrong?

When Duncan Carpenter arrives, Sam is taken aback. He is the same person but not at all as she remembers. Gone is his warmth, humor and playfulness. Worst of all he is on a mission to change everything in the school that she holds dear. What’s a girl to do?

Sam can still sense a glimmer of the old Duncan, so does she want to try to build upon that? Or is it easier just to sabotage him? Once Sam embarks on her rescue mission, she not only unearths clues about Duncan but about herself. Recommended as a great beach read.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this book to me.

I really wanted to love this book after reading Things You Save In a Fire. However this one missed the mark for me. The protagonist is crazy annoying! She’s an adult woman who acts like a teenager who obsessively crushes on a co-worker. When she finds he may be engaged she drops everything and moves to Galveston, Texas for a whole new life. Is it really that devastating? Yes, for her. Ladies, if your crush ain’t feeling you, it’s not the end of the world, move on. You don’t have to move thousands of miles away to do that.
Then we meet this supposed to be amazing, out of this world man, Duncan, and he’s a complete dick to her and everyone else around him! That annoyed me even more.
There were some cute parts of this story and other characters such as Babette and Max that I liked but overall this book was just OK. The love story wasn’t epic, and I felt that’s what was missing here.

I enjoyed this book but I wasn’t super excited about where the story went. The writing flows well and is easy and quick to read. It was good but not very memorable.
Thank you for the ARC!

Make a choice to do joy in purpose! This book while long on the descriptive has an amazingly sweet, tender, very real story. The way the story is written, you can feel the emotions, good and bad. A great weekend read!