As always Katherine Center wrote another novel that will give you all the feels! This was the perfect book for me right now. I was able to get lost in it and enjoy the characters, the story and the setting,
This is filled with so much hope, so much joy and even the secondary characters are adorable! Another home run from Katherine Center!
Thank you so much to #netgalley and St. Martins Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book.
A light, fluffy read (which I expect when I pick up a Center novel.) This isn't a bad thing; however, I will say this was one of my least favorite of Center's books. I liked the premise of the story (love story, set in a school) but I think her other stories have more depth.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley.

I thoroughly enjoyed this engrossing novel. The premise hit close to home - safe schools, happy children, and effective education. The characters were flawed and human. Life should be more about finding the joys.

A sweet, entertaining read about intentionally seeking happiness. It's packed with goodness for anyone who's a fan of libraries, dogs, the ocean, and the cottagecore aesthetic. There's a scene with a whale that will make you cry! As a former teacher, I loved how the book captures the way a school is its own special universe--reading it made me miss working with kids and getting together with fellow teachers to problem-solve or just laugh about the hilarious (annnd frustrating) things kids say and do.

Katherine Center is becoming one of my new favorite author's to recommend. I love the way she develops the characters in her book. I thought Samantha was so likable and someone I would have wanted to be friends with. This book made me laugh out loud and smile while I was reading. Katherine Center hooks me in and doesn't disappoint. Highly recommend!

I love Katherine Center. Her writing style is remarkable. She easily creates characters with whom I want to be best friends. In this book, I was able to relate to the main character, but I also related in some ways to the principal of the school, as I am a school principal. The book dealt with a heavy but relevant topic, but the author was able to write about it with respect, but not make it feel heavy and scary. The principal goes through a transformation rather quickly in the book, which felt a bit rushed, but I was so happy with how it ended. Three cheers for Katherine Center...she has done it again.
My ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Net Galley for providing a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As much as it pains me, I have to go with 2.5 stars. The last two books I read by this author (HTWA and TYSiaF) I absolutely loved. I went into this one with high hopes, but I just didn’t get as much enjoyment out of it. Despite being a teacher myself, I couldn’t connect with either of the two main characters and I wasn’t sold on them being together as a couple either. I particularly felt like parts of Duncan’s story weren’t explored fully and didn’t make sense. Perhaps I just didn’t read this one at the right time, because I’ve always loved books by this author. While this one wasn’t a fave, I will continue to read her new releases!

Loved and devoured What You Wish For, as I do with all Katherine Center's books! I could not put this one down, and I have already recommended to both friends and my book club!

Thank you Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for an advance copy of this book. This is the third book that I've read by this author. I have enjoyed each one. The story grabbed me from the beginning and held my interest throughout the book. I am looking forward to reading the next book by Katherine Center.

4.5 stars

Some books just hit all the right notes. I don't know if I've every used the term "swoonworthy" in one of my reviews but I'm going to bust it out now. This was one of those reading experiences in which I caught myself multiple times with a big, cheesy grin on my face because I loved the characters and their chemistry. Other than a teeny, tiny part of the ending I thought was unnecessary, this was a perfect read.

Samantha Casey is a librarian at an elementary school. When the time comes to hire a new principal, Samantha is stunned to learn her former co-worker, Duncan Carpenter, will be filling the position. She had a huge crush on Duncan at their old school but never confessed her feelings to him. Unfortunately Principal Duncan is a lot different. While he used to be a lovable goofball, he is now so obsessed with rules and regulations, it's like he's a dictator. Well, this should be an interesting school year.

If I had to pick my favorite romance novels of the last year or so, this one ranks pretty high up there on the list. Everything just seemed to work and I felt invested in the characters. However, while I liked Duncan, it would not shock me if other readers have a completely different opinion of him. To be a good read this genre for me is really dependent on how well I like the two leads and whether I buy into the fact they belong together. I couldn't help but root for Samantha and Duncan to find happiness. The author did a good job giving them interesting backstories so even if you aren't quite as enamored with them as I was, this still is a decent read.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for providing me with an advance digital copy in exchange for an honest review!

While I enjoyed this book as a whole, it read like the script of a cheesy Hallmark movie, and I think the saccharine writing might turn off some readers. However, I appreciated the author’s handling of sensitive topics such as school shootings and PTSD.

A fun, quirky, and believable read moving on, after life happens. I found the characters and their story to be funny, loving, kind and believable.

Thank you, Katherine Center, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for the ARC.

I was so excited for this one after loving Katherine Center's previous books, but this was sadly a 3 star for me.

This was a quick & easy read and definitely provided a good distraction for our current times. However I didn't connect with the characters and love story the way I usually do with Katherine's books. I wanted a chance to see Sam & Duncan's relationship develop more, but it felt forced and I didn't buy their relationship.

It also touched on a lot of serious topics: epilepsy, school shootings, death, and PTSD, but none of them really had a chance to develop. It may have been better to pick one or two and fully explore them rather than rush through all of them.

However looking at the ratings I may be in the minority here so if you liked her previous books it might be worth a read! If you haven't read anything by Katherine Center, I also really recommend her previous books How To Walk Away and Things to Save in a Fire.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press & NetGalley for providing a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

What You Wish For by Katerine Center is a stand-alone, romance novel, told in a single pov.
Meet Sam, she's a librarian, good woman and busy organizing a big party for her substitute parents when karma throws a wrench her way.
Her new boss is a former crush from her and she can't get him out of her head. Duncan Carpenter the new principal.
WYWF is a sweet story, well thought out and beautifully written and told. I liked the storyline and the characters, 4,5 stars.

I always look forward to Katherine Center’s newest book being published. Like her others, this one did not disappoint! What You Wish For is a contemporary-fiction novel about finding joy even in the most difficult situations. This is a theme Katherine often uses in her writing. As a school librarian,, I was excited to see that this book’s main character was also a school librarian. I loved the quirky characters, the beach setting, and the way she pulls you into her stories. The characters are so well-developed that you feel connected to them personally, and you experience all of their emotions. It’s the perfect “feel good” summer read! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this fantastic book.

I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I really didn't like this book. I've only read one other Katherine Center book (Things You Save in a Fire) and I thought it was pretty good; the type of book I enjoy after reading something heavy or when I just want to relax. But What You Wish For was just too overly cheesy, predictable, and unrealistic for me.

The book starts off OK, but once we learn that Sam's "crush," Duncan, has been hired to be the principal at her school, I started getting seriously confused. First of all, Sam quit her last job and moved across the country because of her crush on Duncan. But it sounds like she barely knew him and had a pretty typical colleague relationship with him. He never knew she liked him, they rarely even talked, and yet she moves across the country when he starts dating someone else? This felt so unrealistic to me. Then when she finds out he's coming to her current school, she immediately decides to quit and has a plan to march into school the next day and give her resignation. Who does that?!

I have a hard time getting past unrealistic circumstances like this (clearly lol) or characters I cannot relate to/understand at all, but probably could have managed if things got better. But the second Duncan comes to school, I knew exactly where the story was going and what would happen. It all felt so predictable. Also, the way Duncan is written borders on ridiculous and makes him seem like a cartoon or a clown. There were also so many incredibly obvious metaphors in the book (the succulents omg) that felt so elementary to me. I thought things might be picking up, but then the ending felt like a hot mess with so many strange things happening.

I do know this book has a lot of fans and that speaks to the fact that we all love and enjoy different things. I wish I wasn't so nit-picky with some details, but if a book doesn't feel realistic to me and I can't understand characters' motivations, I have a hard time sinking into the story. And this is the kind of book I want to sink into; to turn my brain off and just relax.

That said, the overall message of this book is a positive one and I really appreciate that. I loved reading about the school that Sam teaches at and think the world would be a better place if more schools like that existed. I actually really liked the concept of the book; it was just the details and cheesiness that drove me crazy.

I dont know why but I just couldn't get into this book. I loved the last book that she wrote but the cheese factor in this one was too much for me. It is a nice story for current times and I might have loved it more if the story line wasn't so over the top.

Katherine Center is quickly becoming an auto purchase for me! She is really knocking it out of the park with her most recent books. I enjoyed What You Wish For and the characters. There were some difficult themes in this story but she didn't make them trivial or too heavy either. It felt just right for the storyline. The main character is an elementary school librarian named Samantha. I loved this idea of the way she dresses. I would recommend this book as it was very enjoyable.

In this novel, main character Sam is the school librarian at a quirky private school, when a new principal shows up who is not only the unrequited crush Sam fled her old job to get away from, but also now has become a total jerk determined to change everything that makes the school special. I absolutely loved Katherine Center's last two books How to Walk Away and Things You Save in a Fire which were both amazing, so I'm sorry to say this one just lacked that magic. I spent the first half or so of this book kinda annoyed, both at the way Sam seemed more like a middle schooler about her her crush than a woman in her 20s, and about the at first one dimensional unpleasantness of Duncan's character though I somewhat guessed what was behind it. Things definitely improved after that, but for me this just lacked the depth of emotion and real-ness of characters of the other books by Center which I have read. (I've also read one of her old ones, still have 4 more to catch up on which I most definitely will still read.) Nonetheless, it was a cute and quick read - I just was expecting more. 3.5 stars.

Sam is a school librarian in a small Texas town. When the beloved principal suddenly passes away, Duncan is brought in as a replacement. Sam immediately recognizes him as a former coworker and knows he’ll be great for the job—he was fun, great with kids and adults alike. But people change, and Duncan isn’t the same enthusiastic teacher he used to be.
I loved the storyline and the characters in this book. It’s a romance and some of the storyline was a bit out there for me, but I’m all about stepping out of reality right now, so I was okay with that. Sam’s character was my favorite and I loved her portrayal as an elementary librarian. What a fun job! The way she was written and how she related to kids was endearing, and her relationship with Duncan was also really lovely.
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