I found Katherine Center's books in the last year and What You Wish For does not disappoint. It will be released in July 2020 and will make a perfect summer read. The book is light, fun and delightful while it takes on a few heavy topics. The book will resonate with people working in the school system and parents. Samantha is a fun librarian in quirky school in Galveston, Texas. When their beloved principal passes, Sam's unrequited love interest, Duncan, becomes the new school principal. Samantha has changed since she last saw Duncan and Duncan was not the same person that Samantha was infatuated with.

Look forward to the publishing of this book in July 2020. I would recommend this book for a good summer read. I would like to thank #NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

There are things I like about this book and others I don't. I didn't really like Sam the main character of this book because I felt she comes off most of the time acting like an 18 year old instead of her age 28. The first part was hard to get through and cringe worthy. Once Duncan finally comes to the school it milds down the cringe worthy aspect of Sam. Duncan sure needs to find his fun side and also needs to go to therapy but I felt big time that Sam needs therapy too as she is not over the trauma she endured as a child and still has fears because of it. None of Sam's trauma is really helped in this book. I do like how Sam and Duncan come together and Sam helps Duncan heal. The school sounds like an awesome place to have been a part of either by working there or going to that school. I think the best part of the book was the near the end of the book with Clay, that's all I will say as I don't want to give spoilers. The book was still enjoyable.

*I received a copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.*

Oh my gosh! Where to start?! I absolutely LOVED this book! I loved the characters and the story and especially fell in love with this little community in Galveston. As a first grade teacher, my heart soared when I found out that this story was centered around a librarian and her love for her school. Sam's fierce love for her school and the people that fill it was heartwarming. This book brought much joy to me in a time when I cannot be with my students in our beloved school and helped me remember that you can find the joy in every day! I laughed and cried and smiled my way through this book! I cannot wait to recommend it to so many people.

Samantha Casey is a librarian at an elementary school in Texas. The principal of the school unexpectedly passes away and his replacement is Duncan Carpenter. Samantha used to teach with the goofy, fun teacher before moving to Texas, and might have had an unrequited crush on him. But now, he’s a very serious person and making changes to the school that Samantha and her colleagues are not on board with. She becomes the one to stand up to him in hopes of saving the school that everyone loves. This book is expected to be published in July. Two Katherine Center books read in one month! Like Things You Save in a Fire, I enjoyed this book a lot!

A huge thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my review. This is my third Katherine Center book, and by far my favorite. Maybe because I’m a teacher- a math teacher named Alyce- but also because maybe I’m a teacher who happens to work in a school that made national headlines for all the wrong reasons. I love Center’s stories. The way she builds her characters and weaves them together. It leaves me excited to turn the page to see what happens next. I fell in love with Duncan and Sam in this book. These two polar opposites that just happen to work in the same school. Do new clothes and a new school year mean a fresh start? Maybe. But is it always a good thing? Hmmmmm. People change and we don’t always know the reason why. This book takes you on a journey that shows you the secrets people keep and the scars that they may carry are what helped shape them as an individual. And often, that is what we have in common. That is what brings people together. Sometimes what we think is best for others is not always best for ourselves. And sometimes we have to find and love ourselves before we can love someone else.

Such a great story filled with lovely characters! Any book about a librarian has my attention, but what kept me turning the pages were this likeable characters. This was definitely a book I needed to read!

Katherine Center has once again written a very enjoyable book! I will not share a synopsis since that is widely available.

I will tell you that the central theme of this book is JOY and how to find it, and that is important to read about right now. At first I was afraid the main character, Sam, was going to be too silly for my liking, but I quickly fell in love with her and the other characters in this book. The book has a little of everything- you will be sad for the character, angry at times, and you will laugh. A lot.

Do yourself a favor and read this book! I highly recommend it!

Thank you to Net Galley for an advanced copy of this book for an honest review.

Samantha has a dream job as the school librarian at a wonderful school. The school's principal and his wife are not only great to work for they are friends. When Max dies and a new principal is hired, Sam is blindsided to learn it is a former colleague. She left that school when her crush turned into unrequited love. Duncan is not who she left behind. He has changed drastically and she sets out to figure out why or get rid of him before he totally changes the school she loves. Both have pasts that they are keeping secret. Will they be able to reveal their true selves and have a second chance at love? Loved the secondary characters just as much as Sam and Duncan. A surprisingly great read.

Katherine Center has knocked it out of the park, again! Honestly, every single book she writes does not disappoint. “What You Wish For” is no exception. She has such a way with words that you will cry, be angry, laugh, and be cheering alongside these characters. While I admit the story seemed a little cheesy at first, I was quickly proven wrong and find that I am still thinking about the book long after I finished. I would strongly recommend adding this to your TBR.

Thank you Netgally for an advance copy.

I have really enjoyed all of Katherine Center's other books, and was really excited to get the opportunity to read an ARC of this one. Truthfully, this book came at just the right time for me - my family experienced 2 losses this past week, and this book about choosing joy really felt like some salve on my wounded heart.

Sam and her friends work at a private school that is known for its eccentricity, free-thinking, and creativity. The principal/founder of the school dies unexpectedly, and the faculty is left reeling from the loss of their leader, and their friend. The new principal is brought in, and he could not be more different than Max, their beloved founder. The thing is, Sam knows him from a prior teaching job, and he is nothing like the fun-loving teacher he used to be; he has turned into a stern disciplinarian, focused mostly on increasing security. Is their school doomed to be changed forever, or can they reach the new principal and maintain the heart of the school?

The characters in this book have experienced their share of loss and heartbreak, but broken hearts can heal - I really liked the hopefulness of the book, and also the theme that by chosing joy, it can help bring the light back into your days. I also liked the characters - I was cheering for Sam the whole time, and even the minor characters were fun and loveable.

I received a copy of this book through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Katherine Center has written a most enjoyable book. Her characters are real, ordinary people and well developed. Her message of choosing joy over fear is well scripted and certainly speaks to our world as it is today.

Samantha Casey is a librarian at a small elementary school on Galveston Island. The founder and principal, Max, along with his wife Babette, are especially beloved in the small community and have built a lovely family atmosphere at their school. When Max unexpectedly dies, he leaves big shoes to fill and a grieving wife who is unable to assume the directorship of the school. The Board’s search for a replacement names Duncan Carpenter, an educator from a school where Samantha used to work, as the new administrator. Their shared history, with all the inherent baggage, makes for fireworks and a good read.

Thanks to NetGalley for making available to me an unedited galley of this book.

I simply could not put down What You Wish For. I loved the quirky characters, especially Sam, with her outrageously colorful outfits. I think the main message to look for joy in your life every day is so important, and something we all need to practice right now. This is a book that I will share with friends and family.

This is my first, and most likely last, Katherine Center book. Maybe because I just read beautiful literary fiction (American Dirt) and this over-the-top tale (the author used the word "douchey" not just once...) just couldn't compare, or maybe because it just wasn't good.

The story was so ridiculous. The plot was that of an elementary librarian losing her beloved principal/second dad and coincidentally having him replaced with her ex-love interest from across the country. Not only that, but her ex-love interest took a complete 180, and it didn't take the big reveal half way through the book to figure out why he changed so drastically. But the other conflicts thrown in just muddied the already shaky plot. I could only think of this plot and dialogue as extremely cringe-worthy. There was so much murky/ridiculous plot details that I felt like I truly didn't understand the characters.

So why 2 stars and not 1? The main character was a librarian, and a lot of the plot took place at school. I enjoyed the setting of Galveston Island (never been there--definitely spent some time on Google Images), so the setting alone let me transport to a different place, and I'm enough of a setting person, that it earned at least another star for that.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

I read Things We Save in a Fire by Katherine Center last year and enjoyed it. However, I LOVED What You Wish For, it was a well-written romance novel that touched my heart. My full in-depth review will be coming closer to the publish date! Thank you so much for the review copy!
5 out 5 Stars!!!

Ahh, how many of you are excited for Katherine Center's upcoming release?! I loved the two previous books I read of hers, so I was over the moon to receive this ARC - a big thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley!⁣⁣⁣
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⁣This book takes us to Galveston, Texas where Samantha Casey works as a librarian in the town's school. She adores her job - from the endearing children to the butterfly garden on campus to the historic school itself, what's not to love?  When they suddenly lose their beloved principal, however, it is announced that Duncan Carpenter will be his replacement. THE Duncan Carpenter - Samantha's unrequited love from years past. When he arrives, though, he is nothing like the goofy, fun guy who stole her heart.  This new Duncan 2.0 is no-nonsense, stern, and obsessed with school safety... and he's destroying everything she loves about her school. Now it's up to Samantha to take a stand against him and save their beloved campus.  But will she lose her heart along the way?⁣⁣⁣
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⁣⁣⁣This book was pure delight!  A common theme that ran through the story was purposefully choosing joy despite whatever you're going through. With the world in the state it's currently in, I found this to be a timely theme, and it resulted in such a refreshing read. I loved the humor in this book and the quirky back-and-forth banter as well. A narrative that makes me laugh out loud is always a win!  The characters were fun and witty, and I found myself looking forward to spending time each day in their company. ⁣⁣⁣Look for this one in stores on July 14th, 2020.
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⁣⁣⁣My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⁣⁣⁣
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Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for making this title available for an early review! Having never before read a book by Katherine Center, I was drawn this to particular story because it had shades of Liane Moriarty in terms of style, topic, and tone. And let's face it, in these dark quarantine times I was in the mood for something light and heartwarming, and this book certainly delivers.

Samantha Casey, a librarian at the independent Kempner School in Galveston, Texas, loves her job, her students, her best friend Alice, and her parent-surrogate school owners Max and Babette, but she can't seem to find love herself. When Max dies suddenly from a heart attack, Sam's world is thrown for a loop. As luck - or in this case, un-luck - would have it, a former crush from a previous school, Duncan Carpenter (with so much floppy hair I had to wonder if he was a 90s Hugh Grant stand-in), enters the picture as Kempner's new Principal. He's nothing like what Sam remembers as the fun-loving, "free to be you and me" creative force of nature that she obsessed over and eventually left to start a new life in Galveston after her love was seemingly unreturned. Duncan, haunted by a past that's left him coarse and militaristic, wants to make big changes to the school, but as Sam discovers, there's only so much exterior one can change before you are forced to confront and change what's in your heart.

I would have to say that the first 50 pages of the book are rather bland. Details are slow to emerge as to who Sam really is and what she wants. At first, her crush over the long-lost Duncan Carpenter reads as just a slightly annoying, overly familiar RomCom or a Hallmark Movie of the Week. It took a while for the writing and story to gain any level of depth, but once it did the book absolutely shines.

What Center does exceptionally well is balance humor and heartache. I laughed out loud at a few moments, especially at Alice's bad math puns, but I also found myself deeply moved by how the story turned from RomCom into something heartfelt and real. The scenes between Duncan and Sam where he describes what happened at his former school that left him physically and emotionally scarred are truly gripping and so timely. There's a fine line where the story could have transitioned into melodrama, but Center keeps the scenes rooted in specificity and truth. Likewise, there's a scene near the end of the novel featuring a "kid in trouble," which could have evolved into something sappy and predictable. But darn it if she didn't leave me a little misty eyed and jumping for joy!

Sam's foil to finding and accepting love is rather personal and very unique. How often do we read about a character suffering from epilepsy? Probably not often. I found her backstory to be a bit weak, but I have no doubts as to the person she became due to her own challenges. When Center gets specific, as in her descriptions of the library, the clothes Sam wears, the school environment and surrounding town, the more grounded I feel in the story. It does teeter here and there into predicability (we just know what the ending will be from almost page one), but I appreciated the quick turns within the plot to reveal some surprising depth to these characters.

While I don't think this is the most complex novel, I did very much enjoy Katherine Center's commitment to the theme of hope and joy. We can certainly use both right about now. Fans of Moriarty might also find this an interesting and pleasant read.

Thanks again to NetGalley! I received this book free in exchange for an honest review.

This book ended up being really different from what I expected from the blurb. Sam is a librarian in an independent school determined to seek joy and enable her students to love books and school. When the new principal ends up being the person she had a massive crush on from her previous school, she's having trouble separating her experiences today with her memories of who he used to be. The author clearly foreshadows the romance as well as history explaining Duncan's changed behavior, and the evolving relationship between Sam and Duncan is sweet, if not particularly surprising. In the end, almost all the issues and character shifts are pretty suddenly solved, which is a good HEA but also slightly abrupt. I would have loved to see a little bit more complexity and time into the changes, but that's just me. Overall a cute read.

Thank you SO very much to St Martins Press and NetGalley for letting me read and review “What you Wish For” by Katherine Center. She is one of my very favorite authors and I’ve read ALL of her books. And this one did not disappoint. About a school librarian who finds out an unrequited crush/love from her past will be the new principal at the school where she works. But he’s not the same person he was before and she can’t figure out what changed. About love, loss, healing, and loving someone even though you/they aren’t perfect. This book will make you laugh and cry and I couldn’t have loved it more. Ms Center,,,,,,,,I volunteer to always be an advanced reader for you! Thank you for such a wonderful book! I highly recommend this book!

I loved reading Katherine Center’s latest book. I especially liked how she used characters from a previous novel that I also enjoyed reading. Katherine Center as always has created great characters in a great story line for an enjoyable quick read.

Center's books are perfect for readers of light fiction. I hate to section any books into "women's lit" but Center's work seems to not delve deep enough for my taste. Her characterization tends to be surface level, even when she's discussing topics which I consider to be very important and relevant. I suppose my issue is more with the author's style than the book itself, but this book is good for those who enjoy lighter, easy-to-read books briefly touching on serious topics.