I love Katherine center, she is one of my favorite authors of all time, so I was thrilled to receive this epub. This book was so beautiful, I was so impressed!

This book was so good. I have always loved Center's book but there was something about this one that I could not out down. I literally read it in one sitting. The characters and the writing style was great & I loved the link between this and her other stories. Highly recommend.

I’m a huge Katherine Center fan so imagine when surprise when I finished this book and thought, “well that was just ok”. I’m not disappointed I read it, but I also wished for more.

Let’s just jump right into what did and didn’t work for me here, shall we! This was definitely a slower burn of a read, and while that’s not necessarily the worst thing in my book, I just felt like the overall storyline lacked here because of the pace. Center has an amazing way of developing her stories and characters with so much depth, heart, and emotion, and that absolutely was the case here again. I think my biggest issue connecting with this one was that I wasn’t necessarily the biggest fan of one of the main characters Duncan. I could see what the author was doing with his character, but by the “redeemable” time in the story, I was just too over him. Plus, a lot of this one felt over the top for me, and the romance element not exactly believable.

There’s a certain charm to Centers writing that has you holding on tight and breezing through her stories, and I once again experienced that with this book. It’s a story that reads like a journey, and this author’s wonderful way with words add so much. I so enjoyed the themes of hope and finding joy in painful times, which is something I think everyone can relate to and a needed reminder.

So all in all, as you can see, there were things I didn’t quite love about this one, but at the same time there was also enough to keep me going. I would definitely still recommend giving this one a try, especially for fans of romance and women’s fiction, and if you’re a Center fan already!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the gifted e-copy.

What You Wish For by Katherine Center

First:
Amazing narrator for the audiobook!

Second:
I enjoyed this book so much that I'm ready for another by this author. Who doesn't like a story of a librarian falling in love but also explaining why always choosing joy is worth it.

I love the main character, Sam, with her colourful sense of style and positive outlook on life. She wasn't always this way and felt invisible for much of her life before arriving at her current job.

She ran from a man she crushed on and now suddenly is being faced by that man who is no longer who she's remembers.

Now with so much on the line and with the help of her friends, she tries to bring out the fun and goofy guy she remembers from many years ago. And she needs to do this all before everything about the school she loves changes forever.

I loved the writing style and am looking forward to more by the author.

I really loved this book but parts of it were frustrating. The characters and the school were charming and enticing, and I was desperate to know what had happened to Duncan. My frustration was with the main character, who never seemed to really ask that question, and it felt like a lot of the antagonism and stress of the plot could have been bypassed if she had.

I love Katherine Center books and I always look forward to her next one. This was great just as her other's were. Thank you so much for the opp to read it!

Didn't like this as much as I wanted to. I don't know if it's the devastating months I had before reading it or not. I didn't really connect with the characters.

I am going to be honest, What You Wish For was not an easy book for me to get into. I picked it up and put it down a few times. I didn't connect with the main character, Samantha and struggled to carry on with the book. I am so glad I came back to it and finished it. This book tackles some heavy topics, but in a way that doesn't feel burdensome. I enjoyed the story, I loved the school it is set in and the characters won me over!


The publisher made a copy of this book available for review via Netgalley. This is my honest review.

What You Wish For beautifully deals with some heavy topics, but the overall tone is a joyful celebration of life.

I loved what Katherine Center was going for here, as far as the story’s premise and message. The content, though, is a little too saccharine sweet, at least for me. This small community and the people working together at the school are a perfect Hallmark movie. They’re all one big supportive family, standing strong against the new bully in town.

I guessed the issue with Duncan’s history early on, making this new guy and his overblown stiff personality more tolerable.

I’m horribly (embarrassingly!) behind on my NetGalley books, so in my effort to catch up, I listened to this one on audio via Scribd. The narrator puts on her own Broadway play here. Some people might think she infuses too much drama, but I thought her narration fit the book’s tone well. I was entertained, and she had me laughing out loud a few times.

I had to DNF this book. It was really not my jam. The Samantha Casey’s inner monologue is overly verbose, exaggerated and a bit obnoxious. I think it’s an effort to increase suspense and drama, but it had me rolling my eyes and shouting “Get to the point!” on more than one occasion. I read until the arrival of Duncan Carpenter, the new principle and former crush because that’s the crux of the whole story, but his persona was so unbelievable that I just couldn’t connect to either character. I didn’t feel any kinship or investment, just exasperation so my skimming petered out.

Katherine Center is becoming one of my go to authors. Her books are funny, sweet but also tug at the heartstrings. What You Wish For is no different. I was cheering for the heroine from the start.

I love Katherine Center and this one does not disappoint. It wasn't my favorite of hers, but was still so heartfelt, and truly warmed my soul.

Ok I have been meaning to read this book (What You Wish For) for almost a whole year and meaning to read this author (Katherine Center) for far longer that that. I don’t know what took me so long
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It took me a while to figure out what genre I was reading. Is it romance? Is it contemporary fiction? Is it “chick lit”? Maybe all of the above.
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It is sweet, a little vanilla but with some depth. The characters and relationships are complex. Not was enjoyable and light- a solid summer read.

This was my first book by Katherine Center, and it definitely won't be my last! I really enjoyed this character driven novel that was both hopeful and heartwarming; it was just what I needed right now. I felt that the overarching message about overcoming our fears, choosing joy and just being accepted for is an important one that all readers will benefit from. I loved the romance aspect and that it wasn't over the top sappy! I definitely recommend picking this one up.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read this book. Published July 14, 2020

A light romance - typical Katherine Center story and plot. I am not a big romance liker, but I do like Center's style of writing. I wish she would tackle either some historical fiction or a mystery, which would be more in my line of reading.

This novel centers around teachers- where her last two books were about firemen and an accident/hospital scene/aviation. This was a rekindled romance - at least on the female side. Sam had been in love with Duncan when they were both teachers. Sam moved on and suddenly Duncan was back in her life now principal of her new school. However, this is a whole new Duncan and Sam cannot understand why.

This book has romance, death, a beached whale, a school shooting and much more. Danger, chaos, love, relationships, friendships, misunderstandings and renewal. A nice summery beach read.

I normally don't read rom-com/chick-lit type of books but this one was cute. I enjoyed the plot and characters and would definitely read more books by Katherine Center. Thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for a copy of this book in exchange for my opinions.

Katherine Center has a knack for writing about characters you can root for. She does an excellent job doing just this in What You Wish For. This book follows Samantha Casey, a schooI librarian who loves her job. There is a tragedy at the beginning of the story, and a new principal is brought in. His name is Duncan Carter, and Samantha immediately recognizes him as a former co-worker who she happened to love--an unrequited love. The school devolves into chaos as Duncan makes it his duty to make the school as safe as possible, while totally alienating the staff. I thought this book was a fast, compelling read. If you have enjoyed Katherine Center's past books, this one is sure to please.

If reviews were like wishes I'd have cause to believe my reviews of How to Walk Away and Things To Save in the Fire were a jinx.

So let this be a rant.

First, I wrote about the pleasure of reading a serious-grievous-situation-that-did-not-involve-rape in How to Walk Away.

Then, the serious-grievous-sitatuation in Thing You Save in the Fire did involve rape.

Fine. Rape is a prevalent problem with women (nearly 1 in 5 women have been raped) and Center wrote the recovery & forgiveness with both weight and wit.

But then, What You Wish For had no weight and only half the wit.

And that's not fine. Sure, What You Wish For was as enjoyable as any shallow romantic comedy. But Center. 👏 Is capable. 👏 Of evoking. 👏 Humor. 👏 And. 👏 Heart. 👏 So to have her treat a national problem with such flippancy and over-the-top shenanigans (as OTT as Sam's Susie Bubble-eqsue outfits) is, frankly, an insult to the characters, the readers, and to those who have personally been touched by the tragedy of school shootings. Joy & hope may have been the message, but it was lost in trite. "Laughing it off" only works with skinned knees.

CW: for mentions and depictions of school shooting, PTSD, depression, loss of a spouse, loss of a father figure, parental neglect

diversity representation (disability) in What You Wish For is thematic

I love Katherine Center's writing and I was looking forward to this book being published. I enjoyed it overall and enjoyed getting to know the characters and all their flaws. I wish there had been a trigger warning for school shootings. I know it is impossible to put trigger warnings on every book, but as a school shooting survivor, parts of this were hard to get through.

After Max Kempner, principal and founder of The Kempner School passes away the board of directors decides to bring in a new principal, Duncan Carpenter.

This is bad news for Sam the librarian, first and foremost she is still grieving Max's death since he was the closest thing to a father figure for her. Second, because she knew Ducan from her high school days and had a major crush on him.

This premise is fine enough and there are some bubbles of joy in What You Wish For. However, there's just something really off with the writing, pacing, and overall characters. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it was just a weird reading experience. I kept going along with it to see if it improved, but even the ending was just a big letdown.

It's as if the book is just trying too hard. Most situations felt unnatural and unrealistic. Some characters like Tina and Kent Buckley were bad caricatures.

Honestly, what was supposed to be a fun reading experience just put me in a bad mood.