Samantha is a private school librarian who, like the rest of the community, is shocked at the sudden death of the school's principal. He was larger than life, a man who loved his job and the kids... but his replacement couldn't be more different.
The new principal is Duncan Carpenter, who decides to charm the
He's also the man that caused Sam to move halfway across the country to get away from.
They are both very different than they were when they were coworkers in a previous school, Sam coming out of her shell and being vibrant in everything from the way she dresses to how she acts. Duncan used to be this way too, but now he's all about schedules, safety, and the color grey.
This book is full of heart. Katherine Center is quickly becoming a go-to author for touching stories full of hope, love, and second chances.
You can’t help but feel good when you’re reading her books, even when there are things that break your heart a little.
What You Wish for was no exception, and it was a joy seeing all the characters develop as the plot evolved.

The audiobook version is great and the narration does a great job of bringing the characters and story to life. It's a very entertaining listen that you don't want to stop.

Many thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the advance copy.

The narration was amazing!! I got lost in the book while reading because the narrator did such a fabulous job of using emotion and tone to express what was happening.

The story was so heartfelt and lovely, like all of Katherine Center’s books. It artfully explains how to be joyful after something tragic and how to have courage in the face of love and fear.

I also really loved the author’s note/essay at the end of the book about the joy of reading and how you need to read the books that are right for you not the book that you think you need to read. It was so well written and expressed, especially in contrasting reading with music.

I received an advance listening copy of this book from Macmillan Audio via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

My interest was piqued by this book's premise - Samantha, a school librarian with a tragic past, has created a new life for herself, but her equilibrium is threatened when the new head of school turns out to be the man she most wanted to forget. I was further intrigued learning that Samantha has epilepsy and interested in reading a main character living with a disability. Unfortunately, this book was not a good match for me. I enjoyed the narrator, but I found it difficult to relate to the characters and hard to maintain my interest in the storyline.

Since I enjoyed “How to Walk Away” I’m disappointed to report that this book was awful.
At first, I thought it might be the narrator turning me off; she was so bad I wasn’t sure I’d be able to keep listening (seriously, overact much?) but the further I got into the story, the worse it became.
Let me start with the main character - how pathetic do you have to be to quit your job and move halfway across the country because your CRUSH is dating someone else? Not someone you’ve had ANY sort of relationship with, just your crush.
And it was downhill from there. The story consisted of one hackneyed plot line after another. After about the third chapter, I swear I could have written the rest of the book’s outline myself without peeking because it was so predictable, and I would have been about 90% correct.
And the author’s habit of using muuuuultiple examples to express the same point had me wanting to stick hot forks in my ears: Duncan used to be fun - WE GET IT. We don’t need sixty-two corny illustrations to prove it.
The teacher/principal relationship was completely unbelievable as well. Having worked under several principals, I would never and have never seen any teacher talk to or treat their principal like what went on here. Plus, he’s her boss. Gross. #metoo
And one last thing: teachers use the “call and respond” with students all the time because it’s effective with children. Teachers HATE when other teachers try to do it to them. Because they’re adults.
Unfortunately, this was a big miss for me and now I’m questioning whether or not I should keep any of her other novels on my TBR list. Hoping this was just low effort on her part.

Thanks to #netgalley #macmillanaudio and #stmartinspress for this ARC of #whatyouwishfor

Thank you for sending me this audio book! I enjoyed listening to it, but the story directed the charters I enjoyed from other books in a different direction than what I was expecting. It wasn't my favorite by Katherine Center but I still think the writing was great!

I have read a few other Katherine Center books and really enjoyed them and I was really excited for my first audiobook! Yes, I finally popped my audiobook cherry! The narrator was impeccable and added some much needed humor in her portrayal of the characters but the overall story was just way too cheesy and over done. It was not even good romance. A disappointment as I read many other positive reviews before requesting this, but still an ok read for Center, just not up to her usual standards of courageous, honest characters.

I was able to get through this fast because I listened to it while I worked out and or did chores. I can see why audiobooks are so popular.

Thanks to Netgalley, Katherine Center and Macmillian Audio for my first audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 7//14/20

I adored this book. Romance is not one of my go to genre’s but I am so glad I was given the opportunity by MacMillan and NetGalley to listen to an advanced audiobook copy. This lovely book has all the feels from a not so vicious guard labradoodle names of all names Chuck Norris to a precocious and intelligent 9 year old boy that knows how to save whales and the meaning of misnomer. I fell in love with this cast of characters and their life stories. The message to choose joy is something we could all use a little reminder of this year. ❤️

Wow!!! I had super high expectations going into this book (having read Katherine Center’s past two novels, Things You Save in A Fire and How To walk Away), and I was still blown away! Center has a talent for telling stories and creating characters that capture the depth of human experience and speak to the reader. Heartfelt and gut wrenching at times, What You Wish For speaks to the very human need and desire for connection as well as to the power of love and courage to heal and find joy and beauty in the midst of tragedy and brokeness.

What You Wish For is the perfect quarantine read! It is a bright story for the difficult times right now. It is also a great book to read anytime if you like reading books about finding happiness in difficult times.

What You Wish For is about choosing joy and fighting for happiness. The book starts with a sad event and while Samantha is fighting with her grief her unrequited crush, Duncan, from her last school becomes the principal at her school. Duncan is a completely different person than when she worked with him years ago. Duncan makes Samantha's job more difficult and is the last thing she needs in this difficult time. The book is about Sam and Duncan finding out how to be happy and what has caused Duncan's personality change.

My favorite part was all the challenges Sam and Duncan do to make the other one happy and remind them how important happiness is. I also loved so many of the characters. There were so many times I wished I could be friends with Sam.

Therese Plummer did a fantastic job narrating this. I have nothing but praise for her and hope to read more books narrated by Therese in the futures. Therese's narrator added to a great story. I also enjoyed Katherine Center's note at the end.

I recommend this book for all Katherine Center fans. I also recommend it for anyone that likes stories about finding happiness in difficult times. What You Wish For was such a refreshing read. I love all of Katherine Center's books and cannot wait to read more books by her in the future.

Thank you Net Galley and McMillan Audio for this audio book in exchange for an honest review.

Never miss a chance to celebrate.

Sam is a school librarian and loves her job. After the unfortunate passing of the principal, she gets a blast from the past. Duncan, her former crush is the new principal, and he is not who she remembers, at all. He jeopardizes everything they’ve worked hard for and she’s determined to stop him at all costs.

I need this to be a movie ASAP. I know there are people that don’t or can’t read, and they need to see this movie so they can experience such an amazing story. Go ahead and sign up a Miles Teller or Michael B Jordan for Duncan and a Jennifer Lawrence Rachel McAdams for Sam. Alice has the best tshirts, hands down. She is so punny, that I definitely did an ugly snort from laughing. I need Melissa McCarthy
Or Kate McKinnon as Alice.

Therese Plummer voice is so easy to listen to. I felt like a friend was telling me a story instead of listening to an audiobook. The transitions and general flow of the audiobook was beautifully done. It truly brought to life an amazing story.

This was probably my favorite read of the year so far. This entire book is about refusing to let fear make you small, about growing and finding joy in every situation. That, my friends, is such a beautiful thing. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Net Galley for this audiobook. First of all, I love Katherine Center's writing. Her stories are beautiful and uplifting and I would read anything that she writes. The narrator for this book is fantastic, a new favorite of mine. This audiobook I highly recommend.

The narration is great but I could not finish this book, The male protagonist so annoying and rude and terrible. I hated him and didn’t want to keep reading.

This is a romance/chick lit. The narrators (Katherine Center and Therese Plummer) where really good. I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook. I listen to audiobooks at a higher speed then the normal speed because I have listen to audiobooks for years now I a found the higher speed works for me. The overall story I really liked. This is the second book I read by this author. I found there is some things happen in this book that was close to the other book. I really loved the ending of this book. I have to say I love the covers for Katherine's book because they are so bright and colorful. I was kindly provided an e-audiobook of this book by the publisher (St. Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio) or author (Katherine Center) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review about how I feel about this book, and I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

I absolutely loved this audio version of Katherine Center’s newest book. I have read 2 other of her books and I feel like they keep getting better! In What You Wish For there was so many surprising moments in the book that made me stop and feel and think and process. I enjoyed the narrator was well. Including the ending with Katherine Center! Thank you so much for giving me a chance to enjoy this audio book.

I like what I've heard so far. Unfortunately, the audiobook stops every time my phone locks. I was trying to listen as I walked this morning but after the 6th time of getting my phone out, unlocking it and hitting play again, I gave up. I know its a bug in the app, but until they get it fixed, I'm not going to request anymore audiobooks from NetGalley. I can't carry my phone around the whole time constantly tapping the screen so it stays "awake."

I did like the narrator. I did like the beginning of the story. I give the story in the current app 2 stars. I give the actual story 3 stars.

Katherine Center's books are always hit or miss for me, and unfortunately, this one was more of a miss. I could tell from the beginning that I was going to have a hard time getting into it, and I actually had to quit listening at one point because TRIGGER WARNING on deep vein thrombosis. Okay, maybe I'm the only rare bird who needs a trigger warning for that, but it's a deep-seated fear of mine.

I did appreciate the heroine's positive outlook on life and her determination to be happy despite her setbacks and hardships. But the author mentioned in the author's note at the end that she wrote characters who could say all the things that 6th-grade self needed to hear, and that was obvious. The characters were a little too perfect and ALWAYS knew the exact right thing to say. Sometimes it felt like moments were drawn out so that all of the perfectly said things could be fit in.

As for the audiobook, it felt a little overperformed for me. It also sounded slightly digitized when I sped it up above 1.25x, which I've actually never experienced before. I did really appreciate though that the author's note was included at the end of the audiobook. I often miss out on those without having the physical books.

I had very high expectations based on the last book I recently read as well as listened to by Katherine Center: "Things You Save in a Fire."

So I excitedly downloaded a complimentary eAudio book from Netgalley.

Unfortunately, I was disappointed from the get-go. The gist of the story is that a librarian suddenly loses her beloved principal (who's also a mentor and father-figure) to a health issue. And the man the School Board choses to replace him with is someone she knows from a previous school. The new principal's arrival is both good and bad for the librarian. (Note: I'm trying not to spoil anything).

At any rate, the beginning was very slow for me, and I sped up the narration to get through the first half fairly quickly. I was not interested in the librarian's overly dramatized insecurities and stress over her issues with the new principal. (I was not fond of his character once he came into the picture).

The middle picked up a bit, but the ending fell flat with a few bizarre scenes at the end. (A few previous reviewers mentioned eye rolls and I can see their point).

I added an extra star because I was pleased that Macmillan Audio hired Therese Plummer, the same award-winning voice-over actress who's narrated Center's other books. She is terrific at all of the various character voices, including men, women and children.

I am grateful for the Netgalley audio copy and look forward to more books from Katherine. This one just didn't work for me.

This was classic Katherine Center. I found the main character didn't have quite as much baggage as her characters normally have and it made it a very enjoyable read. The narrator has done a few of Center's titles and I am familiar with their narration work on other titles, think they did a spectacular job with this title.

The author focuses on the importance of family and community in her writing. I thoroughly enjoyed this one and thought it was the perfect escape! The storyline wasn't too heavy and was predictable, but sometimes books like that make for the best reads. This was just a great piece of chick lit to enjoy on a hot summer day!