Another wonderful read from Nicholas Sparks. I will read anything that he writes. He is the quintessential, original romance author. His stories always have such good story telling, that truly immerses you into the lives of the characters. This story of Maggie's is no different. It contains elements of adoption, cancer, first loves, and the expectations of others, that will be sure to tug at your heart strings. It will stay with me for a long time after reading.

Oh wow.

Before going into this book, make sure you're in a good spot mentally to read this because the content is HEAVY. I know that can be considered 'the standard' when it comes to Nicholas Sparks but yeah, buckle up for an emotional ride with this one.

Aside from that, I don't want to give too much away. I will say that I was able to predict one of the major storylines very early on in the novel but there's enough other storylines that kept me intrigued. Plus, I was interested in reading how that specific storyline unfolded.

As always when it comes to Nicholas Sparks, this was the perfect read for the beach. Although a large portion of this story is surrounding Christmas and is located in New York, it still came across as a mainly 'beach read' for me due to the settings set in the past. As well, I wouldn't consider it a Christmas read even though the modern timeline is set during that time.

Unsurprisingly, this was a five star read for me. I have a hard time rating Nicholas Sparks anything but five stars because I love his stories and settings so much.

The Wish by Nicholas Sparks is definitely one of his best books in a long time!

As a young teen I remember devouring all of his books as quickly as I could get my hands on them, however most of his books have fallen short for me in recent years. While I definitely predicted the ending of The Wish, I thoroughly enjoyed the story telling getting there. I loved flipping back and forth between 1996 Maggie and 2019 Maggie and seeing how she ended up where she is today. This one definitely tugs on some heart strings and deals with some difficult topics including terminal cancer and teen pregnancy. I could see The Wish being added to the long list of Sparks books adapted into a movie!

4.5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫
The Wish was a touching, pull on your heartstrings story. Much like many of Sparks other novels, it wasn't hard to fall in love with the characters. I easily lost myself in their story, and I enjoyed every minute spent reading about their lives and relationships, and experiencing with them the moments of happiness, sadness, love, loss, and everything in between.

Though some outcomes were predictable, for me it did not affect my reading experience in a negative way. Nothing made me want to put this book down.

If you love Nicholas Sparks's traditional style of sweet and emotional storytelling, check out The Wish today!

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*TW/CW: Cancer; Depression

**Complimentary copy for review provided by Grand Central Publishing. All opinions expressed here are honest and entirely my own.

" I wanted to see him in jeans and his olive green jacket, with a file box of photos beneath his arm. I wanted him at the table, helping me learn equations or quizzing me on Spanish vocabulary; I wanted Bryce to hold me like he had on the beach that night with the kite, when all felt right with the world. " - Maggie
This is another masterpiece from the King of Romance, . It amazes me how he tops one brilliant book with another, spinning one romance after another and living up to my expectations. This one meets the bar or maybe sets a new one, hard to say! Another reason for my excitement is how I received this book from the Nicholas Sparks team well before its Publishing Day. My gratitude has no words, team❤️

Maggie, a nomadic, adventurous photographer and cancer survivor runs a gallery in New York. The gallery has admirers of art and curious cats who can't get enough of her 'real videos' on YouTube thronging in. A young Mark comes along one day and there is something so familiar in his unfamiliarity that she hires him to help her out at his request. Weeks pass with minimal interactions until Christmas time and they find themselves alone. With his genuine interest in her life, she starts spilling her life story, a chapter that she hadn't opened in a while. She takes him through the darkest days on her life, to a small town by the sea and to the man she loved beyond words. With Christmas right there, she ends up telling him the one wish she has, a wish she had barely mentioned to herself.
But what if the wish has been granted even before it was wished?
Every time I pick a Nicholas Sparks novel, I know I'm going to get lots of love with a happy ending or a loss that takes days to recover from; that's about it. But it's his style of writing that draws me to his books repeatedly. And seeing the sea in the backdrop and letters as the mode of communication feels weirdly at home for this seasoned Nicholas Sparks reader. The characters are again imperfect yet imperfect and the men are too good for their own good. Do the types really exist I wonder!
The book is inspiring, it's sweet, it's got its teary moments and it's a real love story!
So, the usual Nicholas Sparks readers - pick it up and
Readers who haven't experienced his books- pick this one up!