When Catherine Lipton's identity suddenly disappears she's cut off from her new job, the DMV, her bank - everything. It's like she doesn't exist. Enter in her doorman, Luca, who is infuriatingly never where he should be, but is willing to help her out. And why does he know everyone?

The story was a lovely, magical story about realizing that family doesn't always mean being related. I loved seeing Catherine's very type-A personality breakdown and seeing how she interacted with all the wonderful supporting characters in her building. This story will leave you with a smile on your face!

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the ARC, all opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this book so much and it's got such relatable characters, I just couldn't put it down. Catherine's background is honestly so unique, and I love that she learns to embrace it, weaving it in with her own reality. Luca is adorable and I get why Catherine liked him <3 He's got his quirks and we love them. I found it reasonably easy to connect with both MCs, and I was specially intrigued by Luca's huge family and their lovely dynamic. Reading some reviews right now, I do see that Luca and Catherine's relationship wasn't all that fleshed out and didn't get much emphasis either, but that didn't bother me. I also loved the closure Catherine got with learning to assert herself in her workspace, and meeting halfway with her clown roots.

There's a lot about this book that irked me though. I'll start with the fact that I'm not satisfied with how the magical realism in the book is justified. It feels like the author just had a wacky idea, forgot to come up with a reasoning, and suddenly remembered and used the most random excuses to make it make sense. And it threw me off pretty bad. I cannot explain how annoying it was coz it basically shatters the foundation of the entire book. I see how some might thing that it was a 'surprise' but I see it as an unwelcome shock.

This was a delightful tale about finding oneself and examining perceptions. Catherine likes order and predictably, and when her legal identity disappears, she sets about proving who she is. The person who seems to be able to help her is her building doorman, who she finds to be unpredictable, yet charming. As the opposite personalities work together, they have some hilarious adventures including encounters with the Mafia. Through the process Catherine learns about herself and that sometimes there is more to the story that the surface shows. My favorite part of this story was the found family, especially the residents of Catherine’s building. I also enjoyed the touch of magical realism.

A fantastic read and I couldn’t put it down at all! I love the simplistic set up of the story and I like how Catherine’s character growth comes to an end.

This story is a sweet indulgence and top summer read (even though it comes out in the Fall). Melissa Wiesner's writing style brings characters to life. You can feel the frustration, the sadness, the desire, just through the words on the page. The story starts with notably uptight mathematician Catherine running into her new doorman, fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants Luca. His good looks aren't enough for her to overlook his messy lifestyle, until her life disappears. Imagine no one believing you are who you are, down to your personal identification. This sweet mystery proves Catherine can't seem to do it all herself, and Luca is more than willing to help.

Highly recommend this sweet rom=com. Quick read and guaranteed to give you a few tears and many smiles.

I enjoyed this one! I felt many emotions reading this book. I felt anger toward a secondary character, but I can not explain why because it would be a spoiler. This book would be great for a book club because there would be much to discuss. I wish I could talk about this book with someone!
I loved how the book had an element of mystery and kept me turning the pages. I liked the characters in the book, and how the book emphasized the importance of relationships and helping others.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

While initially expecting a cute romance with an intriguing premise, this story focused more on self-discovery rather than the romantic aspect, leading to some disappointment. Struggling to engage from the start, I found it challenging to connect with the characters, including the lackluster romance between Catherine and Luca. Luca's character felt underdeveloped, with only his tattoos standing out. Despite enjoying certain aspects of the other characters and subplots, the overall experience fell short of expectations. Grateful to NetGalley and the publishers for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Another winner by Melissa Wiesner! A must read for the feels, relationship goals, and joy. I will read any Melissa Wiesner book. She is hands down one of my favorite authors!

This was another great read from Melissa Wiesner! The story was charming, with lovable characters and sincere dialogue. There were moments of adventure and moments that made you reflect on your own life. Overall a really enjoyable book!

I have added another book boyfriend to the growing list, Melissa, keeps creating these wonderful male characters I want to collect. And now I need an "Italian mobster" in my collection.

Mathematician Catherine is set in her ways, organised, a typical type A personality - the opposite of how she grew up. Just as everything in her life seems to be going well, her identity disappears - as in there's no paper trail of her existence. According to social security, there is no Catherine.

The wonderful 'Italian mobster' Luca starts helping her find herself in more ways than one😍. And what she thinks she knew about Luca, herself and life are completely flipped.

I loved this dreamy book with the mysterious and slightly spooky twist ( not scary spooky) and adored the thoughtful, sweet, and considerate Luca.

This slightly magical series that Melissa has is one of my favourite romances. Check out Second Chance Year for another magical read.

Catherine is extremely timely and organized. She just landed a job as a university math professor and things could not be going better. Then there is Luca, her carefree, go with the flow doorman. When Catherine’s life turns upside down, Luca is quick to jump in and offer help.

This was such a cute, easy read and I loved every second of it. Unravel the mystery of Catherine’s life and you might rethink what is important in your own!

*ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the Second Chance Year last year and now Melissa Wiesner is back with a new magical story that involves identity loss but a found family.

Type-A mathematician Catherine Lipton’s carefully calculated life goes awry when a university’s human resources system rejects her employment paperwork. Soon after, her credit card is declined. At the Social Security office, Catherine makes a shocking discovery—she’s disappeared from the government’s records, and there’s no evidence she exists at all.
The one person who offers to help is Luca Morelli, her attractive but aggravating doorman who spends more time flirting with Catherine’s neighbors than he does enforcing the building rules.

This one has a slower pace and took me a while to get into it but once I did? Cue the emotions. I related so much to Catherine (minus having a circus loving dad) and really understood and appreciated her personality and journey of self growth. I loved the whole cast of characters and the ending??? Oooof! 🥹

The magical realism element lost me a bit. There wasn’t much of any explanation on to how the identity loss occurred and to a couple of other plot points I don’t want to mention as to avoid spoilers.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one and highly recommend. Bonus points for cuteness…..this one publishes on my anniversary.

This book was a sweet story and the writing style was clear and easy to understand. This book follows Catherine who has a paperwork mixup at her new job as a professor when he elicits the help her her quirky doorman, Luca to help resolve the issue. This book is a reverse grumpy x sunshine which I love! I wish there would have been more romance, and the book dragged on a bit at the end. But overall a quick read and I liked it!

Loved this one! Great and fun read. Highly recommend.
Many thanks to the publisher, Netgalley, and the author for my ARC.

Thank you netgalley for the chance to read this!
Note: I loved Melissa Wiesner's last book so I came into this really excited.
There's a bit of magical realism here as Catherine finds out a 'wish' to not exist, or to be able to fade back into reality, has been granted just as she starts to pursue her math career. She's incredibly ordered and structured: something that completely resonates with me. While attempting to figure out who she is she falls for Luca, the large familied, very silly, slightly all over the place doorman.
I did enjoy some of the subplots to this and the cast of elderly characters in the building were cute. Catherine's dads story line was actually really adorable, and I love someone so stoic being attached to someone so carefree.
But I REALLY struggled to relate to the male or female leads. Their romance just felt...off? Like the chemistry wasn't there, the timing wasn't there, the fact that they had kissed before really shocked me because it just POOF pops up with no real substance? I really needed the romance to feel like it had stakes and it really just fell short.

La vida se Cat no ha sido fácil, desde pequeña tuvo que aprender que no puede depender de nadie, que tiene que trabajar duro por todo y que nada es para siempre. Con el tiempo se perdió y se volvió dura, olvido que es la diversión y cambio por completo su persolidad hasta que conoce a Luca.

Luca es el portero del edificio en donde vive, cuando se conocieron ella se sintió atraída hasta que cada que pasaban tiempo juntos algo malo le ocurría y lo veía haciendo cosas irresponsables, entonces viendo que él es todo de lo que huye decide mantenerse alejada.


Cat estaba feliz porque tenía un nuevo trabajo como profesora, pero no pudo completar el tramite porque resulta que no existe y la única manera de demostrar su identidad es presentar el acta de nacimiento original, la cual la tiene su mamá, esa señora a la que nunca ha conocido y no sabe quien es. Luca
intentará ayudarla, pasarán tiempo juntos y ella se dará cuenta que su percepción de él era errónea.

Me gustó la familia de Luca, son demasiados Morelli. Disfrute de tuviera sucesos sobrenaturales.

Me cayó mal el papá de Cat.



Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.25 stars. What a delightful read! This had an eccentric cast of characters spanning multiple generations exploring topics of family and found family. The plot was a mix between everyday life and a bit of magical realism. There were parts of the story that I was skeptical about, but it all came together so nicely at the end and I felt very satisfied.

A sweet story that is a little bit romance, but mainly friendship, found family, and some delightful octogenarians.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the ARC in exchange for my feedback. I will be recommending this one when it comes out in October 2024!

A book to get lost in... Wish I Were Here unfolds the beautiful journey of a lost soul searching for her mother and discovering much more along the way.

I loved Wish I Were Here by Melissa Wiesner. It’s an opposites attract romance about a rule-following, buttoned-up math professor and the carefree doorman in her building. While the story follows Luca and Catherine as they try to track down the mystery of Catherine’s identity, at its heart it’s about the importance of family, community, and staying true to yourself.

I adored the speculative element of this story. The ghosts added an extra element that pulled me in, and I loved seeing all the small pieces come together at the end.

I was unsure about this book at first but I actually ended up really liking it! The main character ends up finding herself in the most unusual way with the help of the person she least expected.