This charming and entertaining rom-com boasts a delightful cast of characters that you can’t help but wish were real people in your life. It feels like this is merely the beginning of our journey to get to know them better, and I eagerly anticipate the opportunity to see more of their adventures in the future.

This was my second read from Wiesner. I thought it was much more enjoyable than last year’s book about repeating a year, but still not a fave. I give it about 3.5-stars, rounded up to 4. It’s a quick read and definitely a unique idea, but left a lot to be desired when it comes to the romance, the character development and overall story building.

It had a lot of potential as far as how Catherine made a wish near one of her building mates that she just wasn’t there anymore, and the next day she discovered that her SIN# and her birth certificate and her drivers license were all invalid or forged documents, and the shiny new professor job she had was on the line if she couldn’t prove that she existed. She was suddenly a “nobody” in the eyes of the government and her bank, and Luca, the doorman of her building, was on a mission with her to track down her estranged mother and her missing paperwork, since her literal clown father was not willing to help.

It was an interesting read, just not my favorite and definitely could have used more time in workshops and beta, developing it further. It did lack in a few areas, but if you go in not expecting that it’s going to be the book of the year, you’ll have a good time. It’s a mid-range read (I have many far below this one in my ratings this year!).

I received an advance copy from NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing), and this is my honest feedback.

Thank you Melissa Wiesner and @readforeverpub for my gifted copies. All opinions are my own. I was lucky enough to be part of a traveling arc for this book hosted by a friend.

I absolutely adored The Second Chance Year and I’ve been so excited for Wish I Were Here!

Catherine is about to start her dream tenure track mathematics professor role. She has a rough day, makes a wish and ends up changing her entire life. When she goes for orientation she finds out that no record of her exists. She doesn’t have many friends or family so she turns to Luca, her building’s doorman, for help.

This had lots of twists and moments that kept me guessing and wanting to turn the page. As a type A person, Catherine was very relatable. It was nice to see her go outside her comfort zone with Luca and his amazing family as they try to fix her missing identity. Luca was such a perfect swoon worthy book boyfriend.

This is such a perfect fall cozy read.

First, Thank you NetGalley and Read Forever Pub,

This is about a math professor who discovers her identity is erased and she teams up with her doorman to figure out what has happened. A very cute book that’s sweet magical fun about self discovery, between the banter, romance and the found family this is a perfect read for the fall. If you’re looking for books with romance that has some mystery in it pick up this book.

This book is a gem! It was such a delightful ad heartwarming read that I couldn’t put down. It was such a charming book about identity, love and found family.

Catherine, a very organized, rule following math professor, life is turned upside down when her identity mysteriously disappears from all official records. In a stroke of unexpected luck, she finds herself thrown into the chaotic world of Luca, a carefree doorman from her new apartment building. They join forces on an adventure to get back Catherine’s identity.

The writing is witty, engaging, and filled with vibrant characters. I loved following along Catherine’s journey of self-discovery and Luca’s optimism was infectious. The supporting cast, a quirky group of misfits who live in the apartment, added humor to the story. There was a touch of romance and magical realism that put a smile on my face. I absolutely adored this book!

Wish I Were Here by Melissa Wiesner
Contemporary romance.
Catherine Lipton’s goals are lining up. She’s moved into a nice apartment on her own and she’s interviewing for a university position in the math department that’s on the path to tenure. Sure, there’s a hiccup or two with the doorman who never seems to be at his desk, and then running into her father with her new boss at the university, but she can handle it. When she shows up for orientation though, things start falling apart. Her paperwork was rejected saying she doesn’t exist. Then her credit card is declined and the Social Security office says she doesn’t exist. Doorman Luca Morelli has friends and family all over the city and he helps Catherine track down the details she needs to get her life back online. Becoming friends with many of the elderly residents in the building and realizing that Luca may be more than he seems, adds a spark of possibilities to her life. Her future may be different than she planned.

Catherine and Luca are at odds from the beginning. But really, how was she supposed to know he’s helping the other residents? She only sees that he’s missing from his post. As Catherine gets to know Luca, her eyes are opened to so much more. She finds out about her own history, and Italian families, and community involvement.

Romance, family, community. I loved this story. While there are a lot of shocks for Catherine, she handles it all remarkably well. For the most part. I doubt I’d be anywhere near as composed if I was told I didn’t exist.
Poignant and romantic.
Bonus Reading Questions included at the end of the Print version.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley.

Wish I Were Here is a cute love story with a bit of magic. Our heroine is a type A math professor, who's identity has gone missing. Our male lead is a fun loving doorman. Over the course of a few week's Luca helps Catherine track down her identity and come to grips with her past and what she wants from her future. The side characters bring all the laughs! The romance is very fade to black.

Thanks to Forever and NetGalley for this eARC!

Mathematician Catherine has just secured her dream job as a mathematics professor when she runs into a hiccup. Her identity seems to have been erased and her paperwork won’t go through. With the help of her handsome and free willed doorman Luca, Catherine sets to put her life and job back on track. But when family secrets are discovered Catherine must come to terms with who she truly is and the woman she wants to become.

With the emphasis and sweetness of time that Melissa Wiesner excels at writing, this romance was a true joy to read!

Okay, here me out...romance, comedy, self discovery, a hot doorman and a sprinkle of magical realism? Yes, please! This book is an easy, adorable and heartwarming read. If you're a fan of found families, Ashley Poston or Sophie Cousens, I definitely recommend this! The apartment building also gives off Only Murders in the Building Vibes (even though there are no murders... don't ask me to explain
à) that I was totally into. Solid 4 stars.

I thought this story was absolutely adorable. Catherine is an uptight, rule follower who has a plan for everything. Except for when she seems to have disappeared from all of the records - no social security number, credit cards are being declined, etc. and she's being told that she doesn't exist. This is especially problematic as she needs to exist in order to take the next big step in her career and start her new job as a university professor. Luca Morelli is the doorman in the building where she lives, and she has always thought of him as kind of a slacker and irresponsible, but when he is the only one who steps up to help her sort through her missing identity issues, she reluctantly accepts his assistance.

I really enjoyed the secondary characters that turn into a found family for Catherine. This was light and funny and hopeful with just the right amount of magical realism in the story to make it different than a regular rom com/love story.

Thank you Forever Paperback and NetGalley for the ARC!

Plot: Catherine just landed her dream job as a math professor… but of course her first day of orientation is starting off on the wrong food thanks to her type-b doorman Luca. Her day gets worse when she arrives and there is no record of her existing - her social security number isn’t tied to anyone, and she has to track down her birth certificate to prove that she exists, or she will lose her position. Luca thinks he can help, and they embark on a journey to figure out what happened.

Review: I adored the Second Chance Year, so of course I jumped on this as soon as it popped up on NetGalley. What I love about Melissa’s books is that the romance is a secondary plot line, and the character’s journey and growth is the primary. I loved the story, the message, and the dash of magical realism. I maybe could have used a little more investment in Catherine and Luca’s relationship… I’m not sure I totally bought it. But I adored this so much. This would appear to fans of Ashley Poston… they are incredibly similar, and I love them both, but I actually maybe prefer Melissa’s books!

4.5🌟

<b>Read Completed 10/16/24 |</b> 3.5 stars, rounded up
I just adored Melissa Weisner's debut and couldn't wait to read this new release from her. WISH I WERE HERE was a little less my style, but I really enjoyed the writing and really appreciated how the book ended!

This was a little less magical than THE SECOND CHANCE YEAR and a little more magical all at once. In an overwhelming moment, our main character Catherine wishes she was nobody and poof! All of a sudden, she can't be found in any database or system anywhere as a real identity. She then goes on a very real hunt for her birth certificate and her mother, all of which are not magical quests but actual important things in her life. We circle back around to a touch of the magic in the end to wrap things up! This was also a bit more contemporary, to me, than romance, which also wasn't a bad thing but not quite what I was expecting. I suppose all romances still have a lot of self-reflection but I felt like Catherine's growth was definitely first and foremost with the romance being a bonus.

This was a fun exploration in identity and overcorrecting your past. Catherine is very type A and sometimes those types of characters are hard for me to read about. She's a math professor, but comes from a background of her father being a clown and running with a crowd who is very into arts, loose schedules, and living a freer life. Now Catherine, all grown up, fixates on her schedules and goals -- which is not a bad thing at all, but she overcorrected just a bit, not having had security like that as a child. I really liked seeing her connect the two parts of her life. She really loves her father but had a hard time when he wasn't the most reliable parent, and now as an adult, she's figuring out how to have a relationship with him. I loved that she got back in touch with her childhood and let go of some of her strict schedules, realizing that she absolutely can have a STEM/math-focused job and enjoy what she does but still let loose and let go of some of that control every once in a while too. I was SO HAPPY that the author didn't make her quit her job that she enjoyed, and she even got to connect with someone in her department that wasn't stuffy to show that personalities of all kinds get to enjoy this type of job.

I also really appreciated Catherine's search for her mother and I don't want to go into any spoilers, but I really liked how the end of that was handled. It wasn't all or nothing, and it made perfect, realistic sense instead of being hyperbolic for the sake of a romance book.

The romance was cute, and I liked how it all worked out. I was afraid that I, too, was going to get annoyed with Luca's unreliability, but I loved how the author really explained every situation in which he felt unreliable. Catherine gets to dig deeper and see exactly why Luca seems out of sorts all the time, and he really just has a heart of gold and is arranging his schedule around others to help them out. I like that he was so supportive and helped Catherine break some rules.

This was a cute read and I really enjoy Melissa Weisner's writing style! I wasn't bowled over by it but it was quite heart-warming and very enjoyable.

💙P U B D A Y R E V I E W 💙

WISH I WERE HERE
Melissa Wiesner @melissawiesnerauthor

Thank you to the author for including me in her traveling arc team and also to @readforeverpub for my #gifted arc.

Thoughts:
I love, love, loved this book!! We need more MMC’s like Luca in the world! Such a dream and so caring. Catherine was not as easy to love but I think that was the intent. We def see growth in her. The elderly neighbors were so awesome! I’d love to live in this building.
Being part of the traveling arc team was so much fun! Seeing everyone’s comments and tabs definitely enhanced the reading experience.
This is my second book I’ve read by Melissa and she’s got a fan for life!

Spoiler free plot summary: Catherine, a type A, ultra organized, mathematician/soon to be professor, who was raised by a free-spirit single dad, overwhelmed by life responsibilities thinks to herself she just wishes she could be someone else, and all of a sudden her identity disappears. The HR paperwork for her new job, her social security data, her bank info, gone. If she doesn't sort it out, everything important that she has worked for will all be gone. The only person that sticks by her side to help her solve/find her identity is the handsome but go with the flow like her dad doorman of her complex, Luca. Together, they try to solve her identity crisis, including doing questionable things to get her data, finding her birth mom, and figuring out that opposites aren't a bad thing at all.

I thought the idea was cute, and I loved The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, which also had a disappearing identity theme, albeit in a very different way so was excited for this. It's always a fascinating thing to think about how we look at life, how our perspectives can be too narrow, how much we can learn from others if we're open to it, and understanding that life priorities can shift in life. I love the idea of found families, and how success in life isn't just about your academic or professional success. People truly are THE magic of our lives and I enjoyed this book. I love the magic in Ashley Poston books so the blurb suggesting this for fans of Ashley's writing is spot on.

The only thing I'd say is, there are books where I feel just so attached to the characters I don't want it to end. I wasn't quite there with this book but thought it was cute and thought provoking.

There’s something really fun about a book that totally surprises you with how much you love it. I thought this was going to be a fun, breezy rom-com, but I didn’t expect it to hit me right in the feels. Catherine and Luca were so lovely together, exactly the complementary piece the other needs. The supporting characters are weird and fun and outlandish and realistic at the same time. But it’s the residents of their apartment building that stand out most, that give this book the sense of love and community that tugs at your heart strings. I can’t recommend it enough

Thank you Forever books for the review copy!
Read if you like variations that feel new on the “wish I could be someone else” trope, a plot with hidden depth and wit and charm, and solid slow burn chemistry with a sweetly sexy male MC. I am always here for the professor who wants to change things up vibe... (I get it!).

I love how Wiesner develops plots that are more than a romance, that have that hidden depth that authors such as Emily Henry always manage to pull off. The plots draw me in not for the romance, though I love a HEA, but for the journey the main characters go on. I loved how this story came together and look forward to the next book!

Fun, hilarious and adventurous. Had a big found family energy with all of the octogenarians and Luca's big italian family. A mystery to solve Catherine's identity disappearance, but also Luca and Catherine's cozy romance. Loved all of this.

I looooooooved this book. In Wish I Were Here there is adventure, humor, drama, a heist, heart, community and the smidgiest smidge of magical realism that made it an experience I won't soon forget.

Catherine has it all. The life she's dreamed of her entire childhood. A place of her own, every aspect of her life within her control, and she's about to start the career of her dreams: a tenure track role in the mathematics department of the university. But when she shows up for orientation, she's told there was a problem with her paperwork. Turns out, none of her forms of ID are valid. She's not in the system & will lose everything she clings to so desperately for if she can't get it fixed, and fast. With the help of her disorganized but compassionate doorman with connections all around the city, it's a race against time to save her job.

Catherine and Luca are a perfect match for a romance novel. She craves organization almost to a point of pathology and that ranks low on Luca's priority list. His actions shout at her to stay away, but there is something about him that she can't deny she's drawn to. He's an excellent problem solver and Catherine happens to have a lot of problems that need solving at the moment!

Let's talk about Luca Morelli. Oh my. Dream boat. This guy is Catherine's nightmare, having so much in common with her literal clown of a father, but folks, he takes the time to dance with old ladies in the lobby, run them on their errands, listen to their stories, shows up every week to family dinners, and goes out of his way to help everyone every time. He's a tatted-up teddy bear. He's a keeper.

Kitty Cat (as the real ones call her) has quite the journey to traverse over the course of the novel. She's got an identity crisis (literally), her father's lost (another) job, and she learns about her mother for the first time in her 30 years of life, who might just be the answer to unlock everything else.

Not to mention the cast of side characters in this book are all fun, endearing, and incredibly special. The community aspect of this book is truly aspirational.

The romance in this book felt so...pure. It's completely organic and hopeful and sweet and gah I just loved every bit of it. The personal journey Catherine goes on reminds me of the best Katherine Center books. This one blew me away. I got an arc copy from netgalley and the publisher, but before I was even halfway through I knew I was going to need a copy for myself to keep on my shelves. Absolutely wonderful. What are you waiting for?!

“Maybe something seems like a disaster. But if you look deeper, maybe it’s an opportunity. It’s all about how you look at it.”

Wish I Were Here is a heartwarming romance novel with some mystery and a little bit of magical realism. It’s a beautiful story of self discovery, perspective, opportunities, found family and community. It has a diverse cast of multigenerational characters, which I loved! Set at The DeGreco Apartments, where mostly ‘aging in place’ seniors reside except for the young doorman, Luca, and the newest tenant, Catherine.

Catherine, is a rule-following, people pleasing, college math professor and is too busy to slow down and enjoy life. She had an unconventional childhood, raised by her single father who was eccentric, quirky and literally a clown. Catherine is determined and passionate about her life goals and has worked hard to be the successful, organized and punctual person she was. Things were going her way and everything was perfect until it wasn’t. Suddenly, her identity disappears which makes a huge mess of her no longer perfect life. Luca, is the complete opposite of Catherine and is free spirited, carefree and yet so very charming to the young and old…everyone he comes in contact with. He comes from a large, close, Italian family, the Morellis, who are very well known in the community.

This story gave me feel-good, heartwarming, Hallmark Christmas movie vibes but without the Christmas setting. The plot was highly interesting and the characters were developed so well that I made strong connections and was sucked into the story very quickly. I loved that there was just enough mystery to keep me intrigued and wanting to read more to find out what was happening. This story caught me off guard and hit me hard on a personal level. I honestly thought I knew what was going to happen but I was so wrong, but in the best way possible. The twist was so beautifully unexpected that it took my breath away.

Wish I Were Here presented an interesting spin on the typical romance formula. Mathematics professor Catherine Lipton experiences missing identity and then explores her sense of identity, which I enjoyed but felt like it leaned more into Women's Fiction. Her love interest, Luca Morelli, was a complete cinnamon roll. However, I didn't love either character, the was conflict resolved in an oversimple way, and I just wasn't as into this book as the author's last one.

Thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for gifting me with an ARC to review. All opinions are my own.