There was nothing really special about What She Wanted by Julie Ann Lindsay. It was a somewhat predictable, but pleasant read. It is not a book that is ever going to set the world on fire or provoke great debate, but it does remind us that we shouldn't judge other people's actions until we understand what motivates them.

Raised by her grandfather following the deaths of her mother and her grandmother, Katy plans to move out on her 18th birthday and leave her grandfather to enjoy the solitude he seems to crave. But fate has other plans for Katy.

An excellent choice for a holiday read, with just a little romance and a fair bit of family angst, this is a sweet, but fairly forgettable, coming of age story.

Thank you to Kensington Books, Lyrical Press for providing a digital copy of What She Wanted by Julie Ann Lindsay for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Katy cannot wait for her eighteenth birthday, so she can finally move out of her grandfather Mark’s house and start life on her own. Her mother was only 16 when she got pregnant, and died soon after Katy was born from cancer. Mark has always treated her unkindly because he blames her for her mother’s death, and her father has been a no-show in her life.

When Katy seems to be getting ready to move out, Mark has a heart attack, and soon Katy has to reevaluate her plans. When she finds a box of mementos and a journal from her mother, she decides to take action and rebuild relationships, soon embracing dreams she never thought she could have.