Read was fun and easy to do in one sitting. Great characters. Plot was interesting. Romance was adorable.

Book Review
Title: Wishes
Author: Mieko Tachibana
Genre: Manga
Rating: *****
Review: The opening to Wishes introduces us to Virginia who is an aspiring chef and is working at a waitress in order to put herself through school until a lady drops her purse in the diner. Virginia does the right thing by contacting the woman and arranging to return the purse and as a reward she has the choice of $500 or a magic lamp but as a struggling student Virginia knows what she has to do.
When Virginia meets Wilder as he picks her up to return his mother’s purse and collect her reward, she immediately is attracted to him, but he values her for her intelligence rather than her looks, which is extremely refreshing for Virginia. While at dinner with Wilder and his mother Virginia ponders her choice of the money or the mysterious lamp and much to surprise of everyone, Virginia chooses the lamp and begins making wishes on it.
This starts a long journey for Virginia to knock down the walls around Wilder’s heart while she tries to convince Wilder that she is the exact type of woman he needs to make him feel special and loved. Eventually, this wishes do come true when Wilder finds Virginia after she graduates from culinary school and confesses his love for her and the shocking twist at the end really made me smile. Highly recommended.

Harlequin romance manga comics are like my romance catnip. Gorgeous illustrations. Romantic stories. Just all around beautiful. And quite often, the comics make me want to go back and read the books too. I think for me, the comics serve a purpose of illustrating a beautiful story and bringing it to life with wonderful illustrations. It's also a teaser and taste of the story it often makes me want to take in the original story for more depth and detail. Between the book and the manga comic, they are a winning combination. And yes, I know, my review of the manga comics are often the same but it's mostly the case because they often get the same reaction from me. Thank you for this wonderful medium in delivering romance to a dedicated reader.

Enjoyed this one so much. I always adore "cruel" and mean Hero, that's why I just can't stop giggling with giddiness when I read this manga because I know in the end the Hero will cave in and begs for heroine's forgiveness. And certainly, this manga didn't disappoint. I love it!
There are parts when I really want to shake our heroine so she can stay strong, but man I'm glad it's all good in the end.

I received this manga from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

I just couldn't resist this one, the cover was cute, and the blurb promised something very sweet and magical. What would you choose? Money or magic? A chance at romance or money? It is definitely tempting to take the money, but when you meet a handsome man, the son of the wallet owner you found, mmm, definitely not an easy choice to make.

I loved it when Virginia and Wilder met up. At first I was worried he was going to be grumpy rich dude, but he was just so focused on what he was reading. I had such a laugh when Virginia introduced herself and then got a bit too honest regarding Wilder's company. Teehee. I am glad Wilder was able to laugh as well, that was pretty important to me.

I loved Virginia some more when she told him about her sisters and how she was doing stocks. That is one girl that has brain and beauty. <3

Wilder: "Oops. I'd better watch out. You have some thorns."
Virginia: "They're not thorns, it's pride."
And then that smile by Wilder. *melts* Yep, I am shipping them, and I am only at page 13 of 129. This one is off to a great start!

Virginia: "Sorry, I'm actually nervous. I'm feeling butterflies in my stomach. It's my first time at a mansion like this and being with a handsome person like you."
Wilder: "I see. So you don't always bite."
*snorts* I love their conversations.

At first there seemed to be a bit of drama, but then it was shrugged off, I am wondering if there is more to it or if this is going to be it. The dinner was quite fun and I loved how close Wilder and his mother are, they banter around and at times it seemed quite serious, but then they would both laugh and it made me smile. Awww to have that bond with your parents.

*rolls over laughing* OMG, his face when she decided on her choice. If you place it out of content you can use it for so many things.

Her wish was a bit plain, but it does fit her and I was eager to find out if the wishes would come true. A few pages we find out that answer. Yes. Really, the mangaka needs to work on her reaction faces. Just like Wilder's face, Virginia's face is one that looks more like she just seen murder being committed in front of her instead of getting a job offer from a sexy dude.

Here I was, excited for some romance, because Wilder seemed to have some doubts, and I was happy to see he finally picked the right choice (yes, it is all about choices and wishes in this manga). Namely, Virginia. And to be with her. But then he did that. ARGHHHH. I get that he is thinking this is a trap, given that he is the richest man around, but still, have a little trust in this girl.

I am glad that we also see parts of Virginia trying to study to be a chef. Seeing her make food (and having Wilder's mom taste them), see her get judged on her food by professionals, gaining interests by famous people.

"Aren't you reading too many Harlequin books?" - Wilder to his mom. Lovely to see that Harlequin books exist in the Harlequin book world.

I am happy that these two are able to talk, but it seems they are not getting anywhere with it, which makes me sad. I want to have Wilder see that Virginia is a good girl, a good match. I want him to open his heart, let down the walls he created. There are so many good moments between them, and I just want to push them together. They are running around in circles. Especially Wilder, he makes dumb remarks that he should just hold back. :( I also don't get why he is having such troubles with Viriginia paving her own way. You can still be together even if she has her own things. :|

Awwwww! He finally figured it out! Confession time! Proposal time! Squeee! I was so happy to see Wilder was able to get over his insecurities and let Virginia in her life.

Oh, I loved that, instead of how most Harlequin manga ended with wedding, this one ended with us reading a conversation between Wilder's mom and her friend. That was quite refreshing.

The art was pretty nice. I loved the designs on the characters and all the food made me hungry, however the mangaka needs to work on their reactions. Because I am sorry, surprise is one thing, but at times these characters looked like they were either witnesses to murder or were committing the murder. :P

All in all, even with the bumps in the road (Wilder, please), this was a fabulous manga and I loved it so so much. I was rooting for Wilder and Virginia. Not just to get them together, but also for Virginia to find her way in cooking.

Thank you to Harlequin Manga (Harlequin/SB Creative) and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC to read and review.

Note: I have never read the original novel, only this manga adaptation.

Wishes was such a cute story. It's short, sweet, and to the point. What enticed me to request this title was the inciting incident: a lost wallet leads to a reward of $500 or a magic lamp, which subsequently leads to love. How interesting! I like Virginia's character a lot. She's strong, a real go-getter, determined, and a hopeless romantic. Wilder's character is a bit flat and seen-before but I still liked his presence in the story. I might read the full length novel someday because I had a positive reading experience with the manga.

📚I received an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) from NetGalley and Harlequin/SB Creative as the publisher in exchange for an honest review📚

Book title :Her Forbidden Bridegroom: a Harlequin Manga

Author : Rita Clay Estrada; Illustrator : Mieko Tachibana

Release Date : 18 January 2019

Our heroine, Virginia is a part-time worker in a restaurant and a student in one of the culinary school. She was about graduated from that school and her wish was to be a chef. Her life was full of hard work but it changed when her “once upon a time” started…

Virginia found Mrs. Hunnicut’s wallet and she was asked to deliver the wallet in person. Mrs. Hunnicut later sent her hotty son who was also the president of ACE Corporation, Wilder Hunnicut to collect her. During the meeting, Mrs. Hunnicut offered Virginia to pick 500 bucks or a lamp. As Wilder insulted her, she decided to pick the lamp. And that’s what makes this story to become a little-Alladin-look-like. Virginia brought the lamp home and started to make a wish. She firstly wished a great luck in finishing her study and a new job that paid all her bills. Sheesy cheesy, she later got a job as Mrs Hunnicut’s secretary.

Being a secretary, she would have to stay with the Hunnicut family and that’s where the attraction between her and Wilder sparked.

I personally love to the whole plot of the story. I think it is because I love Virginia and her portrayal. Ah, I have no space for those lame dude with super clingy heroine tho. In addition, even though this story is a happy ending one, the rest of the story will never be spilled here. It is no fun and is a surprise that one should read and find out. But heck, the plot of the story is evoking and the end of the story is emotionally touching especially when I see how Virginia maintains herself to stand still when she is heartbroken. I love seeing how Wilder tries hard to resist his feeling towards Virginia by pretending to be cool. The conflict is portrayed and illustrated beautifully as the artist is able to captured it and put it into the manga-style. It is just a perfect one to read.

Review: https://literatureisliving.wordpress.com/2019/01/10/wishes-a-harlequin-manga-by-rita-clay-estrada/

When Virginia finds a lost wallet she is quite surprised to find out the owner of the wallet is the mother of one of the top CEOs in the country. When she meets him in order to return the wallet a simmering attraction starts between them but Wilder is wedded to his work and Virginia is a talented trainee chef.

The owner of the wallet gives her a choice either 500 dollars or a magic lamp. Virginia's choice leads her to a closer relationship with Wilder and his mother and their lives begin to intertwine in surprising ways. Virginia is fiercely independent and Wilder is immediately captivated by her, but can he find it in his heart to make space for Virginia?

This is a lovely romance with a frisson of mystery because we never get to find out whether the lamp is magic or not, what we do get to see is a lovely unassuming young girl who gives her heart to Wilder's mother and is determined to succeed in her chosen career.

Will Wilder be able to overcome his shortsightedness and embrace the love that has come into his life or will he remain un-budgeable and focused only on work?

I really enjoyed this romantic manga. It is well drawn with lovely artwork and the story is engaging and actually interesting. The characters come to life and there is humor, tears and joy all held together by a witty dialogue between the characters.

I read a lot of these manga romances and this one is an excellent one.

Copy provided by Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

A waitress in a diner finds a wallet and gives it back to the owner, the mother of a computer company CEO, who offers her to choose her reward between $ 500 she can use to pay for her culinary courses or a magic lamp that grants wishes. The handsome ceo teases her about how gullible she is about the lamp, but she chooses it anyway. Feeling guilty that she dropped the money she needed, he offers her a well paid live-in job as his mom's secretary that will allow her to attend her culinary school at the same time... not knowing that finding such job and meeting him again was exactly the girl's first wish out of the three the lamp can grant. What will happen when wishes take a more sentimental turn and our man is reluctant to admit to his feelings? Can wishes be undone and fate rewritten?

A very enjoyable contemporary romance about dreams and choices that will keep you on edge until the happy ending because of course romance.