Center is a new author to me and she has taken me on a heartwarming and fun journey with What You Wish For.

I would categorize this ultimately as a light-hearted romance novel but with other characteristics weaved in of friendship, self-growth and the serious topic of safety for children. The highlighted parts were definitely the degree of goofiness and what it means to find joy. All the characters were easily lovable so you'll feel like you are meeting some new friends. Yet, if you are looking for a heart thumping romance, this one did not quite reach that peak.

I'd recommend this read!

Everyone I know who loves to read is excited for What You Wish For by Katherine Center. She is a fantastic author and though she has a lot of awesome books, my favorite is one of her first novels, Happiness for Beginners. I loved that book!

Synopsis:

Samantha Casey loves everything about her job as an elementary school librarian on the sunny, historic island of Galveston, Texas—the goofy kids, the stately Victorian building, the butterfly garden. But when the school suddenly loses its beloved principal, it turns out his replacement will be none other than Duncan Carpenter—a former, unrequited crush of Sam’s from many years before.

When Duncan shows up as her new boss, though, he’s nothing like the sweet teacher she once swooned over. He’s become stiff, and humorless, and obsessed with school safety. Now, with Duncan determined to destroy everything Sam loves about her school in the name of security—and turn it into nothing short of a prison—Sam has to stand up for everyone she cares about before the school that’s become her home is gone for good.

This new book is getting great early reviews and they are well deserved. If you like relatable and fleshed out characters plus a plot that’s going to tug at your heart and make you travel on an emotional adventure, this is for you.

You can pre-order the book here and it will be published on July 14.

I love books that make you laugh throughout and feel happy at the end and that's exactly what this book did for me. It took a couple of chapters for the book to grab me but once it did I flew through it and was completely engrossed in the story.

Another great book by Katherine Center!

I adore Katherine Center, but this book paled in comparison to her other works. It felt like a rushed story, just thrown together. It was difficult to connect the main characters' past interactions to their present actions....and while I always appreciate representation and hard conversations, some just themed "thrown" in here.

If someone asked me about this book, I would tell them that if they absolutely love Katherine Center, then read it on a day you are bored. If they have not read Katherine Center, I would recommend all of her others before this title.

Move over, Marie Kondo! Katherine Center has graced us with the tool (no cleaning/organizing required) to help us all "spark" joy, especially during this time when we all need it most. The central theme of the story is to choose joy in life, and I love how Center was able to seamlessly weave the art of choosing joy throughout the entire novel. From deployment to grief, trauma to heartache, growing pains to dealing with disorders, Center has created characters with whom any reader can relate. Despite these struggles that often challenge us in life, we are all presented with the option to pursue joy and happiness - and I am thankful to this book for that reminder.

I did prefer the author's other two books, but this book was cute and positive. Worth a read for sure.

Katherine Center never disappoints. This isn't my first book that I have read that she's written, and I must say that I gladly enjoyed reading it. Perfect book to read during this difficult time.

Thanks to Ms. Center and to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I’m going to start this review by saying that I LOVE Katherine Center. I have loved every single book of hers that I’ve read. Every single one. This book, while I had some reservations about it immediately finishing it (hence 4 stars instead of 5), still holds up to my standard for her work. Clay is an impossibly adorable, serious child, and I loved the emphasis on the ocean. The ocean almost acts as a character itself, witnessing pivotal moments in the story. I would definitely recommend this book.

I don't read many romance/chick lit books, but I make an exception for anything that Katherine Center writes! I think it's the sense of humor that she adds to her books and the realistic (for the most part) characters, situations, and dialogue! What You Wish For did not disappoint! The two main characters both had believable issues, and the issues were totally unexpected when I found out about them. The dialogue was superb - and I expect the author actually talks the way the characters do - that's the only way she could get it so perfect! And I love epilogues, too, so I was glad to see that.

If I am being completely honest, there was one part that didn't really make sense to me and which I thought was totally unnecessary - the jumping off of the pier part. I sort of lost interest there - it just seemed too "out there" to really happen.

A sincere Thank You! goes out to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for sending me an advanced copy of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, for this free review copy.

I loved Katherine's last two books, and was really looking forward to this one! It did not disappoint, and it will be another book that has a permanent place on my shelf!

I am a HUGE fan of second chance romances, and this reminded me a lot of them! We have two main characters, Sam and Duncan. They used to work together at a school in CA and Sam had the biggest crush on Duncan! After moving to Texas, her school needs a new principal and Duncan is the new replacement. She notices very quickly how different he is, and has some quick thoughts that she should just quit. While nobody seems to like Duncan and all his over the top changes, Sam soon finds out why he is the way he is, and tries to helo him find his old self.

While this book felt so different from her last books, it was still so well written and kept my attention! What You Wish For comes out July 14th, so make sure to pre-order or have your library order it! ☺

What You Wish For is an awesome book. Great story, characters and setting. I highly recommend this book. I received an arc from the publisher and Netgalley and this is my unbiased review.

What You Wish For by Katherine Center intrigued me because the description said: “Samantha Casey loves everything about her job as an elementary school librarian…” I was a school librarian myself for 14 years, and it was probably the best, most fun, most demanding job I ever had.

Sam worked in a private school on Galveston Island in Texas. The founder and beloved principal died recently. He was replaced by someone Sam taught with in another school who she knew would be absolutely amazing although she had some trepidation about him coming to her school as she had been secretly in love with him.

But the clever, funny guy she remembered Duncan Carpenter to be had disappeared inside a gray suit wearing, militant type who basically wants to turn the school into a prison with gray walls covering everything, including a butterfly mural. He planned on having students and staff wear gray uniforms. He cancelled all field trips. His goal: make this the safest school ever.

The staff soon was rebelling. The teachers wanted their new principal fired. Before giving up on him, Sam and two of her colleagues came up with a plan to try to redeem this once funny, carefree, playful guy who had turned hard-core radical in the name of school safety. Can they turn this stern-faced principal back into the juggling, dancing, goofy guy who Sam remembered?

My first experience with Katherine Center was earlier this year with her book Things You Save in a Fire. Her writing is lighthearted and uplifting. Based on the two books I’ve read by her now, I would describe her as a new voice in women’s fiction or chick-lit.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting April 25, 2020.

I’d like to thank St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective.

This book brought tears to my eyes on numerous occasions. I sat down to read it and found myself emersed in the story quickly. Before I knew the story was done, but the characters and the message of the book still linger.
It's a beautifully tragic story that brings these two former colleagues back working together in new place, in a new time. Much has changed for both, some for the better and some for the worst. Sam had always had a crush on the popular, happy-go-lucky Duncan in the past, but a lifetime of ridicule and humiliation when she was younger die to her epilepsy had made her a shy mouse. She knows she is invisible to the awesomeness that is Duncan Carpenter. So to prevent further heartache, she runs from one coat to a island community of Galveston, TX to teach. There she blooms and learns to ". . . bite and scratch and claw my way toward happiness everyday" instead for letting fear smother the life out of her. ". . .it's a hostile kind of joy."
Everything is perfect until her beloved mentor and principal does unexpectedly and is replaced by Duncan.
Duncan's past has changed him. Here is no longer the happy-go-lucky man of his past. He has a job to do and nothing with stop that. He has shut down his emotions, cut off all human contacts. He is a shell of his former self, but he is determined to protect his student and teachers, even if it means they go to school in a prison-like place everyday to do, they will be safe. What changed him so drastically? Can these two broken people find a way to help heal each other??
This book had a lot of "hot topic issues" that we see (sadly) more and more in our world today. I don't want to run it for you, but what teachers could or have faced and how bullying effects lives. They are issues with long reaching impacts on not just the individuals but communities and families. I felt the power of love in this book. It's the kind book that gives you the warm-fuzzies while at the same time enriches your life for having read it if you take the life lessons to heart

"The world keeps hanging on this idea that love is for the gullible. But nothing could be more wrong. Love is for the brave."

** I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review. **

Over the past year, I have become a huge fan of Katherine Center and was eagerly awaiting the release of her new book What You Wish For, Art to come out this summer. When I found out @netgalley had released copies for review, I was extremely excited and put all other reading on hold to gobble up this one as fast as possible. •
Sadly, I was a bit disappointed. It had everything typical of a Katherine Center novel, but fell short with a few plot twists. Not to mention, I thought the main character was a bit whiny, which may have been intentional, but was nonetheless hard for me to sympathize with. Of course, the love story was cute, but overall, the build up of the story over promised on the ending, which left me feeling disappointed and as if I had missed something all along.

Sam Casey’s life before she moved to Texas was bleak. She wore gray and brown more than anything else, she was meek and timid, and she didn’t have many friends. What she did have was a crush on a coworker named Duncan Carpenter. Duncan is passionate about his job; he makes learning fun, he wears crazy colors and patterns, has dance parties, and will wear every tie his students give him regardless of how crazy it is. After making a huge change and moving to Texas and experiencing a traumatic car accident, school librarian Sam decides to find joy in her life. She wears bright colors, does whimsical things that strike her as enjoyable, and befriends her students and fellow teachers. After a tragedy, a new principal is needed at Sam’s school. Who else would they happen to hire other than Duncan Carpenter?
Sam stresses over whether Duncan will remember her or not; she definitely remembers him. But the Duncan that they hired is not the same Duncan Carpenter that Sam remembers. This Duncan wears plain gray suits and hardly smiles. He wants to turn the school into a fortress; creating gates, locked doors, new security protocols and painting over the beloved murals and colorful hallways. Can Sam and her fellow teachers convince him to change his ways before he changes their beloved school into something unrecognizable?
Center’s newest novel has heart, guts, and comedy. Sam is a lovable protagonist who’s been dealt a hard hand in life but is learning to cope. Flashes between the former and the current Duncan makes readers root for Sam as she strives to get him to see the world as wonderfully and colorfully as he once did.

Thank you NetGalley for my ARC of What You Wish For. I love all of Center’s books, so I definitely enjoyed this one! I liked the story, the setting, and the characters. Alice cracked me up again and again with her math t-shirts and math quips. 5 stars and 100% recommend it! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A great book for quarantine--just what we need right now. So cute, so positive, A quirky elementary school librarian in Texas meets her match in the new school principal. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for a review.

This book pulls at your heartstrings. Each and every one of them. It has joy, comedy, romance, trauma, and a feel good ending that goes exactly where you wanted it to go in exactly the right way. Katherine Center does an amazing job making her characters relatable and infuriatingly stubborn in a way that totally pays off in the end.

The romance between Sam and Duncan is fascinating and hooked me in. And there's one scene that flips my feelings for him on its head. At the beginning I hated him. He was a stick in the mud and so dense. But I think the contrast between that and the growth he goes through to make him where he is at the end of the novel is worth all that anger.

The beginning was a little slow for me, but I loved all of Katherine Center's other book so I stayed with it and all of a sudden I was done with the book. Like, where did that come from? I couldn't put it down.

Katherine Center has quickly become one of my favorite authors. This is my third from her and it was just as good as her others. Here we follow Sam, a librarian at an Elementary School in Galveston, TX. After a tragedy her school hires a new principle and he is someone from Sam's past but he is nothing like what she remembers. I enjoyed both Sam and Duncan's stories and the journey they both needed to go on to grow. Katherine's books always have something going on besides the straight storyline, so trigger warnings for school shootings. Katherine's stories always have a way of just sucking me in! Highly recommend this one if you are looking for a sweet second chance and enemies to lovers story! I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press.

After reading Things You Save in a Fire, I was so excited to received Katherine Center's upcoming novel What You Wish For from St. Martins Press Publishers, expected release in July. While I didn't connect as much with this book and characters as I had with Center's other novel I read, I can appreciate the subjects this story touches on. From PTSD to grief, there are many underlying layers to be found in What You Wish For. There is also a focus on finding the joy in life. One of my favorite quotes that I saved in my journal is:

"Pay attention to the things that connect you with joy."

Not just to find joy but to connect with joy. How often do we forget to connect with what brings us joy?? I know I sure do. This may not have been a favorite read but I know I'll be reading more by this author. I already have How to Walk Away waiting for me on my Kindle :)

Other favorite quotes:

"I'm telling you. I know all about darkness. That's why I am so hell-bent, every damn day, on looking for the light."

"Love makes you better because it's hard. Taking risks makes you better because it's terrifying. That's how it works. You'll never get anything that matters without earning it."