Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC publication for an honest review.

With Love from Wish & Co.
by Minnie Darke
Pub Date: 16 Aug 2022

I am going to be honest, while there was nothing wrong with the writing. I found the idea of a professional "gift giver" interesting, I think the fact that our heroine, Marnie, buying for the wife and the "other woman" just felt wrong. There were definitely some cute and romantic moments between her and Luke, but overall, the book was just okay for me. I think it truly was "it's me" not so much the book. I would still read another of her works.

I love a good rom-com, and With Love, from Wish & Co., by Minnie Drake, has all the ingredients for a delicious story. There's the career-driven 30'ish woman and her friends who have all paired up. There's a hunky furniture builder who still hasn't found true love. But, I also found lots of unique elements that aren't usually found in this genre. As much as this is a story about 30-somethings finding love, there is also an older married couple who are trying to come to grips with their marriage. Along with many happy times, there are difficulties, and betrayals that must be addressed if they want their relationship to continue. And it's not a simple question of whether or not to forgive. The author never judges the characters, and this helps to make these people actual humans, with lots of problems. Each of the characters has their issues, and their charm. I really enjoyed this novel for it's gift-giving advice, as well as it's romance. And, even though it seems at first to be following a formula, there were lots of twists and turns that kept this book a real page-turner. I highly recommend this book.

What I Liked:

Characters:

Marnie is a successful business owner who is always working. She runs a successful gift-giving service, mostly for wealthy men who don't have the time (and don't want to be bothered) to shop for gifts. She genuinely loves what she does. But this doesn't leave much time for a social life. Even when she's off the clock she is doing research by scouring social media for gift giving ideas for her clients. But she is really driven to prove to her father's family that she is an upstanding, hard-working person. There's a whole history to this that I don't want to spoil. But it makes for a compelling motivation on Marnie's part.

Luke is the son of Marnie's most important client, and she has been "buying" gifts for him for years. When they meet IRL, the sparks fly! Even though it feels to Marnie that she already knows him, there are parts of his life that he hasn't shared on social media. He's just found out he has a daughter. What will his parents think? Should Luke get to know his daughter, or is it too late?

Suzanne and Brian are Luke's parents and are going through a VERY rough patch. At first, I would say that Brian is pure evil, but as the story progresses, we begin to see his motivations. I would not say his character ever became completely likable, but I certainly didn't think him the as the devil incarnate by the end. Suzanne, far from being the sweet little stay at home mom, has lots of fire left in her. If Brian wants to stay married to Suzanne, he's going to need to work for it.

The Art of Gift-Giving:

Since Marnie's business is all about gift-giving, there are many interesting takes on what a good gift is, and how one can go about finding it. There are many great tips that I intend to try out for myself, as Christmas approaches. Don't know what someone's interests are? Look on their Instagram and Facebook accounts to see what they're talking about. Don't have lots of money? Create an experience for them that is unforgettable. I loved this!

But, all fun aside, I really enjoyed that the author took the time to really make Marnie's business interesting. You could really see someone having a business like this. Rather than making this just a quirky detail of the character, it actually enriched the story.

Marnie Fairchild is a professional gift buyer. She has a knock for buying the perfect gifts for her clients. That is until one day, she has amajor mix up. Brian Charlesworth’s anniversary gift to his wife gets mixed up with the birthday gift for his mistress. In order to save her business, she come up with an idea to help Brian try to win his wife back.
This was a light-hearted, easy read. It didn’t have as much of a romance storyline as I would have liked. I felt that the romance with Marnie and Luke was just all of a sudden happening without much buildup. What I really loved was the concept of Marnie’s business. The fact that she can figure out the perfect gift for someone just by “stalking” their social media pages. It’s honestly a brilliant idea and I’m surprised I haven’t heard of this being a real business. This is told from the point of view of several characters and it gives you great perspective on exactly what’s going on with everyone, instead of trying to guess. Overall, I enjoyed the book and love the idea of Marnie’s business.

The recommendation for this book arrived from the publisher way back in April and me being me assumed I'd have PLENTY of time to read it before it was published.* But then I didn't read it early, we got a puppy and I started school, so yeah needless to say it took me a lot longer to read than expected.

Thankfully it wasn't the writing or the story that forced the long delay! For the most part, the story kept me engaged and moving forward with only a few slower spots or wait what moments.

With Love from Wish & Co. Is the story of Marnie Fairchild, a professional gift buyer who makes a HUGE mistake that causes major drama for her business and her best client. There wasn't anything groundbreaking about the story, you could see what was coming when it was coming and why it was coming from miles away. And I'm not talking just about the mistake, but the love interests, the family store, it was all very expected, but that didn't take away from Darke's writing or storytelling.

The one unexpected curve ball was Luke's surprise (the main love interest). That one definitely caught me off guard and I felt helped shape and grow his character even though we didn't really know him before the big reveal but learned more via flashback. I could've done with less of the client story, but it was intricately tied to Marnie and Luke. I'll even say the mistress being included added to the overall story and Darke's decision to use her as the epilogue and not the main protagonists worked and left the core story in a good place and provided growth and movement for two minor characters.

The best part of Darke's writing was the setting for me. The way she had Marnie describe her grandfather's store at various times really sold the story and Marnie's motivations for the entire story to me. There were other characters including Marnie's mom and Luke's siblings that paled in comparison to the character of both Wish & Co. (Marnie's current store) and Fairchild's (her grandfather's store).

Recommendation: This was a delightful read. There were a lot of characters and sub-plots but thankfully they were all unique and I was able to keep them separated. Darke could've simplified the novel significantly, but in the end, they all tied together and were resolved and each augmented the others. I'm not sure I'll seek Darke out in the future with so many MM Romances out there, but I'd definitely recommend her to others.

With Love From Wish & Co was a thought-provoking, entertaining read. As the book is set in Australia, I enjoyed learning new cultural references and slang. I admit, there were a few things I had to look up to understand the reference. I enjoyed my first book by Minnie Darke & will be adding her to my list of authors to pay attention to for new releases.

It took me a minute to get into this book. I don't know why really, in the end I loved it and was sad when I realized the next day I had finished it. Minnie Darke has a way with words.

I absolutely loved this story, in the beginning it was a bit of a slow start, Marnie sure did ramble quite a bit. Once it got going it was a nice flow and a great story. Marnie is owner of Wish & Co and really, really wants to buy a building that was once in her family, owned by her grandfather. It has been left to fall apart, was even partially ruined by a fire but rather than her uncle sell it to her and let her keep the family legacy of running a shop there he'd rather let it go. A series of unfortunate events (which I don't even understand how it happens!!) leads to trouble for Marnie right when she is on the verge of getting everything she wants.

Luke is the son of one of Marnie's best customers and recipient of her gifts. He doesn't feel like her service is as wonderful as Marnie's customers though and doesn't hesitate to say so. He has his own issues but of course things lead Luke and Marnie to spend more time together and secrets are always bound to come out ...

I feel like this story was well written. It's a tough topic and not everyone would agree with how the story goes but even though I'm one who would originally say - NEVER! It works. I found myself cheering on the story and enjoying all of the characters involved and really would love to read more. I would definitely read another book in the series if there is one. This is the first book I've read of Ms Darkes. I will have to look for others. 5 Stars for me.

Between 3 and ½ and 4 Stars.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Random House Ballantine for my advanced copy of With Love from Wish & Co.

Things I Enjoyed-

✨ The Audio- With Love From Wish & Co is narrated by Zoe Carides. She did a fantastic job. She also narrated The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth.

✨ The Writing- Minnie Darke's writing is very engaging. Especially the way she writes her characters.

✨ The Characters- I was invested. All of the characters were realistic and flawed.

Why This Wasn't a 5 Star-

The infidelity. I just can't get down.

Overall- a good read. I look forward to reading more by this author.

Cute light hearted read. Read this in one sitting. The characters are delightful and lots to love . The plot was predictable but it’s forgiven because sometimes that’s what you need. Definitely see this being a Netflix romance movie.

Marnie just wants to take Wish & Co to the next level and have an actual storefront so when her grandfather's old store goes up for sale she jumps for it but in her distraction, she makes a huge mistake with her biggest client, Brian who's been two timing his wife. As she tries to help fix the mistake and Brian struggles to save his marriage, the last thing Marnie wants to do is fall for Brian's gorgeous son Luke...what could possibly go wrong?

Thank you to Random House and Netgalley for an advanced readers of this novel for my honest opinion.

When I first started reading "With Love from Wish & Co" I was getting the vibe that Marnie was going to be the quirky, socially awkward characters that are so prevalent in fiction these days. That turned out not to be true. I had a hard time getting a feel on most of the characters in this novel. Character development wasn't really present in this light, predicable, wraps itself up as neatly as the bow on the cover of this book.

That being said it is a nice little story even if its not really based in reality. The setting of Australia sounded lovely and makes me just want to go there and stroll along the streets of this little town.

If you're looking for a nice easy read to take to the beach with you, this is it!

With Love From Wish & Co by Minnie Darke is a lighthearted read that came along at the perfect time, just after I had read a very long and deep book. This is the story of Marnie Fairchild, a professional shopper extraordinaire that makes her clients that are clueless about gifts and/or do not have the time to choose the perfect gift and wrap it to perfection, look like they spent a lot of time and effort coming up with just the right one. Marine has loftier dreams though. In addition to her successful business, she wants to buy the family building, once her grandfather's, from her uncle. Although, an unfortunate mix-up in her business puts it all in jeopardy. There are other characters that are connected in interesting ways and of course, some drama she must work through. I found this book to be entertaining, charming, and left me with a smile on my face.

Thank you Netgalley and Ballantine Books for the e-galley.

This is a layered, cute romance. I appreciated the concept of a professional gift buyer caught up in a family drama. It took me a little while to get into, but once I was into it, I was hooked. The dialogue is a particularly strong point of this story because the characters feel real and their individual motives and struggles feel authentic.

It's an excellent romance with a unique premise, however, it's important to give a trigger warning for infidelity.

3.5 stars rounded down (knocked off .5 stars because the pacing felt a little off in the middle).

Marnie runs a gift buying business and one day she switches the presents for a customers wife and his mistress. As she tries to make things right, we are taken on a story. I enjoyed this book and some of its characters but I felt like it was just too long. I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.

A delight! Perfect read with a cozy cuppa in a comfy chair. Minnie Drake has crafted a funny, warm and charming novel. I loved the characters and the plot spooled out seamlessly. Great read!

There was quite the mixup in this book really drew me to wanting to read it. It was a little slow to start it and it sort of mellowed out in the middle but this is still a really good book but this is still a really good book. I really wanted to see how things would play out after this epic mix up. It was a sweet rom-com tackling some serious issues that readers of this genre will appreciate.

This book felt more like women's fiction or family drama than a romance per se. Marnie is a professional gift giver and when she makes a terrible mix-up sending one man's wife the gift intended for his mistress, she has to fight to save her reputation and protect her store. I like Marnie's character a lot and did enjoy the secondary story line with the husband trying to win back his wife of forty years. An okay book I liked but didn't love and definitely too light on the romance storyline between Marnie and Luke (the husband's grown son). Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

If you love books about second chances, then this one will fit the bill! With multiple story arcs following characters of all different ages and places in their lives, With Love from Wish & Co. is a light-hearted story about

Marnie owns a gift giving business, and is trying to raise the money to buy her grandfather's old building to restore it and give it a second chance at life. Brian is a client and when an inadvertent mix-up happens, she learns way more than she bargained for about Brian's family and their dynamics. The many characters' lives all interweave into a brilliant, and not always happy, love story.

This story was sweet, it was happy, it was sad, and it was moving. You can't ask for much more.

Thank you to Random-House/Ballantine for providing me an ARC of this book.

Marnie Fairchild is the brains and talent behind Wish & Co. which provides a shopping experience for the wealthy. When she gets distracted, she make a HUGE mistake, and might just find love for herself in the process of trying to make everything right.

Wish & Co was a cute fun read. One of those stories that you know will be tied up in a pretty bow at the end and that’s exactly what you want and need sometimes. I loved the concept behind the book that there is a company that does all your shopping for you, sometimes even picking out better gifts than you would! The main characters job is to help her clients remember important dates and events and find just the right gift for their loved one. What a fun job.
Marnie Owen has impeccable taste and prides herself in knowing what gifts her customers want. Husbands who are too busy to remember anniversaries, bosses buying gifts for their secretaries, even men buying gifts for their mistresses. Wish & Co has a reputation of complete confidentiality and Marnie is the best at knowing what gifts to buy. Her business is growing and her clients are referring her to their friends, all is well until…..
A high powered client has two important events he needs gifts for, his wife and his mistress. Marnie somehow gets the gifts mixed and sends a dressing gown with the initials of his mistress to his wife. Typical man instead of coming clean about his wrong doings he decides to blame Marnie and threaten to take away her clients. Marnie is devastated as she has never made such a terrible mistake and worries this could be the end of Wish & Co.

Charming and the cast of characters grips throughout.
Many thanks to Random House Publishing and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.