What You Wish For by Katherine Center
Print and e-book, 320 pages
Published July 14th 2020 by St. Martin's Press
Published July 14th 2020 by St. Martin's Press
From Katherine Center, the New York Times bestselling author of How to Walk Away comes a stunning new novel full of heart and hope.
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.
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.
My thoughts about What You Wish For ~~
(I love to note the first lines of the books I'm reading. First lines can really grab a reader's attention and I love seeing where the author takes the reader after their first line.)
First lines—"I was the one dancing with Max when it happened. No one remembers who it was now, but it was me."
I love the covers of all of Katherine's book. They are so colorful, fun, and inviting. The stories inside these amazing covers are just the same. They are always feel good stories with memorable, caring people.
What You Wish For is centered around an elementary school and the main character is the school librarian. Right off the bat, I was in love with this story—school and libraries! Win, win!
When one of the founders of the school dies unexpectedly, a new principal is hired. Duncan has some definite ideas of how things are run and are completely different from the way Max ran things. The fact that Sam knew Max in the past, when his personality was completely different from today, pits the two of them together as they try to do what they feel is best for the school and the children. I loved watching the two of them go head-to- head as they tried to resolve their differences.
As it always is with Katherine's books, in What You Wish For, the writing is so easy to get lost in, the characters are wonderful, and the story is satisfying. This is the perfect summer read!
I received What You Wish For from the publisher via NetGalley and this is my honest opinion of the book.
About the author
Katherine Center is the New York Times bestselling author of How to Walk Away, the upcoming Things You Save in a Fire (August 2019), and five other bittersweet comic novels. Six Foot Pictures is currently adapting her fourth novel, The Lost Husband, into a feature film starring Josh Duhamel, Leslie Bibb, and Nora Dunn.
Katherine has been compared to both Nora Ephron and Jane Austen, and the Dallas Morning News calls her stories, “satisfying in the most soul-nourishing way.” Katherine recently gave a TEDx talk on how stories teach us empathy, and her work has appeared in USA Today, InStyle, Redbook, People, Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, Real Simple, Southern Living, and InTouch, among others.
Katherine lives in her hometown of Houston, Texas, with her fun husband, two sweet kids, and fluffy-but-fierce dog. ~ Goodreads
Katherine has been compared to both Nora Ephron and Jane Austen, and the Dallas Morning News calls her stories, “satisfying in the most soul-nourishing way.” Katherine recently gave a TEDx talk on how stories teach us empathy, and her work has appeared in USA Today, InStyle, Redbook, People, Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, Real Simple, Southern Living, and InTouch, among others.
Katherine lives in her hometown of Houston, Texas, with her fun husband, two sweet kids, and fluffy-but-fierce dog. ~ Goodreads
Connect with Katherine
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