Title: What You Wish For
Author: Katherine Center
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Release Date: July 14, 2020
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.
"choose joy on purpose"
Just what I needed during this time. A heartwarming and hopeful story! What You Wish For, It’s about conquering our fears and being accepted for we are.
Samantha Casey is the librarian of an elementary school in Galveston, TX. A few years ago, she moved to Galveston to escape an unrequited love. The man she fell for was funny, engaging, lovable but he had chosen another woman. Not that he knew how Samantha felt, so it wasn't really his fault.
Samantha is renting a garage apartment owned by Max and Babette Kempner. Max is the principal of the school she works for. During an anniversary celebration, Max unfortunately dies. The whole school and the community are distraught with grief. Then, they learn a new replacement has been hired.
The new principal is none other than Duncan Carpenter. The man Samantha left California for. Samantha is thinking of leaving because there is no way she can see him and not show her feelings but when they finally meet, Duncan is nothing like the man she remembers. Long gone is the happy personality, the vibrant ties, the carefree attitude. He is darkness when he used to be light.
--
I liked Samantha. She was hiding a painful personal problem but she was trying to make her life as positive as she could. She went from wearing grey to wearing all colors but grey. It was a way to remind herself of joy. Feeling joy. Experiencing joy. Sharing joy.
Then there was Duncan, I wished I had met the Duncan of years ago. The current Duncan was solemn and unemotional. Of course, as the story progresses and I learned more about Duncan, the more I started loving him. My favorite Duncan scene was when he had to be medicated. He was awesome!
I enjoyed the secondary characters, From Max who gave her so much insight to Chuck Norris who gave the book so many funny scenes. Also, Babette, Clay and Alice were all great characters.
After finishing reading What You Wish For, I want to try to find joy especially during our current situation.
Cliffhanger: No
4/5 Fangs
A complimentary copy was provided by St. Martin Press via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
No comments:
Post a Comment