Twenty-eight-year-old Samantha Casey is a librarian who lives and works in Galveston Island, Texas. She is happy to be employed at the Kempner School, whose founders, Max and Babette, established an imaginative, joyous, and vibrant educational institution for elementary school children. Approximately four years earlier, Sam quit her job at Andrews Prep in California. She had fallen in love with Duncan Carpenter, a charming and goofy teacher who, she was convinced, would never be interested in her. In those days, Sam was drab and reserved but she has since reinvented herself. Now she wears bright colors, has pink bangs, and unabashedly speaks her mind.

Katherine Center's "What You Wish For" is a bittersweet romance in which dark themes are interspersed with slapstick humor. Much to Sam's shock, Kent Buckley, the overbearing, self-absorbed, and obnoxious chairman of the school board, hires Duncan Carpenter to be Kempner's new principal. On the one hand, the Duncan she remembers would be a fabulous addition to the staff, since he was always so simpatico with kids and adults alike. On the other hand, Sam ran away from Duncan before, and she has no desire to do so again.

A new Duncan unexpectedly shows up—a buttoned-down, harsh, and bossy man who wants to turn Kempner into a fortress. He lays out a plan that would rob the school of its color, excitement, and warmth. Sam and her colleagues put their heads together to launch a counteroffensive. It is a shame that Center's plot is so heavy-handed, since Sam and Duncan are an appealing couple with intriguing backstories. However, the events that bring them together and their behavior throughout the novel bear little resemblance to anything that might happen on planet Earth. "What You Wish For" would most likely appeal to readers who enjoy escaping reality for a few hours and are not put off by Center's offbeat and wildly implausible plot.
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I received this ebook from NetGalley. The book publishes in July 2020.

This book takes place in Galveston, Texas. It is about the story of Sam (Samantha) Casey, the librarian at Kempner School. The school is run (and was founded) by Max and Babette Kempner. When someone in the school community passes away, they find themselves with a new principal, Duncan Carpenter. Duncan and Sam worked with each other years before. She had feelings for him but it was not mutual. Sam was thrilled to learn that Duncan would be their new principal because he was fun, goofy and she thought he would be a good fit. He changed a lot from when they worked together - even going so far as not remembering her. He makes several changes at the school that do not go over well resulting in a bit of animosity between Sam and Duncan.

This book is about joy and finding joy, feeling joy, experiencing joy. I did not like this book as much as Things You Save in a Fire. This book seemed a bit overdone and I found myself skipping over some of the dialogue. ( )

This is an uplifting and heartwarming story of friendship, love, found family, taking risks, pursuit of happiness, healing from trauma, living with a chronic health condition, education, and PTSD.

While the romance is OTT, I loved the school setting and the eccentric and quirky characters!

This is the kind of book you read simply for the pure pleasure of reading. The narration by Thérèse Plummer made this audiobook such a pleasure to listen to! ( )

See the full review and more at MyBookJoy.com!

Recommended: sure
For teachers, for those who like Center's writing style, for a blend of teaching pedagogy and medical/personal self-discovery, for a book where you know exactly what to expect, for something uplifting and quotable if you're having a bad day

Thoughts:
The writing was very familiar to Center's other works. The MC was very self-aware, and did a good job at calling herself out in cliche situations with clear-eyed bemusement. Overall, I was entertained but not enthralled. It's hard to pinpoint exactly why, but I'll try.

There were points that felt unecessarily drawn out; like descriptions that didn't add to the story, or musings that we had already heard several times before ("I can't believe how different Duncan is"). I rarely skim in stories, but I was here every now and then.

My main issue was with the characters. The MC didn't seem to put much empathy or thought into what could have made Duncan change so drastically, and was unable to recognize that something that severe is usually based in trauma. Perhaps that's due to her inward focus of her own feelings. Duncan provided some issues for me as well, as the descriptions of what Old Duncan was like was pretyt much cringeworthy for me. He sounded... exhausting. And over the top. Having taught, I definitely have known people and specifically teachers like him. They can be fantastic at their jobs, but reading about one was just tiring and overwhelming. Personal issue, maybe? Either way, I didn't particularly like him in his old or new form.

The story was a bit of a slow build. I expected Duncan to be taking over relatively quickly, as the key conflict in the story was him taking over the school and sending it in a different direction. In reality, I feel like that was a very small portion of the story in terms of length. Once he showed up, the school year passed in a few chapters. There was a lot of setup to everything that telegraphed quite clearly what could be expected for character and story growth.

It was entertaining and had some really great quotable lines, but it probably won't be one that sticks with me for very long.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. ( )

With the exception of The Bodyguard, in the middle of most of Katherine Center's books I think they are a little out there. But then by the end she does such a good job of bringing everything together to support her narrative/thesis of the book I end up almost always liking them.

This book has a heavy event at the center of it that everyone might not want to read about, but Center does a good job of showing how fear impacts everyone differently. And how we have to figure out a way to keep living and experiencing life. ( )