What You Wish For

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What You Wish ForWhat You Wish For by Katherine Center
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fans of Katherine Center are in for a treat with her latest novel, “What You Wish For.”

Samantha doesn’t have much of her own family to speak of, but her landlords/employers, Max and Babette, have become the perfect replacements. By day, Samantha works as a librarian at the school Max and Babette founded, and by evening, she is either spending time with her surrogate parents or friend, math-whiz, Alice. For Max’s sixtieth birthday, Samantha conspires with Alice and other faculty (and many former students) to plan a party to remember; unfortunately, Max’s birthday is remembered for other reasons—it is the night he collapses and dies right on the dance floor.

Max’s position as principal needs to be filled and in comes, Duncan. Samantha, missing Max, is not happy to see Duncan whom she knew from the past (which she is trying to run away from). But Duncan is clearly not the man she had a big crush on—instead of the happy, go-lucky teacher she remembers has been replaced by this stodgy, all-business look-alike. Unfortunately, Duncan’s main goal is to take away all of the joy that made Max and Babette’s school so special. Samantha tasks herself with finding out what happened to Duncan and in the process, brings the heart and happiness back to Max’s legacy.

Though the story-line feels a bit predictable at times (parts of it reminded me a lot of her previous novel, “Things You Save in a Fire,”) Katherine Center is a skilled writer who keeps her readers engaged. The author manages to balance the more traumatic sections with plenty of humor. The ending might be a little expected, but the reader won’t feel any less disappointed because one of the reasons you read Katherine Center novels is for the satisfying feeling you get at the end.

Special thanks to NetGalley, Katherine Center and St. Martin’s Press for an opportunity to review this novel

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