Audiobook: What You Wish For by Katherine Center
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Story
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Narration
What You Wish For: A Novel
Women's Domestic Life Fiction
Macmillan Audio
July 14, 2020
Audiobook
10 hours and 18 minutes
This program includes an author's note, read by the author.
From the New York Times best-selling author of How to Walk Away comes a stunning new novel full of heart and hope.
Samantha Casey is a school librarian who loves her job, the kids, and her school family with passion and joy for living.
But she wasn’t always that way.
Duncan Carpenter is the new school principal who lives by rules and regulations, guided by the knowledge that bad things can happen.
But he wasn’t always that way. And Sam knows it. Because she knew him before - at another school, in a different life. Back then, she loved him - but she was invisible. To him. To everyone. Even to herself. She escaped to a new school, a new job, a new chance at living. But when Duncan, of all people, gets hired as the new principal there, it feels like the best thing that could possibly happen to the school - and the worst thing that could possibly happen to Sam. Until the opposite turns out to be true. The lovable Duncan she’d known is now a suit- and tie-wearing, rule-enforcing tough guy so hellbent on protecting the school that he’s willing to destroy it.
As the school community spirals into chaos and danger from all corners looms large, Sam and Duncan must find their way to who they really are, what it means to be brave, and how to take a chance on love - which is the riskiest move of all. With Katherine Center’s sparkling dialogue, unforgettable characters, heart, hope, and humanity, What You Wish For is the author at her most compelling best.
A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press
A heartwarming and hopeful story to get us through!
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.
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I liked Samantha for the most part. 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 the colors she wanted. It was a way to remind herself of joy. Feeling joy. Experiencing joy. Sharing joy. There were moments she came across a little self pitying and childish for me, but overall she redeemed herself and came around for me.
Theresa did a wonderful narration for this story, bringing a light-heartedness and accessibility to the characters that really brought them alive. Much like the plot, I feel like she took some overly childish turns at times but it suited the story.
All in all I found What You Wish For to be a great late summer read to help get ready to snuggle up and get cozy for the fall.
