Publication date: July 14th, 2020
Blurb:
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.
Last year I read Katherine’s book ‘The Things You Save in a Fire’ and absolutely loved it, so I had high expectations for ‘What You Wish For.’ While it was an enjoyable read, for me the main characters just didn’t measure up to her prior novel. Sam is the librarian at Kempner School in Galveston, where she has created a family for herself with the school’s principal Max and his wife Babette along with the other staff members and students. Sam is extremely happy until the night that Max collapses and dies at his 60th birthday party.
Along with grieving him as a father figure, Sam has also lost a great boss. Because Max and Babette were the founders of the school, the staff fully expects Babette to take the reins until the chairman of the board (aka the douchebag husband of Tina, Max and Babette’s daughter) makes a shocking announcement. He has decided to hire an outsider, an independent administrator named Duncan Carpenter…and Sam just happens to know someone by that name. In fact the fun-loving goofy teacher she worked with in California who was the reason why she left and moved to Galveston after rumors of him getting engaged had gone around the school. She had nursed a crush on him for over 2 years and had decided enough was enough and that it was time to move on.
The Duncan that appears at Kempner however is not the man she remembers; instead he is serious, formal and determined to turn the colorful and fun Kempner into a locked-down drab fortress with a guard dog. Sam is aghast at the changes in his personality and demeanor, wondering what could have happened to him in the years since she had last seen him. At first she thinks about running again, but she decides to stand her ground and run him out before he can destroy Max and Babette’s legacy.
While the storyline itself was actually really good, where I felt it fell a little flat for me was the characterizations. I just didn’t love the Sam and Duncan as the HEA as much as I expected to, even though they were both sympathetic in their own ways. Other characters like Tina and her husband (douchebag) were the stereotypical jerks though Tina does redeem herself at the end somewhat. I think my favorite character in the book was Sam’s best friend Alice, the hilarious math teacher. If there is an upcoming book featuring her, I would definitely read that one! Overall, I would recommend the book because as it did have a great storyline and I enjoyed the journey even if I wasn’t sold on the main characters.
Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the chance to read and review!