Please note that I received this via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review. 

This is my least favorite Center book. I don't think she did a good job setting up our main character, Samantha Casey. Also, I didn't really like her (sorry, not sorry). I thought she was way too entwined with the founders of her school and her justification for trying to elbow their daughter out of things was a bit...yeah. And I thought her "romance" with the new principal was nothing but fizzle. It didn't work and the whole be joyful thing started to make me roll my eyes. I don't know what happened while reading this, I just started to get more and more annoyed and the centering around school shootings felt glib? I don't know, it just didn't work.

"What You Wish For" follows librarian Samantha Casey. Samantha is happy at her job working as an elementary school librarian in Galveston, Texas. When the school's founder dies, the board elects a new principal, Duncan Carpenter who Samantha used to know from another school and who she had a crush on. Duncan though is not like the man she used to know. He's unsmiling and focused on upgrading the school in event of active shooters. Samantha and others though are planning on making Duncan remember how to be joyful again.

That sounds like something from the Hallmark movie channel. And I say this as someone that loves the Hallmark movie channel. It was just too much. Samantha and her whole be happy and bright thing was aggravating. We get some insight into her past, but eh. I don't know, I just didn't like her. She was too focused on everyone else and on the former principal's widow and how she was grieving. 

Not too much to say about Duncan. He is bland as bland can be. I don't think he and Samantha made any sense as a couple. Center doesn't set them up to even get along for the majority of the book and I don't get why either one of them were attracted to each other.

The other characters are not developed at all. I can't even remember Samantha's best friend's name and the only thing I recall is that she is into math and wore math pun shirts.

The founder's daughter, Tina, doesn't like Samantha and honestly I got why. She was trying to push her out of her own life. I wish that someone had pointed that out to her. It was a bit creepy and I recall one of my friends telling a story of how a friend of her sister's was always going on about how their mom was her second mom. She just felt offended by the whole thing. 

The writing didn't work for me and the flow of the book was pretty bad. It just stops and starts. Probably because we follow Samantha's POV throughout the book and Center jumps back and forth a lot.

The ending was just...nope. I got nothing. It didn't work for me even a little. I think another reviewer said this was a book about nothing and honestly it read that way to me a little. Maybe if Center had actually focused on grieving and realizing that Tina is grieving her father's death. Samantha being judgey towards her through the whole book was not even a little bit cute. Or if Center had actually shown that school shootings in the US are serious and have a lot of repercussions to how we teach kids nowadays. Center seemed to stay away from that whole thing. Not that a school should be a prison and not a place for learning, but what are educators supposed to do when it comes to safety? Just saying be joyful and in the moment is up there with thoughts and prayers with me.

I wasn't expecting a Romance, but all the typical elements are there. It was a good story, anyway. 

Audibook, borrowed from my public library via Audible. Therese Plummer's performance added a bit to the story. 

The NPR review that prompted me to pick this up gave no indication that it's a Romance, and I'd be mad about that, except that I'm really enjoying it anyway. I think I needed something light and funny and a little sweet right now. 

I saw a review of this on NPR and was intrigued. So, giving it a try.

Katherine Center show what it takes to learn what is truly important in one's life:

As one of the only female firefighters in a Texas firehouse she's seen her fair share of emergencies and each time she rises to the occasion. She is amazing at helping people through their own emergencies but her own personal life is a mess. So when her estranged mother calls her and asks her to come live with her for a bit as she is having problems with her vision, it is a request that she never expected. Cassie ends up transferring to an old school Boston firehouse that has never had a female member before and they make it known that they do not think that a "lady" can do the job. Cassie is trying to keep the career under control but nothing in her new firehouse is under her control.

This is pretty far from what I normally read, but I made the resolution this year to try and read some books our of my usual genres, so I decided to try this contemporary romance novel that I kept seeing so many posts about.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it was an interesting look into a fire hall dynamics and the differences between a large city and small town as well as being a women in these environments. I will admit there cliches here about how Cassie is treated, but I feel like these events are occurring in these situations even if we want to believe things have changed. Center knows what she is writing about in this book as she had her husband to consult who is a fir fighter, and would know the dynamics that do occur within a fire house. This also being a fire house (I actually think this is my first firehouse based book...) you get to follow them on some of the calls that they make from the ridiculous (Honestly the reason some people call 911 is quite funny) to the extreme fires that change people forever.

The farther I read into the book the more I became attached to Cassie as a character and everything that she had gone and was going through. Cassie is such a strong character that has relied on herself for such a long time that she does not know how to rely on others. This makes her an amazing firefighter as she puts others' needs above her own all the time but this means that she does struggle to make friends and have relationships. It was interesting to watch her change and grow throughout the book.

Now the relationship aspect in this book is funny. Most of the book is spent with Cassie trying to hide and make sure that she does not have feelings for the Rookie as this is an extreme No Go in firefighter culture. But the more that she tried to avoid him the more she falls for him. It was an extremely cute relationship to see develop but you knew how things were basically going to go.

I really enjoyed this book and and Center had me hooked the further I read. I really enjoyed the firehouse aspect and how things would become a bit more fast pace when a call was involved. This is a great contemporary read with a side of romance and I highly recommend it for those who like these genres.

Enjoy!!!!