What You Wish For

A Novel

By: Katherine Center

Narrated by: Katherine Center, Thérèse Plummer

Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's Summary

"Joyfully and warmly narrated by [Therese] Plummer, this is a beautiful story about grasping happiness and joy alongside immense sorrow and pain...This warm-hearted listen with an energetic narrator is sure to please." (Booklist)

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 hell-bent 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 

“This charming, often lighthearted novel touches on serious issues and celebrates the power of joy to trump fear and despair.” (People Magazine, Book of the Week)

©2020 Katherine Center (P)2020 Macmillan Audio

Story is enjoyable

I enjoyed the story, but the person reading it was not a voice I loved. Listening to the author read to us at the end made me wish she had read it to me as she has a great voice and she is a good storyteller.

Sweet Story

A good story with a great message to Choose Joy. The narrator was FABULOUS! Fun to read a story staged in Galveston, TX. I live in Houston and could picture all the events happening where described...right down to saving the beached whale. Loved the light but authentic story.

Read for joy

Extremely enjoyable listen. I have loved other Katherine Center books and this one lives up to what you expect from her. The central theme for me was finding joy in the everyday, the adversity we all overcome, and how we choose joy in spite of our struggles. I loved every character and their quirks. I loved the secondary story lines. I felt very connected to the story and the characters and wish I could have more from them. Definitely recommend.

mediocre....silly story and childish narration

struggled to keep going because the narrator, while exuberant had a tough story to narrate. Tough because it is blah and silly. I could see the narrator doing awesome children's books. Her timing and pauses are perfect. The narrator cannot help that the story is kind of ridiculous. I cannot finish it.

Center and Plummer are amazing

What great teamwork! Center writes beautifully and Plummer reads amazingly! I’m thankful for them both.

Another winner!

It’s not often the perfect combination of writer and narrator unite to make such magic happen, but thus is the case with Katherine Center and Therese Plummer.
Centers stories are about people as real as you and I, with problems and personal issues just like the rest of us. They don’t find all the answers and solve all the problems, but they approach them with vulnerability and honesty.
And Therese Plummer, what a fantastic narrator! She brings Center's characters to life with enthusiasm and feeling!
The epilogue is wonderful, pulling it all together, allowing the reader to see into the future of the characters.
This book has the extra bonus of Center explaining how she began writing, as an awkward teen. Her message is for us, the reader, to READ FOR JOY! I can only hope more magic is in store.

Awesome!

The story was great, but the narration was AWESOME! It was so funny and energetic.

Not a fan of Sam’s character

I found Sam to be a bit annoying. It took a lot to get through her second guessing herself, putting herself down and always running away. I found it kind of boring....

Not to my liking.

Despite all the glowing reviews of this book (and Katherine Center always deserves acclaim), I hold to my following input. I am wavering on whether or not I could have been more irritated by a female protagonist ever in my many years of reading or listening to a story. Told in the first person, Samantha Casey is a school librarian in Galveston, TX. By chapter ten, I wondered at her ability to interact with anyone who was not a therapist. Her amazingly poor decision-making skills, impulse control problems and relationship craziness (example: self-admitted stalking of a fellow teacher and not described as a maybe humorous or exaggerated anecdotal way) had me groaning out loud. At this point I wanted simply to delete the book. However, I truly appreciate Katherine Center as an author thus kept moving forward. Confession: I started skimming which is not my usual behavior with a book. Finally, the final three chapters. All was well that ended well. I will not relate any spoilers here. Just maybe Samatha "started" to mature. I am not willing - ever - to find out. NOTE: Therese Plummer is an accomplished narrator, and I wish she had not narrated this book.

Sweet Story

Normally, as I begin ready or listening to a novel I tend to judge very early whether or not the book was “ my kind of book”. At first I thought that this book was not going to make the cut. Initially I found the tone to be a bit too “perky” for me. However, i soon realized that this book was way more about the actual story, it was about the feelings we all have. The empathy or lack thereof we have.
I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about each character and recognizing people I have known, met , loved , hated....but more importantly , this book helped me examine myself and who I am, what I need and what I want.
Thanks to this gifted author for making me think, examine , learn and hope to make myself be better person!

Love love love it

I love this author her books are amazing definitely worth a read/listen. Love love it