Wish I May

New Hope Series, #2

De: Lexi Ryan

Narrado por: Lucy Malone, Nelson Hobbs

I grew up wishing on stars. My father taught me to believe in destiny, in magic, in happily ever after. Dreams were my scripture and the starry night sky was my temple.

Then mom stopped believing, left him, and took us with her. At the age of sixteen, I cashed in my dreams to pay the rent, pawned my destiny to keep my sisters together.

Now, seven years later, I'm returning home, grieving the death of my mother, and settling my sisters back into the life mom threw away. I never intended to stay. I don't want to deal with my father, who is so invested in the spiritual world he forgets the physical. I don't want to face William Bailey, whose eyes remind me of the girl I was, the things I've done, and the future I lost.

This would all be easier if Will hated me. As it is, I have to hold my secrets close so they won't hurt him more than they've already hurt me. But he wants to be in my life. He wants what I can't bring myself to confess I sold. He wants me. I find myself looking to my stars again...wondering if I dare one more wish.

©2013 Lexi Ryan (P)2013 Tantor

Callie and William were in love in high school. Circumstances separated them for seven years.

Callie and William still love each other deeply. Unfortunately, Callie was forced into prostitution to keep her sisters safe. That and other problems keep her from accepting William's offers of love and forever. Many desperate and dangerous events keep her believing they can never be together. William hopes for everything.

2.5 stars

Spoilers:

I really wanted to not be frustrated with the FMC because of her past circumstances but she kept making one wrong decision after another as an adult. I don't blame her for the decisions she made as a desperate teenager who didn't know what to do or how to face her boyfriend BUT the FMC in the present in this story is a capable, grown woman who needed to put her big girl pants on. I can understand hesitating some before telling the MMC the truth, but her and the MMC were seeing each other regularly, having an intimate relationship. I couldn't feel sorry for her when she was worried someone would tell him before she could about the past because she had countless chances to tell him herself. Not only did she have chances, but the MMC implored her to open up to him and made it clear he wanted to be with her.

It rubbed me the wrong way that the FMC was willing to let him go forever instead of facing the past and telling him the truth. The whole, "he wouldn't want me if he knew", doesn't matter if you are leaving anyway. If you REALLY love him and want him, you be vulnerable, tell him the truth and try to work it out. If he can't handle the truth, then you know you did what you could. Her willingness to just walk away didn't make me very confident in her feelings for him.

Also, as the story progressed, it became obvious that the MMC didn't know the FMC anymore. It wasn't the past secrets that were the issue; it was the decisions the FMC kept making as an adult that the MMC was unaware of. At one point, when the FMC was thinking the MMC didn't know her because of the past, I couldn't help but think that she was right that he didn't know her, but it wasn't just because of her past. She kept him in the dark about everything. He was in love with her teenage self and had the wrong idea of who she was as an adult. She was even MARRIED and didn't tell him. The circumstances didn't matter; he had a right to know. Especially since the FMC thought the MMC was in danger because of her husband.

Overall, this was a well-written story, but I didn't buy into the love story. The FMC didn't have good reasons to keep the MMC in the dark and it didn't make sense why she would be willing to let him go if she loved him so much. "Loving him enough to let him go" didn't make sense in this story, in my opinion. 2.5 stars.

Great sequel to Unbreak Me by Lexi Ryan

Wish I May is the sequel to Unbreak Me, in Lexi Ryan's new adult romance series, New Hope. This story was told in dual perspective between Will & Cally. It also went back & forth between past/present. This helped give much needed insight into just how Will became the person we saw in Unbreak Me. We begin as two high school kids are madly in love. William is the wealthy, popular boy and Cally is the girl from the poor family that no one thinks is good enough for him. But they are being ripped apart by circumstances. Cally is forced to leave New Hope, her life and her first love William behind. Making promises to return and make their long distance relationship work, but sometime promises are meant to be broken. It will break your heart at what Cally has gone through in her young life. Left with very little options after her mother abruptly uproots Cally and her sisters. Cally's life took an even darker turn after moving to Vegas with her mother. Her mother was unreliable and a poor caregiver, leaving Cally to support her two younger sisters. And in order to do that, she had to resort to things that she was ashamed of. And therefore, had to let her love for Will go. But now she is forced to return to the hometown she left 7 years ago due to a family tragedy. Cally is bringing her sisters home live with their father. Of course, the very first person Cally stumbles upon is her first love, William within minutes of returning. Their attraction was undeniable even after all the years apart. This book is about how Cally & Will overcome everything and learn to love despite the past and everything bad. To keep believing everything happens for a reason and in the end it will all be alright. The story moved at a steady pace, with fantastic characters that easily tug on your heart strings in a believable plot that anyone you know could be living. Cally's secret's also kept me intrigued throughout the story. Lexi Ryan takes you on a journey of forgiveness, mistake, pain, heartbreak and finding happiness, wishing and believing.  The story kept me interested til the very end. The pacing was perfect and all the events with twists took place at the right moment. I think that I enjoyed it even more then Unbreak Me. Maggie and Logan are great and don't get me wrong their story was just as good but something about William and Cally and the heartbreak that Cally endures really got to me. Oh! Even though Wish I May is part of the New Hope series, it can be a stand-alone novel.  Excellent job by the author and I would recommend this book.

High school sweethearts.

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The book was good.

What other book might you compare Wish I May to and why?

The other book in this series

What didn’t you like about Lucy Malone and Nelson Hobbs ’s performance?

I did not like the narration.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No

Any additional comments?

The narrator just did not do well for this book.

Sad but also a truthful story line!

It was a sad yet beautiful story well written great narration and in the end bringing up TRUTH. Everyday woman, girls, men yes men and boys suffer these circumstances not all is by choice majority is not. Blessings

I LOVE Lexi Ryan Books but this female narrator killed it for me. NOT even close to being as good as Summer Roberts.

I LOVE Lexi Ryan Books but this female narrator killed it for me. NOT even close to being as good as Summer Roberts. Her voice is kind of annoying and I couldn’t take it anymore. Couldn’t even get through the first few chapters listening to her. For a book that’s so spicy, it’s such a disappointing buzzkill.

Done with this author

Legit every chapter where the characters are supposed to be getting their HEA, the H says to the h “I mean sure I think she’s hot, I won’t deny that” about whatever other woman was going after him in the story. That’s a man I would think twice about being with, if that’s how he declares his love. The women in these stories are a few crayons short of a full box though soooo 🤷🏼‍♀️. The males are always very wishy-washy (throughout the whole story) about their feelings for these “other women” - and it’s difficult to feel that the “love” they have for the main female is real. It reads like they could be replaced easily. At one point Will lists all the positive qualities about Meredith (the OW) and the negative ones about Callie (the main female) and then says “but I want Callie”. Ok. Cool. Why? For what reason? Because you have chemistry in bed? Because that’s the only thing he really thinks about regarding her. We don’t know WHY he loves her. And his track record of “falling” for women who he feels need to be saved is brought up several times. This is also not really refuted or explained why Callie is really the love of his life.
All in all, these books are far from deep. It’s surface level lust and I haven’t felt invested in any of the characters or their lives. I listened to a book by S. L. Scott recently and actually cried at one point. Not a typical reaction for me, but that author had me so pulled into that love story, I FELT for the characters she created.
If you’re looking for a fluff story with some angst (which I also didn’t care about), give this book a whirl. But I promise, there are more intriguing books to be found on Audible. For some recommendations check out the Goodreads review app. The reviews on there are pretty straightforward and you can easily find new authors that are similar to ones you like.
For me, this chick is a hard pass. I don’t appreciate her view on love and relationships. I see a pattern for how she writes male characters and where some might say it’s realistic, it’s really just sad.

Awful

The listeners are supposed to feel sorry for the h because she had a druggie/hooker mom, raised two sisters with illegal work, dumped the love of her life, and is trying to avoid her former boyfriend/pimp who is also a jewel thief. She wanders back into her childhood home town and spends so much time feeling sorry for herself that there is little room for any other plot. The metaphors for being sick to her stomach outnumber her interactions with the H. With all the lying the h does to cover her past, the H looks like a complete patsy.