What You Wish For: an inspirational story to find joy in everything

What You Wish For by Katherine Center is the story of Samantha “Sam” Casey, a school librarian at the Kempner School, who hides from the world an embarrassing secret. Very few people know that she suffers from epilepsy but her boss and parental figures, Max and Babette Kempner, helped her see joy and create joy in her life. When Max suddenly dies, he leaves big shoes to fill. The staff at the school do their best to carry on until Kent Buckley, the Kempner’s son-in-law and school board member, announces he has hired a new principal and it is someone Sam knows! Duncan Carpenter was the guy she liked at a previous school when she was a mousy, quiet staff member and he was the exuberant, fun-loving teacher. But the man who arrived looks like Duncan, but he sure doesn’t act like Duncan. He begins by making major changes at the school and Sam will not stand for it. She immediately goes into action to get Duncan to leave or get him fired. What caused Duncan to change so much? Can Sam get to the bottom of it and show Duncan that the school doesn’t need his changes?

 

I LOVED this book. This amazing story grips you in from the opening chapter and never lets you go until the final sentence. I loved Sam. She was vulnerable and introverted. Even though her tendency was to hide from embarrassing moments, she found the strength to be front and center when the situation called for it. I also loved Duncan. When he is first introduced and he is not the man Sam remembered, I knew there was a reason behind his behavior. Sam and Duncan’s personal stories are heartbreaking, and I wanted to reach through the book to hug both of them. I loved each of the beautiful people who made up the staff at the school, even Sam’s quirky, math-obsessed friend, Alice. Katherine Canter provides a story with lovable and relatable characters to tell a story of survival and finding joy as joy is the cure to many negative emotions and situations. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll find that creating joy in your laugh helps chase away the negativity that surrounds you. Great advice for the world we live in now. I highly recommend What You Wish For!

What You Wish For

is available in hardcover, eBook and audiobook

Dovetail: a family tragedy and its aftermath

Dovetail is the newest book by Karen McQuestion. Pearl Arneson has lived a life of many regrets. She is the only one left who knows the truth about her sister, Alice’s death. The story opens in 1983 when 84-year-old Pearl Arneson seeks out her grandson, 22-year-old Joe, who was placed in a psychiatric treatment center for disturbing dreams with no clear cause or psychiatric break. She has a job for him. The family home in Pullman, Wisconsin needs to be cleaned and the items inventoried in order to sell the house. Joe takes the job, hoping the work can help him figure out these strange dreams. Rewind to 1916, when 17-year-old Pearl, the second of seven daughters, dreams of leaving their tiny town and traveling the world. Her older sister, Alice, is 19 years old and takes care of the family after the tragic death of their mother. That summer a handsome and eligible bachelor comes to the family’s farm to work at the local mill. John Lawrence is immediately infatuated with Alice, much to the horror of Pearl and Frank, the local man who fancies himself Alice’s beau. As the summer progresses and love blossoms between John and Alice, Pearl tries her best to keep them apart, but will her schemes go too far? In 1983, Joe works on the family home and develops a friendship with a local businesswoman, Kathleen, who is hiding a painful past herself. Joe notices a change in his dreams. He finds pieces of his family’s history that he knew nothing about. Will Joe find peace from his dreams? Will Pearl find the forgiveness she is seeking?

Dovetail is a beautiful, tragic story filled jealousy, guilt, redemption and finding peace within yourself. It is a story of how one tragedy can cause a cascade of poor decisions and life-altering mistakes. In the opening chapter, Pearl admits Alice died because of her foolish pride and with that note, the reader is taken on a journey between 1916 and 1983 as the mystery unfolds. How did Alice die? How is Pearl responsible? How is Pearl’s grandson, Joe, connected to it all? While I had a hard time sympathizing with teenage Pearl, as an older woman, I enjoyed Pearl as she realizes her time is short and wants to make amends or atonement for her actions. I laughed at her no-nonsense attitude. I related more to and enjoyed Alice and watching her fall in love was bittersweet. Even though, I knew from the beginning that she dies, her death was painful, emotional and shocking. I enjoyed Joe’s story and his battle with what he has been told is a mental illness, but he realizes it just doesn’t fit. I also enjoyed the relationship development between Joe and Kathleen. It felt very realistic as a woman who was running from a past bad relationship to be cautious going forward. Joe and Kathleen have a connection they couldn’t explain but they let their relationship flow naturally. The romances in the story are done beautifully. Dovetail is my first Karen McQuestion book and it won’t be my last. I look forward to reading her past titles and eagerly await her new books. I highly recommend Dovetail! 

Dovetail

is available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook

How to Walk Away: a beautiful story of how to leave one life behind and begin a new one

How to Walk Away by Katherine Center is the story of one woman’s journey from one life to another. Margaret’s life had been plagued with the fear to fly. Her boyfriend, Chip, had earned his pilot license and to celebrate, much to Margaret’s dismay, he decides to take her for a flight. During the flight, Chip proposes, she accepts, then tragedy happens. The plane crashes and Margaret is left horrible injured. As Margaret spends months in the hospital recovery, her estranged sister, Kitty, reenters her life to support her. During her stay, Margaret learns of deep secrets which were kept from her and threatens to tear apart her family. Meanwhile, she is assigned to a surly physical therapist, named Ian, who’s sour demeanor hides a a deep hurt. Will Margaret fully recover? How will she accept the information she learns about her family’s past? And how will she look to the future?

I enjoyed How to Walk Away a lot more than I thought I would. I requested to read this book based on the brief description which I can say didn’t do the story justice. It was so much more than the description gives it credit. It was deeply emotional, dramatic, inspirational and proof that sometimes life has to give you a tragedy to open your eyes to its beauty and a life so much more than you had planned. I highly recommend How to Walk Away.

How to Walk Away

is available in hardcover and eBook