What You Wish For (26 in 2026 #4)

Author: Katherine Center Title: What You Wish For Publisher: St. Martin's Press Date Published: 07/14/2020

Read Dates: 02/14/2026- 02/15/2026
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

What You Wish For is a single POV small-town workplace romance. Sam is the librarian at a small school in Texas that really is like a family. And when that family is left reeling from the loss of their beloved principal, Sam is shocked to realize she knows, or knew, his replacement. Duncan is nothing like the fun-loving coworker she knew years ago, he’s reappeared in her life humorless and strict, determined to strip away everything vibrant and creative from the school. Sam is determined to remind him of who he used to be, to save the school, and maybe save Duncan too. She just has to figure out a way to keep her heart from getting involved!

This was a beautiful and emotional book. It took me too long to realize that Duncan (along with his sister and brother in law) were all introduced in Happiness for Beginners. It was such a surprising twist on his character. I absolutely adored the small town and found family themes! I loved Sam and her “hostile kind of joy” (as Duncan referred to it). I loved seeing the bits of “old” Duncan, and understanding why he changed and watching as he transformed again.

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.