Story for the Week

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The Story for the Week (again) is “go buy these books!” Run…don’t walk…to your nearest bookstore. Or click here, and Buy Now.🥰

Books 5, 6, and 7 of The Wishing Tree series are available. Get your fill now because the rest of the series won’t be available until September 1. Maybe we can wish for them to release sooner. Neva…oh, Neva…can you hear us?

Full Book List:

Book 1: The Wishing Tree
Book 2: I Wish… by Amanda Prowse
Book 3: Wish You Were Here by Kay Bratt
Book 4: Wish Again by Tammy L. Grace
Book 5: Workout Wishes & Valentine Kisses by Barbara Hinske
Book 6: A Parade of Wishes by Camille Di Maio
Book 7: Careful What You Wish by Ashley Farley
Book 8: Gone Wishing by Jessie Newton
Book 9: Wishful Thinking by Kay Bratt
Book 10: Overdue Wishes by Tammy L. Grace
Book 11: A Whole Heap of Wishes by Amanda Prowse
Book 12: Wishes of Home by Barbara Hinske
Book 13: Wishful Witness by Tonya Kappes

Book Review

⭐⭐⭐½
3.5 Stars for Workout Wishes & Valentine Kisses by Barbara Hinske

The Wishing Tree Series Book 5

145 pages
Publisher: Casa del Northern Publishing
Publication Date: March 23, 2022
Purchased on Amazon

Publisher’s Description

Pam Olson and Steve Turner—childhood friends turned work colleagues—are perfect for each other. They just can’t see it.

The personal trainers, who both work at the local gym, have a lot in common: a passion for fitness, messy divorces, and chemistry that neither will acknowledge. After a disastrous foray into online dating, Pam joins Steve in his no-dating pledge.

A happily married couple whom they train recognizes the attraction between the two and enlists the help of the Wishing Tree. The covert love mission comes to a head with a pledge-breaking blind date on Valentine’s Day. Will tempers—or sparks—fly between Pam and Steve?

************

Main Characters:

Pam Olson – early 30s, personal trainer, returned to Linden Falls after divorcing her husband who she suspected of cheating, purchased her grandmother’s old home when she returned to town and currently renovating
Steve Turner – mid- to late-30s, personal trainer, had been best friends with Pam’s older brother as kids, played two games of professional football before being injured and subsequently abandoned by his wife, subscribes to a self-created no-dating pledge
Barb and Brian McVey – married couple in their 60s, Pam trains Barb, Steve trains Brian, they think Pam and Steve would make a great couple

This installment of The Wishing Tree series revolves around Pam and Steve—good friends, both divorced, both personal trainers, and both training half of a couple who would love to see them get together. This is, at its core, a love story. Will they or won’t they? And it’s the Wishing Tree, so we all pretty much know that they will, right? Because in Linden Falls, VT, wishes come true. What keeps us reading is how we get to their fulfillment.

While Steve took his no-dating pledge a while ago, Pam hasn’t quite given up on finding love. Prodded by her mother Irene and Neva Cabot (self-proclaimed curator of wishes and owner of the Wishing Tree Inn), Pam agrees to create an online dating profile…for a month. Her dates turn out to be ridiculously exaggerated and stereotypically bad (but funny for us).

During the same time frame, she and Steve coordinate a Christmas toy drive. They spend a lot of their spare time together, checking the boxes, picking up the overflow, so we ease into their natural chemistry. Eventually, because it’s a love story, attraction is clear, then misunderstandings and avoidance abound. Then the other characters step in to help move things along to the happily ever after.

It’s a sweet story. I like Pam and Steve together, and I enjoyed their chemistry and banter. At the end of the day, this book is definitely better than “just ok.” It makes for a nice addition to the series, so let me outline why it wasn’t 4 or 5 stars for me.

The most striking thing for me was that all of the characters feel the same age, and we know they’re not. Barb and Brian are twice the age of Pam and Steve, but their way of speaking is still very similar. In fact, the thing that brought this example home for me was the use of the word “nonsense.” I know it seems odd, but….

Pam talks about the Wishing Tree being nonsense. Steve’s sister tells him she can manage the dishes, and he tells her, “Nonsense. I’ll wash, and you can dry.” Pam’s mother tells her “nonsense” when Pam apologizes for being late. Barb says “nonsense” when Pam says she doesn’t want to crash a party that Barb extends an invite to. And Neva, as a part of the Epilogue, thinks that Henry’s late wife Greta (from Wish You Were Here, Book 3) hasn’t been gone long enough to think about romantic nonsense with Henry.

I feel like “nonsense” is an older generation word. Keep in mind, Pam and Steve are in their 30s. I suspect Pam’s mother is in her 50s. Barb and Brian are in their 60s. And Neva…well, Neva seems ageless, but we know she’s the oldest person in Linden Falls. I’m in my mid-50s, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone use the word “nonsense” in casual conversation. That’s a whole lot of nonsense, if you ask me.

Another challenge for me was how different the town seems in this book compared to the others. Up until now, Linden Falls seems like a pretty small tourist town. Everyone knows everyone, residents greet one another as they pass by, tour buses come in and drop people off in the town square. But the toy drive sounds huge in comparison, and I kept wondering how many under-privileged kids they’re serving here. Additionally, Barb and Brian throw a holiday party with more than 100 guests, about half of whom Steve thinks he and Pam have trained between them. Yet…they ask Barb and Brian for their address (wouldn’t they at least know where Barb and Brian live?) and were worried they would be at a party full of strangers.

I also think the author missed an opportunity with Pam renovating her house. There are so many references to DIY projects at the house, and Steve apparently just finished renovations on his own house. I expected all through the book for Pam and Steve to notice their attraction building over projects Steve comes over to help with. Have Steve wipe some paint off of Pam’s cheek and feel the spark. Have Pam notice Steve’s physicality while he refinishes a cabinet instead of in his typical workout clothes at the gym. That’s what I was waiting for, and it never came.

And finally, when Pam and Steve finally come back together, with the help of Barb, Brian, and Neva of course, it’s on a blind date. (Not a spoiler. It’s in the Publisher’s Description, so no coming at me.) What bothered me the most about this, though, is that the setting is Valentine’s Day. I don’t know anyone who would accept a first date, let alone a blind first date, on Valentine’s Day!

All in all, I enjoyed this book, especially as a piece of the overall series.

Book Review

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
5 Stars for A Parade of Wishes by Camille Di Maio

The Wishing Tree Series Book 6

121 pages
Publisher: Dandelion Press
Publication Date: March 30, 2022
Purchased on Amazon

Publisher’s Description

Liz Guidry is New York City’s It-Girl when it comes to painting murals in posh Park Avenue nurseries. But the accolades and wait-lists are not fulfilling. Being around the families make her want one of her own. When a mysterious woman commissions a different kind of piece, Liz drives it to Linden Falls, Vermont, where she encounters a local legend that leaves her skeptical.

Yet she can’t deny the magic of the town’s Wishing Tree when she draws a wish that leads her to a seaside village in nearby Maine, where a love she never expected to encounter awaits.

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Main Characters:

Elizabeth Guidry – 28 years old, recently featured in In Style, now a sought-after muralist for nurseries for wealthy moms-to-be on the Upper East Side of New York
Mark Winters – early 30s, former real estate broker in New York, guardian of his seven-year-old nephew, now renovating his great-grandfather’s house in Camden, Maine
Cameron Winters – seven years old, lives with Mark in the house that he’s renovating, forgot his wallet in Linden Falls when he and Mark visited for a weekend

Destiny…kismet…fate…magic.

Call it what you will, this installment of The Wishing Tree series gave me Sleepless in Seattle vibes. If you enjoyed the movie, you’ll enjoy this story. If you haven’t seen the movie, written by the amazing Nora Ephron, what are you waiting for? Well…maybe read this book first and then go watch the movie.😏

This is the first book in the series that takes place mostly outside of Linden Falls, Vermont. In Book 1 of the series, Liz Guidry meets Neva Cabot (self-appointed curator of wishes and owner of the Wishing Tree Inn) at a mural reveal in New York. While there, Neva commissions Liz to create a piece of art with a book theme as a donation for the town library.

When this book begins, Liz is packing her rental car for the drive from New York to Linden Falls where she spends one night before continuing her journey to her summer destination of Bar Harbor, Maine. While she’s in Linden Falls, Neva tells her the story of the Wishing Tree.

Liz hesitates to leave a wish of her own, even though one immediately comes to mind. She agrees to take a wish to grant, but the wish she chooses feels impossible. When Neva asks Liz to drop off Cameron Winters’ wallet on her way through Camden to Bar Harbor, we as readers can already see where the story is headed.

There’s a line in Sleepless in Seattle when Sam Baldwin, the male lead played by Tom Hanks, describes the first time he met his wife. “It was a million tiny little things that, when you added them all up, they meant we were supposed to be together, and I knew it. I knew it the first time I touched her. It was like coming home, only to no home I’d ever known. I was just taking her hand to help her out of a car, and I knew it. It was like…magic.”

In Liz’s case, she feels that sensation of coming home when she and Mark are turning back onto his street. The connection between them is heartwarming, funny, comfortable, and oh so sweet. And Cameron adds an innocence to the story with his seven-year-old energy.

This is a wonderful story for anyone who believes that everything happens for a reason. Well…that and that wishes come true.🥰

Book Review

⭐⭐
2 Stars for Careful What You Wish by Ashley Farley

The Wishing Tree Series Book 7

115 pages
Publisher: Leisure Time Books
Publication Date: April 6, 2022
Purchased on Amazon

Publisher’s Description

Mary May has lost her way. She’s husbandless, childless, and soon to be homeless. She’s lost her housekeeping job, and with no income, she can’t afford the repairs on her family’s dilapidated ancestral home. On a whim, she ties a wish to the town’s famous wishing tree. She doesn’t expect her wish to come true. None of her many others have. And she’s astounded when the maple tree in her backyard sprouts hundred-dollar bills.

After making the house repairs, Mary goes on a spending spree, purchasing a new wardrobe and fancy automobile. While the money buys the material goods she covets, it can’t buy her the one thing she wants most. Friendship.

Mary’s granted wish turns out to be both a blessing and a curse. Mary embarks on a journey to discover what message her Money Maple is sending her.

************

Main Characters:

Mary May – 45-year-old housekeeper to Daisy Crawford, recently divorced her husband of 25 years
Daisy Crawford – very wealthy socialite whose husband holds a lot of power in Linden Falls
Jodi Snyder – runs in Daisy’s circle, but Daisy seems to have undue influence on her and treats her very poorly
Phil Steele – former attorney, runs Bertie’s Petals since his wife passed away several years ago

This installment of The Wishing Tree series was a disappointment.

We met Mary and Daisy first in Book 1, the preview to the series. Daisy drives Mary to someone’s house, where Mary catches her husband cheating. Even though Mary is Daisy’s employee, they seem like friends. Daisy seems compassionate toward Mary, like she would go over and above for Mary.

When this part of the story begins, Mary watches Daisy leave for her yoga class and begins her chores for the day. Having worked for Daisy for 10 years, she feels some level of friendship with Daisy because Daisy is nice to her privately even though she treats Mary like an employee when anyone else is around. Daisy is a snob in this book, and she shows her true colors as a really horrible person.

Because she feels so comfortable in Daisy’s home (and because she knows Daisy’s schedule), Mary takes advantage of Daisy’s absence to experience a bit of luxury. She tries on Daisy’s new designer gown, puts on some of Daisy’s jewelry. As she thinks about her circumstances in life and the mounting bills at home, she begins to feel overwhelming exhaustion and decides that a quick nap won’t hurt anything.

She takes more than a quick nap. When Daisy catches her—and fires her—Mary makes her way through the town square on her way home. She finds herself surrounded by tourists at the Wishing Tree and begins to think about how much of a tourist trap and scam the tree is. After all, she tied a wish to the tree every day for over 10 years, and it never came true. In a moment of frustration and anger, she says, “Everyone’s ultimate dream is to be rich. If you’re so great Mister Tree, why don’t your limbs grow money instead of leaves?” When nothing happens, she kicks the tree and calls it a fraud just like her.

This is where the story really begins. As the description mentions, a maple tree in Mary’s yard starts to sprout $100 bills each night, and she realizes that her “wish” (which wasn’t actually a wish) is both a blessing and a curse. The reason I gave the book 2 stars instead of 1 is that the lesson learned through all of Mary’s trials is a valuable one.

As a stand-alone fantasy book, this might have been ok, but this is part of the series about the small town of Linden Falls. Up until this installment, the stories were sweet, endearing, somewhat magical…but the key is somewhat magical. There has always been the element of “is someone creating the magic or is it really magic?” The truth of the matter here is that money does not grow on trees. I expected there to be some semi-plausible explanation. Maybe someone secretly helped Mary out. Maybe she hallucinated or dreamt all of it. But this is purely fantasy.

The other thing I really didn’t like about this is that almost everyone we meet in this book is mean or bitter or spiteful or uppity. No one seems to know Mary, which is the complete opposite of the small town feel we’ve been introduced to, where everyone knows everyone. This is not the Linden Falls we have come to know and love. This is the ugly underbelly.

The only reference to any of the places we’ve seen in the other books is a reporter saying that she is staying at the Wishing Tree Inn. Neva Cabot (self-proclaimed curator of wishes and owner of the inn) isn’t even mentioned! I can’t think of a single character from this book that has been in the others.

Sadly, this would be an easy one to skip without taking anything away from the rest of the series so far.

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