Thus begins the final quarter of this amazing series of books. I will keep saying it: Go buy these books! Run…don’t walk…to your nearest bookstore. Or click here, and Buy Now. 🥰 All 13 books in The Wishing Tree series are available now (#11 reviewed below).

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

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Book Review

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
5 Stars for A Whole Heap of Wishes by Amanda Prowse

120 pages
Publisher: Lionhead Media
Publication Date: September 22, 2022
Purchased on Amazon

Publisher’s Description

Wishes in branches tied with string. Someone’s hopes. Another’s dreams…

Upbeat and easy going, is it any wonder that Vera at the beauty parlour in Linden Falls is so popular with her customers? Not only does her friendly conversation brighten the day of those she pampers but she is well known for being the model of discretion, never repeating the confidences shared within the sanctity of the salon walls.

However, Vera’s life is about to get shaken up when she learns that her son will soon be visiting to introduce his fiancée. This might not sound like big news but none of Vera’s friends have ever met him, let alone his father.

It’s not that she’s ashamed of them, just the opposite in fact. But with the legacy of her deprived childhood haunting her thoughts, she can’t shake the stink of the poverty that defined her. Now her boy has recently been appointed a professor, and Vera, who daily battles with low self-esteem and feeling like she’s not quite good enough, has nowhere to hide. Their impending arrival reminds her of the crippling lack confidence that drove the decisions of her younger self and the feelings of inadequacy that pulled her family apart.

Vera’s problem is, how is she going to get through the next few days? What will her friends say and what will it be like to come face to face with her son’s father, the man who has held her heart since she first saw him nearly three decades ago?

Is it possible that she can finally face the past that has held her back for so long, and if so, does that mean after all this time, there is still a chance for her and the father of her son? Dive into A Whole Heap of Wishes to find out…

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Main Characters:

• Vera Delaney – hairdresser and owner of Linden Falls’ Curl Up & Dye salon, keeps the secrets of her customers as well as her own secrets about her past with an alcoholic father and brothers who are either dead or in jail. She changes her hair color based on her mood.
• Verity Darby – transplanted chef from London who escaped to Linden Falls after her husband of 20 years started a relationship with a much younger food critic. Fell in love with Linden Falls and Jack Darby. Close friend and regular customer of Vera’s.
• Bill Morley – a professor, the love of Vera’s life who she left when their son was very young.
• Knox Morley – Vera and Billy’s son who followed in his father’s footsteps into academia and professorship.
• Ashley – Knox’s fiancée, also a professor.

There is a saying that God answer’s all prayers, but sometimes he says “no.” I feel like the Wishing Tree works a bit the same in that it grants all wishes, just not always the way you expect or on your timeline.

Vera came from a tragic childhood—alcohol abuse, sounds like physical abuse—and she really just wanted to escape her “Delaney past.” While waitressing one evening in a diner in Ithaca, New York, she met Bill, a PhD student at Cornell, and they began a whirlwind romance. Vera never felt like she was smart enough for Bill, they never married, and eventually Vera ran off with Knox.

Vera struggled to make ends meet, and when it became clear to her that Knox took after his father academically, she thought he would be better off with his dad. Vera dropped him off with Bill and never looked back. When she landed in Linden Falls, she set herself up in a small trailer, opened her business, and never even told anyone that she had a son, let alone about her past.

Amanda Prowse, who knows how to create characters that anyone can relate to in some way, beautifully tells Vera’s story. Vera has spent her entire life feeling like she is not enough for anyone. Even as a business owner in Linden Falls, she doesn’t feel like people would like her much if they knew where she came from.

As the story progresses and Bill, Knox, and Ashley show up in Linden Falls, we start to see the misunderstandings, the assumptions that Vera, Bill, and Knox have all made that created the disconnects they have today. The relationship between Vera and Knox is a good one, but we can see how things can be misinterpreted when people don’t talk to one another…and how a child’s view of their parent is so different from how a parent sees themselves.

I loved this new addition to the Wishing Tree series! It didn’t go where I thought it would, and that’s more than ok because sometimes what we wish for is not really what we need. In this series, the Wishing Tree always knows what’s best.

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