Story for the Week
My Book Friends: my favorite group on Facebook. Founded by a bunch of authors, the group boasts more than 19,000 members and provides a fun environment where readers and authors can interact. A different author hosts every day, posing questions, talking about their upcoming or new releases, asking for opinions on covers and author photos.
There’s a monthly newsletter where they feature new releases by the founding authors. And as the holidays approach, they host Bookapalooza—a day of giveaways by the founding authors as well as a bunch of guest authors. I think there were more than 50 giveaways last year, and I discovered so many new authors to follow. (Note to self: block out December 8 for Bookapalooza.)
Several of the authors in the My Book Friends group collaborated on The Wishing Tree Series about the fictional town of Linden Falls, Vermont, home to the magical Wishing Tree in the center of town. I have devoured these books as they have been released and am sad to see them end again. But I’m hopeful there will be more.
In book #17, A Wish in the Wind reviewed below, Kay Bratt’s dedication is “for our wonderful readers in My Book Friends Facebook Group.” It really is a wonderful group of kind and fun readers, and I’m still thrilled I was invited to join. I’ve been exposed to so many fantastic authors, along with this book series.
These are all very quick reads, with most under 200 pages. If you haven’t read any of them, I recommend starting at the beginning. If you already read the first 13, books 14-17 are available now.
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 14: A Wish for Forgiveness by Amanda Prowse
- Book 15: Wishful Tails by Barbara Hinske
- Book 16: One More Wish by Tammy L. Grace
- Book 17: A Wish in the Wind by Kay Bratt
Book Review
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
5 Stars for A Wish in the Wind by Kay Bratt
115 pages
Publisher: Red Thread Publishing Group
Publication Date: October 17, 2024
Purchased on Amazon.
Publisher’s Description
Wishes in branches tied with string. Someone’s hopes. Another’s dreams.
It’s a new year and Linden Falls is a new place for Hunter Glenn and his daughter, Ava, to make a fresh start. When he goes to hang a wish on the tree in the center of town at the insistence of his daughter, a gust of wind strips it from his fingers and off it blows to somewhere who only knows. He’s not surprised. That pretty much sums up his life. It’s always been out of control.
Nicole is a long-term Linden Falls local who has recently gone through a welcome revelation that has changed her life forever. She’s looking forward to the new year now that she’s not alone. She wouldn’t dare wish for more good things, but when a slip of paper falls onto the tray she is using to serve a customer at the Crooked Porch, she might just find out that fate has even more in store for her.
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Main Characters:
- Hunter – divorced, recently moved to Linden Falls with his daughter Ava to get as far from his ex as possible, bought a fixer upper house to renovate on his own, writes for a magazine
- Ava – Hunter’s daughter, the wish she asks Hunter to hang on the tree gets caught in the wind and floats away
- Nicole – moved to Linden Falls seven years ago after her parents were killed in a car accident, works as a waitress at Crooked Porch but her passion is photography
- Amber – works at Doc’s Fountain and takes an interest in Hunter, lets him know that there aren’t too many single young people in Linden Falls and that she’s between relationships
Kay Bratt’s third addition to The Wishing Tree Series is an amazing (and I suspect temporary) ending. Neva Cabot, the matriarch of Linden Falls and curator of wishes, introduces this story while watching Hunter and his daughter write wishes to hang on the Wishing Tree. She thinks about her niece Janie who basically runs the Wishing Tree Inn for her now. Neva believes that Janie’s youngest daughter, Breeze, will put down permanent roots in Linden Falls and might even take over as curator of wishes.
Oh, I can only hope that’s true. As immortal as Neva seems to be, and as sad as I would be to see her go, I would love to see her pass down the magic of the Wishing Tree so we can continue to read stories about the people of Linden Falls.
Hunter and Ava are new in town. Hunter’s divorce has him worried about becoming a weekend dad to Ava, but he has her full-time for now while his ex gallivants around the South of France with her new boyfriend. Ava seems to love everything about Linden Falls, and all of the people they meet seem just as enamored with her.
Ava personifies the precociousness of a grade school child. She says whatever is on her mind. She’s easily distracted by dogs and cookies and Kool-Aid. And she’s not shy about trying to set up her dad on a date. On one of their regular trips to Doc’s for milkshakes, she blurts out to Amber that her mom has a new boyfriend. On another visit, when Amber asks Hunter about going to dinner and volunteers her 15-year-old sister to babysit, Ava shouts, “Yes! I want Jade to stay with me.”
When Hunter inadvertently insults Nicole’s photography at the artisan’s market one weekend, he is determined to apologize and make it up to her. He comes up with the idea to collaborate with Nicole on an article about Linden Falls, the Wishing Tree, and the stories of people whose wishes were granted. And he wants to feature a photograph that Nicole took…the one he insulted her over.
I loved these two characters together. Nicole is a long-time resident of Linden Falls, surrounded by friends who became family, people who watch out for her, and she’s trying to make a name for herself in the world of photography. Hunter has really only gotten to know Jed, the owner of the hardware store, because he’s renovating his house. But Linden Falls is a small town, everyone knows everyone, so it doesn’t take long for the residents to open their arms to Hunter…and especially to Ava.
You can see where this is going. Nicole is a photographer. Hunter is a journalist. It’s really kind of a match made…by the Wishing Tree. At 115 pages, this is a super quick read, and I was glad I had a couple of uninterrupted hours to read it straight through. I definitely started and ended with a smile.
This is the end of the series…for now. I’m hopeful (wishful?) there will be more in the future, and I hope that Bratt continues to be a contributor. This is another great read for the holiday season.
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