Bookshelf: I Wished For You by Amy Huberman.

I Wished For You by Amy Huberman* (£5.99)

'Grace and Robbie seem destined to be together for ever, but when he unexpectedly goes down on bended knee, Grace freaks out. Cue the mother of all meltdowns. On top of that, Grace is not exactly fulfilled by her job - dressing well-to-do ladies with way more money than style. Cue - in her addled state - losing it at work, with disastrous consequences.

Into Grace's train-wreck of a life comes Verity - ex-Hollywood costume lady and vintage-clothing queen. Verity has seen it all and done it all and her life makes Grace's look about as exciting as Songs of Praise. Verity tells Grace that the secret of happiness is to discover her 'heart wish'. If only Grace could work out what her heart's greatest wish really is...'

I have really mixed feeling about I Wished For You by Amy Huberman*, which may be why I've been sat here for a solid 10 minutes looking at an empty document completely baffled as to where to start. You see, I liked the story, I liked the premise because I think we've all had those days/weeks/months where we're not exactly sure what we want, where we're going and if we're heading in the right direction and I also liked Amy Huberman's writing, she has a very distinct style and there's something about it that's very captivating, relateable and genuinely laugh-out-loud funny. I just think that on occasion, there is perhaps one anecdote, one description too many and as a result this book, for me, is at least 75 pages too long. A few times I wondered when the story was going to move on, thumbing ahead a few pages to see when the next chapter started and I found myself almost losing interest.

For the first third or so of the book I really liked Grace, I really warmed to her, but as the story progressed, especially during the middle of the book, she started to frustrate me when she completely fails to see all the wonderful things she has going for her and amazing people she can genuinely rely on all of the time. Thankfully she meets Verity, one of my favourite characters (along with Ab-Norman), who helps to steer her in the right direction. The last hundred pages or so are lovely, despite feeling a little rushed, and I do think it ends at just the right point. I could quite happily have forgone large chunks of the middle, where the story seemed to trundle along to have a little more at the end, which seemed to fly by.

Overall, I think it's a fun, light read - one I would recommend for a long flight or chilled out holiday by the pool if you fancy a bit of a giggle - and although I probably wouldn't re-read, I'm glad I have read it. I thoroughly enjoyed Amy Huberman's style and I would absolutely pick up another novel from her in the future. 

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Love, Jennie

xoxo