Summer of Two Wishes

Julia London's move signals great beginning

Julia London left Regency England and flew her time machine straight to the present in Cedar Springs, TX. With her, Ms. London brought her New-York-Times-best-seller-list writing skills. She needed every one of them because this must have been a tough book to write. She succeeds, of course, but only the most talented of writers-like Julia London-would be able to pull together this weaving of stories and emotions.
For almost everyone in town, the homecoming of Finn Lockhart, previously reported as dead but now found after three years in captivity, is a cause for celebration.
But not for Wyatt Clark who is now married to Finn's wife Macy. And, while Macy is overjoyed the love of her life is safe, how does she treat Wyatt, the man who pulled her from the deep depression after Finn's reported death and to whom she owes her sanity? How can a woman make a decision like that?
Although Finn's return is joyful, it brings with it problems and repercussions for many citizens of Cedar Springs. How does the town handle the return of a war hero? How does the man who doesn't consider himself a hero take the adulation and interest his return brings with it?
From the tangled motives and feelings, Ms. London creates a marvelous story of love and deceit, hope and redemption. She deals honestly with the deep emotions of Finn's family and friends. Perhaps the most poignant is Finn's story. This is a man who returns home to find all those things he dreamed about, that kept him going during his captivity, are gone: his wife, his land, his career, even his horses and dog. How does he deal with the trauma of those three years and his losses when his privacy is constantly invaded?
Macy and Finn face incredibly difficult choices. Through Ms. London's deft writing and great talent, we feel the pain of the characters and cheer for them to have their two wishes-and many more-granted.
This book is highly recommended, a real keeper and the start of a new chapter of Ms. London's exceptional career.

Jane Myers Perrine

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

This author just keeps getting better with each book

What a story! I was totally engaged from the first page on. When I finished the book I was satisfied but I can't wait for the next book in the series to come out for more.
Julia has a way of wrapping me into the characters she has created. I can visualize the settings and I almost felt as if I were there.
I will be one of the first to purchase her next book.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Be Careful How Many Wishes You Take

What would happen if one day your wish that you dreamed about came true? That your first husband was alive and well and not dead as everyone thought. But when you make one wish you only find yourself wanting another and that is where Macy finds herself - in love with the husband thought dead and in love with the husband she is currently married to. Macy Lockhart Clark finds herself reunited with her first husband long thought dead in Afghanistan and realizes she is married to two men and suddenly it occurs to her to be very, very careful what you wish for.

How had it come to this that when Macy turns to her right there stands Army Sergeant Finn Lockhart returned alive after being held a prisoner of war for three years. When Macy turns to her left there is Wyatt Clark her current husband and the man that brought her back to life and smothered her in love and luxury. Macy had found love again with Wyatt but the love she had with Finn was never gone just buried along with his dog tags or so she thought. Now she must choose which man will be her future, the one from her past or the one in her present. She can't have both and when fate throws another curve no one saw coming at her there is even more at stake than anyone could imagine.

Finn is back, battling PTSD and trying to find a place in a world he no longer seems to belong to. His horses have been sold off, his ranch is a shambles and his wife has moved on to a new life. All the while that Finn is fighting to find a way back into Macy's heart Wyatt is fighting the battle of his life doing everything he can to stay in Macy's life and heart and keep her as his wife.

How could Macy choose between these two halves that make her whole - can she? With so much at stake and the reality that one will be happy and the other devastated instead of looking left or right Macy looks straight ahead and tries to figure out which husband she wants and which one will get his heart broken and try to live without Macy something both men cannot fathom.

This book is amazing but not everyone will think so. Depending on who you believe should be with Macy will determine how you feel about this story. I went in with a pre-conceived idea of which she should end up with and thought when it did not turn out as I wanted I would be disappointed but I was not. You absolutely have to read this entire book to understand the complexities of the characters and absorb where the feelings are coming from especially in Macy's point-of-view. She may be torn but it seems her mind was made up from the beginning when she heard the news that tore her life apart the second time.

Mary Gramlich "The Reading Reviewer"

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Amazing story...you have to read this book!!!!

Loved it...kept me entertained and excited to turn the page.

Too graphic

A good read but the sex scenes were too graphic. The story line didn't need the details like in grphic romance novels. I would have ranked her in a class like nicholas sparks if it were't for the sexual content.

Summer of Two Wishes Absolutely Best Book Ever

I have never read a book that I have started in finished in the same day until this book! I absolutely loved it. It is about a man who goes off to war, and the wife is told he dies. She remarries and then three years later the husband comes back. (he didn't die) Now she has trouble on her hands as she is in love with two men.....it will keep you on your toes guessing what will happen next. I read it in one day.....the whole book. The writing is wonderful and touching. A MUST READ!

An good plot but just an okay ending

The previous reviews have summarized the plot so I won't repeat. I will just say that I, too, could not put the book down. However, the end left me rather disappointed. Not because of Macy's choice. But because it all seemed a little too tidy. Everyone's behavior became a little too good-to-be-true and all the messiness -- Finn's PTSD, Macy's complications, Sam's issue, Wyatt's handling of the land issues -- all turned out to be not much more than fleeting problems. Too bad because the plot was original and had all the makings of a good movie script. But the ending was just too lame.

Wonderful book to read

One of the best stories of the year...

Summer of Two Wishes is a heartbreaking romantic read

Synopsis:

When she heard that her husband Finn was killed in the line of duty overseas, Mary Lockhart felt like she'd died. Mary struggled to keep his Texas Ranch, but with cattle disease, her inexperience, and bad luck, she had to sell much of Finn's assets. Three years later, she'd picked herself up and created a new life. Mary still loved and missed Finn deeply, but she found stability and happiness with her new husband Wyatt Clark.

Stability and happiness that shatter when Mary receives news that Finn is alive - and coming home. Mary is ecstatic that Finn is alive and can't wait to see him. But under Texas law, she must choose which marriage to keep and which to nullify. Faced with an impossible choice, what does Mary do?

Review:

Macy's in an impossible situation. If you thought that the man that you loved more than anything in the world somehow was gone and you suddenly had a second chance, would you go back to him even if it means hurting the man who helped you find yourself again?

Julia London is careful to fully flesh out each of the three characters so that you can sympathize with each of them. She creates subplots that move the story along to its satisfying conclusion. The book raises issues of loyalty and being true to oneself as well as the unique strain that military families are under. The description of the difficulties that military families face both during deployment and when obtaining their benefits gave the book an additional dimension. Despite the difficult decision that Macy faces, I found the book is an enjoyable and satisfying read.

Publisher: Pocket Star (August 18, 2009), 432 pages.
Courtesy of the publisher.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Touching, sad, happy, romantic, and passionate; an emotional roller coaster worth riding!

I can't imagine what I would do given what Macy had to face in this one. To first find out that your husband was killed, to get over that loss enough to fall in love and remarry, then to find out that your first husband was still alive.... Not something I ever want to experience, but it makes for a very emotional story. That's for sure.

This is an easy book to get lost in. 400 pages just seemed to fly by. Everything Macy, Wyatt and Finn go through is heart wrenching. It took me no time to connect with the characters and I was right there with them from the very beginning. The story seems so real that when Macy cried I thought I was going to start bawling. The decisions she's forced to make and the turmoil she goes through trying to make them really tugged at me.

The story takes place in Texas, and London does a great job of writing so that you can hear the drawl in what is being said. I felt like I was down in Texas. London leaves a lot of the detail up to the imagination. There was very little descriptions; enough so that you got an idea of what people looked like and where they were but not too much to detract from the story.

I was captivated by this one and read it in two sittings. I found I just didn't want to put it down. I don't know what decision I would have made, but as Macy sifts through her emotions to decide what she wants I understood her logic and why she did what she did. It made me feel like I was making the decision with her.

an entertaining contemporary

Deep in love with one another, Macy and Finn Lockhart believe their life together is perfect as they work their horse ranch in Cedar Springs, Texas. When 9/11 occurs Finn enlists as he believes that is the patriotic right thing to do. However, a roadside bomb in Afghanistan kills him. In many ways back in Texas a devastated Macy feels dead inside.

Three years later, Macy finally is moving on. She is selling the ranch and marries Wyatt Clark who helped pull her out of the crippling fog of grief. However, soon after they exchange their marital vows, word arrives that Finn is alive and coming home expecting a joyful reunion with his wife.

This is an intriguing tale of choices to be made as Macy loves Finn but deeply admires Wyatt. Although the premise has been done mostly in comedic terms (see Move Over darling and My Favorite Wife), Julia London freshens it up by using a serious undertone. Ironically, that somber approach also leaves no Cary Grant or Doris Day like warmth to any of the triangle lead characters, even the returning from the grave hero. Still SUMMER OF TWO WISHES is an entertaining contemporary as the woman with two husbands must decide on one or none; as she cares about both of them.

Harriet Klausner

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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