Summer of Two Wishes

This was a pretty enjoyable contemporary that really made me think “what would I do” if I faced the situation that the heroine in this book does. There were some really heart-breaking moments, and the heroine has to make some tough decisions about the two men she loves, and no matter what decision she makes, someone is going to get hurt. I felt sorry for all the players involved--there’s no real bad guy in the story, but I was definitely rooting for one of the men to get his HEA, but then I felt bad for the other guy. I really hope the author revisits these characters in a future book, because I would like to see how the man who got left out in the cold is faring.<br /><br />The basic plot is that Macy Lockhart lost her young husband Finn, who was serving in the military, when he was supposedly killed in a roadside bomb in Afghanistan over 3 years ago. This piece of news totally devastates Macy, and she becomes a shell of her former self, unable to get past the memories of the husband who she loved so much and unable to do anything with her life for years. But then one day she is introduced to a kind, wealthy man (a guy totally different than her beloved Finn in many ways) who slowly brings her back to life, and she realizes that it’s time to move on and start living again. They eventually get married, and live a very different lifestyle then she was leading on her husband’s horse ranch, but she’s happy again. Then one day the Army contacts her and tells her they made a mistake, her husband never died in that bomb, but that he’d been a prisoner of the Taliban all that time and recently escaped. He’s alive and well and coming home. To her. To the ranch (called “Two Wishes”) that he loves. Ready to pick up where he left off. Macy is ecstatic--her biggest wish has come true! But how can she tell him she’s no longer his wife--or will she? Macy’s caught in the biggest dilemma of her life--she loves two men and must let <i>one</i> go. But who? She loves Finn with all her heart, but she also loves Wyatt, the man who rescued her. After all Finn’s been through, doesn’t she owe it to him to be there for him? But what about Wyatt? He was there for her in her darkest hours--doesn’t she owe him something too?<br /><br />Oh boy, this book was filled with <i>lots</i> of angst. I felt bad for Macy, because she was in a no win situation. Both of these men wanted her, and neither was about to step aside and let the other have her. I felt bad for Finn, because he went through hell in Afghanistan, came back as a "hero", but had trouble fitting in his life again and takes to the bottle briefly. I felt bad for Wyatt, because he did nothing wrong besides loving a "dead man's" wife. After reading the background about her life with both men, I definitely had an opinion about who she should be with, and I was just hoping that Macy would be honest with herself. As did her whole town--<b>everyone</b> in her small Texas town had an opinion, and let her know it! I’m thinking not much happened in that town, because they sure did insinuate themselves into her business! Macy bounced back and forth about what she wanted to do (which frustrated me--and her men!). Even at one point one of her men told her it was time to “fish or cut bait” and I could not have agreed more. Every time it looked like she was leaning one way, she started feeling guilty about the man she would be leaving behind. Finally one of her men asked her to do what’s right for her…and she finally was able to come to a decision. Of course, there was a pretty predictable curve thrown her way (which I saw coming a mile away), and I thought she’d renege on her decision (which surprised me when she didn’t), and one of the men didn’t take it so well, and there was the predictable drama…But really I’d have to say this was a pretty thought provoking read, and yes at times I felt I was watching a Lifetime movie, but it did deal with some important topics like PTSD, survivor’s families, if it’s possible to love two men at the same time, can wishes come true, can miracles really happen, etc. I was happy with the outcome, and I think Macy made the right decision. It’s just too bad someone had to be hurt in the process.<br /><br />The love scenes in this one were mostly more emotional than explicit (PG-13 rated), but well done. You could definitely feel the love and passion, no doubt about it. I can’t say much more without giving away some spoilers, and I’m afraid if I even describe the two men in Macy’s life (beyond saying that they were different physically, economically, and in personality) I’ll give something away. All I can say is read it--I think this one will be staying with me for some time. Hopefully Julia London will write a sequel, maybe about one of Finn’s hunky brothers, and we can see how everyone is getting along. Recommended for those who enjoy a thought provoking read. 4 ½ stars<br />

I found this book to be boring and predictable. She's trying to make a decision between husband 1: the love of her life she thought was killed in combat overseas and husband 2: the guy who comforted her when she thought the love of her life was dead. Did anyone doubt which decision she was going to make? Even the pregnancy by husband 2, which could be seen coming from the begining of the book, did not cloud the issue. It was an awfully long book for her to be wieghing these choices... I love H1, but H2 was so nice to me. Shocked though you may be, she chooses H1. There. Now you don't need to read it. You're welcome.

<i>I wrote the review below 2 years ago after reading the paperback. Today I finished the audio book and came away with a much clearer picture of the story and a better understanding of what motivated the characters to behave the way they did. The narrator, Natalie Ross (nar. KMM's Dreamfever series) did an outstanding job of bringing the story to life. My revised rating for SOTW is a solid 5+ stars and probably my new number 1 favorite audiobook.</i><br /><br /><br /><br />If ever there was a heroine confronted with a mind-blowing dilemma, it would have to be Macy from Summer of Two Wishes by Julia London. Macy was one of the lucky ones that married the love of her life...and every day she and Finn were together was like living the eternal "happy-ever- after". However, the couple's cocoon of bliss is destroyed when Finn enlists in the army, goes to war in Iraq and is officially pronounced dead several months later - the victim of a suicide bomber. For the next two years Macy simply "exists"...fueled only by memories of the extraordinary love she had shared with her husband. Time moves on, however, and eventually so does Macy. She meets and marries Wyatt...a wonderful man who helps her let go of the past and someone with whom she, once again, finds love and happiness.<br /><br />Does the curtain drop here? Oh, hell no...this is where the book begins! We know what "assume" does to you and me so I imagine it works on a larger scale when the army assumes a soldier is dead from finding his mutilated dog tags and 3 years later he turns up alive... and as well as can be expected (considering he spent those years in captivity). No matter...the army is redeemed because Finn is on his way home! And yes, Macy has a HUGE problem!<br /><br />The first half of this book was excellent but heart-wrenching. As Macy goes off alone to do some soul-searching for answers, we watch Finn struggle to survive in the normal world again. This poor guy lived in hell for 3 years, and returned home only to find everything that was once his (the memories of which had given him the will to live) had been taken away from him. Finn deals with the loss of his wife, PTSD, alcohol dependency and an overbearing mother (named Karen, no less) while publicly being touted a national hero. At the same time, Wyatt feels his world getting ready to crumble...the idealistic life and love he shares with Macy, the future they are building together and the child they are trying to have, is suddenly an uncertainty. Although my heart was with Finn, Wyatt was a great guy in his own right and did not deserve this cruel hand dealt by fate.<br /><br />Just as I was beginning to acknowledge the fact that this book was well on it's way to becoming my all-time favorite (unseating another novel by London), it hit the wall (but just enough to knock it's halo crooked). Suddenly we have a "bad" guy, another big wrench thrown in the works and Macy going from sympathetic to annoying. She made her decision but never convinced me she was truly happy with it. And she fluctuated between the two men to the point of madness. In Macy's defense, however, I can't imagine what I would have done in the same situation...probably a lot worse. Another concern I had with the book is that we never get a good fleshing out of Macy's character. Who was this woman that captivated the hearts of 2 men so completely? Normally I don't care for flashbacks, but this book would have benefited from using them. I wanted to "feel" the love that Finn and Wyatt felt for Macy...a little evidence of why they both loved her to distraction. <br /><br />I wanted to rate this book 4.5* but tipped it up because I'm nice like that. (uh-huh) Despite the misgivings I had (they aren't too major), this book is definitely worth reading...if for no other reason than to fall in love with Finn. You feel so bad for the guy you just want to kiss him and make it all better (of course it does not hurt that he is described as a total hotty)! London became an auto-buy for me several books back, but this is the first contemporary I've read by her. I was impressed enough to pull her back list up and GRRRrrrr...she's got at least 6 other contemps I feel I must read. *sigh* My tbr pile is going to be as big as Dina's pretty soon. ;)<br /><br /><br /><br />

A young couple, Finn and Macy, just starting out in their marriage, is put to the test when he joins the service and heads over seas to fight in Afghanistan. Macy didn’t want him go, but she supported him. She stays back on their ranch and tries to run it alone. A few months later she is told he was killed in action, due to a car bomb. She is devastated, of course. She’s struggling to hold every thing together—herself, his ranch, horses. She forms a survivor’s support group with another war widow and tries to put the pieces back together.<br /><br />After two years, she meets another man, Wyatt. He’s a wealthy land broker, and is smitten with Macy. She falls for him, and he asks her to marry him. Still in love with Finn, she even asks for a blessing from Finn’s parents before she agrees to marry Wyatt. She marries him and he gives her an exclusive lifestyle suited for the rich and famous. She doesn’t care about the money, and she does love Wyatt, but her love for his is just not the same as her love for her husband, Finn.<br /><br />A few months after her marriage, she is told that Finn is alive. He’s been held captive by the Taliban for past three years. She’s overjoyed he’s alive and cannot wait to see him. But what happens now? Wyatt is crushed. Finn comes home fully expecting his life to be the same and is reasonably angry and crushed as well that she has remarried. He accuses her of moving on too quickly.<br /><br />The first half of this book was very sad, and I felt for all three of them involved. I swayed between the two men more than once while trying to figure out who she should stay with. However, it started to drag on, and I wanted to just grab her shoulder and say ‘come on, damn it! Make a decision. These guys are dangling here’.<br /><br />In the meantime, Finn finds his life as he left it is gone. He’s got no wife, no home, and no horses. He keeps having flashbacks of his time overseas. The whole town sees him as a hero, and he hates it. He starts drinking heavily to cope. It’s just sad, but I understand he’s lost. Wyatt is almost inconsolable himself. His life has been ripped out from under him, too. Also at this point, every one in the small town has picked a ‘side’ and increases pressure on all of them.<br /><br />I feel like the author made one of the men into somewhat of a villain in order to make it seem ‘more ok’ for Macy to dump him. I’m not sure I liked who she did end up picking, but the ending was happy and that’s what matters here. I don’t want to give away who she eventually chooses. I just want you to read it! <br />

2.5* rounded up to 3* for goodreads<br /><br />For people who enjoy angsty, emotional stories, there is a lot to recommend about this book. London does a good job portraying the "King Solomon" dilemma facing Macy as she has to decide between Finn, who was pronounced dead in the Afgan war, and Wyatt, who she fell in love with and married afterwards. Wyatt is scared and angry about having his perfect life upended by no fault of his own. Phin is stunned and angry to come back to find he has no wife and no life left back in Texas. However, if you're looking for an emotional read that comes to a satisfying ending, this might not be the best choice. There <i>is</i> no satisfying ending possible in this emotional melodrama.<br /><br />While I was compelled to keep listening and find out Macy's choice and the ramifications of it, I have some reservations about <i>Summer of Two Wishes</i>. First is the amount of repetition, especially in the first half of the book. The reader is privy to the mind-numbing process Macy goes through, thinking first of one husband, and then of the other. We experience first dates in detail, as well as many other special times she spent with each one. I understand this could be seen as character development, but the same phrasing is used over and over again, and it gets old. I get it; she loves both of them. The sex scenes, especially the first one, made me feel icky. It seemed so dishonest of Macy. In fact, the book would be stronger without the sex scenes at all. They didn't add to the story, and in fact made me dislike Macy's character. Honesty and integrity dictate Macy should have kept her pants zipped until she made a decision. But then, Macy comes across throughout much of the book as more passive than purposeful.<br /><br />Frankly, there weren't many people to like in this story. Samantha, the moms, the town gossips, even Macy and at times Wyatt, weren't very likeable characters. Finn was a more sympathetic character, and there were some secondary characters that were good. There is no Happy Ever After here, either. Relationships were broken and people badly hurt in the course of the book and no amount of happiness for the eventual couple at the end can do away with the emotional devastation left behind. With the added emotional twist the author throws into the story, Macy's choice seems almost cruel, no matter what "soft landing" the author tries to give it.

Macy is distraught when she hears the news that her husband has been killed while serving in the military. While she misses her husband dearly, she can't help but fall for Wyatt who shows her once again what it feels like to be truly alive. She finally feels like it is time to move on and she marries Wyatt. And just when she thought she was settled into this new life, the shock of a lifetime hits like lightening. Finn is alive and he's come back for his wife.<br /><br />It was really hard during some parts to keep reading this book. My husband served in Afghanistan and I would worry every second of every day. There would be weeks where I had no contact with him whatsoever. It was an extremely difficult time in my life and this book brought back all of those feelings. I have so much respect for the men and women who not only serve this country and the families that they leave behind. It is an incredibly difficult thing to do and my heart goes out to everyone who has a loved one living day to day in the line of fire. <br /><br />If you're up for a romance with more drama than daytime soap operas, you'll fall in love with this book. It was a wonderful romantic read that keeps you interested.

I’m not sure that I have ever been more annoyed by two characters. Finn’s backstory is interesting, but him as a character is lacking. <input type="checkbox" class="spoiler__control" aria-label="The following text has been marked spoiler. Toggle checkbox to reveal or hide." onchange="this.labels[0].setAttribute('aria-hidden', !this.checked);" id="8f6d8416-f3c1-488c-bac8-f161c5bfc899" /><label aria-hidden="true" class="spoiler" for="8f6d8416-f3c1-488c-bac8-f161c5bfc899">Macy knows early on she wants to be with Finn, but drags them both on AND cheats, and still doesn’t have the courage to own up to her feelings. Each time she gives Finn her attention, all while ignoring Wyatt, it drove me crazy. That’s in no way a mature way to handle a difficult situation. Each time Wyatt tries to get her to talk with him, she gets all nauseous, blah blah blah. And Finn’s obnoxiously nice way of talking to Wyatt makes me want to punch him.</label>I thought the bones of the story had great potential, but the characters (except for Wyatt) really bugged me. I found myself more interested in the secondary characters than Macy and Finn, and hoping that Wyatt would be set free so that he could find somebody more worth him and his affection.

I am surprised I got through this novel as quickly as I did, because it felt like I was trudging through mud. I am not happy for Macy by the story's end because all through the novel she came off as a pampered and privileged girl. The only character with any lasting likability was the dog, Milo.

I've always thought the subject of this book would make a great heart breaking story. This was a good story and easy to read. But I would like to have gotten to know the characters better. I also would have liked for London to have shown us how the characters feel instead of telling us. This book was the perfect set up to make me feel every heart ache that the characters felt. I was not disappointed in Macy's choice, but I honestly don't think there was a wrong or right choice in this situation. All three of the main characters were put in an impossible situation and someone was going to get hurt. There was not true bad guy although London chose to slightly vilify one of the men and I'm not sure I like that she did. I think that was the easy way out. In the end I think it is all forgivable and hope our heartbroken man gets his HEA too.

I do like Julia London but not this book. You would think a book on this subject matter would be emotionally heartwrenching, but instead it was very predictable from the start and I was never able to connect to the book emotionally. <br /><br />Instead of empathizing with Macy's problem, I found her annoying. And as much as I enjoy most JL books, the "love" scenes in this book are about as engaging as reading a description of a mechanic tuning up your car...no emotion whatsoever.