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When You Wish
Scientist Dr Daniel Chadwick has no intention of giving up his financial grant to free-spirited Grace Lighthorse, a massage therapist who believes in a lot of foolish things including the healing power of touch and the potent magic of a moonlit kiss.
252 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2000
9 people are currently reading
135 people want to read
About the author
Lori Handeland
127 books1,347 followersLori Handeland is a five-time nominee and two-time winner of the prestigious RITA Award from Romance Writers of America, as well as the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over sixty novels spanning the genres of paranormal romance, urban fantasy, contemporary romance, historical romance and historical fantasy.
After a quarter-century of success and accolades, she began a new chapter in her career with her women’s fiction debut, Just Once (Severn House, January 2019), which received a coveted, starred review from Library Journal and was optioned as a feature film by Catalyst Global Media.
Lori lives in Southern Wisconsin with her husband of over thirty-five years. In between writing and reading, she enjoys long walks with their rescue mutt, Arnold, and visits from her two grown sons, awesome daughter-in-law and perfectly adorable grandchildren.
After a quarter-century of success and accolades, she began a new chapter in her career with her women’s fiction debut, Just Once (Severn House, January 2019), which received a coveted, starred review from Library Journal and was optioned as a feature film by Catalyst Global Media.
Lori lives in Southern Wisconsin with her husband of over thirty-five years. In between writing and reading, she enjoys long walks with their rescue mutt, Arnold, and visits from her two grown sons, awesome daughter-in-law and perfectly adorable grandchildren.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
May 18, 2012
When You Wish
by Lori Handeland
A story of Doctor Daniel Chadwick and Grace Lightfoot competing for a grant on the projects they both feel are important. The grant will come Mrs. Cabilla who will make the final decision.
The challenge comes when the two main characters are supposed to work together for two weeks before it is decided who will get the grant.
Grace has a different outlook on life than Dan; she is free spirited and he is reserved. Her project is Project Hope and his is a medical research project.
Dan's family has disinherited him because he went into the wrong field of medicine and Grace was still angry at her father for letting stress kill him (my feelings). He was Ojibwe and his wife Irish. The Ojibwe believed in taking care of family and so he took care of his three sisters who loved in the same house as Grace. They are wonderful characters and I really see them as characters. There is also Olaf, a Norwegian, who protects Grace from "bad men".
Again, the author brings the flavor of her home state of Wisconsin. I live in Minnesota but was not raised here so I had to learn these things of Minnesota and Wisconsin. The lab for Daniel is on a old Boy Scout Camp in Wisconsin; my sons went to Tomahawk Scout Camp in Wisconsin. There is Lake Illusion in the book and Wisconsin is full of lakes. Lutefisk is mentioned in the book and it is a cured fish eaten traditionally by Scandinavians. Mosquitos are thick when there is a lot of rain and so true. I learned in one of her book why Wisconsin is called the Badger State. I like this type of information in books; it makes the book more personal.
I think that Lori Handeland does a good job of her descriptions; the reader is almost there.
The story is about an oil and water mixture from the two main characters they get along and then don't get along. The reader wants to know what really is going to happen at the end. Some steamy kissing scenes but not bad.
A good read for the airplane or sitting outside. The authors's site is www.lorihandeland.com.
This will also be posted on my blog:www.mnleona.blogspot.com and www.librarything.com
I received a complimentary copy of When You Wish to read and review. The opinions are my own.
Leona Olson
by Lori Handeland
A story of Doctor Daniel Chadwick and Grace Lightfoot competing for a grant on the projects they both feel are important. The grant will come Mrs. Cabilla who will make the final decision.
The challenge comes when the two main characters are supposed to work together for two weeks before it is decided who will get the grant.
Grace has a different outlook on life than Dan; she is free spirited and he is reserved. Her project is Project Hope and his is a medical research project.
Dan's family has disinherited him because he went into the wrong field of medicine and Grace was still angry at her father for letting stress kill him (my feelings). He was Ojibwe and his wife Irish. The Ojibwe believed in taking care of family and so he took care of his three sisters who loved in the same house as Grace. They are wonderful characters and I really see them as characters. There is also Olaf, a Norwegian, who protects Grace from "bad men".
Again, the author brings the flavor of her home state of Wisconsin. I live in Minnesota but was not raised here so I had to learn these things of Minnesota and Wisconsin. The lab for Daniel is on a old Boy Scout Camp in Wisconsin; my sons went to Tomahawk Scout Camp in Wisconsin. There is Lake Illusion in the book and Wisconsin is full of lakes. Lutefisk is mentioned in the book and it is a cured fish eaten traditionally by Scandinavians. Mosquitos are thick when there is a lot of rain and so true. I learned in one of her book why Wisconsin is called the Badger State. I like this type of information in books; it makes the book more personal.
I think that Lori Handeland does a good job of her descriptions; the reader is almost there.
The story is about an oil and water mixture from the two main characters they get along and then don't get along. The reader wants to know what really is going to happen at the end. Some steamy kissing scenes but not bad.
A good read for the airplane or sitting outside. The authors's site is www.lorihandeland.com.
This will also be posted on my blog:www.mnleona.blogspot.com and www.librarything.com
I received a complimentary copy of When You Wish to read and review. The opinions are my own.
Leona Olson
February 14, 2013
I'm not sure if this is the right edition to comment on or not. This book was free from amazon, and it has been re-released with an updated, yummy title. The description of the print books says it is 256 pages, however, it moved at a nice pace and felt like a novella. This is a great read for an evening. This is one of those stories where the hero would be called a "beta", however, this is because he is clueless in some areas compared to the heroine. It is more like each has their own strengths.
There are a lot of major social issues touched upon in this book: race, social background, ethics and work ethics. None of them are fully explored, and I was ok with that. I was also ok with the hero not reconnecting with his family in some way. There wasn't a huge blow out where furniture was destroyed or food was thrown. I was ok with that too. Because, in the end, what really mattered was that the hero and heroine found one another.
I would recommend this book for an evenings read. Like I said above, it doesn't take that long and really feels like a novella.
There are a lot of major social issues touched upon in this book: race, social background, ethics and work ethics. None of them are fully explored, and I was ok with that. I was also ok with the hero not reconnecting with his family in some way. There wasn't a huge blow out where furniture was destroyed or food was thrown. I was ok with that too. Because, in the end, what really mattered was that the hero and heroine found one another.
I would recommend this book for an evenings read. Like I said above, it doesn't take that long and really feels like a novella.
January 18, 2016
Dan and Grace are competing for the same grant - Dan to continue his medical research and Grace to continue her charity giving kids blankets. Grace and Dan are complete opposites, with Dan unable to let loose and believe in what he can't see and Grace has a bit of a chip on her shoulder about people who can't do that, or "stiffs" as she calls them. So when they have to spend three weeks helping one another in order to stay in competition for the grant, things get a bit rocky.
This was a very engaging story and I could not stop reading it. Dan was probably the most adorable hero I have ever encountered. He is a Nordic Nerd - 6 foot 5, big and clumsy, brilliant and completely insecure about himself. He was the best part of the whole book and I wish he'd gotten a more sympathetic heroine. I disliked Grace. For all that she kept berating Dan for not opening his eyes and seeing her, she was guilty of the same thing. Throughout the book most of the conversation focused on Grace and her problems, but she learned very little about Dan and didn't seem to care. She was every bit as narrow-minded as Dan was, but nobody really bothered pointing it out to her. And her little mistake at the end, really showed that she didn't trust or know Dan at all. How else could she think that about him? She frustrated me. I also found Dan's reaction to his lost experiment, somewhat unrealistic. I mean, he just lost a year's worth of research and trying to prove himself because Grace dragged him away to have sex and he immediately wants to take her to bed? I figured he'd be a bit more devastated for a bit longer... I've felt worse having lost several hours worth of paper writing when my flash drive went missing. And incidentally, for all the build up, the love scenes were extremely underwhelming.
The writing was very good and the author is clearly an excellent storyteller. I just think I'll stick to more recently published material.
This was a very engaging story and I could not stop reading it. Dan was probably the most adorable hero I have ever encountered. He is a Nordic Nerd - 6 foot 5, big and clumsy, brilliant and completely insecure about himself. He was the best part of the whole book and I wish he'd gotten a more sympathetic heroine. I disliked Grace. For all that she kept berating Dan for not opening his eyes and seeing her, she was guilty of the same thing. Throughout the book most of the conversation focused on Grace and her problems, but she learned very little about Dan and didn't seem to care. She was every bit as narrow-minded as Dan was, but nobody really bothered pointing it out to her. And her little mistake at the end, really showed that she didn't trust or know Dan at all. How else could she think that about him? She frustrated me. I also found Dan's reaction to his lost experiment, somewhat unrealistic. I mean, he just lost a year's worth of research and trying to prove himself because Grace dragged him away to have sex and he immediately wants to take her to bed? I figured he'd be a bit more devastated for a bit longer... I've felt worse having lost several hours worth of paper writing when my flash drive went missing. And incidentally, for all the build up, the love scenes were extremely underwhelming.
The writing was very good and the author is clearly an excellent storyteller. I just think I'll stick to more recently published material.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 21, 2013
When You Wish – by Lori Handeland
This wonderfully sweet romance will take you very little time to indulge in. And when there is heat, it is good and hot without being pornographic.
These characters may look to be totally different, but deep down inside they both want the same thing – to do good for people in pain. They have just learned that they will be competing for the same funding to help with research for their pet projects. Grace believes in the magic of life and simple kindnesses, while Daniel doesn’t believe in anything that he can’t stick under a microscope, now they suddenly find themselves having to work together on Daniels experiment in order to be considered for funding.
I loved this story and it was so refreshing to find myself reading about a male character that was hot and sexy and didn’t know it. He was also quite the beta male. And Grace was a bit ditzy/know-it-all-ish without being overly or annoyingly so. The secondary characters might have been a little over the top but they served to be a perfect backdrop for the main story.
For such a quick read, we have a good plot, well-fleshed characters – a lot of laughs, some great romantic scenes and a HEA…what more could we want?
Editing/formatting was a tad sloppy, but nothing that detracts from reading it.
This wonderfully sweet romance will take you very little time to indulge in. And when there is heat, it is good and hot without being pornographic.
These characters may look to be totally different, but deep down inside they both want the same thing – to do good for people in pain. They have just learned that they will be competing for the same funding to help with research for their pet projects. Grace believes in the magic of life and simple kindnesses, while Daniel doesn’t believe in anything that he can’t stick under a microscope, now they suddenly find themselves having to work together on Daniels experiment in order to be considered for funding.
I loved this story and it was so refreshing to find myself reading about a male character that was hot and sexy and didn’t know it. He was also quite the beta male. And Grace was a bit ditzy/know-it-all-ish without being overly or annoyingly so. The secondary characters might have been a little over the top but they served to be a perfect backdrop for the main story.
For such a quick read, we have a good plot, well-fleshed characters – a lot of laughs, some great romantic scenes and a HEA…what more could we want?
Editing/formatting was a tad sloppy, but nothing that detracts from reading it.
February 23, 2013
Dr Daniel Chadwick is a little ticked off to find out the grant he’d been getting for 5 years to fund his research into finding a cure for – better you read it to find out – might be given away to a group that provides blankies to sick kids. Grace Lighthorse, the woman in charge of Project Hope can’t get a medical administrator to understand how hope, and the idea of a magic blanket a sick child can hold on to, can increase the odds of a child overcoming their disease.
He’s a sexy geek, but has a purely scientific, strict work ethic and isn’t especially comfortable outside of his zone. She’s a free-spirited massage therapist who takes time to enjoy life.
Mrs Cabilla, the executor of the grant forces them to each spend time working on the others' projects in order for either of them to remain in the running for the grant. There are a ton of misunderstandings and growth for both of the main characters. The secondary characters added both a lot of humor and understanding.
This was a delightful, funny, albeit somewhat short, read. But there is enough there to tell a complete, well-rounded story.
Reading it was a wonderful escape.
He’s a sexy geek, but has a purely scientific, strict work ethic and isn’t especially comfortable outside of his zone. She’s a free-spirited massage therapist who takes time to enjoy life.
Mrs Cabilla, the executor of the grant forces them to each spend time working on the others' projects in order for either of them to remain in the running for the grant. There are a ton of misunderstandings and growth for both of the main characters. The secondary characters added both a lot of humor and understanding.
This was a delightful, funny, albeit somewhat short, read. But there is enough there to tell a complete, well-rounded story.
Reading it was a wonderful escape.
February 15, 2016
192p Massage therapist, Grace Lighthorse, is very close to receiving funding for her pet project--supplying sick children with security blankets. The only catch is that she work with the brilliant, and sexy, scientist, Dr. Daniel Chadwick. Unfortunately, Daniel doesn't believe in anything so fanciful as alternative medicine. Or love.
Daniel has chosen to live his life alone in the northwoods of Wisconsin. The only thing he's ever been any good at is medical research, and he isn't giving up his grant to a free-spirited flower child.
Despite their differences, Grace and Dan want one thing--to heal others. Will they be able to heal each other as well?
Daniel has chosen to live his life alone in the northwoods of Wisconsin. The only thing he's ever been any good at is medical research, and he isn't giving up his grant to a free-spirited flower child.
Despite their differences, Grace and Dan want one thing--to heal others. Will they be able to heal each other as well?
April 27, 2013
This was a sweet story. Dan on the outside looks like perfection and with the title Doctor, should be the ultimate alpha male. Instead he's a clumsy, awkward guy who prefers to be alone with his experiments. Grace is an exotic beauty with a brain who has been treated with disdain for her heritage. It was lovely to see how they balance each other & fell in love. With the addition of her crazy aunts & overprotective Olaf, it was fun read.
March 5, 2013
I liked it. I got this one free on Kindle and it was pretty good. I thought some of the subplots were a bit bizarre, though, and I didn't think they were entirely necessary or that they added to the book at all.
February 19, 2013
Is a great book to read forever
February 19, 2013
Cute little story. absent minded professor meets gypsy:)
October 13, 2013
I didn't like this book at all. Dr. Dan is a klutz.
And slow to get with the program. I couldn't t read all of this because it was so bad! I definitely don't t recommend this book to anyone
And slow to get with the program. I couldn't t read all of this because it was so bad! I definitely don't t recommend this book to anyone
Want to read
February 14, 2013Amazon (ebook) freebie 2/13/13
February 24, 2013
A hunky nerd and a free spirit vie for the same grant and instead find each other.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews