Wish Come True

Carson Springs #3

by Eileen Goudge

A woman must find out who killed the sister she hated—or face jail herself—in this suspenseful tale by the New York Times–bestselling author of Swimsuit Body.  The world loves Monica Vincent, and her sister Anna has always tried to love her, too. Anna’s life is devoted to the Hollywood star; As her sister’s personal assistant, she spends her days answering Monica’s fan mail and catering to her every whim. But Monica is cruel, and when a car accident leaves her in a wheelchair, she treats Anna even worse. All Anna wants is her freedom, but not the way it comes to her. When Monica is found floating facedown in the swimming pool at her mansion,  everyone assumes her death was accidental. The police are not convinced, however, and see the star’s sister as the likely culprit. To keep herself from jail, Anna digs for the truth, desperate to learn who killed the sister she hated. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Eileen Goudge including rare photos from the author’s personal collection. Wish Come True is the 3rd book in the Carson Springs Novels, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order. 

Genres: Fiction, Romance, Mystery, Contemporary, Chick Lit, Drama, Novels

416 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

I began writing at the age of eight and wrote my way through the lean years before I found success as New York Times' bestselling author with my first novel GARDEN OF LIES. To date I have published 19 novels and a cookbook. Every life experience I've weathered has found its way into my novels in one form or another: bad exes, births, deaths, divorces, romances, and even true crime. My heroines are like me: tough cookies who don't crumble.

My latest novel, Book One of my Gold Creek series, ALL THEY NEED TO KNOW, is the story of a woman fleeing her abusive ex who finds refuge in a small California mountain town, where she's befriended by a group of women who call themselves The Tattooed Ladies and reinvents herself as a police sketch artist. Kyra "draws lines to stop crimes," as they say in the biz, never imagining she'll one day be forced to confront the biggest criminal of all: her ex.

I'm married to former entertainment reporter Sandy Kenyon and the mother of two grown children. We live in Sacramento, California, where we remodeled a 1940's house for which I was the on-site project manager. Fortunately, multi-tasking is my superpower, so I was able to write a book and supervise a home remodel at the same time. The latter is sure to find its way into a future book. Follow me on Instagram and Facebook to see pics of my home remodel and other adventures.

Reviews

[Em · Rating 2 out of 5]

After reading the second novel of this trilogy I had written it devolved into a rather sweetened up version of Peyton Place. I also thought that like so many trilogies the second book was going to be the shoddiest of the bunch. I was wrong. But this one, unlike the other two, failed in my opinion not so much on the overall story arc but instead on its structure and two-dimensional characterizations.

This story follows one of the minor and most pitied character from the first two novels, Anna Vincenzi who works as a paid assistant for her own sister, Monica Vincent who lives in the biggest mansion and compound in town. The readers have also met Monica in the previous two novels who is known in town as the ‘bitch on wheels’ because she is confined to a wheelchair and seems to enjoy being as nasty as possible to everyone in this town from which she fled to become a movie star, and returned to after an accident left her paralyzed below the waist. Monica is an alcoholic (as was their father), and like him gets meaner and more destructive the more drunk she becomes.

The structure of this story is so back and forth and patchy that it loses any momentum or feeling, even though there is much there that could have been shaped a very good story indeed. But instead the characters all are left like paper-doll cut-outs. Monica is the selfish, shrewish, snobbish bitch, with all the money in the world. Liz the middle sister, stays away from her eldest sister and her mother and resenting them both is all too willing to let the youngest Anna be the saint of the family. Anna had come home from college for a while after her father died to help her mother get back on her feet, then dropped out when she realized her mother had Alzheimer’s disease, took the job as an assistant to her then able bodied famous sister to pay bills to support her mother. When Monica became paralyzed, Anna worked days as her browbeaten assistant in Monica’s home while Monica paid the salary of a companion for their mother (who Monica hates), then Anna goes home to take over at home caring for her mother each evening.

The family relationship of three sisters who grew up in a dysfunctional family has been done before, but still might have been mined for better value than this version allowed. It starts with high drama when Monica is found dead and Anna is arrested for her ‘murder’ but from there it is told in a back and forth piecemeal, and with so many episodic passages and the manner in which the resolution to this high drama is presented it just becomes a dumb show of stock characters. More disappointing than the story told about these three sisters, is that characters from the previous novels, particularly Finch, their stories are left to dribble along with no finesse or resolution at all.

The thing is I read one of Eileen’s Goudge’s later novels many years ago when I was younger and thought she was a very fine author. Now I’m left to wonder if I was then too young to see the flaws, or if indeed she did improve as an author. I suppose it might try another of her more recent books to check the theory, or re-read ‘The Woman in Red’, but for now I think I’ll leave Goudge on the shelf.

[Sandra Collette]

Bailed out, lost interest

[Sandi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Knocking this down to two stars because the use of a proofreader would have gone miles in making this a better read. Between missed and inserted words and no fact-checking (in #2, Monica was paralyzed from the neck down, and Father Gallagher was Gerry's impregnator, not Father Reardon), this was hard to read.

[Patty · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the third book set in Carson Springs. Maybe I should not have read them back to back. This one really seemed to drag. It felt like the book was just getting longer. Overall a good series of stories but this was my least favorite of the three.

[Dana Tuss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing earth-shattering but good enough characters and depth to the stories to keep me interested. A little annoyed at the losing- weight-to-get-a-man thread. And at the later book of a series reading like a later book in a series (I hadn’t read the earlier ones).

[Nan Williams · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too many characters.
Tried too hard.
Bleh, bleh, bleh,
quit after 100 pages.

[Micha Goebig · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found it pretty sloppily done, plus it has too many unimportant characters with crazy back stories to be a stand alone. But okay for a quick read on a few rainy nights in.

[Janine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the final book in the Carson Springs trilogy and in my opinion the best book! Anna is the long suffering single sister of Monika Vincent the ageing Hollywood star who is now paralysed from the waist down. Monika has employed her sister to tend to her every need and thinks only of herself, not anyone else including their elderly mother. One morning Monika is found dead in her swimming pool and Anna is accused of her murder. She is innocent, but proving it is becoming increasingly difficult. The characters form the other two books pop up in this one, but it could have been read as a stand-alone novel. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it kept me up till the early hours to read the conclusion. You can’t go wrong with any of Eileen’s books, such an excellent writer of women’s fiction and my favourite American author. I still have a few of hers to catch up on, thank goodness 😅

[Barbara Loggia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Third of trilogy in Carson Springs brings forward Anna and her famous actress sister Monica who was paralyzed in an accident and left financially strong but without the use of her legs. She then took Anna as her handmaid for all personal and professional chores. Anna must face the decisions of her own life to become healthier, find love and leave the clutches of her possessive and abusive sister.
meanwhile, Sam and Hector have made a family with Finch and look into adoption. Gerry's long lost daughter Clair settles into life and family. An unexpected marriage, romance, and death stir things up.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Celebrity Monica's life ends prematurely and her mousy younger sister Anna, her secretary/assistant is blamed for the death. Anna has other problems including obesity and her mentally failing mother whom she is also responsible for. Anna feels her own life disappearing into other's as she struggles to find her own footing. Then she meets Marc, a social worker at Monica's alcohol rehab facility and her life begins to change.

[Jeanne (love2cook) · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the town of Carson Springs, in the sunny state of California, former movie star Monica Vincent is found dead in her swimming pool. In their rush to solve the case they arrest Monica's sister, Anna. Anna's friends and relatives put their efforts into seeking money for bond and someone who can prove her innocence. A good story.

[Lea Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

The third Carson Springs offering from Eileen Goudge gives life to the character of Anna Vincenzi, a wall-flower who finds herself the main suspect in her sister's death. Of course, it's Carson Springs, so you know everything is going to turn out okay in the end (the beauty of books like these).

[Valerie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not nearly as good as the first in this series.

[Lyndsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot was weak & there were too many underdeveloped side stories in this one. Ending was less than impressive.

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent I guess but right now the bar is low

[Gift Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an okay book, really
Although I got a little bored towards the end, it tied up quite nicely..

[Nicole alphAbet]

Spring Pile

[Kristi Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a solid story. Good ending.

[Julie Barrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wish Come True
Book 3 continues with the family saga in Carson Springs.
This book starts out with Anna Vincenzia, Monica's sister who was a celebrity but after a car crash was in a wheelchair.
After Anna's father died, she left college to tend to her mother, and then to Monica. She was overweight but now was on a mission to get in charge of her life.
Life in Carson Springs continues with a baby christening and getting the latest on the local shopkeepers and all their families.
We learn what Anna really does during the day taking care of Monica, not only answering her fan emails which she loves to do, it puts her into another world, but the daily hassles of a chair bound young woman. She's put her life on hold to tend to the needs of her mom and her sister.
When Monica ends up hospitalized due to her excessive drinking Anna thinks it's time to put her in rehab....
Finch sticks up for a new student and they become friends.
Anna meets Marc-the counselor, married, wife in an institution, at the rehab center and he agrees to go with her to see into facilities for her mother. Anna is to bring Monica home that day also. Love the sex scenes, they come at just the right time.
Anna finds herself locked up in jail for her sister's murder. what else can the cops possibly be thinking?
Love the ideas the community come up with to help Anna... and to come up with leads to solve the mystery of who did kill her sister..
Love all the twists and turns just when you think you have the whole plot figured out.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third of the Carson Springs books. This one is about the long suffering sister and employee of a movie star who has been confined to a wheelchair after an accident. She treats her sister like dirt and there is a lot of resentment on the sister's part yet she feels guilty for her part in the accident. She had suggested her sister do a photo shoot on a speedboat which then crashed causing the injury. The former star ends up dead in her swimming pool and her sister is accused of murdering her. It was obvious that the sister wouldn't hurt a fly and the twist at the end was more or less predictable.

[Chuck · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading Wish Come True. One of the previous reviewers said that, "When you read Goudge's novels you are home for the length of the book, and that is a wonderfully comfortable place to be." I agree, except it took me about a week. Each chapter was like a lazy Sunday afternoon with good friends.

This story is a murder mystery of sorts, thrown into a romance novel, surrounded by the tale of a small town. It may not be for everyone, but it fit me like a comfortable pair of shoes. Set in Carson Springs (which would be right up the road if it existed), it is part of a series that I look forward to visiting again. Soft, and warm, and sweet would sum up this novel. Enjoy!

[Kristy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've come to like these Carson Springs novels. You feel like you know the characters and are just checking in to see what they're up to. This one tells Anna's story. She worked for her sister, the famous actress Monica Vincent. Monica is a pain in the ass and just when Anna starts getting her life together, losing weight and standing up to her sister, Monica winds up dead and Anna is the prime suspect. I'm kind of bummed that the trilogy is over. I want to know more!

[Susan Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

I might have enjoyed this book more had I read the previous two books first. As it was, I was a little lost with all the extra characters popping up.
I enjoyed the main plot of the book - the "who done it" part which involves Anna's sister Monica's death. However the sub-plot regarding Finch, the adopted daughter of a Laura-presumably from a previous book-made very little sense to the story unless you'd read the first two books of the series.

[Ann Torrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very good book, made you think about things and how you got to stay positive. Had a little trouble with some of the characters and where they fit, I think they may have been in another book so that is why I didn't know them. Was interesting to see how it was all going to turn out in the end.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book three in the Carson Springs trilogy, is the story of Anna, caregiver for her alcoholic sister who is confined to a wheel chair, and a mother with Alzheimer's. Overweight and with low self esteem, Anna decides it's time to take charge of her own life. Then, the unthinkable happens. I enjoyed each book in this series, and will miss the interesting people from this California town.

[Donna Zigmont · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't really care for this book. The writing seemed off to me in this one. I did enjoy the story of Finch and Lucien. I would've loved to have more of that. And it was nice to see Anna and Liz have a better relationship. And the addition of Esperanza to Laura and Hector's family was nice. But overall I found the book disappointing.

[Sandy]

This was the third in the Carson Springs series and I loved it as much as I did the first two! This author has a way of bringing the characters and events to life - I feel as if I am IN the story rather than reading it.

[Darlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third book in this series is just as good as the first two. I didn't want it to end; I could go on and on with the characters and keep reading about the generations of families that have become my friends. I would highly recommend this series and this author.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stories were good, this one just seemed a little predictable.

[Cws]

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