When You Wish: An Anthology of Stories

by Jane Feather, Elizabeth Elliott, Patricia Coughlin

To thine own wish be true. Do not follow the moth to the star.

So says the message in an exquisite green bottle. Is it a wish? A warning? A spell to cast over a lover? In these six charming love stories, a mysterious bottle brings a touch of magic to the lives of all who possess it....

"Wishful Thinking" by Jane Feather. To be taken seriously as a scientist, the bespectacled Rosie Belmont passes herself off as a man...but her plan backfires when a very attractive fellow scientist arrives for an all-too-lengthy visit.

"The Blackmoor Devil" by Patricia Coughlin. A legendary rake purchases a spell from a witch...and encounters a love he thought lost forever.

"The Natural Child" by Sharon and Tom Curtis. When a proper young lady makes a wish she didn't intend, she soon finds herself trapped in a bedroom with London's wickedest womanizer.

"Bewitched" by Elizabeth Elliott. A headstrong lord knows that he must marry a suitable girl, so why is it that only a spirited and highly unsuitable vixen enthralls him?

"Forever" by Patricia Potter. A beautiful smuggler is terrified when a mysterious stranger uncovers her family's darkest secret...only to learn fate has a surprise in store for her.

"The Unwanted Bride" by Suzanne Robinson. When a dashing earl proposes to a woman he's never seen, he ends up with the wrong bride...and, just maybe, his heart's desire.

Six spellbinding stories that are pure magic...from today's most beloved romance authors.

Genres: Romance, Anthologies, Historical Romance, Historical, Short Stories, Magic, Regency

496 pages, Paperback

First published September 2, 1997

About the author

Jane Feather (born Jane Robotham) is a popular British–American writer of historical romance novels. In 1984 she wrote five contemporary romances under the pseudonym Claudia Bishop. She is a New York Times-bestselling, award–winning writer, and has more than ten million romance novels in print.

Reviews

[Verity · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Wishful Thinking" by Jane Feather.
"The Blackmoor Devil" by Patricia Coughlin.
"The Natural Child" by Sharon and Tom Curtis.
"Bewitched" by Elizabeth Elliott.
"Forever" by Patricia Potter.
"The Unwanted Bride" by Suzanne Robinson.

[Aneca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Several entertaining romance stories. I particularly enjoyed the Sharon and Tom Curtis's one.

[ᑭᑌᑎƳᗩ [Punya Reviews...] · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review contains spoilers and they're mostly my thoughts as I went with the book...

Note: my review and rating is solely based on Elizabeth Elliott’s novella Bewitched (4 stars).

“To thine own wish be true. Do not follow the moth to the stars.”

What an interesting little theme for an anthology! I must say, I wasn’t expecting anything like this. Before I head onto my actual review of Elizabeth Elliott’s Bewitched, here’s what I uncovered about the novellas in When You Wish:

Both Prologue and Epilogue and the first novella are written by Jane Feather. The other authors follow through in the middle. I only decided to read Elizabeth Elliott’s novella because she’s the only author in this anthology, so far whose works I’m familiar with. The stories span at least 50 years (1814-1857), but the Prologue and Epilogue are set somewhere in the medieval times. The very common theme that connects all the stories, is a magical bottle, with the message I’ve quoted above, which knows your desire, your wish and would help you find your true love. I believe the Prologue and Epilogue hint at the beginning of how this bottle came to be and then the stories go to show you about 6 couples in the Regency and the Victorian era as they find their true love. Now that I’ve got this, I’ll have to read the other 5 stories sometimes later to connect the stories better. The ratings may change afterwards!


“Bewitched”, Elizabeth Elliott

I really liked EE’s novella a lot, which is the fourth one. The story was sweet and the H/h lovable. In this novella, we meet James, who’s now in his country house, attending a house party thrown by his mother, Evelyn.

Even though financially alright now, James is a man who doesn’t take chances, especially after his father lost a great sum of money to a baron, which led them through some difficult times in the past. James doesn’t like this idea of annual house party and the costs of it but he’s more annoyed by his mother’s matchmaking schemes that accompany it each year. Suddenly, as he was viewing the party from a hidden balcony with his mother, James comes to learn about the newest guest, Faro. At first look, Faro seemed a very plain looking girl, standing next to the beautiful young widow, whom Evelyn was recommending to James because of her big fortune. But, there is something about Faro also that strikes James like he has never seen it coming. He is completely bewitched by her. As his mind turns to carnal thoughts, he notices Faro blushing, as if she can hear him telling those aloud... Then Evelyn bursts his enthusiasm with the news that Faro can read objects and tell their history and that she’s the daughter of his most hated enemy, that baron who ruined their lives once. James is now determined to throw Faro out of the estate thinking of her as a swindler of sort. Evelyn takes umbrage in this though, as she likes Faro immensely and asks him to at least test her before taking any hasty decision. Just to appease Evelyn, James obliges.

Faro, of course, felt on her skin what James was thinking about her. Faro’s ability of reading objects was a gift from her mother, which turned into a curse of sort soon enough. Her lifestory is pretty sad, neglected by both parents, Faro and her younger brother, Hazard, never really knew love. Faro’s father was an infamous gambler, married her mother on a whim, not believing in her abilities. Later he came to despise his offspring too, learning that the whole thing isn’t a ‘flight of fancy’ as he originally thought it was. Faro has learned to face people’s judgment and outright hatred on the way. But, Faro’s father has left debts, which needed to be settled and Faro now uses her ability to entertain people in the balls and the parties and earn if someone pays her with something.

As James is introduced by Evelyn, Faro is captivated by him, especially his amber eyes. But James also turns out to be a meanie to her. He invites her to his library and Faro all of a sudden knew just why. The test doesn’t go well. James hands her a small green and silver bottle, which apparently some gypsy gave him on his way to Blackburn House to attend this party. He wants Faro to tell him its history. Faro takes the bottle in her hand and tries but she kept getting distracted by the bottle’s energy and the flashes of histories full of lovers and their intimate moments. It stops at something totally unbelievable; she, lying naked in the arms of an equally naked man, her lover… and then the bottle reveals, Lord Wyatt. Faro starts feeling out of sort by this vision. James takes her momentary inability as a failure and asks her to leave the estate in the morning.

But the next morning, Faro explains that she has to wait for the coach she hires for another few days. Until then she can’t left. But the thing is that, James’ ire or rash impulses have already cooled where she was concerned. It seems like, he keeps feeling this thing, this ridiculously helpless feeling of happiness whenever she’s near. James decides to know his enemy better in hopes that he’d learn something important that might explain her real intentions. As Faro was going out, James insists on accompanying her. This outing proves to be a great eye opener for James. He learns that Faro is an artless girl, who speaks her mind. She’s also a very talented painter. Then, he also learns about her family trouble and so on. James decides to believe that because of the debts, she has taken this path to entertain others. As they talk, they end up kissing…

In these few days, there are some small incidents and James slowly starts believing in her abilities. Already James is smitten with Faro beyond belief and he knows it’s not just lust. Faro, well, she already knew James is her destiny from that vision. Faro can’t touch people without knowing too much intimate information from their essence and most of the times, she hates it. But James is a different matter altogether. I don’t quite clearly understand why is it that she never saw James’ past or other intimate things but it seems like she can touch him without any negative feelings. Maybe the bottle had a hand in it, I don’t know or maybe James doesn’t have very many negative sides. It was mentioned that James is sort of a recluse and doesn’t care for London and all the balls that are held there. I wish there were more exploration on James’ past.

The last attempt to prove her innocence (not that James was condemning her for it anymore) becomes a winner for Faro but because of a misunderstanding, she leaves James’ library hurt and crying. James has already proposed marriage, knowing he wants her in his life no matter what. But feeling vulnerable because she doesn’t want her marriage to become like their parents’, Faro rejects him at first. I found the ending beautiful as James goes to prove with words and actions that this thing between them can’t ever be ignored. But the epilogue confused me. It spans quite a few years after their marriage, their children being grown and all that. Maybe it was done to connect with the next novella, I don’t know but we get to see how the bottle finally slips out of the Wyatt family.

Overall, a very enchanting story. I totally believed in all the magical aspects and Faro and James’ instant connection. This is why I love EE’s writing. Otherwise, I wouldn’t, at all, enjoy it as much as I did. 4 stars.

PS: There was a mention of the Duchess of Remmington, who is sort of a recurring character, even if by mention. If you haven’t read EE’s Mongatues books, then you should. But as per the time frame, this Duchess was the heroine of Scoundrel.

[Linda Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could have read this book in one sitting. I could also eat a box of chocolates in one sitting. But in either case, it's more enjoyable to take it more slowly and savor each piece. When You Wish is a collection of six wonderful romance stories written by different authors. I was most familiar with Jane Feather but I will be looking for books by the other writers because each tale was equally delightful. The stories are loosely connected by a prologue and a epilogue. Those were written by Jane Feather, as was the first tale. The stories are also connected by a magical green bottle containing a piece of leather with a cryptic spell: "To thine own wish be true. Do not follow the moth to the star." Like the characters in the stories, I never did quite understand the meaning of that quote but all who possessed the bottle were led to true love. This book made me laugh and made me cry and made me laugh until I cried. Each installment is set in England with the first one taking place in 1814 and the last in 1857 - as the bottle travels from one owner to the next. Part of it's power seems to be the ability to help someone who needs it and then move on to another damsel in distress. I am so sorry to have come to the end of the journey and it is one that I may need to take again someday. Reading When You Wish is a thoroughly entrancing experience.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that brings back fond memories. I purchased it as an impulse buy to keep me entertained on a long train ride to see a long-distance boyfriend when I was in college.

This little anthology features six stories that each feature an odd little bottle carrying a cryptic message. I especially liked Sharon and Tom Curtis's "The Natural Child" and Jane Feather's "Wishful Thinking." I can't remember for sure whether there was much paranormal in the stories, but I think it was a slight sprinkling of "maybe this was magic" rather than a heavy serving.

[Maddy Barone · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a GREAT set of short stories! I enjoyed every one of them, which is a bit unusual. Usually there is one in an anthology that isn't quite as good as the others, but that wasn't the case here. I have to say though, that my absolute fave was The Natural Child. I fell absolutely in love with Henry Lamb. All of the secondary characters (and there were alot for a novella) were distinct and well written.

[Maura · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute collection of stories, all by different authors, following a little green bottle with magical properties. As it arrives in the hands of each of these Heroes or Heroines, they find their greatest wish, regarding love at least, coming true. A decent variety of stories, they are all historical in nature (some clean, some not).

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

In many ways, this book was painful. 6 is just too many stories to tie together, so that by the end you just don't care.

[Erika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really enjoyed The Natural Child by Sharon and Tom Curtis

[Toffee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating for "The Natural Child" only.

[Kenul Bakikhanova]

"Forever" by Patricia Potter: it's not impressed much, just a simple story.

[Chi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wishful Thinking 2
I didn't quite like this story very much. I felt that it was a bit silly, particularly since the romance seemed to happen so quickly. It kinda made sense, because it was a meeting of the minds, but something just didn't gel with me. Further, I had anticipated that she'd dress like a boy... just that the reveal of her true self didn't make much sense for me.

The Blackmoor Devil 4
Ah, my favourite trope: second chance romances. It was fun getting to see the two main characters fight their attraction for one another, and see them fall for each other again, after gaining some much needed life experiences. Loved the ending, when her brother walked in on them!

The Natural Child 2
This was a bit difficult for me to follow - it was hard to make out the different voices, and figure out how they related to one another, especially Charlotte. The others had strong voices, but Charlotte's didn't seem to come through much. The conversation between George and Elf was perhaps the most revealing. I wished that there were a lot more of those kinds of conversations so that one could see how they felt for one another.

Bewitched 5
This was utterly sweet. The primary misunderstanding between the main characters were sorted out early, and the attraction was believable. I really enjoyed the slow build up, and the push and pull nature of their attraction. The epilogue was a nice touch, bridging this story to the next.

Forever 4
This was a really lovely story too. The motivations of both main characters were believable, and the story moved along at a good pace. The resolution may have been a bit too easy but that's the nature of most novellas.

The Unwanted Bride 2
Whiplash. I think that sums it up. They went from animosity to adoration in a seeming matter of words. And the animals were crazy.