Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Review: Stolen Wishes and Wish I May by Lexi Ryan




Cally… 
A sexy smile. Intense blue eyes. A goodness that makes him want to save me from these rumors when no one else would care. I didn't ask for a hero. William Bailey was never supposed to be anything more than a wish, a dream, an unrequited crush. Not for a girl like me--a girl whose fractured family has stolen her chance at a decent life.

William… 
Since the death of my parents, I've always done what’s expected of me, what's "best" for me. Until Cally. The moment her haunted eyes meet mine, the fractured pieces of my heart feel whole again. I don’t just want to save her. I need her to save me.

Stolen chances. Unbroken wishes. Two lonely souls grasping for hope in the darkness. 


**This novella takes place seven years before the events in WISH I MAY and shows William and Cally falling in love for the first time. It can be read before or after WISH I MAY or on its own.**



4 star review by Jen Skewes


I love the New hope series by Lexi Ryan.  Stolen Wishes is a prequel for book 2 which is Wish I May, Will and Cally’s story. We first met Will in book one which is Unbreak Me and while I loved him in that book, I just didn’t think he was right for the heroine.  After reading his story I fell completely in love with him.

Stolen Wishes takes us back in time to when Cally and Will first met in high school.  Will saved Cally one night from a situation that could have gone very bad.   Cally couldn’t understand why someone like Will would have any interest in her, but what she didn’t know what that he was captured by her the moment she walked into French class

Will is rich, handsome, popular and the star of the football team.  Cally comes from a family where they are just trying to make ends meet.   A mother who has an addiction and just may be trading sexual favors for money.  A father who is wrapped up in his own world.  Cally comes from the opposite sides of the tracks.  So she wonders why would someone like Will want to date her?  

I loved Will from the start but seeing him as a teenager and loving Cally the way he does just makes me love him even more.  He is not your typical rich jock at all.  He is so sweet, patient and caring when it comes to Cally.  She isn’t like all of the girls who normally throw themselves at him and that is exactly what he loves about her.  Cally had her own insecurities but I think in her situation most woman would. 

Their romance was so sweet and honestly it was the perfect high school romance. 

Lexi Ryan, thank you so much for this novella.  I loved Will and Cally together and loved that we got to travel back in time and see how their relationship started.  You truly see how much they love each other and how much it hurt them in the end to be apart.  Loved it!!

If you have not read this series yet then I highly recommend it.  Cally and Will’s story continues 7 years later when they run into each other again.  Is the love that they had for each other as teenagers still just as strong now as adults?  You will have to read Wish I May to find out. 




I grew up wishing on stars. My father taught me to believe...in destiny, in magic, in happily ever after. Dreams were my scripture and the starry night sky was my temple. Then Mom stopped believing, left him, and took us with her. At the age of sixteen, I cashed in my dreams to pay the rent, pawned my destiny to keep my sisters together. Now, seven years later, I'm returning home, grieving the death of my mother, and settling my sisters back into the life Mom threw away. I never intended to stay. I don't want to deal with my father, who is so invested in the spiritual world he forgets the physical. I don't want to face William Bailey, whose eyes remind me of the girl I was, the things I've done, and the future I lost. This would all be easier if Will hated me. As it is, I have to hold my secrets close so they won't hurt him more than they've already hurt me. But he wants to be in my life. He wants what I can't bring myself to confess I sold. He wants me. I find myself looking to my stars again...wondering if I dare one more wish.

4.5 star review by Jen Skewes

We first met William Bailey in Unbreak Me.  And while I loved him in the first book I didn't love him with the main character.  So of course when I found out that Lexi Ryan was writing his story I was so excited.  I couldn't wait to see Will get his happily ever after.  Wish I May is an amazing story about love, forgiveness and second chances.

When Cally was only 16 years old her mother decided to move her and her sisters to a new state, leaving her father and William Bailey behind.  Cally and William were in love and were planning their future together.  They were going to make their relationship work and not let the distance get in the way of their love.   But unfortunately life's plans don't always work out the way you want them too.  Cally slowly watched as her life started going on a downward spiral.  She gave up all her dreams to be able to save herself and her sisters.  She suddenly had to become the one responsible for her sisters, the rent and the bills.  She did things that she wasn't proud of but needed to do to survive.  Her new life didn't include William Bailey and she knew that she had to move on from him and the life that they planned, even if it meant breaking his heart.

It's seven years later and after the death of her mother Cally is temporarily returning home to get her sisters settled in with their father. She has no plans of staying and the last thing that she wants while she is there is to run into William Bailey.  Cally finds herself lost and in need of directions.  This is where you could say that fate steps in and leads her right back to the man that she once loved, the man she is hoping to avoid.

William Bailey was in love with Cally and always wondered what happened to them.  They had it all planned out and while he waited that night for her to show up for the prom he realized that she wasn't coming and he just lost the girl that he loved.  The last 7 years have not been kind to William when it comes to love.  He has tried to fill the hole in his heart that was left there by Cally.  But things just didn't go the way he had planned.  He has been engaged twice once to a woman who he loved and wanted to save and the other whom he also loved but not the way a husband should love his wife.  Now it's 7 years later and he is face to face with the woman who broke his heart all those years ago.  He knows that he should walk away, that he should hate her but he can't.  Especially when all the feelings that he had for her 7 years ago come rushing back.  He lost her once and is not about to lose her again.  He knows she has no plans of staying but Will vows to change those plans.  He is not going to let her get away for a second time.

"Be with me Cally. You're my compass. My north star."

At some point Cally does decide to stay and her and Will start becoming closer.  As much as Cally still loves Will and wants to be with him, she is scared.  She is afraid of the secrets that she stills holds from her past.  Afraid of how he will look at her once he knows the truth.  There are people in their lives and secrets from her past that could tear them apart, ruining any chance that they have at a happy ending.  When the truth comes out can Will forgive her and look beyond what really happened over the last 7 years?

After seven years. After the lamest breakup in history of breakups. After breaking his heart, and dismissing my own, I'm still very much his.

I loved both Cally and Will.  My heart broke for Cally and all that she has gone through in her life.  She was so young when she felt like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders.  So young when she made the decision to give up her dreams and a little bit more to take care of her sisters.  If anyone deserves a happily ever after with the only man she has ever loved it is definitely Cally.  Will was so amazing, sweet, caring and so forgiving.  Cally hurt him all those years ago but it didn't matter to him.  He knew she still held his heart and he didn't want to let her go.   He wanted to love her, take care of her and protect her.  He wanted to break down the walls and find out what it is from her past that has been haunting her.  And no matter what he wouldn't give up, which is one of the many reasons why I loved him!

"I want you to always believe you deserve whatever you can wish for, Cally.  As long as you'll let me, I'll make your wishes come true."

I am a big fan of Lexi Ryan's and have read just about all of her books.  And I absolutely love this series.   I love the chemistry and connection between Cally and Will.  Wish I May is about forgiveness and a second chance at love.  Cally is broken and Will just wants to love her and make her his again.  We see this story being told from both point of views which I love.  There was drama, there was angst and Ms. Ryan managed to keep you guessing when it came to Cally's past.  There were moments when I thought I had it all figured out until you keep reading and find out that there was more to the story that I did not see coming.  The ending will leave you with a smile and was the perfect end to their journey.  Another fantastic job by Lexi Ryan.  I cannot wait for the next one in the series.


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