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 - Very Enjoyable- Make your 20 wishes now!The Blossom Street books are Macombers best in my opinion, and this book did not disappoint me. I had myself making my own list of 20 wishes well before the end of the book. It was nice to have the characters from the other books in the series 'pop in', and equally nice to have new ones to boot. This is the perfect summer read. The widows who meet together as a book club are all interesting characters, that all of us can relate to. After all, who can predict the unexpected twists that life can bring? It is nice to be able to think about that, and think about what we might really wish to have happen or to do in our own lives. Rating: - Very Good!I loved this book! I found all the characters interesting and believeable. I especially enjoyed the adoption story line, as I am an adoptive parent. Rating:  - ...although I *did* cry...One of *my* twenty wishes would be to interview all of the people who bought copies of this book, making it a NYTimes Bestseller. I'd really love to know 1) Why they bought it, 2) What they really thought of it after reading it, and 3) What other fiction they read. As a writer, I'm utterly fascinated at how there can be such a chasm between this, and say, a 'literary fiction' award winner. As I was reading it...strictly for research purposes...I was shaking my head in wonder. Because this is exactly the sort of writing that all writing instructors teach people NOT to produce. In fact, it could be the basis of a great course: 'How Not to Write'. Facile. Predictable. Ham-fisted. Without grace. Don't get me wrong: the underlying themes here are valid. But Macomber writes like an earnest high schooler, explaining everything, telegraphing everything, so clearly wanting to tell a particular story and announcing to the reader exactly what that story is all along... Let's put it this way: if this had been a movie, everyone would have walked out. Everywhere. It would make a 'Hallmark' movie-of-the-week seem like high-art. But yes, I did cry. I'm a romantic at heart, so there were passages that triggered emotional reactions in me. However, those reactions were not due to any craft, any dexterity, any deftness of touch on the author's part. She could have been executing stick-people cartoons and I might have cried. I'm happy that so many people got so much out of this novel. A further wish of mine would be to read this as it might have been done by a writer of greater abilities. Even Nicholas Sparks would have taken it to a better place, offering up nuance, subtlety, a chance for the reader to actively participate in the process, instead of being so utterly spoon-fed, with Pablum all over their clothes in the end. I'm glad there's a market for Macomber's work. Every writer deserves an audience. Clearly, she's found hers. Another wish granted. Rating: - Twenty WishesWonderful Book...If you are not a fan of Debbie Macomber you will be after reading this book...I would however, recommend you start from the beginning by reading The Shop on Blossom Street first and continue through the Blossom Street series until you get to Twenty Wishes...they are all great books. Rating: - I just loved this bookI just loved this book. I couldn't put it down from the moment I started to read it. I just loved the 20 wishes and could wait to find out what happend to all of the women. It makes me want to write my own list. Blossom St sound like a wonderful place to live, I would move there in a minute if it exsited. It made me feel your never to old for a new beginning. I recommend this book to any one who needs a reason to feel good.
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