Review: Just A Wish Away

Title:  Just A Wish Away
Author:  Barbara Freethy
Genre:  Contemporary
Publisher: Barbara Freethy
Release Date:  April 29, 2012
File Size/Pages:  439KB/224 pgs
Source:  NetGalley
Challenge(s):  eBook Challenge; NetGalley Month

My Rating:  4/5

Summary:  Alexa Parker and Braden Elliott fell in love when they were twelve years old. On a summer day, while searching for sea glass on the beaches of Washington State, they discovered an unusually shaped blue bottle. The ever-imaginative Alexa declared it a genie's bottle. Popping the cork, they were surprised by a rogue wave that sprayed them with a fine, cool mist. Closing their eyes, they each made a wish …Before their love had a chance to grow, life, family and tragedy separated the two best friends. Now fifteen years later, Alexa returns to Sand Harbor after her aunt is injured in a mysterious break-in at her antique store. Braden is also back, but he's not the innocent boy Alexa remembers. His military service has left him with physical and emotional scars. Can the sweet love of youth be recaptured by two now cynical souls? Can solving the mystery of the past bring them to a new future? Or will it take a wish, maybe two?

Review:  "Just A Wish Away" begins with a Prologue that takes place fifteen years earlier when the main characters, Alexa and Braden, were 12-years-old.  In my opinion, I thought the prologue was exceptional because, not only did it set the story in motion nicely, but it was very realistic.  I loved how even though Alexa and Braden were so young, they understood what love really meant.  I also liked that Alexa and Braden were dealing with some very heavy familial issues that a lot of children their age deal with on a daily basis.  Years later when Alexa returns to Sand Harbor, after her aunt is injured, she sees Braden for the first time in 15 years.  Although they've grown older and grown apart, there's still a hint of love between the two of them.  This was a good read, a little slow at times, but the ending tied in very well.  I was a little disappointed that the book didn't have an epilogue, but overall, it was great book.