Every Wish Way is a fun story with lots of humour. I liked the idea of having a genie to grant wishes reminiscent of Aladdin but with a modern twist. The link to Pride and Prejudice was unexpected. I listened to the audiobook and I think I would have preferred the book as I found the narrators voice jarring and unnatural, especially from a UK audience.

I'm struggling to know how to review this book as I'm pretty sure my biggest issue was the narrator - I found the inflection/way words were stressed grating (it reminded me of those tik tok AI voice overs) and irritating and it really put me off. I sped the book up to get it over with quicker and to take away the way her voice came across that bothered me but that meant I was less able to process it so while I followed the story as I listened, it's not really stuck with me.
I don't think I'd have loved it even with another narrator or reading physically, I'm not sure I'd rate it above a 3.

Loved this audiobook - I did think the chapters were longer than usual and perhaps the story as a whole was padded out in parts but I loved the story too! A little warning that if you love Mr Darcy (yes that Mr Darcy) and you’re not used to perhaps seeing the fun side of Pride & Prejudice then maybe avoid this one. I loved it, did get a little lost with the timeline but lovely debut read. Would be happy to read more.

I really enjoyed Every Wish Way by Shannon Bright. A fun rom com with a twist. Iza is tired of being single. Feeling desperate, she feels like giving up on love. Then, to her surprise Beckett shows up. A carefree, jaded, wish granted, Beckett quickly gets on Iza’s nerves. Therefore, having three wishes, Iza wishes for her dream boyfriend. But as we know you don’t always get what you wish for.

I liked the concept of the book. It was fresh and unique providing an interesting read. I enjoyed the characters, it made me laugh and kept me entertained. The narration was good adding to the story. I look forward to reading other books by this author.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Bonnier UK Audio, and the author for the opportunity to listen to this ALC for my honest review.

Narrated by Sarah Pitard ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Story by Shannon Bright ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was such a fun book! What a clever take on the whole P&P/genie in a bottle genre. It was super refreshing and I loved every minute of it.
Can't believe this is the authors debut novel. I definitely want to follow Shannon Bright for what's next.

I really enjoyed this book. It was light hearted and witty with surprising moments that made me think and reevaluate.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this audiobook,

This was a super light enjoyable read. All the nods and references to Pride and Prejudice were great and I really rooted for Becketts and Iza’s relationship. At times I thought Iza’s character was a little naive but this improves throughout the book and by the end I’d really loved her character growth.

I wasn’t sure about this when I started it but so glad I stuck with it. Thoroughly enjoyable audiobook I would recommend to anyone.

Iza's mother brought her up to become a strong independent woman. Who needs a man when they have a great career ? Iza does. Iza wants it all, the fulfilling career as well as the great love story. But in order to get what she wants, she needs to find the perfect man, a man her mother would approve of. Iza wishes for her perfect man so fervently that one magically materializes before her. But this one is here on a mission : Grant Iza three wishes -And to annoy her too, apparently. As she uses her wishes to finally meet the man of her (mother's?) dreams, Iza finds herself more and more drawn to her "genie" Beckett in whom she finds a kind and endearing friend ... and maybe more.

What a nice surprise ! I rarely find a romance book that has something original to offer these days and this one totally did ! The story was fun, entertaining and predictable in a good, comforting way (even though I wasn’t so sure about the HEA for a minute, but don't worry, it’s there!), but the themes that the author addressed (seeking the approval of one's parents, (mis)judging people) provided further depth and complexity to it. The whole Darcy thing was also interesting, even though not everyone will agree with the portrayal of the 21st century Mr. Darcy.

🎧 Audiobook recording : 1.5/5 I'll just stay that nothing was right with the narrator's performance.

Thank you NetGalley and Bonnier UK Audio for giving me access to this audiobook for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Cute, paranormal-ish contemporary romance with some unexpected twists. I loved the spin on genie vibes and the serious mommy issues.

Narrator was excellent. Good pacing, engaging and lovely lilting voice.

A fantastical romance complete with a genie in a bottle. I enjoyed watching Beckett and Iza dancing around each other and the push and pull of their interactions, building the chemistry throughout. This was a clever twist on Pride and Prejudice but I did feel like Iza’s character went a little too hard on the prejudice and was downright rude and a little obnoxious at times. It was also annoying how overwhelmingly obsessed she was with her mother’s approval. I was desperate to knock some sense (and kindness) into her. As the story progresses Iza does begin to see the error of her ways but I couldn’t really root for her when she’s been so judgemental and rude to everyone around her. Beckett was definitely the saving grace of this story, with his honesty and vulnerability, and his penchant for fun and being a stand up guy. I have to say, I think he deserved better. Listening to the audiobook, the narrator for Iza was good but the voices the narrator gave to the other characters (especially Lola, but also Beckett) were quite jarring and felt much more like someone putting on a voice which made it hard to really fall into the narrative.

I received a free copy of this book. All views are my own.

Correct me please if you are fan of Pride And Prejudice but I think this has perhaps been marketed at the wrong fan base? I cannot imagine Mr. Darcy fans being happy at all here.

I enjoyed the three wishes idea a lot, it made me think about choosing those childhood dreams of three wishes granted from a being that appeared from *check notes* A NAIL VARNISH BOTTLE. Brilliant. Cute and funny. It was a nice change and brought a little magic in. The story was fairly good. It kept my attention even if I did think it could’ve been condensed. It was just slightly on the side of too long. The narration was a little sugary for my liking. But by no means did I hate it. Sweet and funny and a little bit different.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bonnier U.K. audio for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in return for an honest review.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Every Wish Way by Shannon Bright, an audiobook narrated by Sarah Pitard was such a sweet story! I loved it so much! It was original, it was fun and it was romantic! It was all you would want in a nice and easy romance!
All Iza wants is true love. Picture-perfect, book-romantic, one-and-only love story. Her mum is not helping by adding the pressure of expectations as someone must relive her dreams.
Things get hopeful and complicated when Iza meats her personal wish-granter Beckett. Iza thinks she knows what she wants but is this really what she wants?
I loved every minute of this book. I wasn't sure about the narrator at the beginning but as deeper you dive as more perfect she becomes and later you can't imagine Iza sounding different! Fantastic choice!
Thank you, NetGalley, Bonnier UK Audio, and Embla Books for this fantastic audiobook!

Oh this was so cute!

As Iza accidentally gets a hot Genie out of her old nail polish bottle, he grants her 3 wishes.
But of course, she doesn't believe him because... magic isn't real! But as Beckett proves her wrong, she is trying to find a way to make perfect wishes. And what she wants most is a perfect boyfriend to make her mum proud,
So she wishes for her own Mr Darcy...

This funny and cute story brings Iza on her path to find what she really wants for herself, instead of wishing for what she thinks others want for/from her.
I listened to it as Audio and it was a great way to go through this cute book.

*I had access to the audiobook thanks to Netgalley and Bonner UK Audio against my honest review.*

Ok so in theory this was SUCH a cool plot!! Wishes and Mr Darcy irl, parallel worlds and unrequited love turned mutual pining!! I think the execution fell a little short for me, though.

The main characters felt underdeveloped and 2D- I didn’t particularly feel attached or invested in their relationship or their problems. The banter was stunted and didn’t feel natural; the pacing was also a little off for me, there was a LOT going on with the Darcy plot that distracted from the Beck/Liza plot/development.

I really liked the Darcy plot line- although I wasn’t the biggest fan of him being vilified, or the cringey “i want a fictional man” thing being brought to life. I understand that she ended up BEING Darcy and learning from her judgy ways but I felt like she REALLY committed to that personality flaw and it ended up just making her unlikable to me. Her relationship with her mum had so much potential, but the poor attempt at reconciliation at the end, and the infantilisation of her character felt very odd and I just couldn’t get past it. Beck, although not unlikable, didn’t stick out as a love interest, he was sort of generic and the one-liners were very standard. There was a scene that made me laugh when he calls her out on how judgemental she is and her relationship with her mum, but I wish that would’ve led to more genuine development as opposed to just a petulant argument and her stomping off. She really wasn’t self-aware and it got really tedious by the 30% mark.

I liked that he was the love interest, as opposed to Darcy- I liked that the “perfect” man wasn’t the guy for her, it’s a tale as old as time and I ate it up! But there wasn’t anything that made him better than Darcy, Darcy was just horrible and mean so by comparison, the bare minimum from Beck seemed like way more than it was.

Onto the actual audiobook- I didn’t like this narrator at ALL! The words she chose to stress in the sentence felt so unnatural and kind of jarring. When she did the voices for both Lola and Liza it was like she was doing a child’s voice which was SO jarring??? Are they not grown adults? Also, she made Beck sound like he was completely out of it for the first half of the book which was so strange- it didn’t feel like she fully understood the tone of the dialogue most of the time. Other times when they “mumbled” something, the way she said the like didn’t match the tone.

The parallel universe thing especially towards the end got really confusing and unclear, I zoned out until they were back in their own world and didn’t really pay attention to those details of the curse being broken because it didn’t make any sense.

Overall, I think this book had a lot of potential, but the narration was so jarring that I could only half focus on the content of the story. I definitely think people will like this book if they read it- anyone who liked This Spells Love etc. would love this! It just wasn’t for me :(

My thoughts:
I had a hard time getting into this book, but I’m glad I stuck with it! I loved the take on pride and prejudice meet the genie from Aladin. I think my main comment about this book is that I felt that it dragged on a bit. I do however love the idea of this book and the message of self love it sends.

Summary:

Iza's romantic life is a shambles, longing for a stable relationship. A surprise arrival, claiming to be her wish-granter, forces her to wish for her ideal partner. To her astonishment, she meets a charismatic Darcy. While pursuing him, the ever-present Beckett's assistance complicates matters, leading Iza to question her heart's true desire.

Audiobook review:
I listened to the audiobook narrated by Sarah Pitard. She brought me right along on Iza’s journey making it a great listen.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of the audiobook.

"If Jane Austen were alive today, writing romance novels about career women, she wouldn't make them sacrifice anything for their relationships. It must be possible to have independence, an occupation, and love."

Do you love Erin Sterling and Kate Johnson?
Do you love silly, sweet and a little steamy romance?
Do you ever wonder if your classic romance novels are really that romantic?
Do you want to read something easy and fun but thoroughly entertaining?

Well, your wish is granted.

Every wish way is a magical love story that is absolutely chaotic, full of silly mishaps, bad choices, cringe-inducing mistakes and so much light-hearted fun. Our main character was a delight; she had dreams of a whirlwind romance, of her own Mr Darcy to experience a kind of epic love but didn’t ever expect how she’d find it. I could’ve done with a little more magical mayhem, the fantasy elements are a little loose but still a great way to give a twist to a classic romcom.

This was comforting and cosy, with familiar tropes, lovable characters and a satisfyingly warm happy ever after. I adored Iza even when she infuriated me - she had her insecurities and problems, she was a little lost and confused in such a relatable way. I loved how refreshingly honest she was about how she had no clue what she was doing most of the time juggling a busy career, an asthmatic cat and just generally trying to survive as an adult. But most of all how much love she had to give and wanted to give — if only she could find someone worth giving it to who didn’t expect her to choose between love and independence.

A spellbinding debut, definitely worth putting on your wish list.