Review: Chasing Wishes



Title: Chasing Wishes
Author: Nadia Simonenko
Series: N/A, Standalone
Genre: Contemporary, Romance, New Adult
Publication Date: January 29th, 2014
My Rating: 4.5 awesome Stars


"I wish I didn't have to go home. I wish I was someone else—someone with a future..."

For sixteen-year-old Nina Torres, it feels as if life is nothing but a dead end. Despised by her rich classmates and afraid that she'll become just like her drug-addicted mother, Nina's future seems to get dimmer every day.

There is one bright spot in her life though...

Sitting beside her one night, the only person in the world who cares about her makes a promise. No matter what happens—no matter how much Isaac's wealthy family disapproves—he and his girlfriend Nina will be together forever.

Fate plays a cruel trick on Nina, though, and a visit from Child Protective Services the next morning turns Nina Torres into Irene Hartley, a woman with a future but who will never see her beloved Isaac again.

Nine years later, a blind and incredibly handsome young entrepreneur hires Irene to be his personal assistant. Terrence Radcliffe reminds her so much of Isaac that she can hardly believe her eyes, and she's falling for him fast. Irene knows that fairy tales don't come true, but she allows herself one last wish. She wishes that she could finally say goodbye to Isaac and let herself take a chance on Terrence.

What she doesn't know is that Terrence is also searching for someone: a shooting star who streaked through his life nine years ago, and he won't give up until he finds her...


Note that all quotes quoted below are those that were taken from the ARC copy and not the final one, thank you!

I remember coming across this one a few days before it's release because of a book blitz. After reading the synopsis, I immediately signed up for the blitz and looked for ways to acquire an ARC as I couldn't wait even just one day more! That synopsis pulled me in immediately, and I was goner when Nadia Simonenko messaged me on Goodreads about a copy. When she finally emailed me an eARC, I couldn't help but scream in delight and delved into it immediately!

When Child Protective Services took sixteen-year-old Nina away, she is grateful yet extremely saddened because she will never see her beloved Isaac again. For her own protection, Nina was forced to change her name in Irene Hartley. Nine years later, Irene meets a blind man named Terrence who reminds her so much of Isaac.

After being fired by her boss because of standing up to him, Irene was offered a job to be Terrence's assistant, and Nina accepted. Irene and Terrence got to spend time together and Terrence was able to see the world again from Irene's descriptions. Soon, the two start to fall for each other, yet their pasts get in the way somehow. Told in alternating point of view of Irene and Terrence, and alternating between past and present, readers can get the best of both worlds while reading this novel.

Nina is not rich or anything, but she was able to attend in Isaac's private school because of a special program created by the school. Her social standing ended her up in getting bullied despite her high scores. Everything was always blamed at her, even though she wasn't the one at fault. I admire Nina because she was able to stand her ground despite her having to feed herself and despite all the bullying in school. Not many can take up as much as that.

Nina and Isaac are from two different sections of the world, but their differences never stopped Isaac from approaching and being kind to Nina. Nine years later, Terrence is still the same, kind and fair to everyone. This made me admire him so much because let's face it, there aren't enough people like that in the world, and it amazes me to see someone so kind, even if it's just in a book.

I absolutely loved how Nina and Isaac fell in love with each other nine years ago, and how Irene and Terrence fell in love with each other again in the present, despite knowing Irene is Nina and Terrence is Isaac. I loved how they found each other again after all those years, because destiny and fate wanted them to.

I loved reading this book and even though I already knew that Irene is Nina and Terrence is Isaac, it doesn't keep the book from holding my attention until I finished the book, and even then, I felt like I wanted more! It's not like I disliked the ending, because mind you, the ending is absolute perfection, but I am just hungry for more of their story that I can't help but feel sad that this isn't a series!

This is one of my favorite 2014 reads, and it just breaks my heart to see that it has less than four stars on Goodreads. There is no doubt in my heart that this book deserves far more than that! I hope that you guys can give this one a chance. I promise you, not a single second of your time will be wasted!




"Fairy tales never tell you how much it hurts when the clock strikes midnight and suddenly it's all just pumpkins again."

"Words create worlds, and as Terrence sees the world he lost through my eyes for the rest of the ride home, I can't help but feel that this is the greatest story I've ever told."

"What, you think rich people don't have skeletons in their closets too?"

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