Wish You Were Here [Mass Market Paperback]

Lani Diane Rich (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2008

Freya Daly has always been a smart businesswoman - tough, unemotional, and a killer at negotiations. But for the last few months, she's been bursting into tears for no reason at all. Even though she's sure it must be some kind of rare eye condition, her boss (and father) removes her from her usual task of buying high-rent commercial properties in Boston, and banishes her to a rundown campground in Idaho with orders to obtain the property at any cost. Why the property is so valuable, Freya doesn't know. All alone and far from home, her rare eye condition only gets worse. The one thing that seems to help is the friendship she strikes up with Piper Brody, a little girl who shows Freya that being a kid again can be a lot of fun.


Nate Brody is a five-star chef in Cincinnati. Unfortunately, at the moment, he's not in Cincinnati - he's running his father's rundown campground in Idaho. Having made a deathbed promise to his father to find a mysterious lost item before selling the place, Nate is anxious to get back home, where his restaurant and career wait for him....though, maybe not for much longer if he doesn't get back soon.


It doesn't help that his eleven-year-old daughter, Piper, loves it in Idaho. For once, he's not working fifteen-hour days, and he and Piper feel like a family. The only nuisance in their Idaho life is the guest in cabin number four. The beautiful woman from Boston has charmed Piper and, for some reason, seems as eager to buy the campground as Nate is to unload it.


As Freya and Nate build a friendship, things start to heat up - in more ways than one.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Lani Diane Rich grew up in the mid-Hudson Valley section of New York. She is the award winning author of eight novels to date. She can be found through her website at www.lanidianerich.com and through her group blog at www.literarychicks.com.


Lani Diane Rich resides in Upstate New York with her husband and two children, where she is currently at work on her next novel.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Forever (November 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 044661825X
• ISBN-13: 978-0446618250
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1.1 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,270,657 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm Lani, and I'm a writer, a teacher, and a mom. I live in Southern Ohio with my husband, my daughters, two cats and five dogs, and my best friend. My favorite color is yellow, and I have a thing for polka dots that borders on the ridiculous.

I wrote my first book, Time Off For Good Behavior during NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month, fifty thousand words in the thirty days of November - and was the first previously-unpublished author to publish a NaNoWriMo manuscript. It's a very specific niche, but it's all mine. Time Off For Good Behavior won the Rita Award for Best First Book, and I went on to publish another seven solo novels, and one collaboration. So, apparently, it wasn't a fluke. I find that comforting.

When I'm not writing words on paper, I'm speaking them into microphones. From 2007 to 2010, I hosted the Will Write For Wine podcast with the amazingly talented CJ Barry/Samantha Graves; since 2010, I've hosted Popcorn Dialogues with Jennifer Crusie, and the StoryWonk Daily podcast with Alastair Stephens, who happens to be my husband. Which is good, because I often record the show in my pyjamas.

At the moment, I'm writing magical romance novels as Lucy March. I'm still Lani on the inside; it's a publishing thing. If you'd like to learn more about what I'm doing now, visit LaniDianeRich.com, LucyMarch.com, or Storywonk.com. And thank you!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read, November 13, 2008

By 

Kelly Moran "Author and Reviewer" (WISCONSIN) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Wish You Were Here (Mass Market Paperback)

Summing up Wish You Were Here, by Lani Diane Rich, in one word is endearing. Lani Diane Rich is a best-selling author, with such titles as: Crazy in Love, The Comeback Kiss, Maybe Baby, Ex and the Single Girl, and Time Off For Good Behavior. She resides in New York with her family.
Freya Daly has developed what she likes to call "a condition." She couldn't quit crying. She is so very close to getting everything she wants- to take over her father's Boston real estate business when he retires, and now this "condition" was ruining everything, including her reputation. Her father sends her to Deer Creek, Idaho to purchase a run-down campground to prove her capability, the last hoop in a long line of trials. The problem is, Nate Brody won't sell. Nate promised his dying father that he wouldn't sell the land. Freya finds herself enchanted by Nate and his ten-year-old daughter, Piper, making her hoop even harder to jump through. As they search for a valuable heirloom, a treacherous secret from generations past is about to put them all in danger, forcing Freya to choose between her old, comfortable, boring life and the love she never dreamed imaginable.
This is my first time reading a title by this author, and I very well might pick up more. Lani Diane Rich has a candid way of laying out raw emotions and practical characters that you can relate to. She has a clever and witty sense of humor which had me laughing aloud quite a few times. The characters were realistically flawed, including the secondary ones. I particularly like the ending, where you got closure without changing who they were and altering the personalities greatly. I love a good romance that is not over-gushy and littered with cliché's, to which she proves immeasurably well here. The setting was richly portrayed, making you want to jump right in. You can tell that she thoroughly enjoyed writing this book.
Wish You Were Here, by Lani Diane Rich, is a humorous, charming, and satisfying read. Lani Diane Rich is emerging on the romance scene and I see great things in the future for her. Readers will delight in this light-hearted page-turner that will leave you with a smile on your face and restoration in the contemporary romance genre again.

Kelly Moran
Author and Reviewer

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 'Wish You Were Here'...A truly wonderful book!, November 24, 2008

By 

Bobbie Crawford McCoy "Nurture Your BOOKS" (Alberta, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wish You Were Here (Mass Market Paperback)

Just one last hoop to jump through and the business would be hers. Freya Daly was so close to being selected as her father's successor that she could taste it.
As soon as she had the property purchased she could return home triumphant and secure in her new position as head-honcho for Daly Developers Incorporated.
With the amount of money she was authorized to offer Nate Brody for his property, there wasn't a doubt in her mind that he would sell! Unfortunately for Freya, she came to Deer Creek, Idaho less then prepared.
Nate Brody didn't have any real ties to the land his father left him, but the promise he made on his dad's deathbed sure meant something to him!
When Nate flat out refuses all of Freya's offers to buy the land, Freya just sees it as a challenge that she she'll win if she works harder at it.
Nate and his daughter Piper share the main house with his father's ex girlfriend Ruby. The brusque older woman wants nothing more then to...


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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Wish It Was Better, November 4, 2008

By 

Little D (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wish You Were Here (Mass Market Paperback)

Im a huge fan of Lani Diane Rich and I have loved every book I've read of hers until now. I dont think there was much romance for it being a romance book. There was more emphasis on the purple mystery item than anything else. I really hope her next book will be equally as great of some of her previous ones.