The Wishing Tree (Amanda Prowse) Books in Order

Amanda Prowse's The Wishing Tree books sit inside a larger shared-world series, but they are easy to read as their own cluster. The setting is Linden Falls, a small Vermont town built around a simple ritual. People tie wishes to the branches of the town's wishing tree, leaving behind hopes they cannot quite say aloud anywhere else. That image gives Amanda's entries their emotional center.

These are stories about crossroads.

Prowse's version of Linden Falls is full of people carrying disappointment, fear, and the ache of a life that has not turned out as expected. In I Wish..., Verity arrives from London with her teenage daughter after heartbreak, public embarrassment, and the collapse of the life she thought she understood. In a town like this, arrivals matter. New people are not just passing through. They are usually running from something, grieving something, or trying to decide whether they still have time to begin again.

That is the mood Amanda brings best.

Her The Wishing Tree books lean more hopeful than some of her darker family dramas, but they are not weightless. The tension usually comes from old wounds, regret, family strain, loneliness, and the terrifying possibility of change. The tree itself is not used like a big fantasy device that solves problems. It works more like a focal point, a place where private longing becomes visible. The real work still has to be done by the characters.

What links Amanda's entries is emotional tone rather than one continuous plot. I Wish..., A Whole Heap of Wishes, and A Wish for Forgiveness all belong to the same comforting, community-centered world, where kindness matters, second chances are possible, and small-town life can quietly reroute a person's future. Readers come for the charm of Linden Falls, but they stay for the recognisable human problems underneath it.

There is also a good balance between intimacy and ease. You get personal, character-first storytelling, but without a demanding reading burden. These books are designed so that you can step into the town, understand the premise quickly, and settle into one person's emotional journey. If you later want more, the wider shared series is waiting.

The Vermont setting helps. Amanda uses it for atmosphere, but not just atmosphere. The town's closeness means people notice one another. Support can appear when it is needed, but so can uncomfortable honesty. That keeps the books from becoming too soft. Healing here usually comes with awkward conversations, difficult memories, and the need to trust again.

So the best way to approach The Wishing Tree (Amanda Prowse) is as Amanda's gentler, more overtly hopeful branch of contemporary women's fiction. Start with I Wish... if you want the clearest entry point, then continue with the later books for more Linden Falls warmth, wish-making, and stories about people finding that the life ahead may still hold room for surprise.