Kelly Harms delivers another “sink or swim” adventure of a woman on the brink of a new life. Her main character, Becca, is newly divorced and faced with her past but willing to brace for the future. This tale of a mother and daughter sailing from Maine to Miami takes on a wide range of watery emotions. Becca’s learning to sail hardly compares to the gritty truths and grief at letting go of 22 years of marriage or the ecstasy and joy of discovering the real person below all those layers of the past. Kelly Harm’s novel brings new meaning to finding “the wind in your sails!” The forecast is smooth sailing ahead with Wherever the Wind Takes Us.

Book Review…Wherever the Wind Takes Us by Kelly Harms

Twenty-two years of marriage, and all Becca Larkin’s divorce settlement includes is a live-aboard sailboat. So when Becca proposes a girls’ trip with her daughter, Liv, boating from Maine to a buyer in Miami, it seems like a recipe for a fun summer and a fresh start. Enter Grant Murphy, a stunning Irish sailing coach that Liv can barely stand and Becca can’t seem to resist. But through his eyes, Becca sees for the first time in years a future she might want to navigate toward.

This was a fun quick read! The characters were fun! I especially liked Grant. But seeing the bonds and the relationships grow between them were great to read about. The added humor really made this an enjoyable read and it has that summer vibe and with the cooler weather moving in it was nice to get another warm read in! Overall it was an interesting and entertaining story! Thank you Let's Talk Books and Kelly Harms for sharing this book with me!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

I really enjoyed Wherever the Wind Takes Us. It is an unconventional coming-of-age story. Instead of Becca growing from teenager to adult she’s growing into her 42-year-old self. She is also navigating her relationship with her 21-year-old daughter, Liv and learning how to be someone who puts her own needs before everyone else’s, particularly Liv’s.

Fresh out of a 22-year marriage to a very wealthy man with questionable morals, Becca has nothing, she didn’t contest her prenup. She does, however, end up with a very expensive 41’ sailboat, the Becky Ann. She gets a buyer lined up in Miami, courtesy of, Grant, Liv’s sailing coach. The plan is for Becca and Liv to sail from Maine to Miami to deliver the boat, whilst enjoying some mother-daughter time post-divorce.

Not being the sailor, except for day sails, Becca assumes it’ll be like driving a car. She envisions drinks in the cockpit and elaborate meals at sunset while at anchor. Needless to say reality sets in quickly. They’re in way over their heads. Liv calls in a reinforcement, the gorgeous young Irishman, Grant to finish the delivery. Liv bails, but even though she’s not a sailor, Becca decides to honor her commitment and continue with the delivery.

Along the way Becca finds not only her sea legs, but her soul. WTWTU is a beautiful story of coming into your own and living for yourself instead of others. Wherever the Wind Takes Us is an emotional rollercoaster of love and trust and how having them then losing them can turn fear and sadness into bravery and jubilation.

As a sailor, I have a hard time believing that our heroine, Becca became an expert sailor within a week. Other than that, Harms nails the sailing bits. I wish the boat would’ve been rigged with jacklines, which are pretty much “required” when sailing offshore.

There were a few instances where ages were mixed up or taking a job changes to thinking about taking a job, but these inconsistencies don’t detract from the overall story ... and it is an uncorrected proof.

Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. Wherever the Wind TakesUs is available on October 18th

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year. And unfortunately, I didn't love it as much as I would like. In Wherever the Wind Takes Us by Kelly Harms, we follow Becca in the time following her divorce, and see her discover her new life with an unexpected item from her past life. I did not care for the relationships and family drama that was in this story, however, I loved the parts relating to sailing the boat. Sailing around the world is a dream of mine, and though I don't have a clue how one sails a boat, this part of the story made me feel like I was there with the characters as they navigated the waters! Worth a read if you're a lover of sailing the seas!

I really enjoyed the main character of this book, Becca Larkin. I couldn’t help but cheer her on and hope for her success after she voluntarily walked away with nothing (minus the sailboat named after her that the judge surprisingly granted her) after divorcing her husband of over twenty years. I couldn’t decide if she was brave or crazy when she decided to sail the boat from Maine to Miami, especially considering she knew nothing about boats or sailing! Kelly Harms did a great job with the evolution of the voyage, it definitely kept my attention and wanting to read to the end to find out how it all turned out. I will say that some of the sailing terminology was a bit confusing at times, but not anything that detracted from the story itself.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. I have never sailed before. This book made me feel like I was on the boat. It was inspirational at times.

Discover Yourself And Push Yourself Further Than You Ever Dared. This title of this review is pretty well exactly what happens in this tale of a forty something mother finally having enough and breaking away from the only life she has known as an adult. Along the way, we get the beautiful and sometimes charming waters and towns along the US Eastern Seaboard - and a *lot* of sailing terminology. The techno-babble didn't bother me too much as a *long* time reader of military technothrillers (where Clancy infamously spent seemingly dozens of pages on the first *nanoseconds* of a nuclear detonation in The Sum Of All Fears, among numerous other examples), but perhaps it could be more of a problem for someone whose experience is more exclusively within the women's fiction/ romance genres (where this book squarely resides). An excellent tale that almost begs for a sequel to more fully explore the new setting the characters find themselves in at the end. Very much recommended.

This book was slow for me and it just didn’t hold my attention, and not for lack of trying.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review

I knew I wanted to read this novel as soon as I heard about it, as I have enjoyed all of the other books I read by Kelly Harms. This one took me a bit longer to read, as there were some big events in our family around the time I started it. The first was that my father-in-law passed away. I had Wherever the Wind Takes Us in my Kindle queue long before that happened and it came up at a really interesting time, as my father-in-law loved boating and this novel is all about sailing. I felt like it was a sign from him. (The second big event was that my nephew was born and my kids and I took a road trip to meet him, leaving very little time for reading.)

The premise of this novel is interesting and creative. I don't often read about single mothers taking a long boat trip from Maine to Miami. Not only that, but she has her adult daughter on the trip with her. And her path crosses with a hot, young, Irish sailing instructor. The dialogue and descriptions really brought the story to life and I felt like I was sailing in the middle of the ocean right along with Becca.

Even though there was a diagram at the beginning of the book, it was still really hard to follow all of the terminology and understand how sailing even works. You'd have to be a sailing expert to follow all of that. Having said that, Kelly really knows her stuff! I felt like Becca was too introspective and second guessed things way too much. If I were on a sailboat in the middle of the ocean with my celebrity crush (who happens to be the same age difference from me as Grant was from Becca), I would not be questioning anything. (This is my hall pass, of course.)

Overall, this was an entertaining story. I expected copies to be available already because it has such a summer vibe, but it will be about another month before you can get your hands on one.

Movie casting suggestions:
Becca: Rachael Leigh Cook
Olivia: Savannah Lee May
Grant: Daryl McCormack (as soon as I heard hot, young, and Irish, he immediately came to mind!)
Natasha: Danneel Ackles

When Becca was barely an adult she met Alistair Larkin. He was older, a successful lawyer and from a prominent wealthy family. She was smitten and quickly pregnant with their daughter Olivia. Eventually finishing college (just to prove she could) Becca was mostly content as a stay at home mom raising her child and managing the family’s ever growing social calendar. Twenty two years later she can no longer ignore that her marriage is a sham, Alistair has changed for the worse and she has not been happy in a very long time. After the divorce is final, and Becca did not contest the prenuptial agreement, she walks away with little more than her dignity and Alistair’s prize possession, his 40 foot sailboat. For all practical purposes she must sell the boat having no idea how to sail and desperately needing the cash. When what was meant to be a cathartic, relationship building experience with her daughter turns into a catastrophe, in walks Grant Murphy, the hottest sailing Irishman she has ever seen. Grant offers to sail the boat to the buyer in Miami and off they go on an adventure. For the very first time Becca is rolling with the waves, facing her fears of the ocean and her future. I simply loved this delicious sailing adventure of a woman deemed past her prime learning how to navigate life on her own terms.

Becca Larkin, along with her daughter Liv, set sail on the Becky Ann from Maine to Florida to sell the yacht after her divorce. It's a mother-and-daughter trip, or that was the plan anyway. Then sailing coach, Grant Murphy, enters the picture and we have a story full of adventure, romance, and a new start in life. This was a very enjoyable novel. I loved the way the author's writing could make you feel the ocean spray of the waves. Thanks to author Kelly Harms, Lake Union Publishing, and NetGalley. I received a complimentary copy of this ebook. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Wherever the Wind Takes Us by Kelly Harms. Pub Date: October 18, 2022. Rating: 🌟🌟🌟. This story navigates one woman’s drastic life change to pursue happiness, follow her heart and embrace the unknown. Becca is a recently divorced woman who gets a sailboat in the settlement. She invites her daughter to sail it to a buyer in Miami. Along this ride, there is Grant who works to help them sail the boat. A hunky man, a recent divorced woman and the open seas takes this reader on a journey of rediscovery, hope and redefining what life is all about. Thanks to #netgalley and #Lakeunionpublishing for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

“When life stops making sense, it’s time to raise the anchor and follow the tide”

Rebecca Ann Larkin steps away from a life of unhappiness and chooses to stop viewing life through the distorted lens of grief, anger, uncertainty and fear. When she comes into possession of a sailboat, the sea becomes the perfect place for her to sort out her life.

I absolutely loved reading about Becca’s journey! She discovers that on the other side of fear and uncertainty there’s an expansiveness that’s new and provides her the opportunity to start afresh.

“The water is deepest dark, but not dark as night. It’s dark as squeezed-tight eyelids. Dark as tar burbling, like evil brewing. It’s the colour of the inside of a nightmare.”

The writing is divine! It's uniquely descriptive. I wanted to read passages over and over and over again. Her grasp on relationships was adeptly conveyed. It felt as though I was there watching the relationships unfold before my eyes. I love the acronyms and the sense of humour. It all felt so authentic

The characters! Oh, my! That Irish Adonis captured my attention. They’re beautifully crafted and again, oh, so authentic. My on again, off again feelings about Becca's daughter and her behaviour were carefully orchestrated by an author who knows what she's doing I loved how this added to my understanding of the human psyche.

I’m not a yachty, yet I loved learning about everything Kelly Harms had to teach me…yes, even about marine toilet paper. I loved the prompting to take inventory of the stories I tell myself. Becca wasn’t on a journey to self-discovery alone. I was right there with her.

“If the world is an ocean and I must navigate it alone for the first time, this far along in my life’s journey, then yes, I am afraid.”

Everything Becca wants is on the other side of fear. Can she take the first step? Can she become a sailor - a woman comfortable leaning into the wind? You MUST read this to find out.

I know I’m gushing. I want to grab a megaphone, climb up high and tell everyone to go buy this book. I’m disappointed with myself for not discovering this author sooner.

I was gifted this advance copy by Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

I stepped out of my comfort zone with this one, and I am so glad I did. I'm not a boat person, and I don't know the first thing about sailing so I was nervous it wouldn't hook me. But y'all... I could not put this down.

This one follows Becca Larkin as she's dealing with a divorce from a wealthy lawyer. All she receives from the divorce is his prized boat named after her. It is this boat that leads to new adventure, betrayal, and to Grant Murphy.

This was a slow burn, age gap romance, and I loved every bit of it! I'm going to need another book with more Grant Murphy.

I highly recommend this one! Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for this arc!

Wherever the Wind Takes Us is a compelling story of self-discovery and courage. The main character Becca is starting her life over after divorcing her husband of 22 years. After a life of wealth and privilege, what will her second act look like? I was thrilled to be on this journey with Becca, as she literally sails the seas as she discovers who she was, and even more important, who does she want to be? The relationships in this book are complicated and messy, but they are also passionate and endearing. I was cheering Becca on, I was charmed by Grant, I was frustrated by Olivia—and I cared about them all.

I really wanted to like this book, unfortunately it wasn’t for me. I found it hard for me to get into.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Oh boy did this book prove even further how much I know nothing about sailing and boats! I could've done without the lengthy descriptions of each item shown in the diagram at the beginning of the book, but thus, the story does center around a sailing trip. I enjoyed Becca's strong-willed determination to stand up for what she wants - out of her marriage and on to her second act - and her eagerness to pass that on to her unsuspecting daughter. The spicy Irish sailing coach Grant came at the right time in the story - just as a lil twist was needed.

A lark; escapist fiction for a vacation read. The ending? Not so believeable. Learned a bit about sailing.

Kelly Harms is one of my favorites so I always jump on the newest book she has. This one did not disappoint.
Becca Larkan has decided she's taken enough from her cheating, scum dealing husband so she leaves him and his dirty money behind to forge a new life for herself. Enter the handsome Irishman who is willing to help her find a buyer for her sailboat. I just can't help it, I always catch myself swooning over Irish accents so I was all in with this love interest. His flirtatious remarks and the return of Becca Ann's confidence as she learns to sail and remember what it's like to feel brave again were some of the highlights for me. Since the book revolves around a sailing trip there are numerous sailing terms, but it didn't bog me down and I may have even learned a few things.
Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC and opportunity to provide an honest review.

Becca Larkin calls time on her twenty-two year marriage to Alistair, she’s been unhappy for years and she has issues with his morals. The couple have a twenty-one year old daughter Olivia, Becca doesn’t want her to have to take sides and she's never mentioned the problems she has had with Alistair.

The Larkin family is wealthy, Becca willingly signed a prenup when they married and she’s surprised when the judge awards her the Becky Ann in the divorce settlement and what will she do with a sailing boat? The obvious thing to do is sell it, Becca and Liv decide to sail the boat from Maine to the buyer in Miami. Becca knows nothing about sailing, she gets sea sick and Liv assures her that she’s a competent mariner. Becca is in charge of packing everything they need for the trip, including food, drinks and safety equipment.

The mother and daughter have always had a good relationship, she’s shocked when they arrive at the first stop over and out of the blue Liv informers her that she’s flying in Grant Murphy to take the Becky Ann to Maine. Becca is confused, Liv hates the Irish sailing instructor and why has she suddenly changed her mind?

Becca finds herself aboard the Becky Ann with the much younger handsome sailor and he’s not at all what she’s expecting. Grant is patient and kind, Becca starts to get her sea legs, understand sailing terms, tries new things, she actually enjoys sailing and the adrenaline rush! During the trip Becca starts to consider what she’s going to do in the future, she also worried Olivia, how she will handle college after summer break finishes and her parents separating?

I received a copy of Where the Wind Takes Us by Kelly Harms from NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing in exchange for an honest review. It’s a thought provoking narrative about a mother and daughter’s relationship and a their journey towards finding themselves. Becca especially learns to take chances, money can’t buy happiness, age is just a number, she embraces her fresh start and experiences real passion. Five stars from me, I highly recommend this mature coming of age story and Ms. Harms previous novel, The Overdue Life of Amy Byler.