What the Wind Knows

not a chopped-up badly written serial with cliff-hangers that force you to buy another installment - what a pleasure to finally find a real book on Kindle after all the junk I've gone through this past year. Cliff-hangers for sure but they are by chapter, fast-moving and keep you pulled in to the very end. A wonderful story from the first word to the last! Very professional writing, like a big thick novel I used to get from a library from a real publishing house - every sentence perfectly structured, no typo's or made-up words. I intended to read a couple chapters a day and make it last, but I made the mistake of getting comfortable in my recliner and literally couldn't stop reading until many hours later I got to the end! Should have read a few chapters to learn the characters then gone to the end to see what happened like I usually do, then I go back and read the whole thing at my leisure. Then I wouldn't have spent most of the day glued to the story. Every character becomes real very quickly, the story is so believable although your mind knows it's fantasy. So much Irish history woven throughout - if you have any Irish in your roots at all you sure need to read this! And if you don't, it will make you wish you were Irish - it was that magical. Be entertained and educated at the same time. There were a dozen times the story could have ended and left one feeling sad, but it kept going until the amazing wonderful happy ending! I'm going to read the whole thing again as I kinda hurried through a lot of the history part trying to get to the end so I could get back to my housework LOL

This book was amazing! It was so good with beautiful writing and a riveting and interesting storyline of romance, time, and history. However, it had some scenes that were not "clean" (not explicit, but a little handsy) so I wouldn't say it is a "clean romance" sadly! I skipped those parts and because of them I wish I hadn't read it. I'm sad that I can't recommend this book to anyone because of that and won't be reading any more books by her. "Slow Dance in Purgatory" was an awesome clean romance, why couldn't this have been clean too?

My grandfather was born in Dublin in 1904 and although he wasn't Irish (German ancestry), I'd always wondered about his history in Ireland and how it fits into my own life story. I decided a pilgrimage of sorts was necessary to figure it out. I took my sister with me and we visited site after site, enjoying as much of Ireland as we could in a 3 week period. We visited every tourist site we could, and some usual locations on a whim. Many of those sites are mentioned in this book. We started at the Cliffs of Moher, spent days visiting Malahide Castle, Dublin castle the national museum's, New Grange and Galway, Cork, Muckross House and Middleton. We skipped the Blarney stone (who really wants to kiss something thousands of others had kissed in the last week?? It sounds unsanitary to me). We also skipped Waterford, but visited the Drombeg standing stones, the Ring of Kerry and the Giants Causeway. We traveled east to west, south to north and still didn't have time to see it all. We never did learn about our heritage, but I'm guessing that will be another opportunity. Another trip. Another adventure. Ireland is a beautiful place with a LOT of history, from the famine to the loss of the Titanic, its played its part in our lives. I wish I'd read this book before our trip. It would've explained a little more of the political conflicts that remains today. Belfast and northern Ireland remain part of the British empire and there are still some who are angry with the capitulation and presence of British influence on "Irish soil". As few as 20 years ago there were bombings and killings in protest of British rule. The Irish are a proud and traditional people. Wool sweaters, caps, fried fish and potato dishes, traditional music and dance are all present, but a new element has been added in spades: tourism. It seems that Ireland has recently increased 10x its business in tourism. It's growing as well. You can't see a clear skyline anymore, every city is dotted with cranes as they tear down the old and rebuild modern structures. This book was wonderfully written, making all of the history come to life. I enjoyed the characters, the plot (the conflict, the history, the romance), the language & tradition, the recollection of a past that isn't my own, but it felt SO real. Reading this story placed me there in the middle of the love, laughter, & heartache. I enjoyed the book tremendously. I WILL look for other books by this author. I'm usually content with a book when I'm done, this book made me crave more of Ireland. Maybe I'll get to visit the Emerald Island again someday.

I am wrecked… completely and utterly wrecked with a horrible book hangover after reading this incredible novel! I just want to crawl inside it and stay there forever. This unforgettable and timeless tale stole my heart and left me begging for more. Richly layered in Irish history, weaving fact and fiction with a beautiful romance… Amy Harmon took me on a breathtaking and magical journey through time to 1920s Ireland during a tumultuous period when emotions were high and tempers ran hot while Ireland fights for its independence from the Royal Crown. From times present to past, I fell completely into Harmon’s passionate words. They enraptured me and held me captive. I was consumed from the first word until the very last. The story of Anne, Thomas and Eion leapt from the pages and held me in its clutches. Anne’s journey from present to past, told through her POV and Thomas’s through his journal entries, follows her travel through time from 2001 to when she fell into an unexpected new world in the year 1921 Ireland. My heart warmed and my eyes flooded with tears during Anne’s journey, through her inner turmoil with her identity and her beautiful romance with Thomas. I can’t even begin to tell you how much these characters captivated me and had me entranced with their strength, their honesty, their love, devotion and loyalty. Amy Harmon wrote them on paper, but these characters took on a life of their own. I felt them so completely in my heart and that’s where they’ll stay because they are truly unforgettable. What the Wind Knows is my Top Favorite Read of 2019 and it's going to be hard to top this riveting and spellbinding story. Amy Harmon has always been a fantastic storyteller with her ability to captivate reader and pull them into her her books, and she made me not only fall in love with this story, but she made me feel like I lived it. Truly epic.

❝Don’t go near the water, love, the lough will take you far from me.❞ WHAT THE WIND KNOWS was the perfect mix of history, romance, and fantasy. Every word was exquisitely placed, every character perfectly crafted. These characters and this story are truly special. ❝I fell so fast, so hard, and so completely. Not because love is blind, but because … it’s not. Love isn’t blind, it’s blinding. Glaring. I looked at you, and from the very first day, I knew you … My love is so big and full and brimming that I can’t breathe around it. It’s terrifying to love so much, knowing how fragile our existence really is. You’re going to have to hold on to me, or i’ll burst … or maybe I’ll just float away. Up into the sky, out into the lough.❞ My heart ached as I read Anne and Thomas’s story. I yearned for their happy ending. I cried for them and laughed with them. Anne and Thomas had a one of a kind, once in a lifetime love. Thomas was a man of honor, who lived by his morals and fought for what he believed. Because of his passion for life Anne wanted to do more than just live. She wanted to share in all of his experiences, and fight alongside him. It was her quiet strength that kept Thomas fighting for a better Ireland and for love. There was so much passion within its pages; not just passion between Anne and Thomas, but you could feel the passion of those fighting to make Ireland a better place. Feelings? I felt them all! I experienced every painful moment, every fear, and every awkward moment. I was bursting at the seams with happiness and broken down with sadness. I cried, swooned and cried some more. I. Felt. Everything. When I was nearing the end of the book, I didn’t want to turn the page. I didn’t want this beautiful story to end. I had rivers of tears falling from my eyes and a heart filled with happiness. WHAT THE WIND KNOWS was simply stunning! WHAT THE WIND KNOWS will no doubt be on my favorites list for 2019, but is also a top favorite from Amy Harmon!

Read it! You will like it! Push through the fantasy part , read until you fall in love with the characters. It is good.

When I first heard Amy’s latest book was up for pre-ordered, I immediately one-clicked. This was months before I knew anything about the book. I just knew my favorite author wrote it and hence an automatic purchase and read. A few weeks into, what to me, seem to be an interminable wait; I found out that it was a historical romance. A small fear gripped my heart as I’m not big on historical romance or historical anything. Shortly after, I heard that not only was it a historical romance, but it was a time travel historical romance. I’m not going to lie my heart crashed. Shortly before the release of the hardcover on Feb 1st I won an ARC. (Advance Review Copy). I was thrilled, ecstatic, just a little afraid, and completely beside myself. It took me a day to put my fears away and pick up my kindle. On a rainy Sunday afternoon, I grabbed my kindle, my blanket, and a nice cup of tea and snuggled in my favorite reading chair. I wanted to give this book the chance it deserved because Amy has never let me down. I’m not sure how many readers really look at book covers, and if they do, do they see a preview of things to come? I’ve found that they tell a story before reading the pages between the cover. I meticulously studied the cover and saw a woman who had suffered. There was pain and loss in her eyes, but yet they were strong and hopeful. I knew our heroine was going to make it. And so I read…… The relationship between Annie and her grandfather was endearing. And their love and support for each other was unmistakably. I cried when he took his last breath. I wanted, perhaps needed, to hear and know more. One of my favorite parts of the book was how seamlessly the author pulls Anne in 1921 Ireland and how she arrives there. I was so connected with everything Anne was feeling and seeing that it really took me by surprise. Thomas has to be one of my favorite heroes, his love for Anne is intense and he is a good, caring and brave soul. I loved that about him. And Anne, what a great character. She was what she needed to be when she needed to be. As a woman from 2001 traveling to the past I felt she was able to keep up with the standards of the time without jeopardizing who she really was. Oh and the journals. Love the journals. We all need to learn to keep them. It is a small portal to our future generations. There is a fine line when history is being told because as humans we can easily point fingers, but Amy did an amazing job without accusation or picking sides. “Don’t let the history distract you from the people who lived it” I read the book in one seating. Laundry was not finished that day, messages were not returned and dinner was ordered in. After finishing I wasn’t sure how I felt. To be candid that feeling was there for days, and can honestly say I can’t remember the last time a book did this to me. Overall I give this book 5 stars. Amy is a magical storyteller. Her words flow and put you in a spell between fact and fiction. I was sad to see the story end. I was left wanting more, such much more. Not because the book was unfinished, but because the story was so beautiful written. If you haven’t yet ordered, I urge you to do so now. You will not be disappointed. In fact, I loved it so much, that a kindle copy is not enough; I just ordered the hardcover book (I hear the cover is gorgeous) and the audiobook. A first for me. Happy Reading!

3.4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ Stars “I can’t imagine all men love their women the way I love Anne. If they did, the streets would be empty, and the fields would grow fallow. Industry would rumble to a halt and markets would tumble as men bowed at the feet of their wives, unable to need or notice anything but her. If all men loved their wives the way I love Anne, we would be a useless lot. Or maybe the world would know peace. Maybe the wars would end, and the strife would cease as we centred our lives on loving and being loved.” Writing 5 Stars - Amy Harmon’s writing is absolutely beautiful and brilliant per usual. Zero complaints in this department. “It is as if we always were and always will be, as though our love and our lives sprang from the same source and will return to that source in the end, intertwined and indistinguishable. We are ancient. Prehistoric and predestined.” Characters 3.5 Stars - The characters were GOOD, but for the most part I felt fairly neutral about them. “Thomas was laughing, his hair falling into his face, and I couldn’t look away. I was dizzy with love and faint with hopelessness.” Plot 3 Stars - This story was very historical, and based around various incidences in Irish history. The time travel was cool, but I wasn’t satisfied with the lack of explanation of HOW it happened. Many of the historical aspects bored me, to be perfectly honest. “I’d often wondered, absorbed in piles of research, if the magic of history would be lost if we could go back and live it. Did we varnish the past and make heroes of average men and imagine beauty and valor where there was only dirge and desperation?” Setting 3 Stars - Ireland in the early 1900s. It was nice, but definitely didn’t feel rich and vivid to me. While reading, I didn’t want to *be* there myself. “But loving him—knowing him—was as implausible as loving a face on a screen. We were impossible. In a moment, in a breath, it could all be over.” Unputdownable factor 2 Stars - This book took me MONTHS to get through. I like history when it’s presented in an engaging way. Morgan Llywelyn has written some fantastic Irish history and folklore books that I have loved. But with this one, many times I felt as if I were in class hearing a lecture or reading a history book. Yes, Amy’s writing made many of the scenes engaging, but then there were others that just dragged. Dialogue 4 Stars - No complaints, really. I wish there were more dialogue and less narrative. The historical narrative is where I got bogged down most of the time. I never thought I’d 3 Star an Amy Harmon novel, but here we are. Overall, the writing was beautiful. Anyone who loves Irish history will enjoy this story.