Amy Harmon

Review: Where the Lost Wander by Amy Harmon

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A beautiful story about life and love on the Oregon Trail.

Now, I’m not usually one to stay up too late reading. My eyes wanna close around 10:30. But when I read Where the Lost Wander, I couldn’t stop reading. I stayed up til almost 1 am anxiously flipping pages and trying to keep my tears from dropping onto them. I don’t remember the last time I read a book with so much overwhelming obstacles that had me glued to each word.

Life in a wagon train is brutal, both the land and people. But the May family set out with a train for a better life. With everything they own they are determined to make a better life from the one they are leaving behind. They knew it would be hard but they didn’t expect this.

Naomi May is a 19 yr old recent widow who is ready for a new life. She wants a family of her own so she sets out with her parents, and four brothers, for what will be a new beginning. She had no idea that traveling on this trail would change her forever. Nothing could prepare her for all the hardship and death she would surrounded by. But among that was also love.

“I worry sometimes that you will get tired of carrying all of us, John.”

“I would carry you to the ends of the earth.”

John Lowry is a man from two worlds. He’s a half Pawnee and half white man trying to balance between them both. But he had no idea when he was signing up for the trail how his life would change forever.

This story was harrowing and heartbreaking and yet so very inspiring. There were parts that had tears pouring down my face and some wishing I could reach in and hug Naomi. Honestly, the suffering was unfathomable. I don’t think I could’ve been as strong as she was. No matter what what thrown at her, she fought, even when she felt like giving up. If you read From Sand and Ash then this is right up your alley. Another story based on real people. These are types of stories I wish more writers would write. Amy Harmon will always be one of my favorites and I will always recommend her books.

~Melpomene

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Review: What the Wind Knows by Amy Harmon

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The wind and water know all the earth’s secrets. They’ve seen and heard all that has ever been said or done. And if you listen, they will tell you all the stories and sing every song.

From the moment I read the prologue I knew this story was going to hit me harder than any other book I’ve read lately. And I was so right. In fact, I’m pretty sure this story was written just for me. There are small details that connect me and I can’t even explain what that feels like. I know it sounds silly, but it’s true.

Without giving away spoilers I will just say this, at 10% I started to cry and I didn’t know why. I was noticing things that had me breathless and speechless. Even as I’m typing now, there are tears in my eyes. The talk of the past and how these people are no longer with us always makes my heart clinch. Anne discovers things that she never knew, but yet, she always knew.

This story is rich in history and romance and I was swept away. What the Wind Knows had an Outlander feel to it, due to the time traveling, but it was so much more than that. This book was so rich in history, I felt like I was there. The people were real, as were their struggles. My heart broke when theirs did.

The romance between Anne and Thomas made me swoon and cry. I’m not even kidding. When I say I was crying, I mean I was CRYING. I woke up one morning at 4:30 to finish it. And by the time I was done, my pillow was soaked and my eyes were red and puffy. I was breathless and overwhelmed by every word I was reading. I may never recover.

“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 louch.”

~Melpomene

Buy What the Wind Knows https://amzn.to/2SXtmQ4

Review: The Smallest Part by Amy Harmon

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“Sometimes it’s the smallest part that steals the show.”

Emotional, devastating, healing, and magical. This book will bring all the feels. So go find a quiet place to read and react.

From the prologue, I knew this was going to put my heart through the ringer. I was right. Good grief, did it hurt. So bad. But it was a healing hurt. I was sucked in a felt everything. I won’t tell you too much, you must just go into this blind.

We met Dr. Noah Andelin in The Law of Moses. To be honest, it’s been so long since I read that, that I forgot who he was. But then it clicked and I was super happy to get his story.

This book is about family. Family isn’t always blood. In fact the best type of family is the one you choose. Blood doesn’t matter. Only the heart does. Cora, Noah and Mercedes were the three Musketeers. No matter what happens in life, they will always be there for each other.

Mercedes was the glue to her family. She would do everything and anything for them. Even stepping away from her true love, so her best friend could find happiness. She isn’t a martyr though. She genuinely wants everyone to be happy and is willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish that. I loved her. She was so real to me, that as I’m typing this out, I have tears in my eyes. The sacrifices she made for her family will shock you. But her heart is so big, she can’t help but to help.

I love Noah. He could do anything as long as he knew his best friend was there for him. And let me tell you, life sure tested this. Him and Mercedes were always close, and this book shows that. From a young age, through life’s ups and downs, they were always there. And when life decided to toss them a few curveballs, they stood strong and held on tight. To have a friend like that is inspiring.

“You may not be where you want to be in your life, Mer. But I’m so glad you’re in my life. Your birthday is one of my favorite days, because it means you exist, and I’m so grateful for that.”

I will say no more, except that you just need to read this. I don’t wanna say anything spoilerish, so I’ll leave you with this. The Smallest Part is a story that will break your heart and mend it at the same time.

Love can be found in the craziest of places if you only open your eyes, and heart, to it.

~Melpomene

Buy The Smallest Part http://amzn.to/2BXF4km

Review: The Queen and the Cure by Amy Harmon

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“There will be a battle, and you will need to protect your heart.”

This quote depicts this book perfectly. Battles of the mind, body and soul will be fought. To be victorious, Kjell must hold fast to who he is and trust in himself. My heart was taken with Kjell and his journey. There was so much for him to learn. I feel honored to get to watch him grow into himself.

Now this book wasn’t without heartache and pain. Oh no, definitely not. It was a slow burn and running smoothly…until it wasn’t. Then the real pain began. I made the mistake of reading this late at night and had to stop just when it was coming to a head. But I woke up at 3 am to continue my torture, and it was glorious. I live for these kind of books. The kind that drag you into the depths of despair and keep you there until you think you can’t go on any longer. Then BAM. Yes, as you can tell, I enjoyed this book very much. This story blew The Bird and the Sword out of the water for me.

Sasha was such a well written character. She was so strong, even when she wasn’t. She had to be. Her entire world depended on it. I love how fierce she was. Sasha wouldn’t take any crap from anyone, even if it put her life at risk. She loved with a fierceness that I adore. No matter what life threw at her, she remained true.

Amy Harmon has mastered the art of fantasy romance. The world is believable and the stories seem so real. I felt like I was sitting in the clouds watching this transpire. I hope she’ll write more from this genre. And possibly more from this world. *hint hint*

~Melpomene

Buy The Queen and the Cure here: http://amzn.to/2pBPp2R
Meet Kjell first in The Bird and the Sword here: http://amzn.to/2pQH8sS

Cover reveal: The Queen and the Cure by Amy Harmon

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Release day: May 9, 2017

Buy links:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2p7KQut
iTunes: https://itun.es/us/Lobbjb.l
Kobo: http://bit.ly/KoboTQATC
Barnes & Noble: coming soon!

Blurb:
There will be a battle, and you will need to protect your heart.

Kjell of Jeru had always known who he was. He’d never envied his brother or wanted to be king. He was the bastard son of the late King Zoltev and a servant girl, and the ignominy of his birth had never bothered him.

But there is more to a man than his parentage. More to a man than his blade, his size, or his skills, and all that Kjell once knew has shifted and changed. He is no longer simply Kjell of Jeru, a warrior defending the crown. Now he is a healer, one of the Gifted, and a man completely at odds with his power.

Called upon to rid the country of the last vestiges of the Volgar, Kjell stumbles upon a woman who has troubling glimpses of the future and no memory of the past. Armed with his unwanted gift and haunted by regret, Kjell becomes a reluctant savior, beset by old enemies and new expectations. With the woman by his side, Kjell embarks upon a journey where the greatest test may be finding the man she believes him to be.

Cover design: By Hang Le – http://www.byhangle.com/

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About the author:
Amy Harmon is a Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and New York Times Bestselling author. Amy knew at an early age that writing was something she wanted to do, and she divided her time between writing songs and stories as she grew. Having grown up in the middle of wheat fields without a television, with only her books and her siblings to entertain her, she developed a strong sense of what made a good story. Her books are now being published in fifteen different languages, truly a dream come true for a little country girl from Levan, Utah.
Amy Harmon has written eleven novels — the USA Today Bestsellers, The Bird and The Sword, Making Faces and Running Barefoot, as well as From Sand and Ash, The Law of Moses, The Song of David, Infinity + One, and the New York Times Bestseller, A Different Blue. Her recent release, The Bird and the Sword, is a Goodreads Best Fantasy of 2016 finalist.

Find Amy online:
Website: http://www.authoramyharmon.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authoramyharmon
Facebook fan group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/amyharmon
Twitter: https://twitter.com/aharmon_author
Instagram: https://instagram.com/amy.harmon2/
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Amy-Harmon/e/B007V3HXUY
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5829056.Amy_Harmon
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/amy-harmon
Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/P5AJP
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/authoramyharmon/

Review: From Sand and Ash by Amy Harmon

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sand This book. Epic, emotional, real, powerful, romantic and moving. Writing a review has me in tears all over again. This book is gonna blow you guys out of the water. It’s been ages since I’ve been fully engulfed in a world that is so real and painful and yet my heart held on to hope. Gah! Buy this beautiful story and read it with a box of tissues, and maybe even a stress ball. 🙂

I admit I know very little of world history. What snippets I can recall I get from tv or movies. I know what happened in 1943, but yet I only know a little bit. This story opened up a whole new aspect, of this time, that left me speechless and devastated. The last time I read a book of this magnitude was The Bronze Horseman. This book was just as epic. This book transported me to a time in which I cringe when I think of it. The atrocities that happened. The heartache that happened. The overwhelming evil that creeped in and touched everything. My heart hurts with this knowledge.

But with all the pain comes love. Love that held tight and wouldn’t let go. Love so powerful it made me heart race and caused my breath to stop.

Eva and Angelo’s relationship over the years was an all consuming love. No matter what happened, or what situation they found themselves in, in the end it was all about love. If they were terrified, all they had to do was think about each other and they would find a way through it.

“My faith is being drowned by my fear for you.”

I found myself on the edge of my seat quite often. As you can see from my updates, this book knocked me for a loop.

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Oh my gosh. My simple words can’t portray how much this book has left an imprint on me. I think about it almost daily, since I’ve read it. My heart weeps at the loss of a generation but at the same time at the courageousness of the people. And the love. The unyielding love. Read this book.

~Melpomene

Buy From Sand and Ash http://amzn.to/2gM7PWP

Review: The Bird and the Sword by Amy Harmon

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01 ab “You are a dangerous little bird. But I think I will keep you.”

How can someone without a voice make a difference in the world?

WOW. This book was pure magic. I was sucked in from the very first page to the last one. Fantasy is some of the hardest books for me to review. I don’t wanna give away spoilers, but, at the same time, I wanna shout, “Read this book!” So I will say this. READ THIS BOOK!

I am a huge fan of Amy Harmon’s books. She can write romance like nobody’s business. When I first heard that she was writing a fantasy, I was quite intrigued. Fantasy is one of my favorite genres, so to mix it with one of my favorite authors…well, let’s just say that’s a match made in heaven.

You will fall in love with all of these characters. From Lark to Prince Tiras to Boojohni, you will be drawn into their world and wish you were right along with them. Whether it is real or fantasy, the world that’s created in these pages is a world that’s beyond anything I could ever dream of. In fact, I was so drawn in with the poetic words, that sometimes I forget it was a fantasy. My soul just soaked up all the beautiful words.

Amy has a way of writing a story that’s not only beautiful, but also has a beautiful message. I was drawn in with her characters and scenery. From the breath taking moments to the breath stealing moments, I was completely captured. I honestly say that if Amy decides to write more from this world, or any other world, I’ll be first in line to buy it.

~Melpomene

Cover reveal: The Bird and the Sword by Amy Harmon

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The-Bird-and-the-Sword-PRINT-FOR-WEB
SYNOPSIS
Swallow, daughter, pull them in, those words that sit upon your lips. Lock them deep inside your soul, hide them ‘til they’ve time to grow. Close your mouth upon the power, curse not, cure not, ‘til the hour. You won’t speak and you won’t tell, you won’t call on heaven or hell. You will learn and you will thrive. Silence, daughter. Stay alive.

The day my mother was killed, she told my father I wouldn’t speak again, and she told him if I died, he would die too. Then she predicted the king would sell his soul and lose his only son to the sky.

My father has a claim to the throne, and he is waiting in the shadows for all of my mother’s words to come to pass. He wants desperately to be king, and I just want to be free.

But freedom will require escape, and I’m a prisoner of my mother’s curse and my father’s greed. I can’t speak or make a sound, and I can’t wield a sword or beguile a king. In a land purged of enchantment, love might be the only magic left, and who could ever love . . . a little bird?

Add it to your Goodreads shelf HERE.

Author_AmyHarmonAbout Amy Harmon:
Amy Harmon is a Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and New York Times Bestselling author. Amy knew at an early age that writing was something she wanted to do, and she divided her time between writing songs and stories as she grew. Having grown up in the middle of wheat fields without a television, with only her books and her siblings to entertain her, she developed a strong sense of what made a good story. Her books are now being published in twelve countries, truly a dream come true for a little country girl from Levan, Utah.

Amy Harmon has written ten novels – the USA Today Bestsellers, Making Faces and Running Barefoot, as well as The Law of Moses, The Song of David, Infinity + One, Slow Dance in Purgatory, Prom Night in Purgatory, and the New York Times Bestseller, A Different Blue. Her newest release, The Bird and The Sword will be released in the spring of 2016. She will release From Sand and Ash in October of 2016, via Lake Union Publishing.

Melpomene’s Top 15 of 2015

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I decided to stick with a top 15 instead of 25 this year. 25 seemed a bit overachieving, so I toned it down a smidge. And I was going to write this long and beautiful post, but then I realized I just can’t write long and beautifully, so you get short and sweet. Here you go.

1. Before We Were Strangers: A Love Story by Renee Carlino

2. November 9: A Novel by Colleen Hoover

3. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

4. Iniquity (The Premonition Series Book 5) by Amy Bartol

5. Breathe (Colorado Mountain Series Book 4) by Kristen Ashley

6. Restless Waters: A Left Drowning Novel (Left Drowning Series Book 2) by Jessica Park

7. The Song of David (The Law of Moses Book 2) by Amy Harmon

8. Kyland by Mia Sheridan

9. The Forgotten Mountain (The Collectors’ Society Book 3) by Heather Lyons

10. The One Thing by Marci Lyn Curtis

11. Where Sea Meets Sky: A Novel by Karina Halle

12. The Air He Breathes by Brittiany C. Cherry

13. Bad Romeo (The Starcrossed Series Book 1) by Leisa Rayven

14. Burned: Fever Series Book 7 by Karen Marie Moning

15. The Shadows (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 13) by J.R. Ward

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The Gamble (Colorado Mountain Series Book 1) by Kristen Ashley

Elude (Eagle Elite Book 6) by Rachel VanDyken

Walk Through Fire (Chaos) by Kristen Ashley

Gus by Kim Holden

The Raven (Florentine series Book 1) by Sylvain Reynard

What were some of your favorites??

~Melpomene

Review: The Song of David by Amy Harmon

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01 song “The most intimate thing we can do is to allow the people we love most to see us at our worst.”

My heart is full and happy. The Song of David was so beautifully written, I can’t seem to wrap my head around any coherent words that will make this review even a hint of what it should be. I can’t see through my tears, even if I could think well enough to do that. Amy Harmon’s stories are perfect. The characters are real. The problems are real. The hurt is real. She is the master creator of stories that will change you and heal you.

SYNOPSIS
I won my first fight when I was eleven years old, and I’ve been throwing punches ever since. Fighting is the purest, truest, most elemental thing there is. Some people describe heaven as a sea of unending white. Where choirs sing and loved ones await. But for me, heaven was something else. It sounded like the bell at the beginning of a round, it tasted like adrenaline, it burned like sweat in my eyes and fire in my belly. It looked like the blur of screaming crowds and an opponent who wanted my blood.

For me, heaven was the octagon.

Until I met Millie, and heaven became something different. I became something different. I knew I loved her when I watched her stand perfectly still in the middle of a crowded room, people swarming, buzzing, slipping around her, her straight dancer’s posture unyielding, her chin high, her hands loose at her sides. No one seemed to see her at all, except for the few who squeezed past her, tossing exasperated looks at her unsmiling face. When they realized she wasn’t normal, they hurried away. Why was it that no one saw her, yet she was the first thing I saw?

If heaven was the octagon, then she was my angel at the center of it all, the girl with the power to take me down and lift me up again. The girl I wanted to fight for, the girl I wanted to claim. The girl who taught me that sometimes the biggest heroes go unsung and the most important battles are the ones we don’t think we can win.

No one fights alone.

David “Tag” Taggert has been a fighter for most his life. He will fight for those he loves and cares about, until he can no longer swing. We met Tag in The Law of Moses and I’m so glad we get to see more of him. He hasn’t had the easiest of times, since the death of his sister, but he puts on an act and carries on. On the outside he seems like the most confident and happy go lucky kind of guy, but there’s a secret that he’s keeping from those who love him most.

I adored Millie!!! She was the best girl for Tag. She’s a fighter and a mighty protector. She lays it out there and tells him what he needs to hear, not what he wants to hear. No matter how much he wants to protect her from the ugly side of life, she forces him let her in and be there for him.

“When you’re with me, I feel like I glimpse a David nobody else knows is there. It’s a Song of David, and nobody else can hear it but me.”

This book struck a chord with me. So many parts of this story I could relate to, and it made me connect and feel it, even more than I normally would. There is a connection between David and Goliath that everyone faces at some point in their lives. They must fight their giants, and keep fighting til they’re taken down and destroyed. Never stop fighting. No matter what.

“You hold onto me. You trust me. You lean on me. You rely on me. You let me shelter you. You let me love you. All of you.”

~Melpomene

While you can read this as a standalone, to avoid spoilers and get the full experience, read The Law of Moses
first. You can thank me later.

Buy The Song of David