By: Amy Harmon
Available: June 15, 2015
Cover by: Hang Le
Rating: 5 stars
She said I was like a song. Her favorite song. A song isn’t something you can see. It’s
something you feel, something you move to, something that disappears after the last note is
played.
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.
Who knew reading a book from two male POVs could be so emotional? Oh yeah, it’s an Amy Harmon book. It seems every time this author puts pen to paper, or fingers to a keyboard, she creates something unique and quietly profound. A story that draws you in and keeps you mesmerized from beginning to end.
In this spinoff from The Law of Moses, which I highly recommend you read first, we get Tag’s story. Most of Tag’s POV is in the past, heard in a series of audio tapes, as he recalls his time with Millie (Amelia). And then we get Moses’ POV, as he reacts to Tag’s tapes in an effort to locate his BFF, who has disappeared.
This book felt like a discovery, slowly learning about the strong and powerful Tag Taggert, with a gentile kindness that was unexpected. Three people profoundly changed his life, setting him on a new course. He first meets Moses in a mental facility and nearly kills him. But with time, they become best friends and rely on each other, not just for guidance, but for survival.
“I need someone who’s big enough to restrain me if I decide I need to get shitfaced. Hit me in the face, throw me to the ground. Kick the shit out of me. Just make sure I stay clean and alive.”
When Tag first meets Millie, it’s meant to be a joke. A joke that backfires. He is immediately drawn to her for reasons unknown. Maybe it was her beauty and grace. Maybe it was her strength given her weakness. Maybe she was just his perfect match, despite their differences. I think it was probably all of the above.
And she was waiting for me to decide if I was man enough to love a blind girl.
As for Millie’s brother, I think Tag had a hard time understanding the boy and his use of sport trivia to express himself. But nevertheless, Tag is patient with Henry. Not pushing him, just trying to do right by him.
The connections Tag forms with Millie and Henry will warm your heart. Despite their disabilities, he treated them with love and kindness, slowly drawing them into the Tag Team family.
This author isn’t just skilled in building a unique storyline, but her character development is top notch. She creates characters that are talented, yet flawed. People you want to cheer for. Millie’s strength shines like a beacon. Despite being blind, she not only cares for herself and her brother Henry, but she doesn’t seek help to do so. She’s got a brave independence that makes her easily likable. Even with her heartbreak, she focuses on Tag’s pain, not her own. A true act of selflessness.
Tag’s new found happiness is short lived. There are clues along the way that show where the story is leading, so that wasn’t a shock. But it was a shock to see how Tag was so willing to let it all go. His friends and Tag Team family step and give him some tough love. And I absolutely loved how they went about getting thru to him. Henry proves his understanding runs deep.
The ending while beautiful had me scratching me head as to what exactly saw. I guess I’ll need to hound the author for the answer. Either way, I was left with a touching story I won’t forget.
“The most intimate thing we can do is to allow the people we love most to see us at our worst. At our lowest. At our weakest. True intimacy happens when nothing is perfect.”
– Grace
*An ARC was received for an honest review.
I stopped a foot from her and reached out, taking one of her hands in mine. “Do you like this song?” I asked. Obviously she did and obviously I was stupid.
“I love this song.”
“Me too,” I whispered. I reached for her other hand.
“Accidental Babies.”
“What?” I tugged her hands gently, and she took a step. I was so close now that the top of her head provided a shelf for my chin, and Damien’s song was being drowned out by the sound of my heart.
“It’s another one of his songs. . . and I think I love it even more,” she whispered back.
“But that song is so sad,” I breathed, and laid my cheek against her hair.
“That’s what makes it beautiful. It’s devastating. I love it when a song devastates me.” Her voice was thready, as if she was struggling to breathe.
“Ah, the sweet kind of suffering.” I dropped her hands and wrapped my arms around her.
“The best kind.” Her voice hitched as our bodies aligned.
“I’ve been suffering for a while now, Millie.”
“You have?” she asked, clearly amazed.
“Since the moment I saw you. It devastated me. And I love when a girl devastates me.” I was using her definition of the word, but the truth was, my sister was the only girl who had ever devastated me, and it hadn’t been sweet agony.
“I’ve never devastated anyone before,” Millie said faintly, shock and pleasure coloring her words. She still stood with her arms at her sides, almost like she couldn’t believe what was happening. But her lips hovered close to my jaw, as if she was enjoying the tension between almost and not quite.
“I’m guessing you’ve left a wake of destruction,” I whispered. “You just don’t know.”
Finally, as if she couldn’t resist any longer, she raised her hands to my waist.
Trembling fingers and flat palms slid across my abdomen, up my chest, past my shoulders, progressing slowly as if she memorized as she moved. Then she touched my face and her thumbs found the cleft in my chin, the way they’d done the first time she’d traced my smile. Hesitantly, she urged my face down toward hers. A heartbeat before our mouths touched she spoke, and the soft words fluttered against my lips.
“Are you going to devastate me, David?” she asked.
“God, I hope not,” I prayed aloud.
Anticipation dissolved the lingering space between us, and I pressed needy lips to her seeking mouth. And then we melded together, hands clinging, bodies surging, music moaning, dancing in the wreckage. Sweet, sweet, devastation.
“Too late . . .” I thought I heard her whisper.
Giveaway- $50 Amazon Gift Card
Amy Harmon is a 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 several countries, truly a dream come true for a little country girl
from Levan, Utah.
Amy Harmon has written seven novels – the USA Today Bestsellers, Making Faces
and Running Barefoot, as well as Slow Dance in Purgatory, Prom Night in Purgatory,
Infinity + One and the New York Times Bestseller, A Different Blue. Her newest
release, The Law of Moses, is now available. For updates on upcoming book releases,
author posts and more, join Amy at
Website • Blog • Twitter • Facebook • Goodreads
Purchase links
The Song of David: Amazon US – Amazon UK – Amazon CA – Amazon AU – Barnes &
Buy the song on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/song-of-david-single/id998774568
Music & Lyrics by Amy Harmon and Paul Travis – Song of David: iTunes
Music Video:
Created by Focus 4 Productions
After Dark Book Lovers 