Title: The Songbook of Benny Lament
Author: Amy Harmon
Genre: Historical Romance
Release Date: March 16, 2021
From the bestselling author of What the Wind Knows and From Sand and Ash comes a powerful love story about a musical duo who put everything on the line to be together.
New York, 1960: For Benny Lament, music is his entire life. With his father’s deep ties to the mob, the Bronx piano man has learned that love and family can get you in trouble. So he keeps to himself, writing songs for other musicians, avoiding the spotlight…until the night his father brings him to see Esther Mine sing.
Esther is a petite powerhouse with a gorgeous voice. And when Benny writes a hit song and performs it with her, their collaboration thrusts the duo onto the national stage…and stirs up old issues and new scrutiny that the mob—and Benny—would rather avoid.
It would be easier to walk away. But the music and the woman are too hard for the piano man to resist. Benny’s songs and Esther’s vocals are an explosive combination, a sound that fans can’t get enough of. But though America might love the music they make together, some people aren’t ready for Benny Lament and Esther Mine on—or off—the stage.
Benny already has my heart…
Keep reading to see the full Love Note!
February 14, 1961
Dear Esther,
You asked me yesterday why I’m doing this. And I didn’t know how to put it all in words. I don’t know why I’m doing it, Esther. Maybe because Sal told me not to. Maybe because my pop was so adamant about you. I don’t know. All I know is, the moment you opened your mouth, I couldn’t stop thinking about you. You haven’t been out of my head for one second since.
You asked me if I like you. Yes, I like you. I like every damn thing about you. And before you shake your head and doubt me, just listen.
I like your sass. I like your temper. I like your clear eyes and your dark heart. I like the way you look. I like the color of your skin and the curl in your hair and the curve of your waist and the tilt of your head and the shape of your ears and the length of your neck and the wiggle in your walk. I like the way you hold yourself. The way you push your shoulders back and keep your spine so straight, like you are daring the world to take you on. I like that you’re small, but mighty. Little, but loud. And when you laugh I forget my own name.
I’m guess that while you’re reading this, you have your lower lip tucked between your teeth. And I like that too. I’m keeping a list in my head, Esther. A long, long list. And when you start thinking we can’t possibly work and that I won’t stick around, you ask me. And I’ll start from the top.
–Benny
Amy Harmon 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.
Amy Harmon has been a motivational speaker, a grade school teacher, a junior high teacher, a home school mom, and a member of the Grammy Award winning Saints Unified Voices Choir, directed by Gladys Knight. She released a Christian Blues CD in 2007 called “What I Know” – also available on Amazon and wherever digital music is sold. She has written five novels, Running Barefoot, Slow Dance in Purgatory, Prom Night in Purgatory, the New York Times Bestseller, A Different Blue, Making Faces and most recently, Infinity + One. Check out Amy’s website.
