by Simmons, Pat
A MOTHER’S LOVE. (Making Love Work #1) To Jillian Carter, it’s bad when her own daughter beats her to the altar. She became a teenage mother when she confused love for lust one summer. Despite the sins of her past, Jesus forgave her and blessed her to be the best Christian example for Shana. Jillian is not looking forward to becoming an empty-nester at thirty-nine. The old adage, she’s not losing a daughter, but gaining a son-in-law is not comforting as she braces for a lonely life ahead. What she doesn’t expect is for two men to vie for her affections: Shana’s biological father who breezes back into their lives as a redeemed man and practicing Christian. Not only is Alex still goof looking, but he’s willing to right the wrong he’s done in the past. Not if Dr. Dexter Harris has anything to say about it. The widower father of the groom has set his sights on Jillian and he’s willing to pull out all the stops to woo her. Now the choice is hers. Who will be the next mother’s love”?
TESTIMONY: IF I SHOULD DIE BEFORE I WAKE.
It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning, great is Thy faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23
God’s mercies are sure; His promises are fulfilled; but a dawn of a new morning is God’ grace. If you need a testimony about God’s grace, then If I Should Die Before I Wake will encourage your soul. Nothing happens in our lives by chance. If you need a miracle, God’s got that too. Trust Him. Has it been a while since you’ve had a testimony? Increase your prayer life, build your faith and walk in victory because without a test, there is no testimony.
GUILTY BY ASSOCIATION. How important is a name? To the St. Louis Jamiesons who are tenth generation descendants of a royal African tribe—everything. To the Boston Jamiesons whose father never married their mother—there is no loyalty or legacy. Kidd Jamieson suffers from the “angry” male syndrome because his father was an absent in the home, but insisted his two sons carry his last name. It takes an old woman who mingles genealogy truths and Bible verses together for Kidd to realize his worth as a strong black man. He learns it’s not his association with the name that identifies him, but the man he becomes that defines him.
THE GUILT TRIP. Aaron “Ace” Jamieson is living a carefree life. He’s good-looking, respectable when he’s in the mood, but his weakness is women. If a woman tries to ambush him with a pregnancy, he takes off in the other direction. It’s a lesson learned from his absentee father that responsibility is optional.
Talise Rogers has a bright future ahead of her. She’s pretty and has no problem catching a man’s eye, which is exactly what she does with Ace. Trapping Ace Jamieson is the furthest thing from Taleigh’s mind when she learns she pregnant and Ace rejects her. “I want nothing from you Ace, not even your name.” And Talise meant it.
FREE FROM GUILT. It’s salvation round-up time and Cameron Jamieson’s name is on God’s hit list.
Although his brothers and cousins embraced God—thanks to the women in their lives—the two-degreed MIT graduate isn’t going to let any woman take him down that path without a fight. He’s satisfied with his career, social calendar, and good genes. But God uses a beautiful messenger, Gabrielle Dupree, to show him that he’s in a spiritual deficit. Cameron learns the hard way that man’s wisdom is like foolishness to God. For every philosophical argument he throws her way, Gabrielle exposes him to scriptures that makes him question his worldly knowledge.
THE ACQUITTAL. Two worlds apart, but their hearts dance to the same African drum beat. On a professional level, Dr. Rainey Reynolds is a competent, highly sought-after orthodontist. Inwardly, he needs to be set free from the chaos of revelations that make him question if happiness is obtainable. His father, the upstanding OB/GYN socialite is currently serving prison time after admitting his guilt in an old crime. His older sister refuses to move past the betrayal and attempts to use Rainey as a crutch, but her bitterness is only keeping the family at odds as his twin sister, Cheney Reynolds Jamieson, tries to rebuild a damaged relationship caused by decisions she made in the past. To get away from the drama, Rainey is willing to leave the country under the guise of a mission trip with Dentist Without Borders. Will changing his surroundings really change him? If one woman can heal his wounds, then he will believe that there is really peace after the storm.
Ghanaian beauty Josephine Abena Yaa Amoah returns to Africa after completing her studies as an exchange student in St. Louis, Missouri. She’ll never forget the good friends she made while living there. She couldn’t count Rainey in that circle because she rejected his advances for good causes. Josephine didn’t believe in picking up the pieces as the rebound woman from an old relationship that Rainey seems to wear on his sleeve. Although her heart bleeds for his peace, she knows she must step back and pray for Rainey’s surrender to Christ in order for God to acquit him of his self-inflicted mental torture. In the Motherland of Ghana, Africa, Rainey not only visits the places of his ancestors, will he embrace the liberty that Christ’s Blood really does set every man free.