by E. N. Joy
“I now pronounce you husband and wife,” Pastor Margie declared. “You may now lay one on your bride.”
Everyone in attendance at the small ceremony chuckled as the groom leaned in and planted a never-ending kiss on the lips of his new bride. Applause sounded throughout the sanctuary.
When the bride and groom parted from their kiss, Paige looked down at Norma and Adele. They were covering their eyes, grossed out by the kissing scene. This made Paige crack up laughing.
Ryan looked over at his boys, who high-fived each other and then their father.
“What a beautiful couple those two make,” Mrs. Vanderdale said as Mr. Vanderdale hugged her.
“I’m so happy for them,” Samantha said.
“When we called you all up to be here to witness our wedding vows,” Paige said, “who knew that Miss Nettie and Stuart would exchange vows right after us?”
“An unexpected double wedding ceremony,” Ryan said. “I guess love is in the air.”
“Thank you so much for letting us share the spotlight with you all,” Miss Nettie said as she and Stuart walked over to them, hand in hand, after sealing their vows with a kiss.
“This is so special,” Paige said.
“Yes. I just wish my son could have been here to see this,” Miss Nettie said, putting her head down.
It was obvious to Paige that there was something going on that she didn’t know about. She looked at Mrs. Vanderdale with questioning eyes.
“Miss Nettie’s son fell ill a couple days ago,” Mrs. Vanderdale said. “He’s in the hospital.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, Miss Nettie,” Paige said. “I’ll be sure to pray for him.”
Miss Nettie looked up and smiled at Paige. “Thank you.”
Paige nodded. She was truly following scripture. She was praying for her enemies, even though she really didn’t see Blake as an enemy anymore.
Mother Doreen walked over. “Look at God,” she said. “Here we all came to gather on such a sad occasion, and God turned it around for real.”
“I know that’s right,” Deborah said as she approached.
The other friends Paige had been connected with at New Day Temple of Faith all approached. One by one they congratulated Paige and Ryan, as well as Miss Nettie and Stuart.
“Thank you all for being here,” Paige said. “I know you didn’t come for me, but I’m glad you all ended up being here for me.”
“Aw,” the women said in unison, and then they all went in for a group hug. And there they stood, near the altar. The New Day Divas, all back together again. And even though Tamarra had gone on to glory, her spirit was there. Smiling down on it all.
Paige could just feel the presence of her friend hovering over her, looking down on her. With all the women hugging in a circle, Paige looked upward to the heavens. She smiled. God loved her so. So much that He’d even given her, her own personal guardian angel, who truly was now the wind beneath her wings.
“That box goes upstairs. First room on the left,” Paige instructed one of the movers.
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied. Then he walked past Paige, up the walkway, and into the house.
Paige walked down to the FOR SALE sign that had been planted in the middle of Tamarra’s yard. She stood by the sign.
“You all right?” Ryan asked as he walked up behind her.
Paige smiled. “I’m better than all right. I’m moving into our new home with my new husband. My new family.”
Ryan kissed Paige on the cheek. “I think buying Tamarra’s house was a perfect idea.”
“Yeah. She worked hard after her divorce to live well and keep a good name. Buying her house gave her family the money to pay off all her debts. She died with a good name and with something she strived to maintain her entire life, which is good credit.”
When Paige had suggested to Ryan that they buy Tamarra’s house for the full market price instead of negotiating a short sale with the bank, he hadn’t even argued with her. It had plenty of room for the family of six. The basement, which ran the full length of the house, provided enough space for Ryan’s boys to have their own bedrooms. Paige and Ryan had taken Tamarra’s master bedroom, while the girls had taken the other upstairs bedroom, which was a pretty nice size and had its own private bath. That was an amenity the girls were used to. Ryan and Paige had discussed possibly remodeling and adding on to the house.
“Well, I’m glad we could do that for her,” Ryan said.
“Funny how everything worked out, isn’t it?” Paige asked. “It’s amazing what can happen when you’re in God’s will instead of God’s way.” And on that note, Paige unhooked the FOR SALE sign and replaced it with a SOLD sign.
Hand in hand, she and Ryan headed back into the house, where just three months ago Paige had ended a chapter in her life and now she was starting a whole new book. And as long as she allowed God to be the author, in the end, she would win.
Readers’ Questions
1. Do you like how the author made you think that the novel was perhaps going to be about one thing, for example, the whole skin complexion issue, but it turned out to be about something totally different?
2. With so much going on in the novel, do you feel as though each issue/story line had closure?
3. Do you think as Paige’s daughters get older, they are going to question their identity?
4. How do you feel about people who decide not to tell their children who their biological parents are and instead raise them to believe that others are their parents?
5. Miss Nettie felt she owed Paige an apology for the way her son treated her. Do you agree that mothers are to some degree responsible for the way their sons treat women?
6. Paige had to do quite a bit of forgiving in this book. If you were in her shoes, would you have been able to forgive Blake? How about Tamarra?
7. Mrs. Vanderdale wanted Paige to stay single so that she would always feel as though she played the role of her mother-in-law. How do you feel about a woman staying in contact with a past husband’s family, even though she has remarried?
8. It took Paige finding out that Tamarra was on her deathbed for her to have a face-to-face with her and rekindle their friendship. Is there anyone you feel as though you might need to have a conversation with to mend things with before it’s too late? If so, what is stopping you?
9. Paige had been known to be selfish a time or two. Do you feel it was a selfish act for her to turn the day of Tamarra’s funeral into her wedding day?
10. Are there any New Day Diva characters whose full story you would like to know? If so, e-mail the author at [email protected] to tell her who those characters are and why you would be interested in reading their stories.
11. When All Is Said and Prayed is Book 1 of the “Forever Divas” series. Have you read the novels in the “New Day Divas,” “The Still Divas,” and the “Always Divas” series, or is this your very first book from any Divas series? If you have not read the other books, after finishing this one, are you interested in trying another?
Joylynn M. Ross is now writing as BLESSEDselling author E.N. Joy (Everybody Needs Joy)
BLESSEDselling author E.N. Joy is the writer behind the five-book series “New Day Divas,” the three-book series “Still Divas,” the three-book series “Always Divas,” and the forthcoming three-book series “Forever Divas,” which have been coined “Soap Operas in Print.” She is an Essence magazine best-selling author and has written secular books under the names Joylynn M. Jossel and JOY.
After thirteen years as a paralegal in the insurance industry, E.N. Joy finally divorced her career and married her mistress and her passion: writing. In 2000 she formed her own publishing company, where she self-published her books until landing a book deal with a major publisher. Her company has published New York Times and Essence magazine best-selling authors in the “Sinner Series.” In 2004 E. N. Joy branched out into the business of literary consulting, providing one-on-one consultations and other literary services, such as ghostwriting, ed
iting, professional read-throughs, and write behinds. Her clients include first-time authors, Essence magazine best-selling authors, New York Times best-selling authors, and entertainers. This award-winning author has also been sharing her literary expertise on conference panels in her hometown of Columbus, Ohio, as well as in cities across the country.
Not forsaking her love of poetry, E.N. Joy’s latest poetic project is an ebook of poetry entitled Flower in My Hair. “But my spirit has moved in another direction,” she says. Needless to say, she no longer pens street lit. (Two of her titles, If I Ruled the World and Dollar Bill, made the Essence magazine bestsellers’ list. Dollar Bill was mentioned in Newsweek and has been translated into Japanese.) She no longer writes erotica or adult contemporary fiction, either (An All Night Man, a collection of novellas to which she and three other authors, including New York Times best-selling author Brenda Jackson, contributed, earned the Borders Best-Selling African American Romance Award.)
You can find this author’s children’s book The Secret Olivia Told Me, written under the name N. Joy, in bookstores now. The Secret Olivia Told Me received a Coretta Scott King Honor from the American Library Association. The book was also acquired by Scholastic Books and has sold over one hundred thousand copies. E.N. Joy has also penned a tween/young adult ebook entitled Operation Get Rid of Mom’s New Boyfriend and a children’s fairy-tale ebook entitled Sabella and the Castle Belonging to the Troll. Elementary and middle school children have fallen in love with reading and creative writing as a result of the readings and workshops E.N. Joy instructs in schools nationwide.
E.N. Joy is the acquisitions editor for Urban Christian, an imprint of Urban Books, the titles of which are distributed by Kensington Publishing Corporation. In addition, she is the artistic developer for a young girls’ group called DJHK Gurls. She pens original songs, drama skits, and monologues for the group that deal with issues that affect today’s youth, such as bullying.
You can visit BLESSEDselling author E.N. Joy at www.enjoywrites.com, or e-mail [email protected].
Keep up with the Divas by liking the New Day Divas Fan Page on Facebook.
UC HIS GLORY BOOK CLUB
www.uchisglorybookclub.net
UC His Glory Book Club is the spirit-inspired brainchild of Joylynn Ross, an author and the acquisitions editor at Urban Christian, and Kendra Norman-Bellamy, an author for Urban Christian. It is an online book club that hosts authors of Urban Christian. We welcome as members all men and women who have a passion for reading Christian-based fiction.
UC His Glory Book Club pledges its commitment to providing support, positive feedback, encouragement, and a forum whereby members can openly discuss and review the literary works of Urban Christian authors.
There is no membership fee associated with UC His Glory Book Club; however, we do ask that you support the authors by purchasing their works, encouraging them, providing book reviews, and of course, offering your prayers. We also ask that you respect our beliefs and follow the guidelines of the book club. We hope to receive your valuable input, opinions, and reviews that build up, rather than tear down, our authors.
What We Believe:
—We believe that Jesus is the Christ, Son of the Living God.
—We believe that the Bible is the true, living Word of God.
—We believe that all Urban Christian authors should use their God-given writing abilities to honor God and to share the message of the written word that God has given to each of them uniquely.
—We believe in supporting Urban Christian authors in their literary endeavors by reading their titles, purchasing them, and sharing them with our online community.
—We believe that everything we do in our literary arena should be done in a manner that will lead to God being glorified and honored.
We look forward to online fellowship with you.
Please visit us often at:
www.uchisglorybookclub.net
Many Blessing to You!
Shelia E. Lipsey,
President, UC His Glory Book Club
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ORDER FORM
URBAN BOOKS, LLC
97 N18th Street
Wyandanch, NY 11798
Shipping and handling-add $3.50 for 1st book, then $1.75 for each additional book.
Please send a check payable to:
Urban Books, LLC
Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery.
ORDER FORM
URBAN BOOKS, LLC
97 N18th Street
Wyandanch, NY 11798
Shipping and handling-add $3.50 for 1st book, then $1.75 for each additional book.
Please send a check payable to:
Urban Books, LLC
Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery.
ORDER FORM
URBAN BOOKS, LLC
97 N18th Street
Wyandanch, NY 11798
Shipping and handling-add $3.50 for 1st book, then $1.75 for each additional book.
Please send a check payable to:
Urban Books, LLC
Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery
Urban Books, LLC
97 N18th Street
Wyandanch, NY 11798
When All Is Said and Prayed: Book One of the Forever Divas Series Copyright © 2015 E.N. Joy
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
ISBN: 978-1-6228-6815-5
This is a work of fiction. Any references or similarities to actual events, real people, living or dead, or to real locales are intended to give the novel a sense of reality. Any similarity in other names, characters, places, and incidents is entirely coincidental.
Distributed by Kensington Publishing Corp.
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