The Congregation by Hashim Conner

The word congregate means “to come together in a group, crowd or assembly”.  That is generally what we do when we go to church that is why we are called a congregation.   But what is underlying in the congregation is what makes us unique and gives that certain bond that makes us more like family than we truly understand.

Mark and Amber Coleman are typical preacher’s kids who fell in love.  Mark is the son of the Pastor of Third Baptist Church and Amber is the daughter of the deacon of the church who happens to be his best friend.  They grew up together and it is natural that they would fall in love and get married.  Just because they show up at church and church functions all smiles and giggles look can be deceiving, after all they do have to play the part they are the son and daughter-in-law of the pastor.

Terrence and Asia are the perfect couple.  Terrence is a successful surgeon that looks like a model, clean-cut,  six-foot four inches tall, a chiseled two hundred and forty pounds, smooth chocolate-brown color and a perfect set of pearly whites.  Asia is a successful bank executive with a perfectly toned body of an athlete that could rival any woman ten years younger than her.  They have all of the material possessions that they need, now if their marital relationship was plentiful as their material possessions they would have the world.

Issac and Veronica Patton love each other very much.  They can’t get enough of each other and their love is evident to everyone, everyone except Issac’s mother Mrs. Silver-Patton who feels like Veronica isn’t good enough for HER Issac.  Will Issac have to choose between the two women in his life who mean the most to him?

The Congregation is a very interesting story about relationships and conflicts but the storyline is inconsistent. At one point you are reading about one set of characters and the very next paragraph you pick up with another set of characters, it was slightly confusing but you eventually came back around to catching up about the previous characters.  There is a Congregation Part II coming out, I look forward to seeing what changes are going to be made in this next installment.

The Congregation is available for purchase through Amazon.com (paperback and Kindle),  BN.com (paperback and Nook) and on Smashwords.com.

The Unlikely Remnant by Tracey Michae’l Lewis

We are taught if we be good we will go to Heaven and if we are bad we will go to Hell.  But what if you thought that you were being good?  Good by who standards, the world’s?

Mother Faye Duncan is a woman who loves her church and who loves the Lord.  She is a loyal and faithful servant at Restoration AME church who can quote scripture forwards and backwards.  Chad Donahue has had a tough young life but as a young boy he grew up in church with his friend in Screven, Georgia.  Chad believes in God he thinks, or at least what he is told about God but that is what he was told as a ten-year old child he is a grown man now and he is no longer sure.  Rosa Johnston-Vasquez was born into a Mexican Catholic household so there was always the belief of God’s existence.  Due to recent circumstances in Rosa’s life she is doubting whether there really is a God.  Bishop Michael Jeremiah Hampton is a man of God and a man of the people.  He is the leader of a 15,000 member church and thousands more followers via television.  He can bring the Word of God but does he believe the word that he brings?  The one thing that these four people have in common is that once The Rapture came they were all left behind and they don’t know why.  They all felt like they have led their lives according to the way that they were supposed to but here they are, now what?

Tracey Michae’l Lewis tells a story that I am sure that we all may have wondered about on any given day and she tells it very well.  It is not a story of condemnation but it is a story that will make you think.  I enjoyed reading this story by Lewis and I look forward to reading more of her work.

The Unlikely Remnant can be purchased through Amazon.com (paperback and Kindle), BN.com (Nook only) and on the author’s webpage:  http://traceymichaellewis.blogspot.com/.

The Night Dad Went To Jail: What To Expect When Someone You Loves Goes To Jail by Melissa Higgins

There are many things in life that we have to explain to children and some are often very difficult: death, sex, sexuality, divorce and so on. Somewhere along the line, some brilliant person came up with the idea of creative books that would help parents explain these things to children in a language that they would understand and not make it so frightening to them and take some of the stress off of us (THANK YOU!). Unfortunately, the newest book out there to help parents explain a difficult situation to children is dealing with a father going to jail.

The story is told by the little boy named Sketch who’s father is the one who went to jail. He speaks of what happened the night his father was arrested. Then the police gave his younger sibling a teddy bear to comfort them as they waited for the social worker to come and sit with them until the mother arrived to the father’s apartment to pick them up and take them home. The child asks the police what did his father do and the police responds “we need to speak with him, he may have broken the law” and at the bottom of the page it explains about what laws and rules are and that if you break the law you could possible go to jail. After the mother gets there to pick the children up to go home, she is on the phone most of the night with the police trying to get information. She finds out that dad admitted to breaking the law and will be in jail for a while, but to tell Sketch that he loves him. There is another stat on the bottom of the page regarding percentages of fathers in prisons and mothers in prisons.

Next day Sketch goes to school kids are teasing him because his dad got arrested, he get mad and pushed the books of his classmate on the floor. Off to the counselor’s office he has to go. She called his mother, found out what happened and talked to him about the feelings that he was having at that point. He was angry, sad and scared but she let him know that it was ok to feel that way, whenever he was feeling like just draw or talk to someone that he trusted.

Then they got to go and visit dad in jail by bus and talk to him through a glass on the phone. Sketch was scared to look at him and didn’t know what to say to him and the book says that it is ok that the kids don’t know what to say because it is overwhelming for them at that point. After about four months, the dad was moved to prison and he had to ride the bus and go through the metal detectors. It was scary but they were allowed to hug so it was more comforting to the children. They got a chance to visit their father once a month, talk to him on the phone and send him drawings. The school counselor has a group session of other students who mother or fathers were in prison and they meet weekly and that helps with the transition. Since the father is in prison, the grandmother help take care of the children because the mother has to work more and the social worker has found a mentor to provide a positive male role model in the home.

The end of the book has a glossary of words like arrest, jail, prison and such to help children understand. It is a shame that a book like this has to be published but unfortunately in today’s times it is a necessity.

The is book is available through Amazon in hardback, BN.com, http://www.capstonepub.com and you local public library.

A Sinner’s Cry by Rose Jackson-Beavers

We all know what the Bible says that we should do and how we should live but how hard is it when the person that you love is trying to make you choose between them and doing what you KNOW is right?

Denise Reese has a pretty good life.  She has a high level management position within the Department of Social Services, own her own home, has an amazing financial portfolio and is in love with an amazing man.  The only problem is that this man, Darren, she just found out after being with him for two years is married.  Denise is hurt and knows it is wrong but what should she do?  Darren says he loves her and that he is going to marry her and that she should just hold on a little bit longer, but is that what God wants Denise to do?  Denise goes to the place where she can get some answers, back to church but will that help her heart or confuse her even more?

A Sinner’s Cry is a very skillfully written novel about life and the conflicts that occur when you stray or don’t follow God commandments.  I truly enjoyed this story, the conflict and the flow between the characters and the resolution in the end.  This is a well-rounded story for all whether you enjoy christian fiction or a good romance novel, you will enjoy this book.  This is my first read by Rose Jackson-Beavers but absolutely not my last.  Great job, keep up the positive work!

A Sinner’s Cry can be purchased through Amazon.com (paperback and Kindle), BN.com (paperback and Nook) and http://www.prioritybooks.com/

Love On the Run by Zuri Day

Love is a wonderful when two people want the same thing.  When that thing turns into too much for one person how you deal with it will show your love and if it is really love or obsession.

Michael Morgan is the man who is sought after by many for many different reasons.  He is the man to go to if you are in sports and want to be successfully managed, he is the founder of the very successful Morgan Sports Management Corporation and he has an eye for talent.  When it comes to business, Michael is all over it and whether he chooses you or you choose him he will give you quality every time.  When it comes to women he also chooses quality, but it is understood that he is a busy man and doesn’t have time to be held down by just one woman.

Shayna Washington is an Olympic gold medalist who Michael Morgan has been following her career since her college days and wants to represent her through his management company.  She is young and at the top of her track career and Morgan Sports Management Corporation is just what Shayna needs to take her and her career to the next level.  But there is something that is holding Shayna back from going ahead with the bright future that is ahead of her that could ruin all of her hopes and dreams.

Zuri Day captures your emotions in this book and keeps you engrossed in this story through to the very end.  I enjoyed the emotional rollercoaster ride that it gave me, encouraging me to continue on to find out what was going to happen next.  This is my first book by Zuri Day but definitely not my last!

Love On The Run does not release until November 6, 2012 but you can pre-order through Amazon.com (paperback and Kindle), BN.com (paperback and Nook) and anywhere books are sold.

Second Thoughts by Kristofer Clarke

Patrick McKay is haunted by his past in so many ways that every time he thinks that he is correct one wrong two more pop up.  When Patrick try to turn to the one person in the world who is supposed to make everything alright, his mother Colleen, she just adds one more piece to the puzzle of his life that is not fitting correctly.  Who will Patrick turn to now?

Chance Parker is Patrick’s younger brother and second round draft pick in the NBA.  He is popular with the ladies and trouble in the making.   Chance has always looked up to Patrick and that is the way that Patrick wants to keep it, but when family secrets start falling out of the closet will Chance and Patrick be able to keep that close relationship or will this tear them apart.

Colleen Parker, Patrick and Chance’ s mother is not the woman that they thought that they knew.  She is supposed to protect her children and keep them safe but it seems like Colleen has put them in more of harm’s way than anything.  Will this revelation be what is needed to make the family stronger or will this tear them apart once and for all?

DeMarcus Nealon is a very promising NFL star and was very much in love with his wife Belinda until his accountant Taylor happened and sent his life into a tailspin.  Now DeMarcus is trying to piece his life back together but thanks to Taylor it is not going as planned.  So now DeMarcus has to come up with a plan to make Taylor feel exactly the way that he is feeling.

Taylor Duncan is a woman who knows who she is and what she wants.  When Taylor decides what she wants, nothing or no one is going to stop her from getting it and watch out if you get in her way.  The one thing that Taylor hasn’t counted on was anyone else having just as much determination as her to bring her world down.

Second Thoughts is a book filled with twists that keep you interested to the very last sentence!  I enjoyed the six degree of separation aspect that was used in here and it linked the characters and made you say “OH, I SEE!”  I truly enjoyed this book by Clarke and I look forward to more of his work.  Great Job!

Second thoughts is available for purchase through Amazon.com (paperback and Kindle), BN.com (paperback and Nook) and the author’s website:  http://www.kristoferclarke.webs.com/.