Joy

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY OCT 1, 2001

Anya Mitchell seems to have it all: a thriving business, a large diamond on her left hand and a solid relationship with the Lord. But her life is not as perfect as it seems. Her hunky fianc , Braxton, turns out to be self-absorbed and faintly conniving. He files for custody of his son from a previous marriage without telling Anya, and then tries to persuade her to sell her business and be a stay-at-home mom once they wed. Adding to Anya's nagging doubts about Braxton is David, a charming (and single) financial whiz whom Anya has just hired. When Anya is attacked by a rapist who's been stalking her for months, she realizes she needs to rethink her life. Should she marry Braxton or pay attention to the inner voice that has been telling her for weeks that their relationship is unsalvageable? The plot is predictable; most readers will figure out the identity of the stalker pages before Anya is raped, just as most will predict that she'll dump Braxton for David. And the subplot a visit from Anya's recently divorced cousin Sasha doesn't add much. Anya spends most of the book trying to bring Sasha to faith, but Sasha's sudden conversion at the story's end manages to seem simultaneously inexplicable and predictable. Still, as the response to books like Sharon Ewell Foster's Passing by Samaria shows, there is a clear need for African-American Christian fiction; despite its flaws, it is likely many readers will savor this novel of romance, intrigue and faith.