Love, Honor, and Betray

October 11, 2010
In Roby's eighth update exploring the family of the righteous Reverend Black (after 2010's Be Careful What You Pray For), life at the Deliverance Outreach ministry of Mitchell, Ill., is relatively calm (except for a sneaky chief financial officer; never trust a CFO named Raven), but the minister's household is suffering. Most notably, his frustrated wife, Charlotte, is furious that he's taken in Curtina, the daughter that came from an affair. Charlotte doesn't believe she can love Curtina the way she loves Matthew, the teenage son the couple share. Roby's rendering of Charlotte rekindling her own affair, with an old now-married flame, and her one-night stand with a secretive man is a hoot, and fans of faith-based series will no doubt relish these sinful shenanigans. But readers will find it hard to empathize with a woman who bears such fiery resentment for a toddler ("Curtis would either get rid of that little brat or find himself in divorce court"), and also wish Roby had endeavored to make her eventual redemption less predictable.