Her best friend and family aren't having it-not even Celeste, the double bass-playing thirteen-year-old the community of Mount Laurel, North Carolina, believes is Maxine's adopted sister. The only folks buying it are the dog and the readers of her column, however. At least that's what she's telling anybody who will listen. All grown-up now, Maxine has pledged her heart and ring finger to Theodore Charles, the man she'll promise to love, honor, and obey in front of God and everybody.

And no JD, who gave her wandering young heart a home, at least for a time.īut that's over and done with.

No absentee mother, no stepfather, no rebellious ripping and running during her teenage years. She tells herself he's the only person who ever really knew and loved her, and if he hadn't left her behind, her future would've taken a different path. If Maxine could put her finger on the moment when her life went into a tailspin, she would point back twenty years to the day her daddy died. When the man she loved years ago returns to town, one young woman's complicated past rises again, threatening to expose her well-kept secrets. The writing is strong, and the story is engaging, and readers will be pleased to discover a new voice in Southern inspirational fiction.' -Booklist 'Pearson delivers a poignant debut that explores the faith of one African American family. Genres: Fiction / Christian / Contemporary, Fiction / Family Life / Marriage & Divorce, Fiction / Women Published by Tyndale House Publishers on February 1, 2021

'Til I Want No More by Robin W. Pearson