Vanessa Miller

Promises are hard to keep... especially when they involve matters of the heart.Yvonne Milner thought she had given her heart to her husband forever. But then he died, leaving her with a church to run and wayward children to deal with. Just as Yvonne was about to go out of her mind, Thomas Reed stepped back into her life. The handsome, world-renowned motivational speaker had been her husband's best friend, and as a widower, he understood the pain in Yvonne's eyes. Thomas will do everything in his power to mend Yvonne's broken heart.With her youngest daughter pregnant and unmarried and her oldest daughter dating the very man who is trying to take the church away from them, Yvonne is grateful to have Thomas in her life. But when long-buried emotions arise in their friendship, Yvonne hesitates, not wanting to betray her husband or break her promise to love him forever. Will Yvonne's passion lie forever buried in the past, or will she be able to give this new love chance?Library JournalYvonne Milner and her husband shared more than just a marriage. They shared their calling to preach. Following her husband's death two years ago, Yvonne has been the lone pastor to their church. Unfortunately, that has not been going so well, and the church has lost members as well as income. When the board decides to hire another pastor to oversee things, Yvonne is determined to keep her job. Enter Thomas Reed, her husband's best friend and a widower himself, who joins Yvonne in her fight to keep her ministry. When old passions begin once again to flare, Yvonne must decide whether her husband, and God, would want her to have a second chance at love. VERDICT This well-written, character-driven story will please fans of this series and earn Miller new readership among those who enjoy

Shar Gracey wants nothing more than to sing the Lord's praises, so she jumps at the chance to join a traveling choir led by the father of black gospel music, Thomas A. Dorsey. Better yet, the opportunity will give her money to pay for her ailing mother's medical care. While on tour she falls under the tutelage of gospel great Mahalia Jackson--and falls for the handsome but not-so-great Nicoli James, whose desires for Shar are fueled by his own greed. Shar would do anything for Nicoli--and he knows it--so when his life is threatened after a night of gambling, Shar agrees to help pay Nicoli's debt, only to have her faith and dreams shattered. Reeling from the betrayal, Shar loses her voice and she believes that she will never sing again. She has no place to run except back home to her seriously ill mother--and the man she left behind, who would move heaven and earth to make Shar's pain go away. Even if it means he has to let her go . . . again.