Family ties, father/son relationships, marriage and more examined in new work by New York Times bestselling author
Reverend Curtis Black and his family drama are back in Kimberla Lawson Roby’s upcoming novel, The Prodigal Son, (Grand Central Publishing; $24.99; ISBN 978-1455526130).
The Reverend Curtis Black hasn’t spoken to his son, Matthew, in over a year—not since Matthew dropped out of Harvard to marry his girlfriend, Racquel, and be a full-time father to their infant son. Curtis knows that it was he and his wife, Charlotte, who drove Matthew away, but he prays that one day his son will forgive them and come home.
Matthew, however, can’t seem to forget the pain his parents caused him and Racquel. Still, he wonders if maybe they’d been right, as fatherhood is not what he expected, and Racquel’s behavior has become increasingly erratic. Matthew genuinely wants to be a good husband, though, and swears he’ll never repeat his parents’ mistakes. But when an old friend expresses her desire for Matthew, the temptation may be too great to resist…
Then, there’s Dillon Whitfield, Curtis’s long-lost-son, who has settled in as a member of the Black family. Yet the transition has been anything but easy. Charlotte, convinced he’s only after Curtis’s money, wishes he would move back to where he came from. Dillon, however, has no intention of going anywhere. After a lifetime in the shadows, he’s determined to take his rightful place as Curtis’s first-born son and heir, and he’ll do whatever it takes to win his father’s affection even if it means playing dirty…
As jealousy builds and secrets pile up, both of Curtis’s sons will be pushed over the edge and forced to take drastic action. Can these two troubled young men find their way back into the Black family fold, or will their family ties be undone once and for all?
Here is what others are saying about Kimberla Lawson Roby and her books:
“Roby writes with high-octane levels of emotion. She pushes her characters hard, spotlighting their flaws, showcasing their weaknesses, drawing in the readers to be more than bystanders.”
“Kimberla Lawson Roby has reached a pinnacle most writers only dream of.”
“Lively, action packed and full of sassy sensuality, Roby once again has created a story that grabs the reader’s attention and holds it until the very end.”
Kim Roby
New York Times Bestselling Author Kimberla Lawson Roby has published 19 novels which include A House Divided, The Perfect Marriage, The Reverend’s Wife, Secret Obsession, Love, Honor, and Betray, Be Careful What You Pray For, A Deep Dark Secret, The Best of Everything, One In a Million, Sin No More, Love & Lies, Changing Faces, The Best-Kept Secret, Too Much of a Good Thing, A Taste of Reality, It’s a Thin Line, Casting the First Stone, Here and Now, and her debut title, Behind Closed Doors, which was originally self-published through her own company, Lenox Press. She has sold more than2,000,000 copies of her novels, and they have frequented numerous bestseller lists, including The New York Times, USA Today, The Washington Post, Publishers Weekly, Essence Magazine, Upscale Magazine, Emerge Magazine, Barnes and Noble, Amazon.com, Wal-Mart, The Dallas Morning News, and The Austin Chronicle to name a few. Both Behind Closed Doors and Casting the First Stone were #1 Blackboard bestsellers for four consecutive months in both 1997 and 2000. Behind Closed Doors was the #1 Blackboard Best-selling book for paperback fiction in 1997.
Kimberla is a 2013 NAACP Image Award Winner for Outstanding Literary Work – Fiction, the recipient of the 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013 Author of the Year – Female award presented by the African-American Literary Award Show in New York, the recipient of the Blackboard Fiction Book of the Year Award in 2001 for Casting the First Stone, the recipient of the 1998 First-Time Author Award from Chicago’s Black History Month Book Fair and Conference, and in 2001, Kimberla was inducted into the Rock Valley College (Rockford, IL) Alumni Hall of Fame.
Each of Kimberla’s novels deal with very real issues, including corruption within the church, drug addiction, gambling addiction, infidelity, social status, single motherhood, infertility, sibling rivalry and jealousy, domestic violence, sexual abuse, mental illness, care-giving of a parent, racial and gender discrimination in the workplace, sexual harassment, and overweight issues to name a few.
Kimberla resides in Illinois with her husband, Will.
For more information about Kimberla Lawson Roby, visit www.KimRoby.com.
To book Kimberla Lawson Roby for speaking engagements and/or book signings, please contact Connie Dettman at publicity@kimroby.com or 815.988.6604.
The Damascus Light News 