Can I Get a Witness?

Faith-based fiction doesn't get better than Billingsley's entertaining soaps, notable for their humor, wonderful characters and challenging life situations that many readers, Christian or not, can identify with. Her latest dramedy scores a direct hit on the ever-popular subjects of love, marriage and divorce (after The Pastor's Wife ). Houston divorce court judge Vanessa Colton-Kirk and little sister Dionne have major man problems while their happily married sis, Rosolyn Frazier, appears to have it made. Vanessa's architect husband, Thomas, feels neglected and is desperate for a child. Fed up with Vanessa's workaholic ways, Thomas strays into an intense affair with a young woman who flaunts her quick pregnancy in Vanessa's face. Dionne, who's vowed to marry before turning 30, discovers her lover, Roland, still married, has been cheating on her for years. The sisters learn heavy love lessons about lies, honesty and forgiveness. Luckily, Billingsley makes some of the spiritual angst hilarious. Case in point: the sisters' venerable Aunt Ida knows her trusty Bible can also be used as a weapon when necessary. (July)