The Book of Ephesus

The Rev. Dr. Ephesus Cooper has always done everything right, including come home to help her mama shepherd the flock of Cornerstone Church. The small town of Fortnight, NC was expecting the same sweet baby girl who left, but the woman who returns is all business, or rather, all church. While Ephesus may not have a husband or children she does have a tenure-track position at the university, the approval of her formidable mother, and a new book on what it means to be over 30 and single in the African American church. Consequently, Minister Phe is ready to pronounce her life pretty much perfect until the tragic death of local 17-year-old charmer and troublemaker, Bryan DuBlaim, shocks the entire community. Ephesus is making her way to the pulpit to preach young Bryan’s funeral, when she quite literally runs into her high school sweetheart . . . and his very pregnant wife. The woman who also happens to be Ephesus’s former college roommate. It turns out that the Mitchells are also moving back to Fortnight, and one touch from Malcolm makes it clear that he’s still the devil in a dark-blue suit!