Southern Stories: The Family Secret Hardback - 2022

Set in the 1970s in the Deep South of Simpson County, Mississippi, this fictional family drama is the inspiring story of a close-knit family of hardworking parents and their four adult children who were raised with a strong sense of love and respect for God, family and others.

Older sister Cassie marries her high school sweetheart, Ray. Their marriage is betrayed by Ray's affair with Cassie's sister, Emma, who becomes pregnant with his baby. When tensions run high and the betrayal reaches its boiling point for Cassie, she makes the desperate decision to leave the family.

Cassie moves to Jackson, Mississippi, where she meets Ace, a handsome, mysterious man who awakens her romantically. Her feelings are torn because she is attracted to Ace, but she is afraid of his criminal lifestyle. Unbeknownst to Cassie, Ray has an unpaid gambling debt, and Ace is looking for him. Ray's effort to settle his debt goes awry when Ace's partner Eddie ends up dead. Ray leaves town in a hurry to escape possible connection to the death. While away he reflects on the consequences of his infidelity and experiences sincere remorse for his actions.

Longing for reconciliation, Cassie reflects on what drove her away from her family and how she can move beyond the betrayal to restore her relationship with her husband and the rest of her family. But can this broken family ever mend the hurt and find a path to healing?

The story is an inspirational drama with love, action, and suspense. It invites readers to meditate on the journey to healing, and inspires them to free themselves from their own secrets