A reader named Stacy contacted me with the following question:

Cecelia I love your books…unfortunately were I live (NM) they do not carry many AA Christian Fiction books at the library.

Please let me know.

I had to contact Stacy to determine what she meant. The term book club appears to have a double meaning nowadays. I asked her if she meant the gatherings that people have periodically to discuss books, or if she meant the book club where you receive catalogs in the mail and order the titles of your choice.

She meant the latter.

The truth is, there are no Black Christian fiction book clubs that I know about. If they exist, then someone should respond to this post and enlighten me!

One way that you can purchase commercially-published Black Christian fiction from a book club is through Black Expressions Book Club. I’ve noticed they’ll usually have an African American Christian fiction section in their catalogs and on their website.

My first book, which was released exclusively through book clubs, was an African American Christian fiction title. It was acquired and featured in Crossings Book Club first and a month or so later it was featured in Black Expressions Book Club catalog as the feature of the month.

Crossings is another bookclub that features Christian titles only. They’ve had a number of African American Christian fiction titles over the years.

Most of the book clubs are owned by a company called Bookspan. Bookspan is a company that is a merger between Bertelsman(The Doubleday Book Club Empire) and AOL Time Warner.
About Bookspan
Unless things have changed, I believe this is still the case. I would think if an African American Christian Fiction book club were to be started, then Bookspan would do it? I’m just speculating about this because although I know the business side, somewhat, I have no idea of how somebody would go about contacting Bookspan about starting an African American Christian fiction book club. I suppose one could send an email to Bookspan via their website to make a suggestion about starting a Black Christian Fiction Book Club, but it’s hard to say how the results would pan out!

The best I’ve been able to do, as I’m sure Stacy has probably already noticed, is to start a website exclusively for Black Christian Fiction Authors. I created this website since I noticed that I had a hard time finding a collective unit on the web which displayed all African American Christian fiction authors. I hope readers find it useful.

Until next time,
Cecelia Dowdy

Hardcover
ISBN: 0451217640
Pub. Date: March 2007

From the inside cover:

Renowned televangelist Warner Brice has met the woman of his dreams — Marin Alexander, an acress blessed with both beauty and deep faith. Despite the differences in their careers, the marriage seems made in heaven, and Marin agrees to give up celebrity for motherhood. But for Marin, the provocative lure o f the spotlight and the wayward gratifications of fame are too desirable to leave behind…

Reviving her career is more difficult than Marin imagined. Seduced into a dark Hollywood underworld of drugs and illicit sex, she falls into a downward spiral — one that threatens not just her family, but her life as well. And when the limelight proves as elusive as the pleasures it promises, Marin discovers that her only hope is her last: a prayer for redemption before all she really loves is lost forever.

I’ve noticed Jacquelin Thomas loves writing about the Hollywood life. I’ve read several other stories by this author in which she has a Hollywood star as the main character.

This book portrayed a lot of obstacles for Warner and Marin to overcome. First, he was a preacher of a large, well-known church. Marin is a famous actress. It’s nearly impossible to mix the two, which is why the couple had to overcome so many problems just to get married and stay married. Warner’s sister never really accepts Marin into the family, and Marin struggles with her self-image due to her mother’s ridiculing comments.

I loved this story, however, the ending really surprised me. I wasn’t expecting the book to end the way that it did. I’d highly recommend this book if you want to read a story about how we need to really keep centered on our faith in order to overcome all obstacles in a romantic (or any) relationship. It takes a man of great faith (like Warner) to take Marin back after all that she’d done to hurt him.

Here are a few other books by Jaquelin Thomas that I’ve read and enjoyed: