The Pastor’s Wife by Reshonda Tate Billingsley
Terrence Ellis is the pastor of a thriving church. He’s thirty and he’s single, and the parishionhers are starting to wonder why he’s still unmarried. Terrance’s parents are deceased, so he was raised by his three aunts – they want to make sure that their nephew has a wife before the big Christmas event so that the congregation can stop gossiping about Terrance’s singleness.
I thought this book was a drama-filled page-turner. However, I thought that even though the book was set in the church, the only character that seemed intent on doing God’s will was Terrance. His aunts were busy-bodies who seemed like they had a lot of time on their hands with judgmental attitudes towards other members of the church. Also, as can be found in some churches, the parishioners were extremely judgmental toward one another. Terrance does develop feelings for Savannah – a parishioner with a bad reputation. When his aunts find out about his interest in Savannah, they go ballistic, trying to set their nephew up on blind dates. Also, Savannah stoops to low levels in order to claim Terrance as her significant other. Terrance harbors a secret, a secret that nobody knows about. This secret creates a unique turning point in this story.
If I were Terrance, I doubt I’d be able to lead such an openly judgmental church. I felt kind of sorry for him since he was only following his calling and trying his best to do the Lord’s work. I could easily see this drama-filled, page-turning novel being turned into a movie. Overall an exciting read.