Gotta Keep on Tryin': A Novel

Virginia DeBerry · Donna Grant

Jan 2008 · Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

From the bestselling authors of Tryin' to Sleep in the Bed You Made comes a heartwarming tale of how true friendship can overcome life's obstacles.

Gayle Saunders and Patricia Reid have been lifelong friends, as close as sisters. When they were teens their dreams led them down separate paths and away from each other. But they reunited as adults, drawn back together by a bond of friendship that stood the test of time.

Now Pat and Gayle co-own the Ell & Me Company, a business they founded based on a character Gayle created years ago for her daughter. Things are going well, but real-life dramas ensue as each must face issues from the past in order to protect the future.

Pat and Marcus look like the perfect twenty-first-century couple -- smart, talented, each at the helm of a high-profile enterprise and at the top of their game. But behind closed doors their marriage is challenged by the stresses of a two-entrepreneur household. Will their professional pursuits leave them time for each other and a family, or carry them into the arms of others? Will a paternity claim prove to be too much of an obstacle to overcome?

Gayle faces her own family drama and struggles to maintain control of her life. Despite dating other men, has she ever really gotten over her ex-husband, Ramsey, the gambler who left her and their daughter, Vanessa, in financial ruin? Gayle bends over backward to provide a stable, comfortable home for Vanessa, and support her dream of becoming a dancer. And Vanessa, a rebellious and hurtful teen, seems just as devoted to making Gayle pay for every mistake she has ever made. And what ever happened to Ramsey?

In Gotta Keep on Tryin', Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant bring us heroines who remind you, for better and worse, of women everywhere -- women who know that true friendship keeps us grounded. And when things get rough the bond between women can be stronger than any trials we face.

Ratings and reviews

I was underwhelmed by this continuation of the characters from Tryin' to Sleep in the Bed You've Made. I expected better, esp in the relationship between Patricia and Marcus.

I was not at all captivated by this book. It was a struggle for me finish.

Great sequel!

About the author

Virginia DeBerry was a successful plus-size model, former Vice President of BB/LW modeling agency and served as editor-in-chief of Maxima magazine before becoming a novelist. DeBerry is a graduate of the State University of New York at Buffalo. She currently resides in central New Jersey.

Donna Grant spent more than a decade as a model for catalogs and advertisements. Grant has been featured on the pages of Essence, McCalls, Family Circle, and Woman's Day, as well as appeared on Good Morning America, and Live with Regis and Kathy Lee. Grant served as the Managing Editor of Maxima before her writing career. A Brooklyn native, she is a graduate of New York University and still lives in the borough with her husband.