Criminal attorney Shari Carmen is comfortable in her own skin, most of the time. Being a dark and beautiful African-American sister has its challenges, especially when it comes to relationships. Although she's a fireball in the courtroom, she knows how to fade into the background and keep the proverbial spotlight off her personal life. While playing tenor saxophone at an anniversary party, she is in the spotlight and grabs Garrettâs attention.
As God draws them closer together, He makes another request of Garrett, one to which it will prove far more difficult to say "Yes, Lord."
Pat Simmons is a multi-published Christian romance author of forty-plus titles. She is a self-proclaimed genealogy sleuth who is passionate about researching her ancestors, then casting them in starring roles in her novels.
 She is a five-time recipient of the RSJ Emma Rodgers Award for Best Inspirational Romance: Still Guilty, Crowning Glory, The Confession, Christmas Dinner, and Queenâs Surrender (To A Higher Calling). Patâs first inspirational womenâs fiction, Lean On Me, with Sourcebooks, was the February/March Together We Read Digital Book Club pick for the national library system.
 Her holiday indie release, Christmas Dinner, and traditionally published, Here for You were featured in Womanâs World, a national magazine. Here for You was also listed in the â7 Great Reads That Help to Keep the Faithâ by Sisters From AARP. She contributed an article, âIâm Listening,â in the Chicken Soup for the Soul: Iâm Speaking Now (2021). Pat is the recipient of the 2022 Leslie Esdaile âTrailblazerâ Award given by Building Relationships Around Books Readersâ Choice for her work in the Christian fiction genre.
As a Christian, Pat describes the evidence of the gift of the Holy Ghost as a life-altering experience. She has been a featured speaker and workshop presenter at various venues across the country. Pat has converted her sofa-strapped sports fanatical husband into an amateur travel agent, untrained bodyguard, GPS-guided chauffeur, and administrative assistant who is constantly on probation. They have a son and a daughter.
 Pat holds a B.S. in mass communications from Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts, and has worked in radio, television, and print media for more than twenty years. She oversaw the media publicity for the annual RT Booklovers Conventions for fourteen years. Visit her at www.patsimmons.net.
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