A successful television reporter discovers that family is more important than fame and fortune in this hilarious and heartwarming family drama from bestselling author ReShonda Tate Billingsley. Raedella Rollins left the dusty town of Sweet Poke, Arkansas, on a Texas-bound bus with four mismatched suitcases, a newsroom job offer, and a promise to herself: never look back. Now, less than a decade later, she’s a top-rated talk show host, a celebrity news anchor, and fiancée to Houston’s star councilman. The future looks bright for Rae, and Sweet Poke is nothing more than a distant memory. But now that she’s reached the top, her ragtag family comes knocking. Mama Tee, the grandmother who raised her, calls with unwelcome family updates; and Shondella, her jealous older sister, guilts her into sending money. To Rae, nothing could be worse than an unexpected reunion with her over-the-top relatives. But when her picture-perfect life turns out to be an illusion, Rae's family calls her back to Sweet Poke and to the life she left behind. Can Rae let go of the pain of her childhood and open her heart to the healing that only faith and family can provide? Since junior high, Raedella Rollins knew that she was destined to live a different life. Despite the devastation of her mother's abandonment and the scarcity of her grandmother's resources, she was determined to rise above her meager beginnings in Sweet Poke, Arkansas. After reinventing herself as Rae Rollins, she worked at television stations around the country for seven years before landing a job in Houston. The Rae Rollins Show is rated number one in the Houston market. Rae has a successful career and the man of her dreams, Myles Jacobs, who is the youngest member of the Houston city council. However, Rae not only left her hometown but also distanced herself from everyone. When family members show up in Houston, her carefully crafted life comes unglued. Rae loses her job and discovers a devastating secret about Myles. Her family comes to the rescue and takes her back home. She realizes through her personal crisis how important family is and that her hometown is not quite as backward as she remembered. A compelling, heartfelt story. Lillian Lewis Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved "Grabs you from the first page and never lets go. . . . One of the best reads of the year. Bravo!" -- Victoria Christopher Murray ReShonda Tate Billingsley’s #1 nationally bestselling novels include Let the Church Say Amen , I Know I’ve Been Changed , and Say Amen, Again , winner of the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work. Her collaboration with Victoria Christopher Murray has produced four hit novels, Sinners & Saints , Friends & Foes , A Blessing & a Curse , and Fortune & Fame. BET released a movie in 2013 based on ReShonda’s book Let the Church Say Amen in which she had a minor role . She also had a role in the made-for-TV movie The Secret She Kept based on her book of the same title. Visit ReShondaTateBillingsley.com, meet the author on Facebook at ReShondaTateBillingsley, or follow her on Twitter @ReShondaT. Prologue 1995 I'm outta here and I don't care what anyone has to say. Shondella, Reno, Auntie Mel. Even Mama Tee. I don't need none of them. Tell me I ain't gonna make it. I'll show 'em all. They can have this funky town. Here I was, standing in front of Eddie's Filling Tank, the lone gas station bus stop in town, with all my belongings stuffed into four tattered suitcases. There was no turning back, not that I'd even want to. I was tired of Sweet Poke and all that it didn't have to offer. The one-stoplight town didn't even have a movie theater or a mall. The only three stores in the town were the five-and-dime store, McConn's, an overpriced old-people clothing store, and Piggly Wiggly. We didn't even have a freakin' Wal-Mart. If you wanted a decent pair of underwear, you had to drive twenty minutes to the next town to get it. And the nearest major city, Little Rock, was an hour and a half away. Sweet Poke was simply not a place where you could thrive. And it definitely wasn't a place for someone like me. Shondella, my jealous older sister, had laughed when I'd first announced my intention to leave and go work in Tyler, Texas. She said I would probably end up hooking on the street. Then there was my great-aunt Mel, who had helped my grandmother raise me since my no-account mama had decided she didn't want to be a mama anymore and left me, Shondella, and my twin sister and brother, Jasmine and Justin, at this very bus stop. Auntie Mel had prayed over me like I needed to be exorcised or something. Mama Tee wouldn't even say good-bye. She just acted like I was goin' to the corner store or something. I glanced at my watch. The bus was over an hour late and the wind was kicking my tail, messing up the $40, spiral-curl hairstyle that I'd had to sleep sitting up to maintain. People were always telling me I looked like