Christy Scannell – författare

LIFE IS SOMETIMES MESSY... especially when people expect you to be perfect. Jennifer, who volunteers at a crisis pregnancy center, has waited years for a baby. Why is it so easy for girls like Jessica to get pregnant -- and so hard for her? Is it possible to want a baby too much? Lisa's teenage daughter, Callie, is giving her the silent treatment. And her attitude at church -- when she goes -- majorly stinks. The board already criticizes her husband's ministry. What will they say now? Mimi is overwhelmed. Baby Milo cries continually until she's so tired she can't see straight. Will anybody ever see her for her -- not just as a mom and a house slave? Felicia's four-year-old, Nicholas, is biting people again. And the timing couldn't be worse...especially when Felicia's boss is about to close her Cincinnati PR office. Then there's the snobby Katherine Katt, who's determined to lord it over them all.... A WORD FROM THE WIVES... Mimi thought of her kids -- especially her second child, MJ. If she instituted a naughty corner, he'd basically end up living there. She could set up a small cot and etch the words MJ's Naughty Corner right into the wall. "If we could only have a naughty corner for ornery church members..." Jennifer said with a mischievous smile. -- Mimi "Sometimes I look at my family and at the ministry and wonder if the sacrifice is too great. We're doing all this for God's kingdom...but, in the process, losing our daughter. Is it worth it? Is this really what God had in mind? I don't know." -- Lisa "You listen to me, Kitty. If you tell Sam that secret, I'll tell Norm your secret!" -- Jennifer "Hey, how tough can being a stay-at-home mom be, really? I ran a public relations office; I'm used to challenges. This should be a piece of cake." -- Felicia

When you're in the trenches, sometimes you're up to your neck in mud. That's the not-so-glamorous life of a pastor's wife. Felicia's family is...complicated. That's putting it nicely. Now they're flying in from LA -- all at once -- to stay with her...just when her brother-in-law, Javier, and Mama aren't even speaking to each other. And the whole church will be there to witness the feud. Mimi has a lot on her mind with her four energetic kids -- especially Milo the screamer, with his Pavarotti voice. Then her live-in alcoholic dad starts to mow their lawn at midnight. Lisa has her hands full with loudmouth Tom Graves and the other troublemakers at Red River Assembly. Then vicious rumors start to fly about the Barton family...and the attacks and threats get increasingly personal. Jennifer is pushing her adopted daughter, Carys, in a stroller, when she notices a black town car -- the same car she's seen several times over the past week. Could someone be following her? The PWs plunge into an unnerving mystery...and discover what "family" really means.

Four pastors'' wives. All desperate for something. Is it possible that their desperation will lead to hope? Mimi, Lisa, Jennifer, and Felicia all live in the fishbowl of Red River, Ohio. Everyone expects something from them. Gourmet casseroles. Perfect husbands. Well-behaved children. They expect even more of themselves. The constant demands and always-ringing phones are enough to drive any sane woman crazy. Add to all that the condescending Katherine Fleming Katt -- self-promoting pastor''s wife of the town''s largest church -- who loves to flaunt her superior position. In the midst of such chaos, will each woman find the one thing she longs for? When the unflappable Kitty Katt starts showing up at odd places, the four friends get suspicious. Is Kitty hiding something? What secrets lie behind her "perfect" exterior? But even more significant than unraveling Kitty Katt''s secrets is finding answers for themselves.

LIFE IS SOMETIMES MESSY... especially when people expect you to be perfect. Jennifer, who volunteers at a crisis pregnancy center, has waited years for a baby. Why is it so easy for girls like Jessica to get pregnant -- and so hard for her? Is it possible to want a baby too much? Lisa''s teenage daughter, Callie, is giving her the silent treatment. And her attitude at church -- when she goes -- majorly stinks. The board already criticizes her husband''s ministry. What will they say now? Mimi is overwhelmed. Baby Milo cries continually until she''s so tired she can''t see straight. Will anybody ever see her for her -- not just as a mom and a house slave? Felicia''s four-year-old, Nicholas, is biting people again. And the timing couldn''t be worse...especially when Felicia''s boss is about to close her Cincinnati PR office. Then there''s the snobby Katherine Katt, who''s determined to lord it over them all.... A WORD FROM THE WIVES... Mimi thought of her kids -- especially her second child, MJ. If she instituted a naughty corner, he''d basically end up living there. She could set up a small cot and etch the words MJ''s Naughty Corner right into the wall. "If we could only have a naughty corner for ornery church members..." Jennifer said with a mischievous smile. -- Mimi "Sometimes I look at my family and at the ministry and wonder if the sacrifice is too great. We''re doing all this for God''s kingdom...but, in the process, losing our daughter. Is it worth it? Is this really what God had in mind? I don''t know." -- Lisa "You listen to me, Kitty. If you tell Sam that secret, I''ll tell Norm your secret!" -- Jennifer "Hey, how tough can being a stay-at-home mom be, really? I ran a public relations office; I''m used to challenges. This should be a piece of cake." -- Felicia

When you''re in the trenches, sometimes you''re up to your neck in mud. That''s the not-so-glamorous life of a pastor''s wife. Felicia''s family is...complicated. That''s putting it nicely. Now they''re flying in from LA -- all at once -- to stay with her...just when her brother-in-law, Javier, and Mama aren''t even speaking to each other. And the whole church will be there to witness the feud. Mimi has a lot on her mind with her four energetic kids -- especially Milo the screamer, with his Pavarotti voice. Then her live-in alcoholic dad starts to mow their lawn at midnight. Lisa has her hands full with loudmouth Tom Graves and the other troublemakers at Red River Assembly. Then vicious rumors start to fly about the Barton family...and the attacks and threats get increasingly personal. Jennifer is pushing her adopted daughter, Carys, in a stroller, when she notices a black town car -- the same car she''s seen several times over the past week. Could someone be following her? The PWs plunge into an unnerving mystery...and discover what "family" really means.