2 Books Published by Morris Publishing on AALBC — Book Cover Collage

Four men, two women and one job add up to nothing but trouble in Connie Barrett’s sophomore fiction novel, Overtime. After her husband is handed a seven year prison term, Latoya Randolph (Toi) is left to face the world alone. Although wrongfully imprisoned, Larry is in fact guilty of another crime. Shortly before his incarceration, Toi caught him in their bed with another woman.

Toi’s short saved life has been plagued with one disappointment after another. With dead end temp jobs that keep her locked in survival mode, she struggles to raise her three-year-old daughter. But making ends meet in Newark, New Jersey is not her biggest obstacle. Forgiveness is something that she understands in theory, but even after much soul searching, she still can’t seem to make it the one reality that may determine the fate of her marriage. And just when it seems that her faith can’t be tested any further, a surprise visit from her twin sister, Tia-Ann (Tia), proves otherwise.

Identical - but their looks are all they have in common. While Toi is the more reliable and stable of the two, Tia on the other hand has her street smarts, speaks her mind and has never worked a day in her life - legally. Running from problems of her own, Tia tries to convince Toi that they can take full advantage of the overtime offered by Woodlawn Mental Health Services if they were to pretend to be one person. Not only could Toi get rid of her sitter and save money, but namely it would keep Tia from having to go out and find a measly minimum wage job to call her own. It’s not until a scare at the sitter’s that Toi gets caught up in her scheme.

But posing as Latoya is not as easy as Tia thought it would be, especially when it comes to Jackson. He’s handsome, available and head over heels crazy about Latoya. Only it’s the more introverted, spiritual side of Latoya that has him so smitten. On a mission to get him to see her as the real deal, Tia’s wild antics bring her otherwise reserved sister to the forefront of office politics, scandal and finally at odds with each other. Think things can’t possibly get more heated? Throw Mario and Sean into the mix for a roller coaster ride of love, lust and betrayal amidst a climate of social unrest and injustice as well as a host of undiagnosed mental disorders. In the end, will forgiveness come too late? And will overtime cost the sisters more than they bargained for?

Church Boy tells the story of a typical inner city family with not so typical struggles as it takes a revealing look into and challenges the infrastructure of the church. The story centers on Cordell Armstrong who finds himself going to church and of all things loving it. Through a series of tests and trials, it isn’t long before Cordell discovers that what is preached over the pulpit isn’t necessarily what goes on behind closed doors, which leaves him disillusioned and confronting his own identity crisis. While others deal with the threat of possibly becoming another casualty of inner city life, Cordell deals with a threat that is just as real and that is the threat of becoming a casualty of the church. Although Church Boy tackles a serious subject matter, it is lighthearted in its approach and filled with humor throughout. It even re-examines the role of women in the church through the eyes of young men as Cordell and his best friend, Westside, explore their newfound spirituality. You will never look at church the same.