Heaven Right Here:
2009 Best Fiction Book Award
Black Pearls Magazine
"Both hilarious and scandalous, serious and sobering, the story's fast pace works with the flowing action. Dialogue is so potent and keen that readers know the captivating quirks and personality of each character. The author will certainly please her existing fan base and gain some new ones."
Romantic Times on Heaven Right Here (4 1/2 stars)
"Lutishia Lovely has done it again...an excellent read!"
Top Shelf, 5 out of 5 books—Jackie for Urban Reviews
"There is no competition when it comes to literature in this genre. Ms. Lovely wins hands down with the "Hallelujah Love" series.
Amazon Reviewer Minister Chapman-Harris, Tuscaloosa, Alabama - 5 star review
"There is not one thing that I did not like about this novel.
Lutishia Lovely is truly a gifted and talented writer."
Readers With Attitude Book Club - 5 star review
Baby Mama Drama abounds in this, the fourth novel in the Hallelujah Love series, where three good friends navigate various scenarios involving children. In the excerpt below, Kingdom Citizen Christian Center member, Hope Taylor, is wondering if the stork will ever visit the home she shares with Cy, the love of her life. Enjoy...
“Are you sure you don’t want to fly over here? My business wraps up in a couple days. We can take an extended European tour and then go down under for the Australian Open.” Cy’s voice dropped to a near whisper. “Maybe sneak into the stadium at midnight and make love on the main court.”
Hope smiled as if Cy could see her face through the phone. She knew her six-foot two, one-hundred and eighty-five pounds of caramel goodness would do anything to make her feel good, which is why she tried to put on a happy face around him, and now, respond with a cheerful voice.
“That would give a new meaning to tennis balls, now wouldn’t it?”
“Not to mention the things I’d do to you with my racquet,” he said, laughing. “But if we continue this discussion of racquets and balls much further, I’ll have to cancel the rest of my meetings and fly home now.”
“Promises, promises,” Hope countered. “I love you, baby, but handle your business. I’ll be here, ready and waiting, when you get home.”
“Last chance for this first class ticket, baby.” Cy’s want to see his wife had turned into need. “Especially since your mom cancelled her trip. And speaking of, how’s Earl? Still improving?”
“Daddy’s much better, in fact Mama said he may be released in a couple days. Thank God this wasn’t an actual heart attack. It was a warning though. Mama said she and Lena are joining forces to play food cop. Of course, Daddy was in the background begging for smothered pork chops.”
“If Earl’s joking around, he’s definitely on the mend. That’s good to hear, baby. Maybe you should fly there instead. I can even meet you in Oklahoma if you want.”
“That’s a good idea, Cy. Maybe I will. I’ll either call or email you as soon as I make any plans.”
They shared a few more naughty innuendos before Hope slowly placed the receiver in its cradle. She fought to maintain the lightness and joy that had transpired during the conversation with her husband. The happiness lingered briefly, especially as she thought of her mother and father genuinely getting along for the first time since they divorced more than a decade ago. Hope felt a small sense of pride knowing their attendance at her and Cy’s wedding had been the catalyst to their platonic reconciliation.
Lena was a big help too. She and Earl had recently married and Lena had immediately offered her friendship to Hope’s mother and Earl’s ex-wife. “We’re all family, Pat,” she’d said. “You loved him then, I love him now. So we’ve already got something in common.” When Earl complained of chest pains and couldn’t catch his breath, Pat’s was the second number Lena dialed, after 911.
That’s some kind of woman, Hope thought as she flipped through hundreds of television channels, the kind Hope doubted she could be. If she and Cy ever divorced, heaven forbid, could she be friendly toward his new wife? Hope felt she would have to try, for the sake of their children…if there ever were any.
Children. It’s what Hope wanted more than anything in the world, the second of her two-pronged, decade long prayer to God. He’d already answered the first part. Cy Taylor was everything she could ever want in a husband, lover, and best friend. When she thought about Frieda, Stacy and the hordes of single women at her church, Kingdom Citizens Christian Center, her gratitude intensified. Frieda changed men like some women changed hairstyles. And just look what Stacy is going through. Hope felt guilty for wanting more. She and Cy had been trying forever to get pregnant. Aside from when he was out of town, theirs was an almost daily effort to welcome in a Cy, Jr. or little Hope. Would she ever wipe mashed potatoes from the mouth of her own bundle of joy?
I don’t know if or when I’ll do that, Hope thought. But what she wasn’t going to do, she decided, was sit in a three million dollar penthouse suite overlooking the Pacific Ocean with a five-carat diamond on her hand, food in the refrigerator, money in the bank, and have a pity party. She could almost hear the response if her mother knew Hope was feeling sorry for herself: “Girl, you better add up your blessings before the Lord starts subtracting!”
Her mother would be right. She was too blessed to be stressed and decided to start acting like it. Hope went online, booked a Monday morning ticket to Tulsa, phoned her mother with her travel plans and sent Cy an email. Hope felt better after talking to her mother and after fixing herself a snack tray, hunkered down for a marathon viewing of the Conversations With Carla television shows she’d Tivo’d the week before.
The first two shows, on religion in the workplace and life after sexual abuse, were interesting but didn’t hold Hope’s genuine interest. She was about to come to that same conclusion about Wednesday’s show, Today’s Working Woman, when after hearing from a banking executive and a woman who owned her own catering business, Carla introduced her next guest.
“For some of us, being the wife of a successful man can feel like a full-time job,” Carla joked with her usual warmth. “Juggling his needs with those of the children can sometimes get tricky, especially for new mothers. Here to share her story, as well as tips on how to succeed in this balancing act of motherhood and ministry is the wife of a pastor and international business entrepreneur, a woman successful in her own right, Millicent Kirtz.”
Hope froze, celery stick in midair, bleu cheese dip dripping unnoticed on the plush, silk divan. Surely this wasn’t the Millicent she knew, the woman who’d stalked her husband and almost ruined New Years two years ago. There’s no way God would bless her with a child before me, Hope thought.
But she thought wrong, because onto the stage walked a poised and radiant Millicent Sims Kirtz, looking as beautiful as ever. Hope dared not think, let alone state the obvious, that motherhood agreed with her. Not that anyone would ever look at her and assume she’d had a child. No, Millicent was still model-thin, even on television which supposedly added ten pounds. Her cream-colored dress, belted at the waist, complemented her lithe, five foot seven frame and accented her perfect pooch of a derriere. The strappy jewel-colored sandals she wore were Giuseppe Zanotti originals. Hope knew this because a similar pair was in her closet. But Millicent’s excellent taste in footwear wasn’t the problem. What had taken away Hope’s appetite was hearing the words Millicent and mother in the same sentence.
***
Hope moved from the divan to the floor, directly in front of the sixty-five inch flat screen television. A surge of jealousy rose up before she could stop it and at that moment, if she could, she would have reached through the television screen and slapped the happy off Millicent’s face. She almost couldn’t bear to watch, yet couldn’t turn away as she listened to Carla and Millicent go on and on about the joys and challenges of motherhood.
***
Hope watched the rest of the segment through a sheen of tears. Millicent Sims Kirtz was a mother. Millicent had a child who was two years old. Millicent had gotten pregnant without even trying, three mere months after marrying her husband.
The irony of life wasn’t lost on Hope. When she married Cy, she got what Millicent had long desired. And now Millicent had something Hope desperately wanted. Check, and checkmate.
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