Jasmine Cox Larsen Bush and Rachel Jackson Adams, two of the
most infamous pastors' wives, are back together and as
always, trying to one-up each other. In this latest
installment, Rachel is prepared to start shooting her
reality TV show, First Lady, when Jasmine gets wind of it
and maneuvers her way on to the cast. To their collective
surprise, however, the show, now renamed First Ladies, holds
additional surprises in store. Can these two ladies keep
their sanity and wits about them as they try to do away with
old rivals once and for all even while proving to all who
the real First Lady is? Will Jasmine and Rachel ever be
friends or are they destined to be BFFs—Best Frenemies
Forever?
Victoria Christopher Murray and ReShonda Tate Billingsley
have one-upped themselves again. Each installment of this
popular series seems as though the hijinks of Jasmine and
Rachel can get no worse...until the next installment is
published. Murray and Billingsley instill the slapstick
humor of Lucy Ricardo and Ethel Mertz in these two ladies
while also imbuing them with a sensitivity toward the Holy
Spirit that never fails to convict them when they go too
far. Still, they have to get pretty far before any sense of
propriety or remorse kicks in, and that makes for a
rollicking, laugh-out-loud reading experience.
The only downside to Fortune & Fame is that the ending felt
as though this particular installment wasn't quite over.
The primary story lines wrapped up neatly yet left enough
threads hanging that there is sure to be another book.
Still, one of the plot lines—and it's hard for me to say
more without giving a spoiler—felt as though the character
made an interesting turn in her circumstances, but that that
portion of the story was far from over, leaving just a whiff
of disappointment for this loyal reader. Call it
impatience. It likely will be a year before the next book
is released.
Putting that aside, what Murray and Billingsley do best is
shine a light on the foibles of Christian women everywhere
who seek godly perfection but are all too human, no more or
less than every other Christian woman. So the petty
jealousies, personal vanities, church embarrassments,
spiritual deficiencies and scheming ways of Jasmine and
Rachel become reflections and even instruments for spiritual
growth for their readership.
Murray and Billingsley can continue to spotlight my flaws
and help me to grow as long as they keep the crazy capers
and laughter coming. It's hard to conceive that Jasmine and
Rachel might ever part ways. If they do, I hope they
reincarnate themselves, as did Lucy and Ethel in The Lucille
Ball Show, such that we never, ever have to let them go.
Jasmine Cox Larson Bush and Rachel Jackson Adams have been
through a lot together—from fighting for their husbands to
become the head of the American Baptist Coalition to getting
mixed up in a terrible murder. Now the frenemies have found
themselves the stars of First Ladies, a muchanticipated new
reality television show.
Jasmine balks at the idea of airing her dirty laundry on
national TV, but Rachel sees it as the perfect opportunity
to take her brand to the next level. And if Rachel is in, so
is Jasmine. All the cast members are women of God—how much
drama can there be?
Rachel and Jasmine know their own pasts are murky, but
they’ll seem like choir girls when the secrets and sins of
the others come to light. The two will once again have to
form an unholy alliance to go up against these so-called
Godly women who see the show as their chance to take them
down—at any cost.
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