Sienna St. James

Having earned starred reviews and a fervent following for her urban Christian fiction, Leslie J. Sherrod delivers the first in a riveting new series. In Losing Hope, Sienna St. James thinks she's finally close to getting over her long-lost, globetrotting husband. Or so she thinks. One Tuesday, everything begins to come apart when a succession of strange events-including the mystery surrounding a girl named Hope-brings her past, present, and future into question.

She’s moved forward, but has she really moved ahead? Social worker Sienna St. James is no stranger to setbacks. As far as she is concerned, her estranged husband set her back and off course over a decade ago. Now, she has reclaimed her sense of hope and purpose, set up a new therapy practice, bought a new home, and has finally moved on. Maybe. When a wealthy, secretive new couple she’s counseling pulls her into their very real life-and-death drama, and her long-lost husband’s whereabouts can no longer be ignored, Sienna realizes the truth about what has kept her emotionally frozen and fragile- it’s fear. Ready or not, she has frightening challenges to overcome: a kidnapping, a teenage son who' s gone AWOL, a tired-of-waiting potential new beau, and a journalist who' s made it clear that he' s interested in getting more from her than the breaking news the twists in her life are offering. Torn by professional and personal struggles that have now become a full blown war, Sienna must come face-to-face with her deepest fears- and survive them- before it’s too late.

In her most chilling challenge yet, Sienna St. James believes she has come face to face with the terrorist responsible for the carnage in her hometown. Taking him on as a client in her therapy practice may be the only way to prove to herself and authorities that her time-tested instincts are right. Complicating matters are her damaged dreams and broken heart and the need to finally confront the one person whose absence from her life changed everything. The time of reckoning has come, and for Sienna, finding healing and happiness-and the savvy needed to stay alive-hang in the balance.

"Flowers can't tell lies. If you keep the sun off of them, dry up their waterbeds, and throw in weeds to choke 'em out, ain't no way or reason for them to bloom. If a rose is in full bloom when you know it's only been kept in darkness, and the ground it's planted in is cracked and cold, don't stop to smell that rose. There's a trap somewhere in those tempting, dark red petals. There's deceit. Maybe even death. Run from that flowerbed. You don't want to get buried in that soil." It's a few weeks before her fortieth birthday, and Sienna finally has the life she's dreamed of: a husband who loves her, a private practice that's flourishing, and an extended family that has finally put its skeletons to rest. However, when a homeless woman named Sweet Violet comes under Sienna's care with nothing on her but broken memories and a pocket watch stopped at 5:11, Sienna knows the peaceful life she's been enjoying will come to a screeching halt. Despite her best attempts not to get too involved, Sienna quickly discovers the dangerous past of Sweet Violet, and decades-old secrets and shadows come creeping into the present with violent results. Further complicating matters is a shocking midlife surprise for Sienna, and an unwelcomed guest her son Roman brings home. Life and death, love and loss, remain on the line as Sienna seeks answers, ducks bullets, and tries to be a good wife.