In the sequel to the enormously successful Casting the First Stone, Kimberla Lawson Roby brings back a character readers love to hate.Curtis Black might be a man of the cloth, but with his irresistible looks, seductive charm, and charismatic personality, he's particularly beloved by his female parishionersand almost every other woman he's ever met.The trouble is, Curtis is married. At first he tries to resist temptation, but not for long. His insatiable appetite for women quickly gets the best of him. Eventually, the women in Curtis's life find that with a little careful planningsneaky and otherwisethey can help Curtis reap the punishment that he so richly deserves.In this captivating and dramatic sequel to Casting the First Stone, Kimberla Lawson Roby, with her trademark with and insight, sets sparks flying.

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Too Much of a Good Thing

Chapter One

A Year Later

Mariah Johnson Black smiled proudly as her husbandneared the end of his morning message. It just didn'tseem real, him actually being senior pastor of Truth MissionaryBaptist Church or that he'd chosen her to be his wife. Itdidn't seem real that he'd wanted a woman who'd grown up in arun-down two-bedroom apartment on the West Side of Chicagothat also housed her single mother and five siblings. But he alwaysreminded her that he'd grown up with nothing himself. Still,every now and then, she had to pinch herself, because she couldn'tbelieve how happy she was. She couldn't believe they'd only beenmarried six short months, and yet Curtis had already bought her asix-thousand-square-foot house in Covington Park, the mostexpensive Mercedes that Daimler manufactured, and best of all,she didn't have to work for anyone. All she had to do was be thebest wife she could be to Curtis and the best first lady to their congregation -- two things Curtis said his first wife, Tanya, wasn'tcapable of. Mariah almost felt sorry for Tanya, because shecouldn't imagine how painful it must have been, once Tanya realizedwhat she'd given up. Curtis had told Mariah about Tanya'saffair with James, and Mariah couldn't understand how Tanya even considered being with another man. Especially when shehad someone as fine-looking and considerate as Curtis. Especiallysince he had only been with another woman -- Adrienne -- on twoseparate occasions. Curtis had told Mariah how he'd apologizedand tried to explain everything to Tanya, but that she wasn't willingto forgive him. He'd tried to make Tanya see that this randomact of adultery had only occurred because Satan was trying toattack him and their marriage. He'd told Tanya that the only reasonGod had allowed it to happen was because He wanted to seehow strong their faith was and how committed they were to eachother as husband and wife.

But thankfully, all of that was behind them now, and while shewasn't happy about Curtis and Tanya's marriage ending indivorce, she knew it was the only reason she was now sitting onthe second pew, dressed in a royal blue suit, a matching hat,matching purse, and matching three-inch heels. Mariah alsoknew that Curtis would never have paid her the least bit of attentionif they hadn't worked for the same agency. He'd told hermore than once that she was beautiful, but she knew it was onlybecause he felt obligated to do so and not because it was true.She'd been a bit on the heavy side growing up, and her schoolmateshad teased her daily. So by the time she was a teenager,she'd lost all confidence in herself and in the way she looked.

But in terms of her feelings for Curtis, she'd actually liked himfrom the very beginning and had fallen in love with him rightafter their first date. He was strong, compassionate, tall, dark, andhandsome, and from that point she started praying for their relationshipto become serious. She prayed that God would give herCurtis even if it meant she had to go without something else inlife, whatever that had to be. So when he asked her to marry him,she knew for sure that God answered all prayers.

Mariah watched Curtis twirl his hands, demonstrating what hewas saying.

"God will allow you to experience every twist and turn in the road until you are as strong as He needs you to be ... until you arestrong enough to deal with any trial or tribulation thrown yourway," Curtis said. "And when it comes to success and prosperity,we have to take the same attitude. Sometimes we find ourselvesclimbing higher and higher in our chosen careers and all of a suddena monkey wrench is thrown into the program. And of course,we as human beings don't understand it. We don't understandwhy God would give us such great success and then, for whateverreason, take us down a notch or two. But the best way I canexplain it is to tell you what I heard on the radio last week. I wasdriving along, listening to 106.3, and it was then that I heard T. D.Jakes make one of the most profound statements. He said, 'A set-backis a setup for a comeback.'"

The congregation roared with amens and a good number ofpeople waved their bulletins at Curtis, agreeing with what he wassaying.

Curtis thrived on member participation and repeated in songwhat the crowd wanted to hear him say again. "I said, a setback isa setup for a comeback."

"Oh, thank you, Jesus!" one woman stood and yelled out.

"Glory be to God!" another added with her hands lifted towardthe ceiling.

"Boy, you know you workin' that Word on us today!" an oldergentleman offered.

The organist played a few notes, and Mariah stood with herhands on both hips, waving her head from side to side with quickmovements, giving Curtis approval. Then a woman jumped fromher seat, shouting her way across three people sitting on the samerow. This, of course, was all Curtis needed to see in order to switchinto his deep southern preaching mode. He'd told Mariah that hethought it was totally ridiculous to sing the ending of every sermon,but that he'd learned during his days at Faith that his older membersdidn't feel like a pastor could preach if he didn't do a littlewhooping and singing with it ...

Excerpted from Too Much of a Good Thing by Kimberla Lawson Roby
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