The Coffee Bean & Other Things (PB) (2009)

The Coffee Bean & Other Things is a contemporary story of urban relationships in crises. It is a roller coaster ride that combines practical self-help with a fantastic fictional storyline with characters who take the reader on a sizzling journey through real life encounters. Come along as they learn how to survive in the midst of personal, professional, and relationship challenges that test the bonds of friendship and marriage. Jessica, Tiffany, and Sadie want desperately to be happy, and have created blissful, false utopias to make their dreams come true. However, their fragile worlds of pretense and self-deception cannot mask the problems hidden within their seemingly perfect lives. As these three very different women embark on journeys of self-discovery, they face serious relationship troubles with the men in their lives. An adulterous affair, a sexually transmitted disease, an unexpected pregnancy, and a suicide attempt compound their efforts to identify who they are and balance it with what expect from the men they love. Unlikely friendships, truthful hurts, and moments of vivid self-awareness force Jessica, Tiffany and Sadie to face their true selves as they try to escape the bondage of deception and pretense. While coping with setbacks and disappointment, they examine their goals and learn how to deal authentically with life's crises. And even as their dreams begin to fade away, hope paves the way for renewal as they embrace one another and learn to love the persons they were born to be.