The New York Times bestselling author returns with the moving story of a family who learns to overcome betrayal and secrets with courage and love

On the outside, twelve-year-old Jillian Maxwell is the perfect child. She's helpful with chores around the house, gets straight As in school, has plans for college, and stays out of trouble. She seems to have everything a girl could want: a big, beautiful new home, an adoring little sister, a mother who cares about her, and an attentive stepfather.

But inside, Jillian harbors a terrible secret.

Too frightened to tell, convinced that her friends and loved ones, especially her mother, won't understand—and worse, will blame her—Jillian endures her pain in silence, believing that things will get better. However, as time passes and her dilemma intensifies, the bright, hardworking girl becomes sullen and disinterested in her studies. Then, just when it seems she's on the verge of losing everything, Jillian discovers she has more strength than she ever imagined...and the power to change her fate.

With sensitivity and grace, Kimberla Lawson Roby addresses a very real and serious issue, while delivering the inspiring tale of one family's mission to shed light into the darkest corner of their lives.

New York Times bestselling author Kimberla Lawson Roby has published 12 novels, which include The Best of Everything, One in a Million, Sin No More, Love and Lies, Changing Faces, The Best-Kept Secret, Too Much of a Good Thing, A Taste of Reality, It's a Thin Line, Casting the First Stone, Here and Now, and her debut title, Behind Closed Doors, which was originally self-published through her own company, Lenox Press.

Her novels have frequented numerous bestseller lists, including those in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Publishers Weekly, Essence magazine, Upscale magazine, Emerge Magazine, Barnes and Noble, Amazon.com, Wal-Mart, The Dallas Morning News, and The Austin Chronicle to name a few. Both Behind Closed Doors and Casting the First Stone were no. 1 BlackBoard bestsellers for four consecutive months in both 1997 and 2000. Behind Closed Doors was the no. 1 BlackBoard bestselling book for paperback fiction in 1997.

In addition, Roby's first novel was nominated for BlackBoard's 1998 and 1999 Fiction Book of the Year Award, and she received the BlackBoard Fiction Book of the Year Award in 2001 for Casting the First Stone. She is also the 2006 and 2007 recipient of the Author of the Year—Female award presented by the African-American Literary Award Show in New York, the recipient of the 1998 First-Time Author Award from Chicago's Black History Month Book Fair and Conference, and her fifth novel, A Taste of Reality, was a 2004 finalist for the Atlanta Choice Awards sponsored by the Atlanta Daily World. Additionally, Too Much of a Good Thing received a 2004 Patron Choice Award from the Central Mississippi Regional Library System.

Each of Roby's novels have dealt with very real issues—in Behind Closed Doors, social status, gambling addiction, and infidelity; in Here and Now, single motherhood, infertility, and sibling rivalry; in Casting the First Stone, the first of the Reverend Curtis Black series, corruption within the church; in It's a Thin Line, domestic violence, sexual abuse, and caregiving of a parent; in A Taste of Reality, racial and gender discrimination in the workplace with subplots exploring sexual harassment; Too Much of a Good Thing and The Best-Kept Secret, continues with the issues in the Reverend Curtis Black series; in Changing Faces, issues about being overweight, a female illness, damaging secrets, and a devoted friendship between three women; in Love and Lies and Sin No More, issues in the Reverend Curtis Black saga are revisited; in One in a Million, a woman learns the best news and the worst news of her life all at the same time; and in The Best of Everything, the Reverend Curtis Black's daughter, Alicia, deals with a serious shopping addiction, which causes major marital problems.

Roby resides in Illinois with her husband, Will. Her thirteenth book, A Deep Dark Secret, will be released in the fall 2009.