When Sunday Comes Again (synopsis)

“When Sunday Comes Again” is the second installment in the Sunday Morning Trilogy. In the first, “Come Sunday Morning,” the beautiful, yet scheming, Samantha Cleaveland arranges the assassination of her husband Pastor Hezekiah T. Cleaveland in the pulpit of the church they founded together. After his death Samantha is installed as interim pastor of New Testament Cathedral and the head of the international television ministry in Los Angeles, California.

When the story continues in book two Samantha is challenged by people who suspect she played a role in her husband’s death and others who feel she should not be the new pastor. Danny St. John, Hezekiah’s male lover, mourns the loss of his one true love and is convinced Samantha had her husband murdered. Cynthia Pryce, the wife of the church`s assistant pastor Reverend Percy Pryce, will stop at nothing to ensure that Samantha is removed and her husband is installed as pastor. Gideon Truman is the famous, ambitious, handsome and sexually ambiguous investigative reporter who rummages through the skeletons in Samantha’s closet in his attempt to solve Hezekiah’s murder and to establish himself as the country’s black Anderson Cooper. They each desire to bring Samantha down for their own reasons.

From the outside Samantha appears to be the perfect choice to head the multi-million dollar ministry. She is strikingly beautiful, charismatic and an inspirational preacher. She dresses in the finest designer clothes; her circle of friends include the host of the most popular talk show in the country, the president and his wife, celebrities, politicians and corporate moguls. But Samantha has a secret and will go to any lengths to protect it, including seduction and murder.

Cynthia Pryce desperately wants to be the first lady of New Testament Cathedral and launches a clandestine campaign to replace Samantha with her husband. On the surface the task appears simple. She must persuade only three of the five members of the Board of Trustees to cast their vote in favor of her husband. After several behind the scenes “chats”, Cynthia masterfully convinces enough trustees that replacing Samantha is the right thing to do and, in fact, it’s in Samantha’s best interest.  However, Cynthia misjudges the cunning of her prey and in a dramatic last minute special meeting of the trustees Samantha skillfully turns the vote in her favor and is approved as permanent pastor.

A mysterious voice on the phone presents additional obstacles for Samantha to overcome in her quest for absolute control of the ministry. The blackmailer threatens to go public with information that will prove Hezekiah`s involvement in a two year homosexual affair if he is not paid two million dollars in cash.  Again the depth to which Samantha will stoop to preserve her reputation and empire is underestimated. She manipulates and seduces the husband of her long time nemesis, Scarlett Shackelford, and the end result is yet another lifeless body lying at Samantha’s Prada clad feet.

In this second installment of the Sunday Morning Trilogy, Samantha methodically destroys all who dare to challenge her control of the empire. When another Sunday morning comes, she is. During the exuberant church service, she placed on a pedestal by the congregation and praised as a brave selfless woman guided by divine power who places the good of the ministry and it’s mission above her own.