You Gotta Sin to Get Saved [Hardcover]

J. D. Mason (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2008

Charlotte Rodgers has always wanted too much. Too much love, too much attention, and had too many big dreams.   It was how she ended up abandoning her two daughters, Connie and Reesy to chase after a man and the promise of a dream life.   But Charlotte never anticipated how her world would be irrevocably changed.  Now, twenty-seven years later, her whole world shifts yet again with a letter from one of her daughters.  And the past is about to bust wide open.  

 

Reesy has always been obsessed with something.  Obsessed with finding her birth mother. Obsessed with her sister’s life. Obsessed with her own adopted daughter never finding out that Reesy is really her aunt.  With a neglected husband, who is unknowingly drifting further and further away, a sister who is trying to escape her well-meaning clutches, and a daughter becoming more and more curious about her true parentage, finding the mother she always dreamed about seems to be an answered prayer to Reesy.  That is until Reesy is brought crashing back to earth to find that her perfect life is in tattered pieces.

Connie has always expected too little. Too little from the man she’s been living with for years. Too little from her modest jewelry business.  And too little from her relationships, or lack thereof, with her daughter, mother and sister. And too little from herself.  Until she discovers she is pregnant again and decides that this time she is keeping her baby, sending her life and her relationship into a tailspin.  And rediscovering the mother who left them behind is the last thing she wants. 

 

Thrown back together again, in a maelstrom of shocking truths, Charlotte, Reesy and Connie will discover on their journey to forgiveness and redemption that you just might have to sin first in order to be saved.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Reesy Braxton, 35, has finally found her birth mother, after alienating her husband, distressing her adoptive mother, and upsetting her sister, Connie, who isn’t happy about finding the mother who deserted them. Charlotte Rogers often thinks about the two children she had to leave behind, and she clings to her third daughter, Cammy. Mason takes a straightforward tale and spins it into an emotionally complex story with unexpected twists. Multiple points of view and flashbacks offer insights along the way as each member of this broken African American family comes into focus—Reesy, who’s raising her two sons as well as Connie’s daughter; Connie, who stops her string of abortions and has a baby, only to give it away; Cammy, who feels responsible for her unstable mother; and Charlotte herself, thrilled to hear from her long-gone daughters but unsure of how to reconnect. Graphic sex and violence stun the reader into realizing how much these women have been through. As always, Mason (This Fire Down in My Soul, 2007) packs an emotional punch readers won’t soon forget. --Shelley Mosley

Review

"If you only read a few books a year, make this one of them!"--Mary Monroe, New York Times bestselling author on This Fire Down in My Soul

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; First Edition edition (April 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312326580
• ISBN-13: 978-0312326586
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.8 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,110,504 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I started writing seriously in 1995 beginning with my first novel "Resurrecting Ruth" which eventually turned into "And on the Eighth Day She Rested", which was finally published in 2003 by St. Martin's Press. Since then, I've written several novels and short story contributions to anthologies. I'm currently working on my 6th novel, while waiting impatiently for the 4th and 5th books to hit the stands in 2007.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lost and Found, April 15, 2008

By 

J.C. Wallington "jnettefrommi" (Detroit, MI) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: You Gotta Sin to Get Saved (Hardcover)

You Gotta Sin to Get Saved is the third of a trilogy by J .D. Mason. The characters from One Day I Saw A Black King and Don't Want No Sugar make appearances in this novel. Some thirty years ago, Charlotte walked out on her two pre-teen daughters leaving them to fend for themselves in Denver as she followed her man, Sam, to find fame and fortune in Memphis. Only, they did not make it all the way to Memphis, but stopped in Kansas, where Sam abandoned Charlotte. Now, Charlotte's daughter, Reesy, has found her and hopes that by being reunited with her mother, all her questions will be answered.

Reesy was consumed with the prospect of finding her mother and once the detective found her, Reesy could not contain her excitement. She expected everyone to be happy with her, but soon found that was not the case. Her older sister, Connie, was not happy at all and refused to have anything to do with Charlotte. Connie has her own demons to face. At 40, she is pregnant and unsure if she wants to be a mother. Her boyfriend, John King, does not want to be a father and does what he does best, flees from responsibility. Reesy's husband, Justin, feels neglected and finds solace at a strip club and her adoptive mother feels threatened by Reesy's other momma.

When Charlotte gets the letter from Reesy she is ecstatic. She immediately begins to sing praises about how wonderful her baby girl, Reesy is much to the dismay of her youngest daughter, Cammy. Cammy, who was born after Charlotte left Denver, has spent her life taking care of Charlotte and putting up her her abuse. Charlotte's selective amnesia offends Cammy as she was the one who put her life on hold, forsaking her own happiness to care for Charlotte. It takes a major crisis for Charlotte's true personality to manifest itself and the girls join forces to heal themselves.

I know JD Mason said You Gotta Sin To Get Saved was the end of the trilogy, but I might have to beg to differ, because there were some loose ends that need to be tied together. If you have not read the first two books, it does not matter,cause this book can stand alone. ( Even I did not read DWNS.) Charlotte's story on how she came to live in Murphy, Kansas is told in flashbacks throughout the novel. It may appear that there are a lot of different storylines, but what I really liked was the domino effect of each individual story and how it somehow impacted the life of another character. This was a very good read that I highly recommend.

Jeanette
APOOO BookClub

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Soul Survivor, June 11, 2008

By 

Urban Reviews "Your Source for the Best in AA... (Online) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: You Gotta Sin to Get Saved (Hardcover)

Charlotte has always dreamed big especially when it comes to love. Her unrealistic dreams are how she ended up raising her daughters Connie and Reesy on her own. Charlotte meets Sam and he promises her a new life that she just can't resist. Charlotte runs away with Sam but leaves her two daughters to fend for themselves. But life in a new town isn't all what Charlotte hoped it would be, and she's left single and pregnant again. Fast-forward years later, and Reesy is dealing with martial problems that are caused by her obsessive search for Charlotte. Reesy has found Charlotte and is ready to meet her face to face, but will it be at the expense of her marriage? Connie is not interested in meeting Charlotte at all because she has bitter memories of what really happened when they were abandoned by their mother. Connie has her own issues with an unplanned pregnancy and an unclear relationship with her boyfriend John King.

You Gotta Sin To Get Saved is an awe-inspiring conclusion to One Day I Saw A Black King and Don't Want No Sugar by J.D. Mason. Mason gives readers the background of Charlotte and how her actions impacted Reesy and Connie's lives as adults. You will see how Charlotte continues her selfish actions which also make her other daughter Cammy's life difficult as well. Readers will also see the emotional turmoil in Connie's relationship with John and in Reesy's marriage. Mason did an excellent job of telling Charlotte's story in a series of flashbacks without confusing the reader. You Gotta Sin To Get Saved is emotionally charged and insightful. J.D. Mason once again brought a novel that does not disappoint.

Reviewed by Radiah Hubbert
for Urban Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Last but not least, April 10, 2008

By 

Charter One "MS. T" (Detroit, Michigan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: You Gotta Sin to Get Saved (Hardcover)

From the first page to the end this book was the bomb. J.D Mason is truly a gifted writer. The characters were so imaginable, I thought I was sitting right in the room with Charolette. Now you can't read this book unless you read the first two books, which were just as good. I was waking up at 1:00am, 2:00am in the morning trying to get in one more chapter. SO if you are tired of all the same old same old books about drugs, sex, and poverty. This book is a must read. J.D. if you read this you are truly blessed, and you give the definition of a real writer.