On the streets of Houston it holds major weight and is never to be taken lightly. In their hood it brings status, garners respect, and defines loyalty. To break bread with a Broadus is an honor but to actually be a Broadus is to be part of a brotherhood. A legacy. A bond so unbreakable that it would take several armies of adversaries to penetrate it.Emmanuel, the quick tempered baby boy, has easily lived up to every expectation there is when it comes to carrying the Broadus name but history has shown that during the reign of every great King, there is always someone looking to knock them off the throne.Being solid and thorough doesn’t guarantee immunity to post traumatic stress and that’s the exact state he finds himself in months after being gunned down on New Year’s Eve. In the midst of his storm, he encounters another troubled soul who despite her own struggles, brings him a peace he’s never known. With her, he’s at ease and free to be himself but between the stresses of the street life, managing an up and coming singing sensation, and battling his own inner demons, Emmanuel must figure out a way to balance his love for Kambré while still living up to his surname.Accustomed to getting what he wants, Emmanuel finds himself unable to deal with Kambré’s indifference when it comes to their relationship. Advice from different sources on his situation tends to go in one ear and out the other but when his plus sized beauty becomes fed up with his antics and walks away, will Emmanuel find himself at risk for spiraling even further down a dark road or will her departure be the wake up call he needed all along?

    She herself has also been wed for 22 years and has seen both the highs and lows of matrimony in her own marriage as well as the marriages of those close to her. While the national divorce rate hovers around the 50% threshold, there is a lot of chatter that marriage as we know it is an outdated institution--that we are too selfish, too unwilling to make sacrifices, and too misguided by elevated expectations of happiness to make marriage work.While these points may hold some validity, a lot of this chatter is nothing new. So what's causing so many divorces and, perhaps even more importantly, what are we to do about it if we want marriage to survive? Drawing from both her professional career and personal life, Toler sees that the biggest impediment to marriage these days is that couples decide to take the plunge based almost entirely on the most irrational criteria: falling in love. Making Marriage Work doesn't suggest that love has nothing to do with marriage at all; rather, Toler says that love by itself is simply not enough to make marriages survive. This book is a logical and simple guide to reintroducing some of the practicality of marriage that has leaked out of it over the years.Marriage, Toler says, is a job, and it needs to be treated like one. However, the makeup and consistency of this job has changed so much over the past few decades that the old rules no longer apply. Making Marriage Work is an updated manual to help get the job of marriage done right in this day and age. It suggests specific procedures that should be put in place to bridge the gap between head over heels and happily ever after. It explains how to phrase things in order to span the great hormonal divide men and women often fall into when trying to talk to one another. It also discusses the very new and real challenges to marriage created in a culture often overwhelmed by the emphasis on (and ability to attain) instant gratification. Replete with simple, no-nonsense rules, Divorce Court anecdotes, and stories about Judge Toler's own union, Making Marriage Work contains invaluable information couples can use today to secure their marital tomorrow.