The Gambler's Wife

"A gambler is nothing but someone who makes their living out of false hope."

Lauren Westbrook may be a pastor's wife, but she knows a thing or two about fool's gold. Her husband, Marcus is the poster perfect minister of a prosperous Salem church, but their ministry together has been underscored by a shameful secret: Marcus is a recovering gambler. Lauren believes after years of therapy and countless counseling programs her husband's addiction is ancient history, but one morning her eyes are opened to a living nightmare. Marcus Westbrook is dead. A tragic accident uncovers a shady, hidden life, one of continued addiction and embezzlement. Ridden with guilt, Lauren is left holding the bag. How can a grief stricken, unemployed mother find a way to pay her dead husband's pile of debt while supporting a 10 year old daughter? She is forced into the most desperate gamble of her life.

Lauren rolls the dice on faith by taking a job as a pastor in a remote Oregon town, the only bet on the table. The dilapidated church and its ancient congregation are known for "chewing and spitting out pastors like chicken bones," but she is determined to make lemonade from lemons. Steeped in the challenges of a rotting church building and a near empty treasury, Lauren meets Luke, a skilled carpenter and divorcee with his own demons. Together, with a host of colorful, enigmatic parishioners, they must uncover the dark secrets of a church never fully healed from the sins of its troubled past while also mending their own wounds.