cover image Sunday Brunch

Sunday Brunch

Norma L. Jarrett. Broadway Books, $13.99 (368pp) ISBN 978-0-7679-1570-0

""God has a plan for all of us to be in certain places at certain times, to meet certain people, to grow, love, learn, share, teach, and uplift,"" muses Lexi, the narrator of Norma L. Jarrett's bighearted Sunday Brunch. At weekly postchurch lunches, Lexi and her four other successful Houston lawyer friends certainly share a lot over the buffet. Rich, beautiful Jermane is ""disgustingly in love"" with her husband, but infidelity rears its head; successful Angel thinks love is for fools until a routine checkup spooks her; Capri is on top of the world, but love might trip her up; meanwhile Jewel is a gold digger destined for a change of heart. But as God answers everyone else's prayers, will he forget about Lexi's? Clunky expository dialogue and leisurely pacing can't trip up this sweet, inspirational offering.