The Stolen Daughter by ReShonda Tate Billingsley (2020)
248-page Kindle Ebook story pages 1-232
Genre: African-American Fiction
Featuring: Partial Bibliography for ReShonda Tate Billingsley, Dementia, Widow, Post Abduction Trope, Vicenarians, Young Parents, Houston, Texas; Caregiving, Money Troubles, Flashbacks, Family Dynamics, Marital Conflict, Self-Actualization, A Note from the Author, Excerpt from More to Life
Rating as a movie: PG-13 for adult content and medical violence
Songs for the soundtrack: "Dance With My Father" by Luther Vandross "Proud Mary" by Ike & Tina Turner, "Say My Name" by Destiny's Child, "Rocket 88" by Ike Turner
Books and Authors mentioned: More to Life by ReShonda Tate Billingsley, The Princess and the Frog by Ron Clements, John Musker,
and Rob Edwards [based on] The Princess and the Frog by Ron Clements, John Musker, Greg Erb, and, Jason Oremland [based on] The Frog Princess by E. D. Baker and The Frog Prince by the Brothers Grimm, An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
My rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🇨🇱🎭👩🏽🍼
My thoughts: This story was pretty good. Every time I thought I knew it all, it went deeper.
Recommend to others: Yes. This is a quick enjoyable read.
Memorable Quotes: Maybe they planned to kidnap Destiny and demand ransom. Whatever it was, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was being followed. I’d first felt like someone was following me in the grocery store after I’d returned from lunch with my father yesterday. I’d blown it off as an overactive imagination. But when I’d spotted the woman with long burgundy-tinted hair, butterscotch-colored skin, and a body that screamed daily cardio workouts, my antenna went up. This was definitely the same woman from the grocery store. And now, looking at her trying to be inconspicuous as she followed me through the mall, I also remembered her coming into Starbucks recently. I’d been talking to Cynthia on my cell when I spotted her several feet behind me. “Okay. I know that I’m not crazy,” I whispered into my microphone. “That same woman I told you I thought was following me the other day in the grocery store is here at the mall. I thought I was being paranoid behind learning I’d been kidnapped. But this woman is for real following me. Do you think she’s trying to kidnap Destiny?” I asked in horror. “No, I do not,” Cynthia replied. “But I do know I’m the paranoid one. So if you think someone is following you, someone is following you. If I were you, I would go confront her and ask her what she wants.” “But what if she tells me I’m crazy and she doesn’t know what I’m talking about,” I whispered. Cynthia tsked. “What if she does? You don’t know that woman. You’ll never see her again so you have nothing to lose.” “And what if she says she is following me?” “Then you bust her in her eye.” From the tone of my best friend’s voice, I could tell she was serious.