My Brother's Keeper (PB) (2003)

Aja James hasn't had it easy. After the loss of their mother at their father's hand, Aja has kept a close watch over her siblings. The three siblings much find a way to recover from their family's history, but it's not clear how. Tired of carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders, Aja is finally ready for a change that she hopes could lead her down the path of recovery: find someone to love. Her best friend, Roxie, knows just what to do--she sets Aja up on a date with one of the most sought-after bachelors in town, handsome sportscaster Charles Clayton. Charles is everything Aja has ever dreamed of--sensitive, sexy, and charming. But happily ever after isn't that simple.

While Aja has begun to heal from the loss of her parents, her sister and brother have not. Jada is lost in a world of silence with no way for Aja to reach her, and Eric's uncontrollable rage is wreaking havoc on his life. As Aja sees her brother heading down the same violent path that destroyed their family, she makes it her business to stop the cycle--even if it means putting her own life, and her own chance at love, on hold.

My Brother's Keeper is a poignant novel about a resilient family learning that sometimes you have to forgive in order to find the strength to move on.