The Embittered Ruby

Sixteen-year-old Carmen Castillo desperately wants her parents to restore their marriage so she can return to her once-lavish life. But when her dad lets his new girlfriend turn Carmen’s bedroom in a dressing room, her last bit of faith in her parents—and in God—shatters. Her only hope is to create a family of her own with Nate (no matter that his political family finds her ethnicity distasteful). When that plan fails, Carmen packs up her resentment and anger and heads to Diamond Estates, seeking healing for her embittered soul. Concluding there is no such thing as ruby slippers, Carmen wonders if she’ll ever find the happiness and wholeness her heart longs for.