Guilty by Association — Pat Simmons

The Jamieson Family Legacy series follow the lives of two Jamieson brothers in Boston, Kidd and Ace, and their cousin, Cameron, from St. Louis. The older brother, Kidd, is struggling with anger and resentment issues toward his absentee father who never married his mother. Yet, he had the audacity to demand his illegitimate sons carry his Jamieson name. Ace, on the other hand, is on his collision course to be a chip off the old block when it comes to women. Their highly MIT educated cousin, Cameron Jamieson, is all about saving family from self-destruction. Through genealogy research, Cameron's mission is to show his cousins their worth as the eleventh generation descendants of a royal African tribe and to give them a choice: live with the stereotypical "angry black men" syndrome or to crush any obstacles that try and stop them to become strong successful black men.

There are three books in the Jamieson Legacy series: Guilty by Association (Kidd's story), The Guilt Trip (Ace's story), and Free from Guilt (Cameron's story). Each of the three Jamieson men have to accept that their past and present are in God's hand, and without Him they can't advance to their future blessings. The bonus storyline in Guilty by Association is one that progresses the story of the much-loved character in the previous three book Guilty Series, Grandma BB. This time, she picks up a sidekick Mrs. Valentine.

Guilty by Association is the story of Boston bad boy Kevin "Kidd" Jamieson. His gripe is with his father who dared to insist that his two illegitimate sons carry his last name. To add insult to injury, the man never bothered to stick around to provide love and guidance as his boys matured into men. Kidd's anger overflows into every area of his life. As his animosity festers, Kidd becomes as a roaring lion, seeking whatever and whomever he can devour. He's as gritty as his cousin in St. Louis, Parke Jamieson VI, is polished. The two strong-willed men clash when Kidd relocates to St. Louis where his cousin assures him it's a land of milk and money in job opportunities. Where he lands a position is far from a Promised Land.
Through a series of events that involve Grandma BB, her dog named Silent Killer and her Stacy Adams shoes, Kidd meets two women who recognize his hostile tendencies and immediately begin to administer CPR to his soul. LPN Eva Savoy eventually becomes his "Eve," a woman God created from the underlying goodness hidden in Kidd's own heart. And then there is Mrs. Valentine, a woman who shows Kidd how to love himself from the power of the scriptures and the knowledge of his genealogy.

Reluctantly, Kidd allows Parke to divulge information about their royal family heritage. While everyone's care and compassion begins to smother Kidd, he struggles to keep up the bad boy attitude as his walls start to crumble. Kidd learns it's not his association with the name that identifies him, but the man he becomes that defines him.