Veronica A. Grayson's fictional struggles ring true.

In the Capitol Heights resident's second published book, "Endurance: Built to Stand the Storm," three tales of childhood morphing into adulthood are woven together and filled with ups and downs that force Grayson's characters to rely on their firm foundation of faith.

"Endurance" was released last March, two years after Grayson's first book, "I'm Your Angel," hit bookstands.

Grayson, a member of the Prayer Restoration Center in Forestville, said she drew on her Christian upbringing to tell the story of best friends Kathy, Charles and Zachariah as they are faced with a series of challenges that threaten to shake the faith they spent years solidifying in church.

The book centers around Kathy's charmed life turned rough road. Steeped in the traditions of her church, Kathy grows up to be a happy, vibrant woman, climbing Wall Street's corporate ladder with persistence and charisma that others find endearing, if not irresistible.

The good times continue when Kathy marries her lifelong friend, Charles. But her perfectly-mapped-out life begins to unravel when Charles admits that he had an affair with another woman. The revelations don't stop there as Kathy's faith is put to a thorough test – one that might have caused profound doubt in others.

"Even though she was raised as a good girl, she had to go through her fair share of problems," said Grayson, 43, a Prince George's County resident for 14 years. "But it was her decision on how to handle those problems. … She had to decide if she was going to do the easiest thing, or ask for God's help all the way through."

Later in "Endurance," Kathy's prayers for a child are answered when she becomes pregnant. But like her marriage, this happiness will fade as complications surface and her trust in God is once again tested in the fires of the real world.

"Endurance" begins with a detailed description of a national church convention in Minneapolis. Grayson shows how her main characters – all in elementary school at the start of "Endurance" – are ingrained with unwavering faith and trust in God. The convention, Grayson writes, wasn't about "going into debt for expensive attire" or "titles within church organizations."

"This convention was about God," Grayson writes, "the creator of everything."

"[Readers] will understand where [Kathy] got her strength from," Grayson said. "She always stayed in prayer."

The rough patches and devastating blows Kathy endures in the latter half of the book, Grayson said, will create sympathy for the character, but could also comfort readers who feel like their life is spiraling out of control.

"I want a person to go away believing that they can make a difference in their own life no matter what the situation may be," she said. "I want them to have some kind of hope that god will help you come out the other side, one way or another."