The Trouble with Patience ~ Review

The Trouble with Patience
Virtues and Vices of the Old West 1
By Maggie Brendan

Nevada City, Montana Territory, is a town in flux with ranchers and miners making up the majority of the population.  And it is this town that Patience Cavanaugh recently moved to, taking over the boardinghouse she inherited from her grandmother.  She's dealing with a broken heart - the man she dreamed of marrying dead and with it her future.

She's determined to make the boardinghouse a success but she needs to fix it up a bit and someone to help her do it. But she'll do it herself if need be.

And then there is Marshal Jedediah Jones who needs a few lessons in civilized living starting with his manners towards a lady.  Jed wants nothing to do with this meddling woman, mucking everything up.  But Patience is a force to be reckoned with and when their paths keep crossing they just might start getting along.  Especially when Jed keeps coming to her aid.

And then there is Cody Martin who takes a room in Patience's boardinghouse.  Cody is a cowboy drifting through, looking for work and the man who wronged him.

Little do these three realize that their pasts are linked and something is about to reveal this link, changing what they thought they knew.  But healing from the past is possible with God, if only they allow Him to heal them.

Patience is an exasperating woman at times, highly opinionated and yet lacking a confidence in herself.  She is complimented frequently and always acts shocked or surprised, saying no one's ever complimented her before (evidently she doesn't listen or has a bad memory).

Overall it is a fairly enjoyable read and not one that will bog you down.  It is a week-end diversion if you have a week-end with no plans other than escaping between the covers of a book or two.

I was provided a copy of this book by Revell through their blogger program in exchange for my honest review.


About the Book:
Patience Cavanaugh has lost hope in romance. The man she yearned to marry is dead and her dreams are gone with him. Now she is consumed with restoring a dilapidated boardinghouse in order to support herself.

Despite Patience's desire for solitude, Jedediah Jones, the local marshal with a reputation for hanging criminals, becomes an ever-looming part of her life. It seems like such a simple arrangement: She needs someone with a strong back to help her fix up the boardinghouse. He needs a dependable source of food for himself and his prisoners. But as she gets to know this "hanging lawman," Patience finds there is far more to him than meets the eye--and it could destroy their tenuous relationship forever.

With a keen eye for historical detail and a deft hand at romantic tension, Maggie Brendan invites you to a Montana gold rush boomtown, where vices and virtues are on full display and love is lying in wait.

Maggie Brendan is the bestselling author of the Heart of the West and The Blue Willow Brides series. Winner of the 2014 Book Buyers Best Award (OCC/RWA) for inspirational fiction and the 2013 Laurel Wreath Award, she was a finalist for the 2013 Published Maggie Award of Excellence and the 2013 Heart of Excellence Readers' Choice Award. To learn more, visit www.MaggieBrendan.com.