The Trouble with Patience Book Review

Virtues and Vices of the Old West

Book One

SUMMARY:  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 handing 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.

REVIEW:  The main character is not your typical heroine.  Patience is independent, but still willing to ask for help repairing her home.  She is larger than your average protagonist and often wishes she was thinner and had smaller feet.  She has a difficult relationship with her mother, Charity.  When Charity comes to visit her in Montana, Patience decides to do what she can to mend the relationship.
     The dramatic portions of the book felt a little flat to me.  The storyline seemed to drag in spots.  One of the good things about the book was it was harder for me to figure out who the protagonist was.  When I thought I had it figured out, I was pleasantly proven was wrong. The epilogue timeline caught me off-guard, too.  It was a farther out (time wise) than I was thinking because a lot of events occurred between the end of the book and the beginning of the epilogue.
      All in all, it's a good book.  I am interested to read the other books in this series to see who the future novels will be about and to see what their stories are.

This book was provided by Revell for review without compensation.

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 Hearts of Excellence Readers' Choice Award.  To learn more, visit www.MaggieBrendan.com.

Perfectly Matched Book Review

The Blue Willow Brides Series

Book Three

SUMMARY:  His life runs like clockwork.  Hers is a spontaneous adventure.  But God's timing is always perfect.

     Anna Olsen knows it's time to leave her sister's increasingly crowded house and start a life of her own.  Following both of her sisters' examples, she becomes a mail-order bride, and after a short correspondence with clock maker and jeweler Edward Parker, she moves to Denver to become  his wife.

     Almost immediately it's painfully apparent that Anna and Edward are very different.  Anna is a free spirit who would rather be painting and enjoying the company of friends than cleaning house.  Edward is a consummate perfectionist who, on their wedding day, hands Anna a list of chores that need to be down around the house daily.

     Can this mismatched couple see past their difference to a harmonious future?  Or will their disparate passions create obstacles neither is willing to surmount?

REVIEW:  Opposites attract in this book.  Edward loves for everything to be in its place and to closely follow a set schedule.  Anna loves to be free and loves all kinds of animals.  Both have to make concessions but are determined to make their marriage work.  When Anna hears about Edward's difficult life as a child of an alcoholic, she tries even harder to keep things right about their relationship.  The changes Edward goes through in this book is neat.  Even though he is not fond of animals, especially in his house, he understand Anna longing to help hurt and injured pets.  He helps her start an animal shelter and becomes her biggest supporter.  When Edward is wrongly accused of stealing, even though she has doubts, Anna doesn't let them get in her way and supports him in proving his innocence.

     This is a good book and a wonderful ending to this series.

This book was provided by Revell for review without compensation.

 

Maggie Brendan is the author of the Heart of the West and the Blue Willow Brides series.  Twice nominated for a RITA Award, she is a member of the Authors Guild, Romance Writers of America, Georgia Romance Writers, and American Christian Fiction Writers.  She lives in Georgia.  Visit her at www.MaggieBrendan.com.

Twice Promised Book Review

The Blue Willow Brides

Book Two

SUMMARY:  Two beautiful brides.  One unsuspecting groom.  Three weeks to figure it all out.

     Greta Olen arrives in Central City, Colorado, as a mail-order bride, expecting to marry Jess Gifford, the man she's come to know through his tender letters.  But when she meets Cora Johnson, she discovers she's not the only bride waiting at the train station for Jess.

     Already shocked to find they must compete for Jess's affection, the young women can hardly believe it when not Jess but his brother Zach picks them up from the station - and reveals that Jess knows nothing about any mail-order bride, let alone two.  Will either bride make the match she hopes for?

     Filled with surprises, misunderstandings, and tender romance, Twice Promised is the story of how two unlikely women become twice blessed.

REVIEW:  This is a great book.  The story of two mail-order brides for the same man is something I wondered if it occurred and how it would play out.  I like how Greta and Cora become friends and, instead of competing against each other, they work together to help Jess and Zach in the family store.  After the decision is made as to who is marrying whom, something in Greta's past comes out and some decisions are questioned but the girls never get jealous of each other nor do they become petty towards each other.  They remain close friends.  I love this type of friendship.  I also like how the author ties in Greta's former fiance' as a brother of Jess and Zach.

     Even though this is the second book in the series, you do not need to read the first one.  There are a few brief references to Catharine and Peter, who the first book centered on, but they are not critical to this story.  This is a great series and a great book.

This book was provided by Revell for review without compensation.

Available October 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

 

Maggie Brendan is the author of the Heart of the West series and Deeply Devoted.  A member of the Authors Guild, Romance Writers of America, and Georgia Romance Writers, Maggie lives in Georgia.  Visit her at www.MaggieBrendan.com.

 

Deeply Devoted

SUMMARY:  She is staking her future on a man she's never met.  Can she learn to love him?

     When Catharine Olsen leaves Holland for Wyoming as a mail-order bride, she brings some extra baggage with her:  two sisters, her mother's set of Blue Willow china, and a tragic past.  As she steps off the train, Peter Andersen is glad to see that she is everything her letters showed her to be.  But he is a bit perturbed by her unexpected companions.  How will he support them all?  And what other secrets might Catharine be keeping from him?
     Filled with sweet romance and vivid characters, Deeply Devoted highlights a clash of cultures as a highborn European and a simple wheat farmer learn to love one another and trust God with the past - and the future.

REVIEW:  Catharine goes through a lot of changes in this story.  After she loses her parents when their ship goes down at sea, she is left to raise her two sisters and deal with the loss of the family shipping business.  Once living in elegance in Amsterdam, she moves to Wyoming to marry a wheat farmer she's only met through letters.  Catharine was raised with servants and now has to learn how to cook, clean, garden and help her husband with the chores around the farm.  Instead of complaining about her losses and all the upheaval of her life, Catharine digs in and does her best to adapt to her new surrounding.  One thing I didn't like in the book (and it is just a personal preference) is when problems arose between Peter and Catharine, they didn't discuss them with each other, which caused even bigger problems.  They both wanted to wait until "the timing was better."  Other than this, I thought this was a great book.

Available September 2011 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

This book was provided by Revell for review without compensation.

Maggie Brendan is the author of No Place for a Lady, The Jewel of His Heart, and A Love of Her Own.  A member of the American Fiction Writers Association, Romance Writers of America, and Georgia Romance Writers, Maggie lives in Georgia.  Visit her at www.MaggieBrendan.com.