Forgiving Patience

Patience #1

by Jennifer Simpkins

Anna Kelly had no intention of returning to her hometown of Patience, Tennessee. At eighteen, feeling powerless from an abusive childhood and heartbroken from her high school sweetheart, she needed to put distance between her and the small town. Now, eleven years later she's invited to her best friend's wedding and has no other choice but to return. Though she feels much stronger the second time around, nothing can prepare her for when she sees her ex again.

After a baseball injury, Jake limped back into Patience, damaged and angry. Throwing himself into remodeling Anna's childhood home has given him purpose again. He is just getting his life back together. He can't risk sending it all back to hell again, but the woman who broke his heart has whipped back into town...and she wants her house back. In hopes of reminding Anna of what she ran away from all those years ago he makes her an offer she can’t refuse—three dates, that have Anna rethinking Patience...and the life she was supposed to have with Jake.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary

268 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 8, 2013

About the author

Jennifer has always been an avid reader, but it wasn’t until she became a stay-at-home mom did she start to read romance. Her passion of reading romance turned into another passion she had as a child—writing. One late night of writing about sexy heroes and strong-willed heroines turned into two nights, until seven months later she had written her first novel.

If she is not writing, you can find her reading, hanging out with her family, or cheering on the New York Yankees.

Reviews

[InD'tale Magazine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anna Kelly hasn’t been home to Patience, Tennessee in a long time. She left right out of high school - running from an abusive childhood and a break up with her high school boyfriend - and has never looked back. After eleven years away she finds herself returning for her best friend's wedding. Not expecting to see her ex, Jake, the minute she hits town, she finds him standing on HER front porch....living in HER house.

Jake, a professional baseball player, returned to Patience with a career-ending knee injury. Renting Anna’s house without her knowledge and making repairs has helped ease his mind, but now, Anna wants him out so she can sell it and move on. Having never forgotten Anna, Jake makes her a proposition: if she will go on three dates with him, he will move out. Will Anna be able to keep things platonic when she has never stopped loving Jake?

Ms. Simpkins puts a lot of interesting layers into her characters. Anna is a strong yet vulnerable woman who has come home to deal with her inner demons. Jake is the quintessential yummy hero, who has demons of his own to fight. They are both like an onion, one just has to peel one layer at a time, to see their true character. Even though Anna has suffered abuse as a child, Ms. Simpkins makes one understand what she went through without the gory details. This story takes a little too long to get where it’s going but is still worth the read. It makes one realize that not only is Patience a virtue, so is forgiveness!

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. The story sucked me in right away and I didn't want to put it down. Anna was strong yet vulnerable and a bit mysterious. Jake, the hero, was irresistible! The story unfolded slowly, allowing me to get a feel for the town and meet some of the other characters who lived there. And I do mean characters! I liked a lot of the supporting cast in this story. The book ran a little long but the quirky folks of Patience easily made up for that.

This is Ms. Simpkins debut book, I believe. All I can say is "Bravo" and I can't wait to read the second in this series.

[Brittany Price · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so good! As soon as I started, it was so hard to put down! In the beginning, when Anna and Jake were first reunited, it seemed like from what happened between them there, Anna would just easily give in to Jake. The resistance she ended up showing made it so much more entertaining to follow. I loved Jake! Protective, charming, understanding, etc. It would be impossible for me not to fall for him. I always love books where the characters have disturbed pasts that they've kept hidden. Uncovering those secrets kept my eyes glued to the pages. There were so many scenes that I couldn't resist reading multiple times; the scenes involving alcohol, the battles between Jake and his brother, and of course, the steamy scenes! So good! The only negative I found would be that at times, I lost track of who was saying what, so I would have to retrace my steps to try and figure it out. Overall, it was great, though! I wanted to reach the end to see what happened, but I wasn't ready for it to be over!

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this story of two broken people finding each other again! Felt the middle dragged a little, but that may be attributed to my limited Kindle access at the moment. Would recommend this to everyone and am looking forward to more from this author:)