Patience

Brides of the West #6

by Lori Copeland

In the continuing story of mail-order brides in the successful Brides of the West series, Patience is abducted in a case of mistaken identity. But everything changes when she escapes her kidnapper and stumbles onto a gold mine. Can Patience make her fortune without losing her heart to Sheriff Jay Longer? Copeland's readers will delight in this rollicking story of romance and danger.

Genres: Christian Fiction, Historical Fiction, Romance, Christian, Historical Romance, Historical, Christian Romance

318 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Lori Copeland was born on 12 June 1941. She had a relatively late start in writing, breaking into publishing in 1982 when she was already forty years old. Over the next dozen years, her romance novels achieved much success, as was evidenced by her winning the Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award, The Holt Medallion, and Walden Books' Best Seller award. She has been inducted into the Missouri Writers Hall of Fame.

Despite her success in more mainstream romantic fiction, in 1995, she decided to switch focus. Her subsequent books have been in the relatively new subgenre of Christian romance. She has also collaborated with authors Angela Elwell Hunt or Virginia Smith on a series of Christian romance novels.

Lori and her husband of over forty years, Lance, live in Springfield, Missouri, surrounded by the beautiful Ozarks. They have three grown sons, three daughter-in-laws, and six wonderful grandchildren, and two great-granddaughters. She and her husband are very involved in their church, and active in supporting mission work in Mali, West Africa.

Reviews

[Miss Clark · Rating 2 out of 5]

Patience is abducted mistakenly and ends up taking shelter in a mining shaft where she finds a young boy and the old miner dies and now Patience and the boy have the mining claim. They get a lawman to help them get a crew to work the mine and it looks like it is a dead one and so she leaves back to her penniless existence and he doesn't come (even though we all know they love one another and the little boy is very attached to him and can't understand why he doesn't love him) but then he does come and we find out the mine has made them all very wealthy. Everybody is happy. And the series is finally finished.

[Kelli · Rating 2 out of 5]

These are so nostalgic to the early 2000s. My mom and I used to read all the brides of the west books when I was in middle/high school. I also read a few of Lori’s other books around 2010/2011.
Some of hers are super cheesy but the plots can be fun. This one falls into both of those. The plot could of been fun but from the first page the story jumps around a lot. First she’s kidnapped in a wedding dress from mistaken identity and then a few chapters later she’s rallying to buy a mine she knows is full of Gold.

It’s got some funny moments being out west. Mostly it reads like an episode of Dr Quinn medicine woman or a hallmark western. An easy read for a day but not anything amazing.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading 5 other books in this series, I was wondering if I needed a little variety. When I started reading Patience, I didn't get into it as fast and thought about putting it down. I'm glad I didn't. I thought the setting of a mine that was supposedly haunted was not up my ally, but it turned out to be the perfect solution to the remaining mail-order-brides worries of money when the Sheriff Jay hits the "mother load" of gold.
Patience is kidnapped by mistake and then stranded in a mining town. She happens upon a little boy, Wilson, who was being cared for by an old prospector. The prospector is dead and Patience takes up the care for the boy and the mine. The sheriff, Jay goes off to find Patience and doesn't have a hurry to return to Denver city because his gambling debt has caught up to him. He tries to convince Patience about the futility of mining, but she stubbornly resists until she convinces him to work for her and hire a crew that isn't scared of the "ghost."
They have their share of problems, with the "ghost" that turns out to be two men who want to jump Patience's claim, but most of all they find that they are good for each other. Patience finds and accepts this first, but Jay must first accept that he is good enough for Patience and can love again after the loss of his wife and son. He must also be willing to accept that God hasn't forsaken him and forgive his belief that God had during his time of loss.
All ends well and Wilson, Patience and Jay form a family. Lily wants to find love too. There is the hint that she maybe will when Cole Claxton (men of the saddle series)comes to visit...He's already married, but Jay says he has unmarried lawmen friends.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm...Patience was another good story by Lori Copeland, but I must say it was my least favorite of the Brides of the West. There were several errors in the scene that connected the beginning with the end of book 5, but maybe I was the only one who will notice :) Also, in Glory it was mentioned that Patience had blond hair, and I was looking forward to a blond heroine only to find that her hair color had changed by book 6...now she's a brunette! :)
I was very intrigued by the mystery regarding the mine, and the little man who keeps appearing (or does he?), but it seemed that this book had more romance in it than the others and I appreciated the fact that the others were so very tame. It wasn't awful though.
Overall: I liked it.

[Cinnabug · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was glad to finish up the series and read Patience’s story, but I will say that I like the others in this story better. Some of the things I expected to see about Patience that were touched on in the other stories, such as her talking to animals, were not even mentioned and she wasn’t as I expected.

I did love Wilson—he was all the best parts! I wanted to adopt him. Without him, this would be 3 stars, but throwing in an extra just for him.

I would love to see additional stories, even if only a novella, about the other “brides” from the wagon train. I feel like this series was left unfinished.

[Teya Teya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, I really liked this book. It wasn't preachy, yet still had good solid moral. A very sweet love story, and yes after alot of frustration a happy ending, and leads right into the men of the saddle series. THis little bit of info would have been nice before I read all "men of the Saddle" in the middle of this series. LOL! O'well I'm sure I'll read them again and in the right order.

[Amy Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite of the series

[Tasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is book #6 in the Brides of the West series. This books was okay. It wasn't as good as the others because it was moving slower. Patience is kidnapped because she was mistaken for someone else. Her kidnapper was pitiful and didn't get very far. She makes it to a mining hole and finds a young boy with his dead guardian. She immediately starts claiming the child herself. Meanwhile pitiful sheriff is trying to find her and hide out from two thugs that need him to pay his gambling debts. They were so slow to recognize that they liked each other that I kept putting the book down. Like I said it was okay.

[Heidi Morrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did I actually read this book in less than 24 hours? Yes, I did! A big part of that was due to Patience's story beginning at a cliffhanger in the last book! Dear little Wilson stole my heart, as did Jay. I loved how the mining process was believable and the character development was sweet. This Christian fiction book is, hopefully, NOT the end of this series! Lily, Harper, and Mary's stories are begging to be told! I was able to read a copy of this book via Hoopla, but it did not in any way affect my review. All opinions are my own.

[D.J. Lang · Rating 3 out of 5]

More than once I said to myself while reading, "Really?" "Really?" Nonetheless, I kept reading in spite of never seeing Patience in this light in previous books in the series. Typical Copeland story.

I was told my mom would like her books. Clean romance. The series is fun, ludicrous at times; still, I thought back to some recent tv series and movies I've watched and they were ludicrous as well. The book series is also highly Christian, but somehow I didn't mind it. The books were a good diversion.

[Kristy Hurst · Rating 4 out of 5]

Patience turns out to be as strong willed, intelligent, and trusting of the Lord as the previous brides in the series. After a case of mistaken identity gets her kidnapped and she escapes, she stakes her claim to a mine and strives to find gold so she can take care of Lily, Mary, and Harper. She also takes on the young boys she finds living in the hut on the property. The sheriff who goes searching for her when kidnapped, not only finds her but begins helping her. Will they find love together? Will he leave her to get back to Denver city?...You'll have to read it and find out!

[C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Patience by Lori Copeland
Book 6 Brides of the West Collection

This beginning doesn't match the previous book's ending, but maybe the author had to fine tune it to make this story work.

God has a plan for each of us, but often we get our pans confused for God's!  This is the story of Patience, a woman of faith, but little patience!  In God's perfect timing, He either gives us what we want, or gives us what we need!  A perfect ending, but I hope there's another book in this series!

[Julynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Patience had much more perseverance than I would have in trying to make a living to provide for her loved ones by the mine she stumbled into owning. I enjoyed the softening of Sherriff Jay Longer's heart and faith journey. The addition of the 8 year old boy Wilson was a precious story line as well.

[Courtney T · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to love this book, but there were a couple references to the other books that the author got mixed up on. I caught where she referred to a scene from another book in the series but said it involved the wrong people.

It just seemed a bit confusing at times and I had to reread parts to make sure I got it right. Overall, a good ending to this series.

[Margaret Chind]

[Beverly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Generally I liked this one but there were aspects that were a stretch from reality. I recognize that it's entertainment so I expect some stretching from what would be true to the time period but these stretches were from reality at any time period.

[Denise Troutman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book!

This is a page turner, I loved it. It has some great laugh out loud moments. You can’t help but hope and pray for a wonderful ending all of the way through. Typical of really good stories, you can’t begin to fathom how it will all work out. Great read!

[Jenn H · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[bert-bobbi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good installment in this series.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Patience by Lori Copeland – Probably my favorite book in the series! Happy Reading!

[M · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not like it.

[Heather Montgomery · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sad to see the series end, there's 3 more characters who could've each had a story. As with all books I've read by Lori Copeland, I enjoyed them all.

[Linda Marvin]

Audiobook

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

This may be my favorite of the 6 books. Patience, Jay, and Wilson were such great characters, and their interplay and relationships were entertaining and awesome

[Sally Knapp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another amazing story line!

[Donna Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my "blind" date with a book pick for February. I'm not much on Western type stories. A sweet story none the less.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

the book patience, by Laurie copeland, is a wonderful easy to read Christian romance

[Shirley Yuhasz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this book first, 6th of Brides of the West series. All interesting faith based reads on harsh realities of mining years ago in early 1800's. Introduced to series by Patience & now have finished, Faith, June, Hope, Glory, Ruth.

[Lis K · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the sixth and last book in the Brides of the West series but only connected to book 4 ("Glory") and book 5 ("Ruth"). At the end of "Ruth," Patience is mistakenly kidnapped during a family feud. This book picks up the story as Patience escapes her captor and stumbles into a mine's dugout. She finds an 8-year old boy, Wilson, who is sick and alone. Meanwhile, Jay, the Denver City sheriff, is on the trail of the kidnapper and trying to find Patience. He ends up finding her but Patience will not return to Denver City. She wants to work the mine that she's found so she can establish a stable future for herself and her friends (who were failed mail-order brides). Patience and Jay butt heads as she tries to find a crew to work the mine and ropes Jay into helping her. Even though one disaster after another occurs and the mine fails to produce, Patience and Jay start to develop feelings for each other. Jay is resistant to a relationship due to wounds from his past, debts that he owes, and his anger towards God but Patience really lives up to her name. There were some pretty funny moments in this book, especially with Wilson who spoke like a grownup. Patience and Jay's push-pull relationship was comedic at times, too. The only thing I didn't understand was how Patience could stay away from Denver City for so long without sending any word to her friends. I liked that Patience talked to God throughout the story even though she tended to do what she is determined to do. Jay had to learn a lesson that God was still there even when he was angry at him. Overall, I enjoyed this funny read. It was a good ending to series. FYI, a character from Lori Copeland's Men of the Saddle series pops up at the end of this book!---4.5 stars.

[Gloria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This last book of the series does not complete all the girls' stories. The author notes that in her letter at the end of the book (at least one of these girls will show up in a different series, Men of the Saddle).

The book was both exciting and tedious - much like the gold mining running through most of this book. At first, Patience, or P, was kidnapped because she was mistaken for a bride from a feuding family. But the horse tipped over on the icy slopes, killing the kidnapper and throwing P free.

Patience found her way to a dugout where Wilson, a young boy, was sick. The old prospector who had taken him in was dead - so Patience took care of Wilson.

Jay, the sheriff in Denver City, went after the kidnapper to rescue Patience - and found her claiming the old prospector's gold mine, making friends with Chappy, refusing to go back to Denver City until she had money to support herself and the other three women who had been "mail-order brides" and been cheated.

The mine itself is a semi-character in the book - it is supposedly haunted with spooky sounds, cave-ins, large animals in small places, and a very talkative "ghost" who does know where the gold is hidden inside that mother-lode mine. Claim jumpers and conspiracies are also a hazard.

Two more stubborn people you probably have never met. And hurt, the pain so great that one or the other cannot see their way to trusting God.