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These Healing Hills by Ann Gabhart

Francine Howard has her life all mapped out until the soldier she planned to marry at WWII's end writes to tell her he's in love with a woman in England. Devastated, Francine seeks a fresh start in the Appalachian Mountains, training to be a nurse midwife for the Frontier Nursing Service.

Deeply affected by the horrors he witnessed at war, Ben Locke has never thought further ahead than making it home to Kentucky. His future shrouded in as much mist as his beloved mountains, he's at a loss when it comes to envisioning what's next for his life.

When Francine's and Ben's paths intersect, it's immediately clear that they are from different worlds and value different things. But love has a way of healing old wounds . . . and revealing tantalizing new possibilities.

Available book locations
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
ChristianBook.com
Goodreads


Meet Ann H. Gabhart:

She is the bestselling author of several Shaker novels--The Outsider, The Believer, The Seeker, The Blessed, and The Gifted--as well as Angel Sister, Small Town Girl, Love Comes Home, Words Spoken True, and The Heart of Hollyhill series. She lives with her husband a mile from where she was born in rural Kentucky. Learn more at www.annhgabhart.com.
Ann's Website


My Take:
This was such a beautiful story. Although it started out with a vaguely familiar feel, and I kept saying to myself, "it seems like I have read this before or seen this somewhere", it didn't end that way. Once the first chapter was through, the story took on its own makeup. The characters were wonderful and I felt like I was there right in the center of it all. Maybe because I live in the hills, I was able to picture the book in a realistic way. Of course, it was set a little further back in time. :-) I fell in love with the families, especially the Locke family and Granny Em.

I loved the courage of the frontier nurses, especially Nurse Howard. The story focuses mostly on her, and she stands out above the rest, not just for her courage but for her willingness to love people and get involved in their lives at their level. She accepted who they were, where they were from, and wasn't there to change them, instead she was there to help them. Of course a little hint of romance between her and Ben, doesn't hurt the plot. Another favorite character for me was Sarge, the faithful snake killing Collie. 

I would highly recommend this book!

I received my copy courtesy of Revell. I was not required in any way to review positively and all opinions are my own.  

Comments

  1. I really liked this one too! It's a great story.

    ReplyDelete
  2. So glad you liked going to the mountains in my story. You too, Rachel!

    ReplyDelete

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