This book reached in deep and touched my soul. I immediately felt at home, safe and happy. Ann Gabhart knows how to weave a story from the words on a page, right into your heart.

The story takes place in 1945, and nurse, Francine Howard, is ready to make a change. She decides to leave Cincinnati and go to Kentucky, deep into the Appalacian mountains and learn to be a midwife. She falls in love with the mountains and the people. Adventure and love await her in these beautiful, but sometimes dangerous hills.

This is a book that I will read again. ( )

Francine has decided to leave the busy city she was accustomed to after her fiance broke off their engagement. She believes her calling is to work with the Frontier Nursing Service as a nurse midwife-in-training, and was placed in the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky. Life on these hills is very different from what she has known, but Fran has decided that she will make it work, especially since she has discovered that she loves "catching babies." What she does not expect, is to not only love midwifery, but also the hills, and the people that she cares for. While the hills are beginning to heal her heart, Fran finds herself more in love with Kentucky, and perhaps a certain young man that has just returned home from the war overseas.

These Healing Hills by Ann Gabhart was a very good book! I sincerely hope that there is a sequel in the making as I want to know what happens to everyone in this book! Thank you so much LibraryThing Early Reviewers for the wonderful book. I loved it so much, I recommended it to my mom...who read it and loved it too! ( )

An excellent historical fiction book. The descriptions on mountain life and the people who lived there are detailed and thorough. The story left me wanting to learn more on the Frontier Nursing Service. ( )

These Healing Hills captured me! I loved the characters, the life of the midwives and the mountain people they served. Francine Howard choses to leave her privileged life behind to become a Frontier Nurse in the Appalachian mountains after her boyfriend breaks off their relationship. Her mother is horrified and no one thinks she can manage the rough rigors of serving the mountain people. She wants to try but there's more to learn than bringing babies into the world. She meets a recently returned War II veteran, Ben Locke when she gets lost on the hill. They survive a deluge under a rock outcropping which starts an edgy relationship. Francine's faith in God deepens as her trials stretch her dealing with the mountain people.
I could say more but you really need to read it. The characters are full, complex, and real. The author's writing is superb..

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and Publishing. My comments are my own and was under no obligation to do so. ( )

Satisfying tale of life in Kentucky's Appalachian Mountains and set in post World War II. Readers of this book will not only enjoy the sweetest romance, but also learn about the Frontier Nursing Service, a program established in 1925 to provide midwifery and family health care to the hill people. ( )