These Healing Hills by Ann H Gabhart - REVEIWED

About the Book:
Francine Howard has her life all mapped out--until the man she loves announces his plans to bring home an English bride from war-torn Europe in 1945. 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.

My Thoughts:

“Perhaps the Lord had put her right where she was supposed to be.”  (p. 59)

Ann Gabhart inserted a prophetic word over Francine Howard’s life early in her latest novel, These Healing Hills.  I was totally drawn into this novel from the very first pages.  Francine (Fran to the other characters in the novel) followed her heart into the midwifery calling, but discovered the truth of God’s Word when God worked things out for her good and His glory. 

We are able to watch Fran fall in love with her calling, and then with the people of Kentucky – Ben  Locke in particular.  I was so excited to learn all about the Frontier Nursing and that it was indeed founded in the 1920’s, and can STILL be chosen as an education option today!! (isn’t Google fun!)  Anyway, Fran finds herself in the hills of Kentucky at the end of WWII, and while she is following her own dreams of a nursing career in midwifery, she is also making a fresh start for herself after being jilted by the man she thought she would marry at the end of the war.

This book is so well-written that the characters leap from the pages into your heart!!  Granny Em and Willie will win you over quickly, as will the rest of the nurses!  And I can’t forget Sarge!  You’ll get to know and love him too!  The community is so connected and vibrant, you will find yourself totally immersed in story and having a hard time finding a stopping point!  Enjoy the journey, readers!! I certainly did!  You don’t want to miss this!!

About the Author:

Ann H. Gabhart 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.