The Heart Of The Mountains by Pepper Basham

 

"But prayin' is where we admit we ain't lords of our own lives, nor of any lives, to be true. And, as I study on it, God uses prayin' to change my heart into what He's wantin' it to be in sun or rain, 'cause I'm trustin' in His love and His plan." ~Mama McAdams

Pepper Basham returns us to the Blue Ridge mountains and the families we met in Laural's Dream. In The Heart Of The Mountains. I really enjoyed visiting with the McAdams family. Pepper has a way of bringing her characters to life, giving them challenges and joys that keep one reading well past their bedtime. I think Jeb and Cora are two of my favorite mountain characters followed closely by Jeb's mama Caroline McAdams.  So brew up a pitcher of sun tea and a stack of molasses cookies to enjoy while reading The Heart Of The Mountains.

I was given a copy of The Heart Of The Mountains by the publisher with no expectations. All thoughts are my own.

From Amazon:

Can their hearts overcome the darkness of the mountains?
 
To escape a forced marriage, Cora Taylor travels from England to the Blue Ridge Mountains in search of her brother, who is working as a teacher in a mission school. She hopes to find a place where her nursing skills and independent ideas will be accepted and appreciated, but nothing prepares her for the wild mixture of isolation, community, brokenness, and hope within these mountains…or in the person of Jeb McAdams.
 
Returning from the devastation of World War 1 emotionally damaged, Jeb McAdams struggles against the rampant mountain alcoholism to soothe his nightmares. It’s easy to hide within the mountains, or it was, before Cora Taylor arrived. Now, she seems to show up at every turn, bringing her modern ideas, curiosity, and beautiful eyes with her.
 
Bound by their shared war history, the pair develop an unlikely friendship, which unexpectedly hints to something more. But when Cora’s desire to help the women of the mountains crosses an unspoken line, will Jeb be able to protect this feisty flatlander from the wrath of the mountain men or will he end up losing much more than his heart? 

About the author:

Pepper Basham is an award-winning author who writes romance peppered with grace and humor with a southern Appalachian flair. Her books have garnered recognition in the Grace Awards, Inpsys, and the ACFW Carol Awards, with The Thorn Healer, selected as a 2018 finalist in the RT awards. Both her contemporary and historical romance novels consistently receive high ratings from Romantic Times, with Just the Way You Are as a Top Pick. Most recently she’s introduced readers to Bath, UK through her novellas, Second Impressions and Jane by the Book, and taken readers into the exciting world of WW2 espionage in her novella, Façade. The second novel in The Pleasant Gap series, When You Look at Me, arrives in October and her contribution to Barbour’s wonderful My Heart Belongs series hits the shelves in January 2019 with My Heart Belongs in the Blue Ridge. Her books are seasoned with her Appalachian heritage and love for family. She currently resides in the lovely mountains of Asheville, NC where she is the mom of five great kids, a speech pathologist to about fifty more, and a lover of chocolate, jazz, hats, and Jesus.

You can get to know Pepper on her website, www.pepperdbasham.com, on Facebook, Instagram, or over at her group blog, The Writer's Alley