The Mountain Midwife

I really enjoyed this book for the most part. I Love that it is about a middle-aged widdow! That she looks pretty but not abnormally so. That she worrries just a tiny bit about her grey hair or if she is getting wrinkles. That she sometimes struggles spiritually. She is HUMAN! As a Mother I love childbirth, as a woman I love midwifery. As mom of a 14 yr old daughter who wants to read all my Christia novels, this one is too detailed in the birth scenes for me to allow that.
I loved the comunication, by play and communication between the MC and her fella...
EXCEPT the twit! That part of the story doesn't fit! Would she chase-yes.
Would he be flattered and have his head turnened, ego stroked, -yes, yes, yes.
Would the town gossip?- You bet!
Rumors of marriage- Yep Her. Believe said rumors-Oh Yes!
But, Him actually plan...no Not if we are to believe the rest of the bud up in the whole book, AND I DID!

This book was given to me by Net Galley to read and give my honest review, which I have done here.

I enjoyed this story. What stops it from getting a higher rating or stronger recommendation from me is I felt a bit knocked over the head multiple times that the main character Ashley Tolliver has regret about coming home to take up the family midwife practice instead of going on to become a doctor, as was her career focus at exclusion of relationships. I think those are reasonable internal tensions for the character, but it was overwritten and would have been more powerful if it were subtle. There is a lot of social class (and rural vs more urban) worldview clashes in the book, which was something I thought was important for the characters and generally really effective. Also, I'm not a big fan of over-focus on one "dreamy" feature of a person. But beyond those quirks, I enjoyed the book.

An excellent, powerful story which had me drawn in from the beginning.

Well done. Engaging characters and a lovely story.

Well past my child-bearing years and never interested in any type medical career, I was uncertain if I would find “The Mountain Midwife” to be a book I would enjoy. I need not have been concerned. This book was an enthralling romantic suspense with an Appalachian mountain setting that held my interest from its very first pages.

The author did a marvelous job with fully developed characters to whom I could relate. Ashley Tolliver was a compassionate woman whose dedication to the women of her community was commendable yet she was unaware of just how important a role she played. When Hunter showed up in search of the woman who claimed to be his mother, she found herself drawn into his quest as well as her own search for the mysterious young woman who had disappeared soon after Ashley delivered her baby.

The well-written plot moved along at a steady pace with ample drama, humor, mystery, and romance to whet any reader’s appetite. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the mountains in the company of Ashley and Hunter and was left wanting more. I am hoping for a sequel to this marvelous novel.