Search This Blog

2024 Bookish Books Reading Challenge (Hosted by Yours Truly)

2024 Challenge Sign-Up Post

January Reviews Link-Up

February Reviews Link-Up

March Reviews Link-Up

April Reviews Link-Up

May Reviews Link-Up

June Reviews Link-Up

July Reviews Link-Up

August Reviews Link-Up

September Reviews Link-Up

October Reviews Link-Up

November Reviews Link-Up

December Reviews Link-Up

My Progress:


9 / 30 books. 30% done!

2024 Literary Escapes Challenge

- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California (3)
- Colorado (1)
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho (2)
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana (1)
- Maine (1)
- Maryland
- Massachusetts (1)
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York (1)
- North Carolina (1)
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon (2)
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee (1)
- Texas (1)
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia (1)
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
- Washington, D.C.*

International:
- Australia (1)
- Canada (1)
- England (5)
- France (1)
- Ireland (1)
- Scotland (1)
- The Netherlands (1)

My Progress:


12 / 51 states. 24% done!

2024 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

My Progress:


10 / 50 words. 20% done!

2024 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge


15 / 50 books. 30% done!

Booklist Queen's 2024 Reading Challenge

My Progress:


32 / 50 books. 64% done!

2024 52 Club Reading Challenge

My Progress:


27 / 52 books. 52% done!

2024 Build Your Library Reading Challenge

My Progress:


21 / 40 books. 53% done!

2024 Pioneer Book Reading Challenge


13 / 40 books. 33% done!

2024 Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge

My Progress:


5 / 25 books. 20% done!

2024 Medical Examiner's Mystery Reading Challenge

2024 Mystery Marathon Reading Challenge

My Progress


17 / 26.2 miles. 65% done!

Mount TBR Reading Challenge

My Progress


15 / 100 books. 15% done!

2024 Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge

My Progress:


34 / 104 books. 33% done!

Around the Year in 52 Books Reading Challenge

My Progress


31 / 52 books. 60% done!

Disney Animated Movies Reading Challenge

My Progress


32 / 165 books. 19% done!
Saturday, September 26, 2020

Appalachian Midwifery Novel Engaging and Uplifting

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

Ashley Tolliver is a 29-year-old nurse-midwife who descends from a long line of women dedicated to caring for Appalachian mothers and babies.  Everyone in the small community of Brooksburg, Virginia, knows they can trust her to treat them with kindness, discretion, and skill.  Although Ashley longs to attend medical school, she's as loyal to her patients as they are to her.  They need her more than she needs an M.D.

In the six years Ashley has been working as a midwife, she's sure she's seen it all.  Then a young mother is abducted minutes after giving birth in Ashley's home office.  Bleeding profusely, the new mom needs to be in the hospital, as does her newborn.  Desperate to get the pair the emergency medical attention they need, Ashley vows to find them.

Ashley's in the middle of dealing with the crisis when Hunter McDermott shows up at her door.  A 32-year-old engineer from Arlington, he's searching for the Appalachian birth mother he never knew he had.  As she helps the handsome adoptee uncover the real story of his birth and ancestry, Ashley finds herself reconsidering both her professional goals and the possibilities of an unexpected romance.  Could everything she's ever wanted really be waiting for her just beyond the hills her family has always called home?  Does she have the courage to put her needs before her patients' for once?  Or will she forever be the woman who delivers children for others but never has a family of her own?

Ever since Call the Midwife aired, people have become fascinated with the profession—and by "people," I mean me.  I'm also drawn to stories about Appalachia, so The Mountain Midwife by Laurie Alice Eakes was kind of a no-brainer read for me.  Did I end up adoring the novel?  No.  Did I enjoy it overall?  I did.  Although I found Ashley's sometimes holier than thou attitude annoying, she's still a brave, dedicated, hardworking heroine for whom I had no trouble rooting.  The novel's setting intrigued me, of course, and I appreciated Eakes' sympathetic but balanced portrayal of Appalachia's hill people.  Plot-wise, The Mountain Midwife is engaging and compelling.  When I picked this book up, I didn't realize it was a Christian novel; thankfully, the book's religious elements are mostly subtle and not too preachy.  Just the way I prefer them.  On the whole, then, The Mountain Midwife worked for me as it's clean, uplifting, and entertaining.  I'll definitely be on the lookout for more from Eakes.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of The Midwife of Hope River by Patricia Harman as well as Call the Midwife, which is based on the memoirs of Jennifer Worth)

Grade:


If this were a movie, it would be rated:


for violence, scenes of peril, and disturbing subject matter

To the FTC, with love:  Another library fine find

Blog Widget by LinkWithin


Reading

<i>Reading</i>
End of Story by A.J. Finn

Listening

<i>Listening</i>
My Contrary Mary by Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, and Jodi Meadows



Followin' with Bloglovin'

Follow

Followin' with Feedly

follow us in feedly



Grab my Button!


Blog Design by:


Blog Archive



2024 Reading Challenge

2024 Reading Challenge
Susan has read 0 books toward her goal of 200 books.
hide

2023 - Middle Grade Fiction

2023 - Middle Grade Fiction

2022 - Middle Grade Fiction

2022 - Middle Grade Fiction

2021 - Middle Grade Fiction

2021 - Middle Grade Fiction

2020 - Middle Grade Fiction

2020 - Middle Grade Fiction