Book Review - An Appalachian Summer by Ann H. Gabhart

An Appalachian Summer by Ann H. Gabhart is set in the mountains of Kentucky in 1933, where Mary Breckinridge established a Frontier Nursing Service to help primarily with midwifery.  This book focuses more on the couriers, who are privileged young women who come to the mountains to help with the horses and running errands to support the work of the nurse midwives.  In this story, Piper is one such young woman who is a reluctant debutante from Louisville.  She seeks adventure and escape, and her summer unfolds predictably.  This is a sweet but unsurprising novel.  The mountain and nature descriptions do give the reader a feel for the place, and that is the strength of the book.  It does feel like a Hallmark story, where you know what's going to happen, but it's a pleasant ride to get there.  I do feel that her other book on the Frontier Nursing Service, These Healing Hills, was much better.  In this one, the main character seems to have everything fall into place for her with little need to stretch much.  Overall, this is an easy summer romance, but nothing particularly compelling. 

I received this book from the publisher, Revell, for the purpose of writing a review, but all opinions are my own.