Chaney’s one desire is to help people.  As a doctor, she has the ability but not necessarily the opportunity.  This has proven to be one of the many challenges she faces.   

Off on a new adventure to the Ozark Mountains in rural Arkansas, Chaney and her male nurse Shiloh endure hardships they hadn’t even imagined. (Well, Shiloh had, but not Chaney.)  The author, Lynn Morris, again has a co-author in book two, her already famous father and author, Gilbert Morris.  They have written a story that pulls at the heart.  The characters are wonderfully real, refreshingly human, and often cantankerous.  These self-reliant and independent people of the mountains take a while to learn to trust but they are full of love for their kin and the people who become “adopted” kin.  There are even a few critters that are more family than pets.  

If you love historical fiction, this might be a fun read for you.  With lots of local color, twists that become slightly creepy at times, and a good bit of historical detail, this book easily kept me flipping pages.  The authors, having lived in the Ozark Mountains, painted word pictures that transport the reader to these beautiful mountains.  The tall trees covering the hills, the cool wind off the lake, and a sea of stars at night all create a beautiful setting for a great story.   

This story shows a growing relationship between Chaney and God.  Although a little superstitious and surrounded by folklore, most of the people of the mountains also have a firm reliance on God and the Bible.  Written in a way that is not preachy, their faith is represented throughout the story in realistic ways.

This story, crafted with care, was a pleasure to read.  It was fun to “meet” the people of the mountain and I look forward to Chaney and Shiloh’s next adventure in A City Not Forsaken.  There are eight books in this series with an additional three in The Inheritance Series.

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  None

Violence/Gore:  Man points a gun at another man; a feud between families with promised violence; somebody shoots at a young woman and a man, woman hurt by flying debris; a horse caught in an animal trap, some description, not gory; a man is afraid of snakes, accidentally knocks a woman down trying to get away; man bit by snake; memories of a man who teased a young boy with a snake; 3 deer butchered, cut up, & smoked, slightly descriptive and bloody; men threaten woman and threaten to burn down her home; man shot and killed, descriptive, bloody (several pages long); a gun fight between families, several shot & bleeding, somewhat descriptive but not gory; woman has a seizure; man catches little girl doing something, points a gun at her; woman shot and killed; funeral pyre; man hits another man in the face with the butt of a gun; men hunt down another man; man stabbed in the back; man shot dead.

Sex/Nudity:  Man and woman hug and kiss; woman implies a man spent the night at her house.

Mature Subject Matter:

Superstition, families feuding for years, business corruption & ethics, gender in timeframe, death of husband.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

None