The Heart of the Mountains is one of those stories that I didn’t want to end. Actually, I’d quite like to be in the Blue Ridge mountains hanging out with Cora and Jeb. Cora found herself under pressure to marry a creep. To escape him, she flees England, to the mountains where her brother is serving in a mission school. Cora nursed at the Front during the Great War and knows the signs of a fellow survivor.

Jeb McAdams is just such a person and is carrying a lot of guilt because his friend did not return with him. Cora’s brother is married to Jeb’s sister and when he rescues her from a mountain lion, the two strike up an uneasy friendship that blossoms to more.

The first thing that struck me was how quickly the characters wormed their way into my heart. Cora with her post war stoicism and Jeb with his brave but determined recovery from the horrors of the front.

As you’d hope with a story set in Appalachia (a word Pepper herself taught me to pronounce correctly), the description of the surrounding mountains is beautiful. But my favorite part of The Heart of the Mountains is the way the mountain characters jump from the pages. Each one is vividly painted with cleverly chosen words.

There are a number of tricky situations and the power of salvation winds its way in very nicely too. There are several very clever twists throughout and this book was a pleasure to read.

This is a wonderful story and highly recommended for those who enjoy historical romance.