The Mountain Midwife

October 12, 2015
Eakes (Choices of the Heart) brings her historical Midwives inspirational romance series into a present-day setting, introducing Ashley, the latest in a long line of Cherrett/Tolliver midwives. Ashley Tolliver is well-known in her small Virginia mountain community as a woman to be trusted not only to deliver babies, but to nurture those under her care. Yet her town has little patience for her desire to concentrate attention on children of her own. When a very young mother arrives at her examination room long enough to give birth and then disappear with the baby, Ashley must bring all of her resources to bear in order to ensure the mother and child live. Her paths cross with reluctant hero Hunter McDermott, son of prominent Washington, D.C., lawyers, who comes to Brooks Ridge, Va., to solve a mystery of his own. Inconsistent in its demonstrations of faith, and rife with exaggerated stereotypes of Appalachian culture, the tale focuses primarily on protagonists’ heightened sense of self-discovery, more the result of extended inner reflection than the mysteries both are faced with or their budding romantic relationship. Agent: Tamela Hancock Murray, Steve Laube Agency

November 15, 2015
Ashley Tolliver put aside her dreams of becoming a doctor in order to stay in her small Appalachian town in Virginia and serve the women of her community as a midwife, as have generations of women in her family before her. Ashley holds out hope of one day being able to achieve her full medical vocation, but for now she works tirelessly to make sure that all who come to her are safe and well cared for, whatever their circumstances. She begins to question her future when Hunter McDermott comes into her life on a personal mission from Washington, D.C. Hunter is seeking information about his birth mother, and Ashley cautiously agrees to help him. Hunter and Ashley approach each other with preconceived notions but soon surprise each other by beginning to build trust and hope during their quest to learn the truth about Hunter's birth family. Eakes (Necessary Deception, 2011) traces a slow-blooming romance in this compelling tale of the search for a meaningful calling, and of women who will risk everything for their children.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)