First-Line Friday #56-The Heart of the Mountains

 Happy Friday, my bookish friends! Any plans for the weekend? I am planning to relax before we travel again at the end of the week.

Welcome back to First Line Friday hosted by Carrie at Reading is My SuperPower!! I am also linking up with Gilion on Rose City Reader for Book Beginnings. This is where you share the beginning of the book that you are reading. To join in the fun grab the book you are reading and leave a comment with the first line (or your link).  This week I am reading The Heart of the Mountains by Pepper Basham.

  Running away from an arranged marriage to the wilds of the Blue Ridge hadn't gone as Cora Taylor expected.

Book Beginnings:

Running away from an arranged marriage to the wilds of the Blue Ridge hadn't gone as Cora Taylor expected. Of course she'd anticipated a remote world, perhaps a step back in time, but utter destitution was another thing altogether. When she'd stepped from the train onto a platform with no depot, and one of the rather gruff trainmen ushered her toward a  rugged-looking building across the tracks with a sign that read Grocery, Cora contemplated returning to her cozy, cushioned seat aboard the steam engine and disappearing into the West.

About the book (Goodreads):

To escape a forced marriage, Cora Taylor travels from England to the Blue Ridge Mountains in search of her brother, who is working as a teacher in a mission school. She hopes to find a place where her nursing skills and independent ideas will be accepted and appreciated, but nothing prepares her for the wild mixture of isolation, community, brokenness, and hope within these mountains…or in the person of Jeb McAdams.
Returning from the devastation of World War 1 emotionally damaged, Jeb McAdams struggles against the rampant mountain alcoholism to soothe his nightmares. It’s easy to hide within the mountains, or it was, before Cora Taylor arrives. Now, she seems to show up at every turn, bringing her ideas, curiosity, and beautiful eyes with her. Their mutual understanding of the costs of war leads to an unspoken bond that develops into a hesitant friendship. As Cora turns her nursing experience and determination on establishing hygiene and education for women in the Appalachian community while also attempting to rescue Jeb from his own ghosts, Cora and Jeb’s partnership turns into a project of celebrating the gifts within Appalachia. But when the past sweeps back into their lives and an outbreak of scarlet fever threatens the future, will Cora and Jeb find a way to work together – even if it means unplanned matrimony – or will their different lives and brokenness tear them apart.

Your turn! Grab the current book you are reading and post the first line (or your link) in the comments! Then, click on the icons below and join the fun there too!