The Healing Summer By Heather B. Moore-Book Review

 

Product Details

• Title: The Healing Summer
• Author: Heather B. Moore
• Publisher : Mirror Press (March 7, 2021)
• Genre: Women's Contemporary Fiction/Romance
• Language : English
• Hardcover : 231 pages
• ISBN-10 : 1952611164

• ***I voluntarily reviewed a copy I won in a contest. All opinions are my own***

Book Summary

Summer 1981 

At the age of ninety-four, Maggie Howard’s final wish is to return to San Francisco and find out what happened to the young man who saved her life in 1906 after the disastrous earthquake and fires that devastated the city. They’d been trapped beneath a collapsed roof for hours, injured and unable to call for help.The morning of their rescue, Orlando Gallo promised he would find her again. But Maggie hasn’t seen or heard from him in over seventy years, and now, widowed and childless, Maggie hopes to leave her estate to Orlando’s descendants. She invites her neighbor, forty-year-old Jo Sampson, to travel with her, and as the two women return to San Francisco to track down Orlando, they form a strong bond of friendship and healing that transcends time and place.

***This book is part of the A Place to Belong: A Collection of 12 Heartwarming Novels with Animal Sidekicks boxset.***

My Review

The Healing Summer follows the journey of Maggie Howard who is 94 years old. Back in 1906 her life was saved by a handsome, young Italian, named Orlando Gallo after a horrible earthquake struck San Francisco. They are stuck for hours under the rubble. During this time the two fall in love but sadly lose track of each other after they leave the hospital. You can so feel the connection between the two characters. The yearning that Maggie has to see Orlando again is so strong, even so many years later.

I felt so bad for Maggie even though she went on to marry a very wealthy man. She never was able to have any children of her own. In her old age she tries searching for Orlando's descendants to leave them her wealth. Maggie takes her sweet neighbor Josephine, a recently divorced lady on the trip with her.

Both women have many internal struggles as they deal with their current situations in life. My heart hurt for Jo as her divorce was still so fresh. It's hard for her to go on with her life after everything was taken away. This character brought out many feelings in me as I recalled the amount of hurt you feel when a divorce leaves you raw and hurting. Maggie and Jo's relationship grows into one of true friendship and support that both women needed at this time in their lives. I also loved what happened once the women got to California. I'm not saying anything else because I was thrilled by so much of it! How do you feel with me leaving you wanting to know more? I'll leave a little clue in Italian which I'm learning to speak. L'ho adorato e un certo uomo che mi ha rubato il cuore.

Just know that author Heather Moore writes beautiful stories with characters that stay with you long after reading the book. I loved The Healing Summer and the messages of renewal and hope you'll find within its pages.

****Purchase The Healing Summer HERE***

https://amzn.to/3fhxgzu

Meet Author Heather B. Moore

 There are more than 9,000 5-star reviews for Heather's books on Goodreads! Heather B. Moore is a USA Today bestselling author of more than seventy publications. Her historical novels and thrillers are written under pen name H.B. Moore. She writes women's fiction, romance and inspirational non-fiction under Heather B. Moore. Under Jane Redd, she writes Young Adult.  This can all be confusing, so her kids just call her Mom.

 Heather attended Cairo American College in Egypt, the Anglican School of Jerusalem in Israel, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Brigham Young University in Utah. Heather is represented by Dystel, Goderich, and Bourret.

Please join Heather's email list at: HBMoore.com/contact/
Blog: MyWritersLair.blogspot.com
Website: HBMoore.com
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More books by Heather B. Moore

PROSPERITY RANCH:
One Summer Day
Steal My Heart
Not Over You

PINE VALLEY SERIES:
Worth the Risk
Where I Belong
Say You Love Me
Waiting for You
Finding Us
Until We Kissed

FALLING SERIES:
Falling for Sydney
Falling for Maria
Falling for June
Falling for Lucy

TANGERINE STREET ROMANCE SERIES:
The Fortune Café
The Boardwalk Antiques Shop
The Mariposa Hotel
Delilah's Desserts

THE NEWPORT LADIES BOOK CLUB SERIES:
Athena
Ruby’s Secret
Tying the Knot

HISTORICAL ROMANCE:
Love is Come
An Ocean Away
A Fortunate Exile
A Season in London
Mail Order Bride
Heart of the Ocean
Power of the Matchmaker
Twelve Months
The Duke's Brother

TIMELESS ROMANCE ANTHOLOGIES:
Winter Collection
Spring Vacation Collection
Summer Wedding Collection
California Dreamin’ Collection
Valentine’s Day Collection
And more!

Literary awards: 2019 Maggie Award Winner, ALA Best New Books - September 2020, 6-time Best of State Recipient for Best in Literary Arts, 4-time Whitney Award Winner, and 2-time Golden Quill Award Winner