The Healing Summer

De: Heather B. Moore

Narrado por: Nancy Peterson

Summer 1981

At the age of 94, 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 70 years, and now, widowed and childless, Maggie hopes to leave her estate to Orlando’s descendants. She invites her neighbor, 40-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.

About the Author

Heather B. Moore is a USA Today best-selling author who writes sweet romance. Under H.B. Moore, she writes historicals and thrillers. Under Jane Redd, she writes young adult. There are more than 9,000 five-star reviews for Heather's books on Goodreads!

©2021 Mirror Press (P)2022 Mirror Press

Heartwarming friendship, healing (clean) romance

The Healing Summer by Heather B. Moore (5 stars)

What a wonderful book! The characters, the events, the emotions all felt so real and so believable! It was part women’s fiction, part romance and it was heartwarming and tragic all at the same time.

Maggie is one of the main characters and she is a delight. She is 94 and has lived through so much and yet has lived her life with grace and purpose.

Jo is Maggie’s neighbor of 13 years and is going through a painful divorce. Maggie invites her to help on a personal quest: to find the man who rescued her during the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco.

The quest has healing and life-changing consequences for both women.

A heartwarming, book full of family, friendship, heartbreak, pain, romance, danger, mystery and art! I can’t say enough good about this story!

Narrator: (5 stars)

Nancy Petersen does great voices! She’s nailed the older woman’s voice and the main man has a deep, believable voice. Her children’s voices are even good, and those seem to be the most difficult to get right! Not only are her various voices excellent, but she reads with feeling and emotion…just excellent!!

Wonderful narrator

This is a fab book! I loved the nuances the narrator took to bring the story to life. Her different voices were easy to listen too and I enjoyed her interpretation of one of my favorite stories! Thank you!

Beautifully told overdue love story

No spoilers on this love story but the sweetness that comes across in the telling of a long overdue romance was sublime. The love and the healing that goes on with both our main characters Maggie and Joe, is in a word comforting. And just wait till you meet Antonio, he's kind of the perfect man and really enjoyable to read about. I loved the chemistry, angst, hard decisions, trust and love this story told. Also, if there was really an art gallery in San Francisco by these characters I'd go visit it! The images in my mind that the author put there are so tangible. Very well done Mrs. Moore.

Lastly, the narration was superb! The different voices and emotion behind the words were spot on. I will definitely be looking for more books narrated by Nancy Pearson.

5 stars, highly recommended clean romance.

I was given an audiobook copy by the Author. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A story of healing and starting anew

I wasn't sure what to expect from a book about a 94 year old woman who sets out to find the man who saved her life during the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco. I should've known I'd be pulled into Maggie's story like I'm pulled into every book by Heather B. Moore. That's because this book isn't just about Maggie looking for Orlando, it's about a friendship between two women, family, healing and opening yourself up to find love again after a divorce.

Maggie asks her recently divorced neighbor, Jo, to take a trip with her to find the man who saved her 75 years ago, or at least one of his children or grandchildren. Jo is recently divorced and with her son spending the summer with his father, she has no reason to say no. What follows is the beginning of a great friendship between these two women and a journey of healing and some life changes for Jo.

I'd love to be like Maggie, especially at the age of 94. She's lived her life but never forgotten the young man she met and fell in love with during that horrible earthquake and it's aftermath. Although she'd tried many times to find Orlando, she'd never succeeded, and given her age and health Maggie knew this was her last chance. I liked that we got to see parts of Maggie's earlier life when she first met Orlando.

I really liked Jo, and having been divorced I understood all the things she was feeling, and how hard it was for her to let her son visit his father for the summer. I was happy she decided to take Maggie up on her offer of traveling with her to find Orlando. I loved watching Jo heal and make changes in her life when she returned from her trip with Maggie. It's not easy to open your heart again after a divorce and I loved watching Jo let Antonio into her life. Although there's some romance in this story, I feel it's not the main focus of the book.

The narrator Nancy Peterson is amazing! She's become one of my favorite narrators as she's able to do so many voices and get the emotions of the characters across. She easily switched between 94 year old Maggie and 30 something Jo plus all the other characters in this wonderful story of healing and starting over.

An Old Fashioned Love Story

I enjoyed The Healing Summer. Very original storyline. All the main characters were very likable. Being a California native I especially liked the setting of San Francisco and the history.

An amazing journey

My thoughts about this book:

• I loved listening to this novel. Nancy Peterson does an excellent job with her narration.


• The author was able to snag my interest right from the beginning and kept it until the very end of the book.


• I felt like I took an amazing summer journey of healing with Jo, Maggie, and Antonio. My emotions traveled with the characters.


• I also felt like I was part of the quest to find out what happened to Maggie's Orlando Gallo after the San Francisco earthquake of 1906.

At my request, I was given a complimentary copy of this audiobook from the author. I have voluntarily left my review and my opinions were my own. I highly recommend this book.

finding love

Jo's life is been turned upside down. Her divorce broke her heart and now her son is going with his father and his fiancé for the summer. When her elder neighbor Maggie ask her help to find her first love little does she know that the journey to San Francisco will also heal her heart and she will find love and happinness again. Nancy Peterson does an amazing job with this wonderdul story and all the emotions the characters go through. Great audiobook

Tender, contemporary/historical romance

The layers of healing in this story were tender to witness. True love and moving forward in life were championed. The narrator did an excellent job with character voices.