Thank you NetGalley for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Moonlight Healers follows the story of Louise, a young woman who experiences a traumatic experience with her best friend and saves his life, and her great grandmother Helene, living as a nurse during World War II. The novel alternates between both of these characters as they grapple with the magical healing abilities they possess, one that is hereditary between women in their ancestry line. While I did not like this writing too much — I feel like it could’ve been done better and captured me more if it had more delicate and meaningful writing. I did love these characters, and I loved the magic that they used and how it was described.

My other issue with this wasn’t the novel itself but the E-ARC I received. The formatting on my kindle was awful, and looking at it on my mobile app I noticed there were beer emojis separating a bunch of the paragraphs… very weird.

"A powerful debut with a magical twist about one woman's discovery of her family's secret healing abilities and the mysterious consequences she must contend with when she uses them on someone she loves.

For generations, the Winston women have possessed an unspoken magical gift: they can heal with the touch of a hand. It's a tradition they've always had to practice in secret, in the moonlight hours, when the fireflies dance and the whippoorwill birds sing.

But not every healer has rightfully passed on this knowledge to her descendants, and for young Louise Winston, the discovery of her abilities comes in less-than-ideal circumstances - she brings her best friend back from death following an accident, the day after he professed his long-held feelings for her, five days before she's supposed to move away.

Desperate for answers, and to avoid this new reality between them, Louise escapes to her grandmother's lush Appalachian orchard. There, she uncovers her family's hidden history in a tattered journal, stemming back to her brave great-grandmother who illicitly healed Allied soldiers in war-torn France. But just as Louise begins to embrace her unique legacy, she learns that it can also come with a mysterious cost. And with a life hanging in the balance, she'll be forced to make the most impossible of choices...

Spanning eighty years, The Moonlight Healers is a deeply empathetic, heartfelt novel about mothers and daughters, life and death, and the beautiful resilience of love."

Definitely a Pushing Daisies vibe.

A beautiful journey into history, healing, family legacies, and the magical thread that ties it all together! This is the type of story that breaks your heart and puts it back together again.

Along the way we follow two generations of women who discover a magical gift of healing and their struggles of exactly what that means for them and how it fits into their lives. After a tragic car accident, Louise accidentally brings her best friend and blossoming love, Peter, back to life. This unravels a whole web of secrets that have been kept from her by the previous generations of women in her family. The tale weaves in and out with the heroic tale of her great grandmother, Helene, discovering her own gift in war-torn France.

This isn’t be type of story I would normally pick up, but I am SO glad that I did! It was a quick read that kept my attention, and gave me all of the emotions. If you like historical fiction, then this is DEFINITELY for you - and the subtle addition of fantasy was icing on the cake!

What a beautiful, beautiful story! Not all choices are easy, and this book confronts the hard decisions and responsibilities that come with gifts! I will definitely read other works by this author in the future! Go pick it up and check it out for yourself!

really enjoyed this although the subject matter for one POV was difficult to read about in the current state of America 2025 (lots of internal screaming and external crying reading about the affects of occupation of France during WWII and thinking about how America is trending….just dread). That being said this book was a message of hope. In this book we follow a line of women who pass on healing abilities through the maternal bloodline and this ability is only passed on to women. We meet Louise in 2019 where she has just brought her friend Peter back from the dead and learns about her families abilities through her mother and grandmother. We also meet Helene in 1942 France where he mother is sending her away for her safety to serve as a nurse. As the story continues we see how these narratives weave together and eventually inform the next generation. I found this story to be touching and heart wrenching (especially toward the end of the novel when several revelations occur that raise the stakes of Louise’s current predicament). By the end of this novel I was bawling over the bittersweet conclusion and story of love through the ages.


Thank you to Elizabeth Becker, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and NetGalley for approving this ARC.

This was a truly touching, inspiring, heartfelt novel. Being a nurse myself (and my grandmother having been a nurse), it really resonates with me. It’s well-written with lovable characters, it made me cry at the end! Loved the element of the past tying in with the future and the lessons of life and death.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the Arc in exchange for my honest little review!

Firstly, I usually dont gravitate with books that go from past and present but this wasn’t the case, because the author made it so enjoyable and easy to understand. The magic system I think could use a little more work, in a way to explain more on how things are actually done. I did enjoy the healing aspect of it though.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the Arc!

Honestly this was such a lovely book about Healers and nurses. It really does feel like a letter of appreciation of the hard work nurses do for patients. The back and forth of Helene and Louise feels natural and isn't so Info dumpy, which makes the beginning feel slow at first, but eventually pick up. Th characters feel humane and one can really connect to them in a spiritual level. Overall a great read that takes time to build up, but gives an amazing story about a family and the secrets they have to keep.

This book took me by surprise! I typically do not love when a book switches the timeline between past and present, but Elizabeth Becker did so in a way that did not feel complicated or confusing and lead to a really enjoyable reading experience. I wish that the magic and fantasy aspect played a larger portion in this book and felt as though that aspect could have been expanded on a bit but the use of the magic system and the 'healer' ability was truly beautiful. This book is a perfect example of magical realism that touches the heart with its deep emotional ties and is sure to leave a lasting impression on readers.

The Moonlight Healers is a debut novel that beautifully combines historical fiction with magical realism. The Winston women have passed down the ability for healing, to the daughters in the family for generations. To keep their healing a secret, the women have always practiced during the moonlight hours. But not all of the women have passed down the knowledge of this ability to their daughters. Helene knows of her ability and is struggling with how to use it during the devastation of WWII, in war-torn France. Louise is the most recent healer, in a long line of women before her, but her mother and grandmother have kept it a secret from her. She discovers her ability, when she is involved in an accident with her childhood friend/love interest, and now the women in her family have to reveal their past and make difficult decisions for their future.

Make sure you get your tissues ready for this book! I felt more of an emotional pull to Helene’s story, because of her timeline during WWII. Becker really pulls on the reader’s heartstrings with Helene, Agnes, Elisabeth/Irene, and Cecilia’s individual stories. But, Louise does face an impossible choice at the end of the book, and it’s such a bittersweet, sad moment in her life. Becker does a really great job of showing how the healing ability has affected five generations of women, and the conflict it has caused in their lives. But she also shows their resilience and their love for using the healing to help others pass on with comfort and peace.

This story really honors nurses and highlights the emotional trauma that they have to deal with in their job, and the wide range of patients that are in their care. Becker really explores the question of having the right to offer life and death, and if the death of a horrible person is justified to save someone you love.

If you love historical fiction following generations of women, who share a deep connection and a family secret, when faced with impossible choices that make each of them stronger, then I would highly recommend The Moonlight Healers.

Such a great fantasy story with a touch of women empowerment. A girl who has to step it up to fulfill a legacy and her place in this world.

This book wasn’t exactly as I expected it to be. Which isnt a bad thing, it was just different. I expected romance with the friend. Anyways. I absolutely loved how the book flips back, and forth between past, and present. I love when information is given slowly throughout the book, instead of dumped at the beginning. It makes for a much more enjoyable reading experience, and this one did that perfectly. I think this one really did well highlighting women’s strengths. I loved the relationships, and the emotional depths in the story. It really had me very invested. This book really leaves you thinking about mortality a little when you finish it, and what if you were in those situations. How would you respond with that power.

This is a Womens Fiction with historical, and fantasy themes. There is a small amount of romance, but the book remains very plot driven. The book moves at a steady pace following Louise after a tragic accident where she brings her best friend back to life, and learns she is descended from a line of healers. Only all this healing isnt as simple as it seems, and may come with a cost. This book is mysterious, and emotional. A perfect gripping read for a readers heart.

Louise and Peter in 2019. They are both long time friends except Peter is just spraying the I love you on her as soon as she is about to go to college. Louise felt it was cliche but, wanting to drive her home and knowing he is drunk out of their minds is so stupid of him, let’s be honest here. It would have sucked if he died in the beginning because that gives a different light to the story. Louise saw Peter’s neck broken but when the medics got there they were able to revive him and he was breathing fine because Louise is a healer.

Helene and Maman Agnes, 1942

Cecelia had Helene hide her abilities and practice healing the modern way. She didn’t believe what Agnes believed in at all.

Louise has been deemed as a healer and her grandmother Camille is able to show her that her hands are powerful since the day she was born. Her mother Bobbie aka Barbara is one of those people who just doesn’t want to deal with it at all. She seems to not want to be around her mother for too long either. I wasn’t sure what that was about but, once reading on it seems like they just needed to talk about the healer situation further.

I liked the fact that it was more so on the relationships of mothers and daughters and being able to heal like how nurses do. Nurses need more recognition than what they already get. Women in general in this story made it more stronger when seeing the healing powers that were strong when they had enough feeling for the person or just really believed that person should be alive. The back and forth of the timelines was great because you got to see the origin lines of how Helene and Louise kind of discovered their healing capabilities.

**A Beautifully Emotional Story with Just a Touch of Magic
3.75/5 Stars

*The Moonlight Healers* by Elizabeth Becker is one of those books that sticks with you. It’s a story about generations of women in the Winston family who have a rare and powerful gift: the ability to heal others by taking their pain away. But, as you might guess, that kind of gift comes with some pretty heavy consequences.

The book starts with Helene, a young nurse working in a WWII hospital in France, who discovers her healing powers in the middle of all the chaos. She has nothing to guide her but her mom’s old journal of remedies, and it’s heartbreaking to see her wrestle with the cost of her abilities. Fast forward to present-day Appalachia, where Louise, Helene’s great-granddaughter, accidentally brings her friend back to life. That moment sends her on a journey to learn more about her family’s magical history.

What really stood out to me was how much heart this book has. The way Becker writes about pain, loss, and healing is so raw and real—I definitely teared up more than once. The bits of magic, like the moon and the old grimoire-like journal, added a nice touch of whimsy and mystery to balance the heavier themes.

That said, I wish the magic had been a bigger part of the story. The title made me think the moonlight would play a bigger role, and I would’ve loved more backstory about how the Winston family got their gift in the first place. It felt like there was room for a little more magic to even out all the emotional weight.

Still, this book spoke to me on a deep level. If you’re into magical realism, love stories about family, or work in healthcare, you’ll probably really connect with this one. It’s not a light read, but it’s absolutely worth it if you’re in the mood for something heartfelt and bittersweet.

"The Moonlight Healers" explodes onto the scene with a captivating first chapter that throws you headfirst into the emotional turmoil of Louise, a young woman on the precipice of adulthood. The author's masterful storytelling keeps you glued to the page as Louise's world is shattered by a devastating car accident, leaving you desperate to know what happens next.

But this is just the beginning. The narrative masterfully weaves between two timelines: Louise's present-day journey of self-discovery as she embraces her newfound healing abilities, and the harrowing experiences of Helene, a healer during World War 2. The parallels between these two women, connected by lineage, are beautifully drawn, showcasing the enduring strength passed down through generations.

The author's portrayal of World War 2 is unflinchingly raw. The battlefield scenes are a testament to the author's talent for visceral storytelling, transporting you to the heart of the conflict. Yet, amidst the brutality, there's a profound respect for those who served and a powerful spotlight on the invaluable role of nurses. Prepare to be deeply moved by Helene's resilience and unwavering courage.
"The Moonlight Healers" is a refreshing departure from the norm. Here, the women hold the power. The magic system is not merely inherited; it's an intrinsic part of their being, a testament to their inherent strength and resilience. The male characters, while important, play a supporting role, allowing the female narrative to shine.

This is a novel that delves into the profound questions of life and death. The author skillfully explores various philosophical perspectives through different characters, prompting introspection and challenging the reader's own beliefs. The concept of death is not presented as something to fear, but rather a transition to peace and solace.

Ultimately, "The Moonlight Healers" is a story about embracing life's challenges, finding comfort in the face of loss, and ultimately, living your life to the fullest. The interwoven narratives of Louise and Helene culminate in a beautifully crafted conclusion, leaving you with a sense of peace and a renewed appreciation for the power of the human spirit. This is a book that will stay with you long after you turn the last page.

Highly recommended for readers who enjoy:
* Historical fiction with a strong female lead
* Interwoven narratives that build suspense
* Explorations of life, death, and the power of healing
* A beautifully written and emotionally resonant story

Thank you NetGalley and Graydon House for the ARC.

If you are looking for a book that will emotionally destroy you but in a good way then this is the book for you. This isn’t the normal type of book I would grab but I was really drawn to it based on the description. Moonlight Healers tells the story of a family of women who have the gift of healing; bouncing between Louise discovering who she is and her great grandmother, Helena, in WW2 France who is struggling with who she thought she was and who she is becoming. The characters were well written, though I feel like Helena’s story was more about her growth and her life than Louises when the story was framed at being about her.

Also, just as an aside I feel like this would be an amazing book club book if that is your thing. In fact I recommended it to my mom for hers.

The Moonlight Healer is an ode to healthcare workers, to the power of mother-daughter relationships, and the magic that transcends generations. I have been reading a lot of books recently that touch on the relationships of mothers and daughters, I am so fond of this theme. The split perspective of Louise and Helene throughout the book and their growth into this family power was beautiful to witness. The female characters felt wholly 3-dimensional and I enjoyed reading their journeys. This novel really touches on some heavy themes revolving around life and death that made me have to pause in the reading a bit to take it in. The first half of the novel was a bit slow paced for me and the writing style took me out of the novel often. I had to power through to the end, which was worth it, it made reading this much slower for me. Overall, I think this is a beautiful story that will resonate with readers.

A little magic never hurt anyone - loved this story of a line of women and their strengths through the years. Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review, publishes 2/11/25

3.5 rounded down.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC.

This was a beautiful premise of a book. It follows a family of women who have healing powers that allow them to help others that are in pain. This story is especially meaningful because the author is a nurse, and you can see the deep emotion and thoughfulness that that brings to the story.

I struggled with the first half of this book for a couple different reasons. The first was the writing style - overall, it did not resonate with me and something about it made me feel very disconnected from the main characters in the beginning. I think it was the overuse of the word 'had' where it wasn't needed, and therefore made the prose seem less immediate and made me feel more outside of the narrative as a whole. And generally, I struggled to get past it until later in the book, where the writing either got better or I got used to it.

Secondly, I struggled to care about the plot or the characters. Louise and Helene seemed to almost be the same character to me. They didn't have a lot of distinguishing features from each other. And the pacing was fairly slow in the beginning. It was mostly exposition and story setting until the 5o-60% mark. I also struggled with the lack of connection between the timelines. Even when there were small connections at the end, I felt like there was opportunity for more, and I think that would've made me care more about either timeline.

I considered DNFing this book around the midway point, but continued forward because I knew this was all building up to something poignant at the ending. And the ending certainly didn't disappoint. It really made the slow lead up to the story worth it. It was beautifully done and really made me contemplate the story afterwards. You can tell how much love and effort the author put into this story by how well together and thoughtout the ending had been.

This book was a little out of my comfort zone but it was good. I was never bored. I’m not sure how to leave a review without giving it away. I went in somewhat blind and liked the ride.

There are many great stories out there about women’s power and knowledge passed through generations, and I find I gravitate to this concept time and again. In The Moonlight Healers, I found a lovely, tender, and sometimes tragic story about the power of women healers and the joy and heartbreak the gift has had on past and present generations.

The relationships between mothers and daughters is especially poignant and emotional. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about each member of the family, from Agnes to Helene on down to Camille, Bobbie, and Louise. The overarching theme of how, in history, the persecution of women healers forced them to move their activities to nighttime to avoid scrutiny is not only the source of the title, but also a stark reminder of how dangerous it was to be a woman knowledgeable in the healing arts.

There’s some romance included here, but it’s not the core of the story, which is all about mothers and daughters, endings and beginnings. If you’ve keenly felt the loss of a mother, a grandmother, sister, or a mother figure, I recommend a box of kleenex by your side as you approach the ending.

Highly recommended.