Holiday Reads | Winter Storms by Elin Hilderbrand

Winter Storms by Elin Hilderbrand

Publisher: Little Brown & Company, October 2016

Genre: Fiction, Christmas

Pages: Hardcover, 256 pages

Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary (from chapters.indigo.ca):

Some of the stormy weather of the past few seasons seems to have finally lifted for the Quinns. After a year apart, and an ill-fated affair with the Winter Street Inn's old Santa Claus, Mitzi has returned to rule the roost; Patrick is about to be released from prison; Kevin has a successful new business and is finally ready to tie the knot with Isabelle; and best of all, there's hopeful news about Bart, who has been captured by enemy forces in Afghanistan.

That doesn't mean there aren't a few dark clouds on the horizon. Kelley has recently survived a health scare; Jennifer can't quite shake her addiction to the drugs she used as a crutch while Patrick was in jail; and Ava still can't decide between the two lovers that she's been juggling with limited success. However, if there's one holiday that brings the Quinn family together to give thanks for the good times, it's Christmas. And this year promises to be a celebration unlike any other as the Quinns prepare to host Kevin and Isabelle's wedding at the inn. But as the special day approaches, a historic once-in-a-century blizzard bears down on Nantucket, threatening to keep the Quinns away from the place - and the people - they love most. Before the snow clears, the Quinns will have to survive enough upheavals to send anyone running for the spiked eggnog, in this touching novel that proves that when the holidays roll around, you can always go home again.

Review:

This is the third and final book of the Winter series by Elin Hilderbrand and as an avid reader of her summer series, I hope that she continues to write stories that are based in Nantucket throughout the winter because I have fallen in love with the island.

I remember when I first read Winter Street (book 1), I didn't know that it was part of a series and when it ended, I had that "WTF?" feeling and rated the book accordingly. I have since gone back and amended my review because, as a series, it was a perfect cliff-hanger ending.Looking back at the series as a whole, I loved it. It evoked all the feelings I get from Elin's summer books but upped the ante by adding in my love for all things Christmas.

As this is the third book, I already have a love-affair with the characters and the Inn and was very happy to see all of the stories wrap up, whether it was the outcome I wanted or not. I can't 100% recall how many characters are narrators in the previous books but it seems that in Winter Storms, each of the characters gets their own turn at telling the story. At first it seemed a little much and the story jumped but knowing it was wrapping everything up (with a pretty bow), I was okay with it. My preference for that type of writing style is 'fewer is better' because it gets a little confusing and hard to follow.

Overall, a perfect ending to a great series. I recommend whole-heartedly. As I said, I am in love with all things Nantucket and actually feel that Elin Hilderbrand has set up an unrealistic expectation so I will never be able to go there and love it like I do on the pages of her books.