Author: Elin Hilderbrand
Narrator: Erin Bennett
Audiobook Length: 6 hours 58 minutes
Another Christmas on Nantucket finds Winter Street Inn owner Kelley Quinn reflecting on the past year as he writes a holiday letter to friends and family. Though the year has had its share of misfortune and worry, the Quinns have much to celebrate. Kelley, now single, at least is on better terms with his first wife Margaret, who is using her celebrity to lure customers to the inn in record numbers. Their son Kevin has a beautiful new baby, Genevieve, with the Inn’s French housekeeper, Isabelle; and their daughter, Ava, is finally dating a nice guy–her devoted colleague, Scott.
Now the Quinns are looking forward to celebrating Genevieve’s baptism, welcoming Isabelle to the family, and enjoying the cheer of Nantucket’s traditional Christmas Stroll. But just when a peaceful family gathering seems within reach, Kelley’s estranged second wife, Mitzi, shows up on the island after souring on her relationship with the inn’s former Santa Claus. Soon Kelley isn’t the only Quinn entertaining a surprise guest from Christmases past as lovers old and new gather beneath the mistletoe. With jealousy, passion, and eggnog consumption at an all-time high, it’s going to take a whole lot more than a Christmas miracle to get the Quinns–and the inn–through the holidays intact.
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Winter Stroll is the continuation of the previous novel in the Winter Street series. Readers return to Nantucket to follow the many dramas involving the Quinn family. Kelley Quinn, the owner of the Winter Street Inn, is now on better terms with his first wife, Margaret. Her new relationship with Drake is still going well, who gets to add his own perspective as his POV is added. Their three children, Kevin, Patrick, and Ava are all going through their own dramas. Kevin and Isabelle now have their daughter Genevieve and preparing for the next steps of their lives, although his ex-wife Nora provides some obstacles. Patrick is currently in jail after his embezzlement fiasco and his wife Jennifer finds herself addicted to pills as a coping mechanism. Ava is now with Scott, although Nathanial is still in the picture trying to win her back. Mitzi, Kelly’s second wife, is realizing that life with George is not everything she wanted plus she is still worried about her and Kelly’s son Bart who is serving with the Marines in Afghanistan.
Since this story takes place about a year after the first novel, it was nice to catch up on all the characters. I enjoyed getting to know Margaret more and her relationship with Drake. I love the friendship that her and Kelley still have and their shared love for their children. Patrick and Kevin’s family stories were interesting, but Ava’s was exhausting. She does not communicate well (neither does either love interest), so it gets repetitive reading about her love drama. As for Mitzi, I think she is written as a sympathetic character who makes bad choices because she is worried about her son; however, I could not understand this as she was making them long before Bart was deployed. The financial situation also was a little confusing as there are mentions of high-end designers and events, yet the inn was struggling in the previous novel. I wish there was more explanation for the change. Overall, this was just an update on the family without a lot being added to the story. I’ll be interested to see what kind of situation the Quinn family is in the next novel.
Author: Elin Hilderbrand
Narrator: Erin Bennett
Audiobook Length: 6 hours 31 minutes
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.
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Winter Storms is the third novel in the Winter Street series that follows the Quinn family. Kelley and Mitzi have reunited and are trying to work things out. Patrick is coming home from prison while Jennifer is dealing with her addiction. While Patrick’s story was not the most interesting, for me, in the first novel, their family’s plot has grown on me a lot. Kevin and Isabelle along with their daughter Genevieve have moved out of the Inn and are moving forward in their lives. I am glad that things seem to be working out for this couple and I hope that everything continues well in the next installment. As for Ava, she is still torn between Scott and Nathanial, but I was thrilled that this love situation seemed to have a conclusion in this novel. This one was my least favorite storyline, so I hope that this is not continued in the final novel.
There are hints that Bart could be included as a POV in the final novel, so I am looking forward to finally seeing his side of the story. With him being away in Afghanistan as a subject of conversation, it will be nice to learn more about him. Even though Margaret is not blood-related to Bart, she remains one of my top characters as she cares about every memory of the family. I think this series was supposed to be a trilogy, so I can see how readers could be upset based off the ending of this novel. Now that it is a four-novel series, I am interested to see how it turns out. I still am not a fan of the product placement, especially when the author included her own novel in the story, but I am hoping this mellows out in the next story. Overall, this novel continued the stories of the multiple members of the Quinn family and I cannot wait to see how it all concludes.
Author: Elin Hilderbrand
Narrator: Erin Bennett
Audiobook Length: 8 hours 41 minutes
Raise one last glass with the Quinn Family at the Winter Street Inn.
It’s been too long since the entire Quinn family has been able to celebrate the holidays under the same roof, but that’s about to change. With Bart back safe and sound from Afghanistan, the Quinns are preparing for a holiday more joyous than any they’ve experienced in years. And Bart’s safe return isn’t the family’s only good news: Kevin is enjoying married life with Isabelle; Patrick is getting back on his feet after paying his debt to society; Ava thinks she’s finally found the love of her life; and Kelly is thrilled to see his family reunited at last. But it just wouldn’t be a Quinn family gathering if things went smoothly. A celebration of everything we love–and some of the things we endure–about the holidays, WINTER SOLSTICE is Elin Hilderbrand at her festive best.
Find It On: Goodreads / Amazon
** Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, including Amazon, and I may earn a small commission, at no cost to you, if you purchase through my links. It’s a nice way for me to continue my love of books and feed my reading addiction.**
The Winter Street series concludes with the final novel, Winter Solstice. There are a lot of changes happening for the Quinn family and each novel has followed them trying to adapt. In addition to the Quinn family, there is appearance of “Fast Eddie” who apparently was in Hilderbrand’s other novel, The Rumor. Since I have not read his storyline before, I did not connect with this part of the novel and felt it was unnecessary. After receiving some bad news, Kelley, is dealing with the aftermath. He and Mitzi may have worked things out, but there is a lot of unknown about their future in this novel. With Bart home, and with his own POV, the reader gets to learn about his story and feelings about his time at war. After hearing about him a lot in the first three novels, his story was the one I was most excited to read about.
Jennifer and Patrick are still going through their ups and downs after their tough past few years while Isabelle and Kevin are now dealing with their new business. As for Ava, it was nice to see her finally move forward with Potter in New York. After the exhausting storyline of Ava’s love life, it was nice to finally have more of a conclusion in sight for her. For the matriarch, Margaret, she is retiring from her anchor position and looking at her next steps in life. There is some wrap-up for all the various stories while some are purposely left open-ended. As this story was stretched out into four novels, I feel it could have been combined into one or possibly two as four seemed like too many. Overall, this may not my favorite of the author, but it was a nice easy read with interesting characters.
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