Book Review: Winter Street

By Amy Bromberg

Of all the beach reads that come out each summer, the one I look forward to most is Elin Hilderbrand's. She's known as the queen of summer reads. When I found out this past summer that she was going to be coming out with a holiday novel, I was just over the moon with excitement! And like of all her other novels, this one didn't disappoint.

Kelley Quinn is the owner of Nantucket's Winter Street Inn and the proud father of four, all of them grown and living in varying states of disarray. Patrick, the eldest, is a hedge fund manager with a guilty conscience. Kevin, a bartender, is secretly sleeping with a French housekeeper named Isabelle. Ava, a school teacher, is finally dating the perfect guy but can't get him to commit. And Bart, the youngest and only child of Kelley's second marriage to Mitzi, has recently shocked everyone by joining the Marines.

As Christmas approaches, Kelley is looking forward to getting the family together for some quality time at the inn. But when he walks in on Mitzi kissing Santa Claus (or the guy who's playing Santa at the inn's annual party), utter chaos descends. With the three older children each reeling in their own dramas and Bart unreachable in Afghanistan, it might be up to Kelley's ex-wife, nightly news anchor Margaret Quinn, to save Christmas at the Winter Street Inn.

Before the mulled cider is gone, the delightfully dysfunctional Quinn family will survive a love triangle, an unplanned pregnancy, a federal crime, a small house fire, many shots of whiskey, and endless rounds of Christmas caroling, in this heart-warming novel about coming home for the holidays. (Synopsis courtesy of Hachette.)

What we find at the core of this family is some dysfunction that each of the characters is going through. Just like a soap opera, their lives are intertwined. I became so wrapped up in each of them, I flew through the book in two days. Elin’s in-depth descriptions of the story’s atmosphere made me feel like I was a part of the Quinn family.

Like all of Elin's novels, this one takes place on Nantucket. After I read each of them, I always tell my husband we have to take a vacation there. Well, the reader now gets to see Nantucket in the winter, which Elin portrays beautifully. Unfortunately, I’ve never been to a bed and breakfast, but I picture one being just like the Quinns'; rustic, quaint, and cozy, with a “you’re at home” kind of atmosphere.

If you’re looking for a great book to read on a snowy weekend in front of the fireplace, definitely pick up Winter Street.

Thanks to Hachette for the book in exchange for an honest review. Visit their website for more information on Elin's novels.