Winter Series Review

 Hello Interwebs!

So here's another book review for you. I recently finished Winter Solstice by Elin Hilderbrand (on 1.6.21) which is the fourth and final book in the Winter series by Elin Hilderbrand. So this will be a review for the whole series, rather than just the final book so after the picture there will be spoilers. 

So this series follows the Quinn family who live spread between Nantucket, New York City, and Boston. There's Kelly, the patriarch of the family who owns the Winter Street Inn on Nantucket with his second wife Mitzi. You also have Kelly's four children: Patrick, Kevin and Ava from his first marriage and Bart from his marriage with Mitzi. You also have Kelly's ex-wife Margaret and various other characters who cross in and out of the Quinn family's lives. I'll do a brief synopsis of each book in the series and then my overall thoughts of each book and the series as a whole. 

Winter Street is the first book in the series and you are introduced to the Quinns and their lives in the lead up to Christmas Eve. Kelly walks in to catch his wife Mitzi kissing George who plays Santa every year at the Winter Street Inn's Christmas party. The affair has been taking place every year when he comes to the Inn to play Santa and Mitzi leaves with George just before Christmas. Kelly and Mitzi's son Bart has just shipped out to Afghanistan and is unreachable. Patrick, Kelly's oldest son with ex-wife Margaret is facing an inquiry in his professional life as a hedge fund manager for insider trading (which he is guilty of). Kevin is in a secret relationship with the Inn's housekeeper/cook, Isabelle. Ava is in an unhappy relationship with Nathan, who is reluctant to commit. The family comes together in the wake of Mitzi's betrayal, with Kelly's ex-wife Margaret getting involved to save the inn and hold things together. The book drama comes to a head when Bart's entire company is declared captured by terrorists and missing in Afghanistan. 

Winter Stroll is the second book in the series and you return to the Quinns a year after the fateful Christmas where Mitzi left and Bart went missing. Kelly is on much friendlier terms with first ex-wife Margaret who is using her celebrity to drum up guests for the struggling inn. Oldest son Patrick is in prison for insider trading leaving his wife to keep their family together. Kevin and Isabelle have a daughter Genevieve and are planning her baptism. Ava has dumped Nathan after his lackluster performance the former Christmas and is dating her school's assistant principal, Scott. Then Mitzi shows up on the island after a year away, secretly unhappy with her choices. Ava has more than enough drama as Nathan shows up and Scott goes to help a pretty young teacher when she gets hurt, ignoring Ava and everything that's important to her. It all comes to a head during the baptism which culminates in a soldier from Bart's platoon being rescued after escaping, Mitzi coming back to Kelly, and Kelly having a medical issue. 

Winter Storms is the third book and my least favorite in the series. It follows the Quinn family through the entirety of 2016. Mitzi returns to Kelly after her ill-fated affair with George the Santa Claus. Patrick is due to be released from prison. Kevin and Isabelle are getting ready to get married. On the other hand you have Ava who is casually dating both Nathan and Scott and trying to make a decision. Jennifer is struggling with drug addiction to pills that started while Patrick was in jail. Kelly has recovered from a bout of prostate cancer but is experiencing other health issues. Then as things are improving, Patrick is home, the wedding is planned for Christmas Eve, Ava is making decisions about her relationships and future career, Jennifer is getting a hold of her addiction, and Bart is rescued in Afghanistan. Then in the final run up to the wedding a once in a century storm sets in on Nantucket and it is unclear if Isabelle's parents, Bart, and Margaret will make it to the Inn for the wedding. It ends with another health scare from Kelly and the couple getting married with everyone there. 

Winter Solstice is the final book and is a year after the end of Winter Storms leading up to Christmas. Patrick and Jennifer are doing well. Ava has moved to New York City to take the music job of her dreams and is dating the best man imaginable. Isabelle and Kevin are enjoying success with his restaurant and their little family. Bart is home safe and sound and is dating a nice young lady on Nantucket while he decides what comes next. Then they find out Kelly's cancer has metastasized to his brain and if he makes it to Christmas it will be a miracle. As he fails everyone comes together on Nantucket to say goodbye. Ava's boyfriend proposes to her after surprising her on Nantucket when they were supposed to be spending Christmas in Austria. Margaret is married to her doctor and retires from being a news anchor. When deciding what to do with the inn, Mitzi decides to sell it and move into a smaller home, only to have George and his girlfriend buy it to keep it an inn, letting Mitzi stay as long as she'd like. As his strength fails everyone is together one last time and their lives are finally all stable and on track. 

This series was compelling and real. The Quinn family was so much fun and you find yourself rooting for them until the bitter end. You spend the entire last book hoping for a miracle and a happy ending but at the same time you always know Kelly's not going to get better and it's going to be sad. But at the same time at the end you feel satisfied with the ending and despite it being sad, it's also satisfying and everyone gets the ending they deserve. This series cemented my deep and abiding love for Elin Hilderbrand and my intentions to read absolutely everything she writes for all of time. I gave the first two books a 4/5 star rating, the third book a 3.5/5 stars, and the fourth book a 4.5/5 star rating. These are all short and quick reads and I highly recommend any or all of them if you want a quick, feelgood but also sad book series. I pounded through most of these books in just a day or two at a stretch and both book 3 and 4 were read in under 48 hours. So definitely give them a shot if this is your thing. 

Happy Reading!

Richelle