Day 16 of 25 Days of Christmas Reviews: Winter Street by Elin Hilderbrand

Winter Street by Elin Hilderbrand

Published: October 14, 2014

Publisher: Little Brown and Co.

Format: ARC via publisher

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis

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.

My Thoughts

Winter Street is Elin Hilderbrand’s first dab into winter reads and all I want to know is what has taken her so long?! She’s the master when it comes to summer reads and now I hope we get more winter reads to come.

Winter Street is the tale of the Quinn family over Christmas and how the family is literally falling apart at the seams. Kelley finds out his wife Mitzi has been cheating on him and has now told him she is leaving him. Kelley who brought the inn for Mitzi now doesn’t know what he wants to do and wants to cancel the annual Christmas party. Not only is his life falling about but each of his children’s lives seems to be as well. Throw in famous his ex-wife who has come back to be with their children for the holidays and this is a Christmas to remember. When everyone comes together to Christmas dinner talk about tension! All the secrets come out and things will never be the same.

I enjoyed this read because it shows how Christmas isn’t as perfect as many of us dreams it should be, its dysfunction at its best! There is nothing like the holidays to bring out the craziness. While all through the craziness what I love best about the Quinn’s is that despite everything they are family first. They will work through it all with the help of each other, and isn’t that what family is all about? Oh and by the way all I have to say is that ending??!! I need to know!