Marlita Walker Reviews: The Winter Street Series

Marlita Walker Reviews

WINTER STREET

SERIES by Elin Hilderbrand

“The holidays wouldn’t be complete without a little family dysfunction, and

Hilderbrand writes it well.”

―LIBRARY JOURNAL

After a rough November, I was searching for a light read for the busy Christmas season, something that could raise smiles and laughter rather than create an overstimulated brain. One of my friends on Goodreads had just finished Elin Hilderbrand’s four-book Winter Street series. Having read several of Hilderbrand’s popular Nantucket reads, I embraced the series with gusto! I would go to pursue multiple libraries online to gather all four in my grubby little hands, so as not to delay my hotly anticipated month-long reading fest!

Hilderbrand did not disappoint. These were exactly the type of reads that I desired as my calendar filled with concerts, special luncheons, and preparation for out-of-town guests.

Book one, “Winter Street,” gave me pause to ponder my initial enthusiasm about the series due to the dysfunctional Quinn family’s decided quirks that I honestly felt were mostly due to immature and impulsive decisions.

This rash behavior begins in the first chapter, with the patriarch and Winter Street Inn owner, Kelley Quinn. The reader is immediately thrust into the fray of the Quinn family as the rest of the main characters are introduced: his current wife, his previous wife, four adult children with various spouses/ partners and children... all of which contribute to the chaos of that first Christmas which the author so thoroughly details.

Many reviewers complained that the first novel in this series ended abruptly, and had I not been prepared with the entire series, I may have been one of those disgruntled readers. But diving in to “Winter Stroll” gave me the great satisfaction of putting together the missing threads that had been left dangling by the first novel of the series. The same was true of picking up the third book, «Winter Storms,” which had originally been cast as the final in a trilogy.

Luckily, Hilderbrand was asked by her editor to consider a fourth book, “Winter Solstice,” the sequel to the sequel! It made for such a satisfying ending putting right all of the misfortunes and mishaps that had upended the Quinn family over the four years of Christmases at Winter Inn. We can forgive the complicated memories and come together to remember the best of us, and leave a legacy.

Marlita Walker

Marlita is a native Michigander, who returned back to the area after 18 years spent in IL & PA. When not on cruising adventures with her hubby in their vintage Roadtrek camper van; she relaxes by rearranging her home decor, walking with friends, and connecting with her 10 grands who live in TN and CA. Read more book reviews at litaslines.blogspot.com.

As February’s dull skies roll across Michigan, what types of books feed your soul? Here are some suggestions to add some color to your life.

Picking up this Hilderbrand series might be the best solution for the doldrums. If February brings contemplation and reflection, stories by authors such as Leif Erickson or William Kent Krueger, are more descriptive in both setting and characters. If real life inspiration is needed, biographies or memoirs could be just the ticket. Quian

Julie Wang’s “Beautiful Country,” Michelle Obama’s “Becoming,” Cicely Tyson’s

“Just as I Am,” or Philip

Yancey’s “Where the Light

Fell” all contain messages of resilience and hope.