A Book A Week

The get-togethers are over, the presents are all unwrapped, and I'm left in the afterglow of another successful Christmas. Amongst the hustle and bustle of the season, I somehow found time to binge the rest of Elin Hilderbrand's Winter series. Book two, Winter Stroll, picks up one year after the events of the first novel Winter Street.  The Quinn family has certainly changed in the last year, but they are just as engaging as ever.

Kelley Quinn is finally settling into his next phase of life at the Winter Street Inn. His second wife has found happiness in her new relationship with the inn's former Santa. Kelley has rekindled a cordial relationship with his first wife who has used her fame and fortune to keep the struggling in afloat. One son is serving out a prison sentence for insider trading while the other has just welcomed a beautiful child into the world. Kelley's daughter finally seems to be in a relationship that provides the kind of love he always knew she deserved.

Things are really looking solid for Kelley. This weekend is the annual Christmas Stroll and it promises to be a time of family and fellowship. Still, troubles of the real world linger within the idyllic halls of the inn. Kelley's youngest son is still MIA after his military convoy was intercepted in Afghanistan. One year in and they still don't know if the men are alive. The facade of a picture-perfect holiday begins to fade further as revelations of unhappiness, second guesses, and a few people from darker times in the past emerge.

Winter Stroll by Elin Hilderbrand is a book that felt like checking in on old friends. The previous novel really set the foundation for the family drama, and this book took the ball and ran with it. Each of the characters was fleshed out more from the surface level that many of them were written in the previous book. This sucked me into the world even more than before. My only real complaint with the novel is that it didn't end with any definitive closure. Instead, Winter Stroll tees up the next book for even more character development. Fortunately for me, I have the next two books ready to read!

For more information, visit the author's website, Amazon, or Goodreads.
(2018, 45)