Summer of ’69 by Elin Hilderbrand

Welcome to the most tumultuous summer of the twentieth century! It’s 1969, and for the Levin family, the times they are a-changing. Every year the children have looked forward to spending the summer at their grandmother’s historic home in downtown Nantucket: but this year Blair, the oldest sister, is marooned in Boston, pregnant with twins and unable to travel. Middle sister Kirby, a nursing student, is caught up in the thrilling vortex of civil rights protests, a passion which takes her to Martha’s Vineyard with her best friend, Mary Jo Kopechne. Only son Tiger is an infantry soldier, recently deployed to Vietnam. Thirteen-year-old Jessie suddenly feels like an only child, marooned in the house with her out-of-touch grandmother who is hiding some secrets of her own. As the summer heats up, Teddy Kennedy sinks a car in Chappaquiddick, a man flies to the moon, and Jessie experiences some sinking and flying herself, as she grows into her own body and mind.

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Elin Hilderbrand strays away from her genre in her new novel, Summer of ’69. Summer of ’69 takes the readers back to Nantucket during the summer of 1969 and follows the Levin family who are each struggling.

I was nowhere close to being alive in 1969 so I learned a lot about the time period during this novel. It was interesting learning what life was like 50 years ago and what major events occurred. I would of liked Hilderbrand to go a bit more detail about Chappaquiddick in the novel. I had very limited knowledge in what had happened and felt that I was missing something when Hilderbrand quickly rushed over the event.

I’m torn on if I liked the Levin family. It was hard to sympathize with some of the family member’s problems while they were living so lavishly in  Nantucket. Also I found that some of the characters weren’t explored as much as I would of liked them to be. They seemed very shallow.

3 calculators out of a potential 5. Not my favourite Elin Hilderbrand novel, but I did like reading a novel that had a sense of familiarity that also touched on something new.

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I can’t wait for … Summer of ’69 by Elin Hilderbrand (Can’t-Wait Wednesday)

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a meme hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss the books we are excited about that we have yet to read. The book I can’t wait to read is this week is:

Welcome to the most tumultuous summer of the twentieth century! It’s 1969, and for the Levin family, the times they are a-changing. Every year the children have looked forward to spending the summer at their grandmother’s historic home in downtown Nantucket: but this year Blair, the oldest sister, is marooned in Boston, pregnant with twins and unable to travel. Middle sister Kirby, a nursing student, is caught up in the thrilling vortex of civil rights protests, a passion which takes her to Martha’s Vineyard with her best friend, Mary Jo Kopechne. Only son Tiger is an infantry soldier, recently deployed to Vietnam. Thirteen-year-old Jessie suddenly feels like an only child, marooned in the house with her out-of-touch grandmother who is hiding some secrets of her own. As the summer heats up, Teddy Kennedy sinks a car in Chappaquiddick, a man flies to the moon, and Jessie experiences some sinking and flying herself, as she grows into her own body and mind.

What novel are you excited to read? Let me know in the comments below!

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The Rumor by Elin Hilderbrand

Madeline King and Grace Pancik are best friends and the envy of Nantucket for their perfect marriages, their beautiful kids, their Sunday night double dates with their devoted husbands. But this summer, something’s changed, and if there’s anything Nantucket likes better than cocktails on the beach at sunset, it’s a good rumor.

And rumor has it…

…that Madeline, a novelist, is battling writer’s block, with a deadline looming, bills piling up, and blank pages driving her to desperation–and a desperately bad decision;

…that Grace, hard at work to transform her backyard into a garden paradise, has been collaborating a bit more closely than necessary with her ruggedly handsome landscape architect;

…that Grace’s husband, successful island real estate developer “Fast Eddie” Pancik, has embarked on quite an unusual side project;

…that the storybook romance between Madeline’s son, Brick, and Grace’s daughter Allegra is on the rocks, heading for disaster.

As the gossip escalates, and they face the possible loss of the happy lives they’ve worked so hard to create, Grace and Madeline try mightily to set the record straight–but the truth might be even worse than rumor has it. 

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I find that it is best to read Elin Hilderbrand’s novel when you are on a beach or poolside. I was poolside reading The Rumor and I had a great time as I got lost in the world of the wealthy families of Nantucket.

The Rumor is about how rumors got spread around one Nantucket summer around our not so perfect two main families. These characters are not likable at all.

On one hand, you have Madeline, the Nantucket writer, who is struggling to come up with a storyline for her next novel. And then you have Grace, who is falling for her handsome gardener/architect. It was actually kind of fun watching their seemingly perfect lives implode. And don’t get me started about their teenagers in the novel!

3 calculators out of a potential 5. A light easy to read trashy novel! Exactly the type of book that I wanted poolside!

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Winter Street by Elin Hilderbrand

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.

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What a perfect winter/Christmas novel. The novel is short and takes place over 3 days – December 23, 24 and 25. The novel follows the Quinn family and boy does a ton of stuff happen to them over the holidays. I really enjoyed reading about the drama happening in their lives and how they come together as a family to overcome it.

The characters aren’t perfect and I feel like I have read about them before in Hilderbrand’s other novels (strong mother that comes to patch everyone up regardless about how she has treated them in the past, father falling apart when wife leaves, daughter can’t get man to propose, etc.). It’s not that I didn’t enjoy them, but I feel like I already know this story and how it ends.

And then there is the cliffhanger. The novel was published back in 2014, so I know that there is more novels in the series, but I couldn’t imagine ending on that cliffhanger and then waiting another year to read the next novel. Hate it when authors feel that they need these giant cliffhangers.

3 calculators out of a potential 5. A cozy winter read and a good start to a new series for me!

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Winter in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand

 Irene Steele’s idyllic life-house, husband, family-is shattered when she is woken up by a late-night phone call. Her beloved husband has been found dead, but before Irene can process this tragic news, she must confront the perplexing details of her husband’s death. He was found on St. John island, a tropical paradise far removed from their suburban life.

Leaving the cold winter behind, Irene flies down to the beautiful Caribbean beaches of St. John only to make another shocking discovery: her husband had a secret second family. As Irene investigates the mysterious circumstances of her husband’s death, she is plunged into a web of intrigue and deceit belied by the pristine white sand beaches of St. John’s. 

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I love it when novels are set on islands! Hilderbrand sets the perfect image of the island of St. John’s in the US Virgin Islands. I want to book a trip to St. John!

Irene receives a phone call saying the worst possible news…her husband has been involved in a plane crash and has died. Irene is shocked and unfortunately her husband’s death comes with lots of questions, such as what was he doing in St. Johns? Why does he have a house on the island?

I’ve had a problem in the past with Hilderbrand’s characters and Winter in Paradise was an improvement in some aspects. I really enjoyed the female characters, Irene and Ayers (a waitress/tour guide in St. John), but couldn’t stand the male characters, Baker and Cash (Irene’s sons). I liked the storylines, but none of the surprises came as much of a shock. I also didn’t enjoy the storyline involving Baker and Cash.

This is the first (and so far only released) novel in the trilogy. I’m torn on the concept of a trilogy as this novel ended on a cliffhanger (I hate cliffhangers). I’m sure by the time I read the second novel in the series (in a year or so), I will have forgotten about the ending and the characters.

3 calculators out of a potential 5. The novel will be best read on the beach with a fruity cocktail! I’ll have to keep that in mind when I read the next novel!

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