Hilderbrand is out of Nantucket and into the Caribbean. Winter in Paradise is written in her classic style and I loved every bit of it. The characters have heart and are immediately likeable, though brothers Cash and Baker come off as little, bratty siblings though they are grown men. Actually, to be honest, that is exactly what they are. Holding grudges since college, these two will undercut each other at every chance given. Especially when it comes to Ayers. Holding a special place in my heart though, is Maia. Daughter to beloved Rosie, Maia is my daughter’s age and just as precocious. She’s an old soul, a smart girl- an emerging teen, yet still a child. I wanted to wrap her up in a big mama bear hug.

Then there is Irene. Irene gathers strength even she didn’t know she had. Thinking life was just fine, things kind of get turned upside down and she has to travel down to St. John to get some answers. Of course, don’t expect those answers by the end of this book. No, Winter in Paradise is the first in a new series for Hildebrand and true to form, she leaves you wanting so much more.

Though I have come to adore the Nantucket setting of Elin’s books, this move to St. John and the BVIs is welcome. A regular there herself, Hildebrand brings that familiarity you know so well from her other series and you feel immediately at home. You may end up wanting to drop everything and move there. Become an islander. Which is what I will be doing. Some day. Catch ya in the Caribbean…

I received an advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I really love Elin Hilderbrand's Winter series so I was super excited for this new series, her first books not set on Nantucket! And this first book does not disappoint! By the end, I did not want to it be over and I wish I already had book 2! You will immediately be sucked into this story and these new characters. I can already tell Ayers is going to be a favorite of mine! This is a perfect beach read if you're lucky enough to escape winter or a perfect read for by the fire. I already want to re-read it and I can't wait for more! Elin's new series lives up to all of my high expectations!

Winter in Paradise comes out soon on October 9, 2018, you can purchase HERE! This will definitely cure your winter blues and I can't wait for more of this series!

He's on his way to a five-flavor freak-out, which is how their father used to describe Cash's tantrums growing up. It makes no sense that Cash--who doesn't have an ambitious or competitive bone in his body, who skis for a living-- is so high-strung emotionally, while Baker, who thrives on pressure and tension, tends to be pretty sanguine no matter what. And yet that's the way it is.

The first in a series, Winter in Paradise, is a cross between drama and romance. The final cliff hanger at the end will have me returning to read more in the series.
When Irene Steele's husband, away on business, dies in a plane crash on the distant Caribbean island of St. John, she begins to question everything she has known to be true about her husband and their marriage. She, and her two sons, travel to this paradise to discover he has, in fact, been living a double life.
Good story line with decent character development. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.

*I received an advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoy Elin Hilderbrand's books, and I have to say this one was my favorite so far. Great story -- Irene's husband dies suddenly, and she finds out that he has been leading a double life, including a second family. The story is told from her point of view as well as those of her two sons and others. Things are wrapped up pretty well at the ending, but because this is the first title in a planned trilogy, we are left with a tantalizing cliffhanger at the end.

The Winter Street series was the only other books by Elin Hilderbrand that I read, which I really enjoyed! This new series is starting off great! I loved the characters and wanted to know what was going to happen with each of them. It was a quick read and the plot moved along at a great pace. I can't wait for the next books!

I'm just going to say that I loved, loved, really loved this book! Although the troupe of a husband with a secret life has been done many times before, Elin Hilderbrand created a refreshing novel that left you wanting more. This first book in which I believe will be a trilogy, sets up an intriguing cast of characters. First there is the wife, who although she is blind-sighted by her husband's infidelity, can actually see her own culpability in the situation. Also, there are two sons who are each at a different cross-road in their own lives and seem to be looking for more... whatever that may entail even if it's at the cost of their relationship. On the other end of the spectrum is the family of the "other" woman. We get to know her step-father, best friend and daughter who are each well-developed characters. The reader truly feels for all sides of this love triangle as it had ripple effects for everyone involved on the canvas. The only criticism that I have is the I didn't truly buy into the instant love the brothers felt for Ayer. Perhaps they aren't really as in love as they believe but are more grasping at finding an instant route to happiness. The St. John setting works well and the author paints us a lovely world in which the reader can escape. The ending leaves the reader well set with plenty of questions and hopes for the next two books.

In Elin Hilderbrand’s new novel Winter in Paradise, we leave her usual setting of her beloved Nantucket and she brings us to the tropical setting of St. John in her newest Winter series. We meet Irene who loves her life and has everything she has wanted except more time with her husband who works so much for all they have. She also has two grown sons who are going through tough times of their own but everyone’s lives are about to change when Irene gets a phone call that her husband has died.

Irene is stunned when she learns that her husband has lead a double life and she begins to wonder who exactly was she married to? She learns that he lead this totally different life in St. John and that he didn’t die alone that he did, in fact, have a mistress and possibly a secret child. So what is Irene to do but go down there and try to find out who her husband really was and decides to bring her two sons along for the ride. One son is trying to find his way in life. He is so different from his father, he is carefree and just wants to enjoy life while his brother is exactly like their dad he is a go-getter and is all about business but he has pushed that away to take care of his son full time while his wife a doctor focuses on her career. However, he is shocked when moments before he finds out about his fathers' death his wife tells him she is leaving him for another woman.

In St. John we meet a cast of other characters who play major parts in this story. We find out more about the mistress and her best friend whom both of Irene sons fall for. We also met the mistresses stepfather who has a spark of sorts with Irene which I’m totally on board with. There are a lot of characters on this small island but you never get confused and they just bring lots of depth to the story.

I really enjoyed this first book in her new series, I think the set up for the next novels is definitely there and the storyline is really good. I like how she has added elements of mystery with this one and how there is so much to explore in regards to Irene’s husbands’ death. What exactly happened? Was it really an accident or was it something more sinister? And what exactly was his job and who did he work for? I can't wait to discover all these things in the future and hopefully, my questions will be answered. This was definitely a good first book and I can't wait to learn more about these really interesting characters.

Irene is in her mid-to-late 50s and thinks she has it all ... a husband named Russ who loves her (though he is out of town working a lot), two grown sons named Baker and Cash with lives of their own and a beautiful showplace of a house. She has been promoted (but really demoted) at the magazine where she works.

It's New Years Day and she gets a call that her husband, who is away on a business trip, has been killed in a helicopter accident in the U.S. Virgin Islands along with the pilot and a local woman. What?! So she and her sons rush down to see what's going on. They discover that not only does he own a nine-bedroom villa in St. John but he also had a girlfriend named Rosie who has a 12-year-old daughter named Maia.

There is a lot of secrecy and mystery. Russ' villa has been cleaned out of all of their possessions, an employee of Russ' boss has IDed Russ' body which has been cremated, and now Irene can't get a hold of his boss. There too much unknown so she reaches out to Huck, Maia's step-grandfather, to see if he has any information and can fill in some of the blanks. In the meantime, both Baker and Cash are attracted to Ayers (and the feeling is mutual), who was Rosie's best friend but she doesn't realize who they really are.

I liked the writing style of this book and thought it was an interesting story. It is written in third person perspective with the focus on the different characters including Irene, Cash, Baker, Ayers and Huck (the chapters are labeled). This way we find out what was going on from their perspective and what they were thinking. The timeline jumps around a bit as it is told from the different perspectives as things were happening at the same time.

I thought the characters were okay. I found Irene a bit cold and distant in the beginning but liked her by the end. She learned a lot about herself with the death of Russ. I didn't see any redeeming qualities in Baker. Cash is still trying to find himself. I liked Maia, Huck and Ayers, though I thought her actions at the end were a bit of a cop-out.

This is apparently the first book in the Paradise series and there were a lot of things left unfinished by the end of the story and there was a cliffhanger. I'm not a fan of this style of ending as now it's forcing me get the next one when it comes out to find out what happens next. But I was engaged enough in the story that I probably will.

Irene and her sons travel from Iowa to the Caribbean where her husband has died in a helicopter crash but what they find shakes them to their cores. This is the start of a new series with newly created characters and instead of Hilderbrand's usual Nantucket, it is set on St. John. As usual, the characters are appealing (except her sons could be a little on the annoying side) and the intrigue about her husband's death and the family dynamics kept me turning pages.

A fun new series that leaves one hanging (two more are scheduled) but that's OK, I think most readers will figure out things aren't quite what they appear to be. And be ready to pack your bags and book a flight to St. John; it sounds heavenly.

Thanks to the publisher for the digital advance reading copy.

Elin Hilderbrand is an automatic read for me. I hate waiting all year for her new summer novel so I'm super excited that she now writes a Winter series as well. Winter in Paradise is the start of her new Winter series. Irene Steele is the cousin of our friend Mitzy in the 1st Winter series and we all loved the Quinn family, as flawed as they were. The Steeles are no exception.

Irene receives a phone call at her husband is dead and that he was on St. John. Irene and her 2 sons, Baker and Cash, head to St. John to try and make sense of it all. They meet a few islanders who could potentially help them figure out what was going on, but even they aren't quite sure since they didn't know Irene's husband, only his mistress who he was cheating on Irene with. Both Baker and Cash have their own drama while on the island and it'll be interesting to see how the romance angle plays out over the next few novels. There's a cliffhanger ending that leaves readers wanting more! I can't wait to read the rest of the series!

5 sun kissed take me to the beach stars

Elin Hilderbrand heard the silent sobbing of her devoted readers after she ended the Winter Street series and has rewarded us by creating a new trilogy series set in the Virgin Islands; specifically St John. Irene Steele, second cousin to Winter Street's Mitzi Quinn, is at 57 facing a lot of challenges. It's the end of another year, her employer wants her to retire, her husband, Russ, is away on business, her mother in law is ailing and her two grown sons don't seem to need her anymore. Then her phone rings and Irene receives the news that her husband is dead, having died in a helicopter crash. Mitzi and her sons, Baker and Cash, head to the Island where more secrets await.

Winter in Paradise is contemporary family drama done right. It's coupled with the right amount of tension, heartache, and romance. Irene Steele might just be my favorite EH character at the moment as she faces an uphill battle of reeling from the secrets her husband kept hidden, trying to grieve but also trying to forgive. This book is definitely going to make the book club circuit!

Elin Hilderbrand has taken us from her usual Nantucket settings to the Virgin Islands for her newest offering, Winter in Paradise.
What do you think you'd feel if everything you thought about your life, your marriage, and your world, was a lie? That's the question Irene considers when she's informed her husband has died in a helicopter crash, accompanied by a women Irene didn't know existed on an island she never knew her husband had visited. And not just visited- but one in which he has made into a home.
With her usual character roving point of view, Hilderbrand takes us to St.Johns and through Irene's journey to learn just who the man she was married to for almost 40 years really was.
Thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book. It was intriguing and written in the style Hildrebrand has come to be famous for.

Irene Steel learns that her husband had been leading two lives when he dies. She calls her two adult sons and they all fly down to ST. John when her husband owned a great deal of property and a large estate, even though no one really new him - he was the invisible man. . While trying to untangle the mess he has left behind, she meets Huck, and one of the boys thinks he is in love with a local girl. The descriptions, first of Iowa City are spot on, I cannot vouch for the descriptions of St. John's but I wish I could. As Ms Hildebrand writes in the preface, she wrote about the area as it was before the hurricane caused so much destruction. Ms. Hildebrand has never failed to entertain me with her writing, she continues to do so in this book.

I loved this book! Classic Hilderbrand, but in a new locale, which will leave readers eager for an island vacation of their own. (But perhaps with a tad less family drama.)

Winter in Paradise is the first book in a new series by Elin Hilderbrand. Taking a departure from her traditional Nantucket setting the author has this book taking place on St. John in the Virgin Islands. A tropical setting with a family filled with drama makes this the perfect read! I really enjoyed getting to know the Steele family and am looking forward to book #2! Read and enjoy!

Elin Hilderbrand has an originality voice in books and I am always drawn to a new release by her. Winter in Paradise is a bit different than other books I have read by the author as they normally take place in Nantucket and this one on a Caribbean Island. But guess what? Location doesn't matter! Elin's newest series will have readers reeling! This is a fantastic, intriguing read that had me addicted. I cannot wait until the next installment.

We start the "Winter in Paradise" series on New Year’s Day, the first day of a whole new year, laid out before us, untouched, as if each day comes in a shiny bag, to be selected one by one like candy.
Irene Steele of Iowa City, Iowa starts her day in her beloved Victorian style home, all fully refurbished and redecorated, thanks to the generous income from her husband’s Russ’s job of the last thirteen years, she encouraged him to accept. Unfortunately, a great deal of travel came with that great salary, which is why Russ had to fly off right after Christmas leaving Irene alone On New Year’s.
Miles away in Denver Colorado, her adult son Cash, was given the news just the other day, that the seed money and the two sporting-goods stores, given to him to run by his father, had just gone belly-up. How is he ever going to break this news to his parents, and worse of all, his ever-competitive older brother.
Baker, a few years older than Cash, lives in Houston, Texas with his very successful, heart surgeon wife Anna, and their four-year-old son, Floyd. Since Anna must operate in the hospital, and Baker can trade stocks from home, he has decided to be the primary care-giver to his son. Surprisingly, mostly to him, he totally enjoys it; including volunteering at Floyd’s school. This leaves Anna too comfortable to work endless hours and hardly ever sees her son and husband.
Back in Iowa, Irene gets ready to go to, what has become a tradition for the last seven years, a New Year’s Day dinner with her best friend Lydia. “Have they been doing this that long,” thinks Irene. As she walks the four short blocks to dinner she’s still wondering why Russ hasn’t called yet, this is unlike him; even though he did send a bouquet of calla lilies that morning. After a great dinner, wine, ‘girl talk’ and a stop at the bookstore, Irene heads back home still wondering about Russ. She missed a call on her cell during dinner from an unfamiliar area code and as she enters the house their landline is ringing, showing that same area code. Irene swiftly picks up and hears a woman’s voice say, “Is this Mrs. Steele?” “This is she,” says Irene.
After some discussion, Irene discover the woman is Todd Croft’s secretary. Todd is Russ’s boss. “Something has happened, an accident.” the woman says. “Happened?” says Irene. “I’m afraid your husband is dead.” she says.

What happens next, and during approximately three weeks, will be a complete shock to Irene, Cash and Baker. They will fly to St. John in the USVI, where they were told Russ’s remains were, as well as “some property” he owns. They will slowly discover or say uncover some of Russ’s secret life in the lovely island paradise. Most people have heard of Russ, but they’ve never seen or met him, because they call him, the “Invisible Man.” Even the best friend of the local woman who died with Russ that day never met him, nor did her family. So, the Steele family is in for some detective work all while trying to keep their identities under wraps as well.
The intrigue will have you turning pages until the very end, unceasingly; while enjoying the lavish descriptions of St. John and the surrounding islands. Oh, about the ending, well you’re just going to pant, dripping saliva, like Pavlov’s dogs, until the next book. Tropical Cocktail anyone?

Thank you NetGalley, Little Brown and Co. and Elin Hilderbrand

I am glad that Hilderbrand has started a new series, but sad that I have to wait for the next one. This novel is up to her usual fantastic standards. I like the characters and it would seem that things will only get more interesting.

I was lucky enough to spend my Labor Day weekend reading this gem in between soccer games--it was so hard to put it down! Welcome to Paradise is the first book in Elin Hilderbrand's new winter trilogy, and it was totally engrossing from start to cliffhanger ending. It will be a long wait for the next installment! The novel opens on New Year's Eve, when Irene Steele receives a call that her husband has died in a helicoptor crash. She soon discovers that her husband, Russ, had a secret life in the Virgin Islands. Irene and her two sons travel to St. John in a desperate attempt to piece together the threads of Russ' secret island life. The descriptions of the island are so vivid, that it almost felt like I was on a vacation while I was reading. I also enjoyed getting to know Irene and her two sons through Hilderbrand's use of multiple viewpoints. Great fun and highly recommended!

Thank you to Little Brown for the advance copy!

I love her books about Nantucket but this was even better in a way, I learned a lot about the US Virgin Islands. Oh man, the scandalous relationship, the love triangle, the beautiful scenery, etc. This book is going to be an awesome read for her fans and I think will inspire new people to read her books, too. I am so excited that this will be a trilogy. So many questions need to be answered. I guess I will have to wait til late 2019 or early 2020 for the sequel. #teamCash