I think this is Elin Hilderbrand's best work. I absolutely devoured, The Five-Star Weekend. When Hollis learns about her husband's death, she throws herself into work, writing a popular food blog. She realizes she needs some help through this trauma, and reads about a five-star weekend when you combine a best friend from different chapters of your life. Hollis invites four women to her beautiful Nantucket home and the weekend is full of drama, forgiveness, honesty, and healing.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an advanced copy of this novel.

Hollis Shaw is in her early 50's and has just recently lost her husband in a car crash. Her daughter isn't speaking to her and her life has become singularly focused on her lifestyle brand. She hears about a five-star weekend girls adventure and decided it's exactly what she needs. She invites different women from different times in her life to her home in Nantucket for the perfect weekend. They are all flawed women who are each dealing with their own personal lives and issues, but as they come together, Hilderbrand creates a beautiful story of friendship, forgiveness and love. The complex characters and the way this story was written had me quickly turning pages and even fighting off some tears at the beach. A wonderful standalone by one of the best. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

I am a huge Elin Hilderbrand fan! I started reading her books years ago when I moved to Colorado and wanted to feel like I was at the beach instead of being land locked. I have read all of her books and The Five-Star Weekend is a stand out.

Hollis Shaw is a fifty-something woman who has become an internet sensation with a popular food blog during the Covid lockdown. When her husband dies unexpectedly, she is lost in her grief and her unresolved questions about their marriage. She gets inspired by the internet to host a five star weekend. The concept is to invite four friends from each part of her life because their friendships shaped her into the person she has become. I thought this was brilliant and started thinking about who I'd include from my own life. Hollis invites her friends to her house on Nantucket and carefully plans the perfect weekend with food and activities. Her friends are all likable and struggling with their own personal issues. Hollis arranges for her estranged daughter, Caroline an aspiring film maker, to come and film the weekend for her blog. Caroline is a 21 year old with her own grief and life drama. By including Caroline and the social media aspect, this book will appeal to more than the 40-60 year old woman.

The foods that are mentioned throughout the story sent me looking for the recipes on the web. The descriptions of Nantucket with the restaurants, activities, and attractions made me feel like I was at the beach and not in a blanket cocoon on my couch while the snow piled up outside. The only disappointment in this book was there was not a list of the songs on the playlists that Hollis created for each of her friends. Perhaps these will be included when it is published in June...

No spoilers, but the ending was perfect!

I am not ready for Elin to retire. Another amazing story that I couldn’t put down. I loved these women and their stories. Elin does a fabulous job getting us attached to the complexities of each these women. I found myself invested in each of their stories and thoroughly enjoyed their weekend together. The setting of Nantucket is perfect again. I think Nantucket is one of my favorite places yet I’ve only been there through Elin’s stories. Another five star book.

Five stars for The Five-Star Weekend? Absolutely.

I love Elin’s novels but none of them have gripped me the way this novel did.

We follow Hollis, a married mother of one with a fabulous cooking / lifestyle? blog. Her husband died suddenly and she is completely out of sorts. Her daughter, Caroline, is attending NYU and is taking her anger and sadness out on her mother (as most of us do) after her father’s death.

While googling (something like) how to deal with the loss of a husband, Hollis reads about one woman’s Five Star Weekend. A friend from each phase of her life (four total) to join said woman for a weekend. Hollis loves this idea and begins planning.

She invites Tatum, childhood best friend and Nantucket native / year rounder, Dru-Ann, college best friend and sports world famous, Brooke, Wellesley best friend and motherhood companion, and Gigi, airplane pilot and never-before-met-in-person internet friend from Hollis’s website. She asks Caroline to film the weekend for her website and, after being offered a handsome sum, Caroline agrees.

There is Drama - legit capital D drama. And I.Am.Here.For.It.
We have, in no particular order, reconciliation, second chance love, cattiness (ugh- my least favorite), secrets secrets secrets, forgiveness, sisterhood, SO MUCH ALCOHOL, revelations, insecurities about literally everything, divorces, deaths, health issues, people pleasing, image vs content, etc. I loved (almost) all of it.

I found myself thinking about which of my girlfriends I’d invite to a Five Star Weekend. I found myself wanting to be invited to Hollis’s Five Star Weekend.

Elin managed to include a lot of hot button issues without forcing them on the reader. They come up naturally and I have a strong appreciation for that. I was also delighted to find more characters of color on the page as well as LGBT couples represented in the book.

My grandmother showed me the importance of girlfriends. I watched as they continuously showed up for her, and her, them, for thirty three years. This book was a beautiful reminder of what I’d learned from my Gram.

I love Elin Hilderbrand and will read absolutely anything she writes. I always look forward to her Summer release. I found the concept of this book to be a fun and interesting one. I did not find the protagonist particularly likable, but I'm not sure she was intended to be a fan favorite. As with any Elin book, I enjoyed the perspectives we were given from each character. Overall, an enjoyable and easy beach read.

The perfect summer beach read! I was excited to get transported to Nantucket. Hollis Shaw's husband has died in a tragic car accident. She read about one woman who had a five star weekend which is inviting 4 girl friends from different stages in your life to weekend get away. She decides to do this and sends out the invitations to Caroline, Brooke, Tatum and Dru Ann.

All of these woman have secrets and not everyone gets along. Hollis is determined with good food, wine and activities that this will be a weekend to remember, I loved reading how diverse these woman were and the roles that they played in Hollis's life. Caroline comes home to film it and to learn about her mother.

Caroline is angry with her mother for placing her business in front of her and feels very neglected. It is nice to see her learn about her mother and then to be able to establish a new normal. Each woman manages to grow and change in one weekend.

Another great read by Elin Hilderbrand!
I went into the Five-Star Weekend with high expectations, and it did not disappoint. There was no shortage of drama, excitement or vivid descriptions of delicious food. While some plot lines were a bit predictable, I really enjoyed the story and actually liked most of the characters - which is saying something because some of them were not really all that likeable.
While the Five Star Weekend was a four star read for me, I definitely recommend it to all Elin Hilderbrand fans.

The Five-Star Weekend is the story of Hollis Shaw, a relatively famous food blogger, who was widowed very unexpectedly. She decides it is time to try to move on and she invites four friends from different phases of her life to spend a weekend at her beautiful home enjoying an all-expenses paid weekend with good food, drink, and memories. The weekend also includes her daughter who is hired to film the weekend for Hollis's blog. It is an interesting weekend of secrets, deceptions, reveals, and surprises. Elin Hilderbrand writes wonderful novels about women and this is one of them. I really enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it, especially if you are an Elin fan.

I've shared this book with all of my friends. A fun concept- invite all of your friends to a weekend to support you when you need it. Of course, things never go as planned. I shared with my book club and we decided we were glad that our weekend getaways were much less dramatic.

Elin weaved a fabulous story with this one! Hollis has it all until she experiences a tragic loss, 4 friends from each season of her life help her get through, and the 5 star weekend was born. Each star shines in their own light and contribute to the weekend being a success. That doesn't mean it is easy, but it is entertaining! Great read about friendship, love and self discovery!

I enjoyed this book way more than I expected! This story follows Hollis, a newly widowed famous chef/influencer, and her 5-Star weekend with her friends. Hollis has an idea to connect her best friends from different decades on her life, in hopes that she can find some happiness again. Bring. On. The. Drama.

I loved how each character was so unique, and so easy to picture. The details in this book are phenomenal! Highly recommend for a beach read, or for a cozy read.

Hollis Shaw is a food blog creator with a massive following and the celebrity that comes with it. You would think she has it all - a heart surgeon husband, a smart and beautiful daughter who is a film student in NYC, multiple homes and a devoted fan following. But as so often is the case, all is not as it seems. The unraveling begins one snowy morning when her husband dies in a one car accident on the way to the airport.

Matthew's death serves to further divide Hollis and her daughter, Caroline. Caroline's anger is directed at her mother and Hollis is left to grieve alone. She befriends and confides in one of her online followers, Gigi. Although they have never met, Hollis has taken Gigi into her confidence. When she turns to Gigi about Matthew's death, Gigi ghosts her.

Hollis reads about a woman who held a five star weekend - inviting a best friends from each stage or decade of her life to join her for weekend at a high end resort to celebrate her birthday. Hollis thinks this is exactly what she needs so she intends to do the same. However, being Hollis Shaw, she will host it all herself at her amazing Nantucket home.

Invitees include :
Tatum, best friend growing up in Nantucket who feels left behind,
Dru-Ann best friend for UNC, now a famous sports agent and tv host
Brooke, best friend from her 30's while they were raising their kids in Wellesley, MA,
and Gigi - someone she only knows via the internet
One of these things is definitely not like the others. Be mindful of who you let into your life.

They will gather for a week of food, wine, activities bonding and fighting. All of this happens to the soundtrack of individualized playlists matching the time period that each friend was in her life and cameras roll, as Caroline was hired to film the entire week complete with interviews. What could possibly go awry?

The novel is an exploration of the dynamics of friendship, love, loss, and forgiveness as well the complexities of adult relationships. Relationships between friends, lovers, mothers and daughters are all explored. There is something here which everyone will identify with - even a social media scandal that results in a "cancelling" of one of them.

This was an enjoyable read set on the picturesque island of Nantucket, Elin Hilderbrand's favorite. Old friends and new beginnings - what's not to like.?

My Thanks to NetGalley and Little Brown for the ARC of this book.

Elin Hilderbrand never disappoints! This will be a great beach read this summer. I always love her books, the many characters and different storylines. I can't wait to hear from more after they read this book.

Loved this one by Hildebrand! Great cast of female characters all with their own side story of things they are dealing with in their lives. Friendship, forgiveness, and enjoying life are all prevalent themes in this excellent beach read. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC!

This is the perfect quick, easy beach read. Following her husband's death, Hollis gathers some friends to help ground her and give her purpose again.

Hollis and Caroline have a complicated relationship as mother and daughter (only a touch of survivor's guilt), and the women Hollis invites to the weekend at her house could not seem more different. Stepping into the past while wanting to be recognized for who you are in the current moment is a tough balance, and the women clearly show cracks in their facades.

A lighthearted affair where things (mainly) end well. Not too heavy, even with some of the tougher subjects broached.

Overall: 4 stars

I'll tell my students about: sex, language, physical violence, LGBTQIA+, alcohol/alcoholism, parental death, trauma

**Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown, & Company for the free ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.**

Five Star Weekend takes place on Nantucket with Hollis, who invites three friends from different decades of her life and a friend she met online, to her Five Star Weekend. The story begins after the loss of Hollis’s husband and the difficult relationship she has with her daughter. The friendships are woven together nicely and stories about the past and present as brought up throughout. This book was definitely very well written and I love the way Elin Hilderbrand sets the scene with such great descriptions. Although in the descriptions seemed to overpower the actual story line and present events unfolding in the novel. Overall, was a great beach read and I love reading Elin Hilderbrand’s books about Nantucket, this one was just not one of my favorites.

This is my favorite Elin Hilderbrand book to date! I truly enjoyed meeting these characters and getting to know them! How fun would a five-star weekend be? Great book!

How is it possible that each book Elin writes is even better than the last? Like, how is that even POSSIBLE? This is her 29th book and I am constantly astonished at how she's able to write books that are unique and captivating EACH YEAR. I know I say this every time....but THE FIVE STAR WEEKEND may very well be my favorite Elin book yet. Upon the unexpected death of her husband, Hollis invites five friends from different stages on her life to a luxurious and extravagant weekend at her home on Nantucket. Well, lemme tell ya...secrets are spilled, drama unfolds, and fireworks fly. BUT relationships are mended, forgiveness is extended, and memories are made. And THAT"S what Elin is so very good at...creating stories that are multifaceted, distinct, and interesting but are relatable and leave you feeling satisfied at their completion. Thank you, Elin, for yet another wonderful read. You truly are a master at your craft!

Elin Hilderbrand has exceeded herself with "The Five-Star Weekend'. The premise is something many readers will not only relate to, but if possible, attempt, having one friend from each time in your life gather for a weekend. Every character grows is humbled in a manner which hits closest to home for them and at the same time their growth is believable. As always, the setting in Nantucket is perfection and Hilderbrand's inclusion of timely cultural references brought a smile to this reader's face more than once. Looking forward already to next year's novel from her. Thank You NetGalley and Little Brown & Company for the perfect book to spend a day of my Spring Break reading!!!