My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Little, Brown and Company for an advanced copy of this novel from the Queen of the Beach Reads.

As I get older I find that I value the friendships that I have made over the years more and more. Families are stuck with you, friends can make fun of you. The fact that with friends you can share the same embarrassing stories, the same jokes, the same aphorisms that stay as funny as they were the first time, is a precious thing. And yes they know what buttons to press, how to grate on nerves that are still raw from high school, or that first love, or that warning you gave before a wedding. Friends are even more now in this world of uncertainty. A cough can become a contagion. A phone call from a familiar number could be a police officer telling you they are never coming home. So having people even those you might not be as close with as you once were is critical to being not just happy, but to getting through life. Though this also comes with its own burderns as the protagonist of The Five-Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand learns

Hollis Shaw has it all. The has a very popular food blog, a husband who is a doctor, and a daughter, so Shaw's life is complete at least to those looking. Until the day an argument is followed by tragedy and the happy marriage, is gone, her estrangement with her daughter becomes more apparant, and Shaw is left lost in a world that is suddenly ugly and unfamiliar. In an attempt to find happiness Shaw reads about the Five-Star Weekend where a person invites their best friend from different points in their lives to have a splendid weekend reminiscing about the past, and connecting to those left behind. Hollis gathers a diverse group of people, friends, old loves, her daughter who will record the weekend for Shaw's blog, and a stranger or two, for good times and good tidings. However things go from fun to farce quite quickly, and the five-stars planned for might go to zero-stars quite quickly.

Elin Hilderbrand has been Queen of the Beach Reads for quite awhile, and shows no sigh of abdicating. This book has a lot of her themes, Nantucket, love, loss, and a tour guide to the item of products, but adding a far bigger cast and alot more farce to her fiction. There is a lot of miscommunication, phone shenanigans, secrets, lies and truth telling, but the story is fun and interesting and moves along quite well. Hollis Shaw starts off as annoying, but gets better as the book continues, and she kind of grows to be a better character. There is a lot of plot contrivance but it goes with the farce aspect of the story, and moves the story along. What I found annoying was the constant product placement. After awhile it was just like reading a TikTok influencer's Christmas list. However that is a minor quibble in a book that is perfect for the beach, or whatever summer place a person reads.

Fans will definitely enjoy the story, as the idea is funny, and fits well. A good jumping on point for new readers also. Plus the book can be used to tour around Nantucket and follow in the cast members steps.

Hollis's life seems ideal: she has a great husband, a heart surgeon, a beautiful summer house on Nantucket in addition to her Wellesley's home, and her humble food blog became so popular during the pandemic that now she has many followers who want to "cook with Hollis.". Sure, not everything is picture-perfect. Her adult daughter Caroline replies to Hollis's texts in monosyllables, and her husband Mathew has become distant, attending medical conferences more often and skipping their family's rituals. Still, Hollis thinks it's just a phase and nothing that a good summer at Nantucket can't fix. But then Matthew is killed in one car accident, swerving to avoid a deer, and Hollis's world falls apart. After a few months, she comes across a great idea: a weekend with her friends, one woman from every phase of her life. Five women whose only connection is Hollis, the five-star weekend in her summer house, filled with good food (Hollis makes excellent dishes, of course), sunbathing, shopping, dancing, and hopefully, reconnecting.

It's a risky idea. I remember a birthday party when a host invited her friends, whose only connection was her. It didn't work. We often tend to compartmentalize our relations: there are friends we meet for coffee, co-workers, and others we know from our book clubs or exercise classes. Hopefully, there are also friends we can count on, perhaps long-term friendships from our formative years. Hollis's friends are very different: they all bring to Hollis's home their own problems. And it may be too difficult to share them over a perfect sandwich.

I've seen Elin Hilderbrand's books, but this is the first one I have read. After some research, I discovered that the author has many fans, and some of them are real devotees who even gather once a year on Nantucket for their own five-star weekend, a simpler version with yoga, readings, and book trivia. It reminded me of the Jane Austen clubs over the country or the Wodehouse Society, although these two are much more developed and organized. The gatherings of Elin Hildebrand's fans look like fun. As the author said, they are not about her and her books but, ultimately, about women who come, just like "The Five-Star Weekend" is about women and how strong and vulnerable they are: how others and their friendships can make every problem easier.

Even though I found some aspects far-fetched, like Brooke's revelation, and it was a bit hard for me to relate to Dru-Ann, I really enjoyed this novel, filled with a feeling of summer, good meals shared with friends, and underlying optimism of getting a second chance in life.

Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy.

What a great read. I loved the premise of this book and I want to do the exact same thing and get my friends together like this.

Hollis is going through some things. Her husband died, but there was something a bit off with their relationship before he died. Her daughter has become distant, the only thing keeping her going is her blog. She reads somewhere about a Five-Star weekend so she decides she wants the same thing. She thinks it will cheer her up.

So she invites her BF from high school, her BF from college, her good friend now, and a new friend she found online to meet up in Nantucket for a fun-filled weekend that she will document for her blog.



It's a book about friendship and love.

Very convinced that Erin Hilderbrand can do no wrong. She does it again with this one! Gonna be popular this summer.

Elin Hilderbrand delivers the perfect summer beach read with The Five-Star Weekend. Who wouldn’t want to be invited by Hollis, an incredible chef with a food blog with many followers?! After the unexpected death of her husband, she invites four women from different times in her life. Her meticulously planned weekend at her home in Nantucket is to be filmed by her estranged daughter Caroline. All the women come together with secrets and baggage slowly revealed over the weekend. Past relationships come forward as Caroline interviews the attendees. Drama, forgiveness and healing are interwoven throughout the story. #TheFive-StarWeekend #ElinHilderbrand #NetGally

As a longtime reader of Elin Hildebrand, this novel did not disappoint. It is a beach read with depth and humor. We see Hollis, the protagonist, try to put the pieces together after her husband passes suddenly. I enjoyed the narration, as we saw shifts from Hollis’s POV to the other of the “five star” gals. Another five star read, for sure!

Elin Hilderbrand always delivers. The Five-Star Weekend is the perfect book for vacation or anytime really.
Hollis Shaw has a history with Nantucket. Her mother died when she was a toddler and she grew up with her father on the island. It was an idyllic childhood but as an adult life took her to the mainland and her family becomes summer residents. When Hollis husband is killed on island in a car accident and her world is shattered. Eventually she hears a story of a woman who invited the best friend from each era of her life to a girls weekend as a way to perhaps heal from her grief. This is the story or those friendships, their history and the best girls weekend .

This is the book you need on a cold winter's day!
Of course how can you not love Elin! A great casual read that leaves you with smiles.

Thank you for the advanced reader's copy.

Hollis has the perfect life, or so it seems to others. She has a beautiful house, a successful food blog, and a doctor for a husband. One day her world suddenly falls apart when her husband, Matthew, gets into a car accident and dies, leaving Hollis alone with her daughter, Caroline. She decides to host a Five-Star weekend, so she invites her closest friends from the different stages of her life for a weekend together. As all of her friends attend for the weekend, they learn a lot about each other and of course there's some drama.

I always look forward to Elin Hilderbrand's books and THE FIVE -STAR WEEKEND was another winner. I loved getting to know all of these characters. Everyone has some kind of issue going on currently in their life and I enjoyed how it all played out. This is the perfect book to read anytime of year, but especially during the summer. I enjoyed it and would love to visit Nantucket some day.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown, and Company for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This review will be shared to my Instagram (@coffee.break.book.reviews) in the near future.

I always enjoy Elin Hilderbrand and thought this book had a bit more depth that some of the others I've read in the past. I will purchase a copy for our library and it will see quite a bit of circulation. I appreciate the ARC from NetGalley and the publisher.

Like putting on some fuzzy socks, Linderbrand's books are always fun, easy, and delightful. Five-Star Weekend did not disappoint. I enjoyed the touch of our few Nantucket locals in the story.

Elin Hilderbrand is one of my favorite authors. She is consistently good, her books are easy to read, and she appeals to all generations. It is great over the summer when my grandmother and I can read an Elin Hilderbrand book at the same time, and both equally love it! Her newest novel, The Five-Star Weekend, is another hit for me and will surely be a popular beach read this summer.

The Five-Star Weekend is similar to Elin’s past novels in that it takes place in the summer months of Nantucket. It focuses on the main character, Hollis Shaw, who is a food blogger that became famous over quarantine. At the beginning of the novel, her doctor husband is tragically killed in car accident. While she is grieving the loss of her husband, coming to terms with how their marriage was, and dealing with the complex relationship of her college aged daughter, she decides to do a “girl's weekend” at her summer house on Nantucket. She calls it the “Five-Star Weekend” where she will invite one friend from each period of her life- high school friend, college roommate, mom friend, and a virtual friend from her website. She has a five-star itinerary and will make sure her guests are spoiled with fancy food that will later be posted on her website. The storyline focuses on each of the five friends of Hollis too, and there are twists and turns throughout the novel that keep it entertaining.

There are so many aspects I loved about this book I do not know where to start. First is the concept of the five-star weekend and having a friend from each period in your life. This is a PERFECT idea for a bachelorette, even taking place in Nantucket! Elin always does a wonderful job describing the Nantucket setting, and I also loved the description of the foods they were eating as well. This is a heartwarming story that has a happy ending and gives you chills up until the last word. I will be rereading this book this summer on a beach and pretending I am part of the five-star weekend! I recommend this to anyone and am sure it will be flying off the shelves come June 13th. Easy 5 out of 5 stars!

I usually look forward to my summer Elin Hilderbrand read more than any other summer book, but to be honest this one left me wanting more. On one hand, i absolutely loved the premise-- a group of friends having a girls weekend on Nantucket (even if they aren't all really "friends'). I loved the callbacks and cameos to characters from other books and loved the tour we got of the island. This is such a big help in planning my friends and my 50th birthday trip to Nantucket! But the plot and the characters were just lacking. I'm not sure if it was because the narrator jumped around so much or because I just didn't bond with any of the characters, but I ultimately didn't really care what way their stories ended. I wasn't invested in all and i just felt like that was something atypical for a EH book.

When Hollis experiences loss she gathers her friends to help her through. One can't help but root for Hollis. She is an extremely likable character. This is an excellent story about friendship.

The character development in The Five-Star Weekend is well written. Each person, her childhood friend, her college roommate, her grown up best friend, and a mysterious fan from her blogging page, has their own dilemma to work through.

Elin Hilderbrand has once again created an enjoyable, Thank you to the publisher, NetGalley and Elin Hilderbrand for the ARC copy!

Elin Hilderbrand’s newest novel, The Five Star Weekend, is another hit. The author stays true to her writing style and plot lines. It slowly pulls the reader into the lives of five friends as they reconnect during a long weekend on Nantucket and each must sort through the drama in her life.

Hollis , a recent widow , decides to host a “five-star weekend” by inviting her best friend from each stage of her life. Her daughter, Caroline, comes along to film the occasion. As they gather for the girls weekend, each woman is fighting her own personal struggle. From grief to health problems to social media issues to identity struggles to infidelity, the reader is drawn into the personal drama of each woman.

A perfect quick and easy summer read, Hilderbrand fans will not be disappointed. This was probably one of my favorites by this author.

I almost didn’t want to read this because I know her career is coming to an end, but Elin Hilderbrand has written another perfect book! I loved all the characters and really felt connected to each one. They all represent strong women, and the idea to bring them together for a weekend was great! I actually wish it was for a week, so the book was longer. This is the perfect summer read! I am so lucky to leave close to Nantucket and can’t wait to see all the places described in person this summer! The 5 star weekend gets 5 stars from this reader!

With her signature summer style, Hilderbrand hits this one out of the park. Hollis, a well-known food blogger, brings four of her closest friends to Nantucket for a five-star weekend following the death of Hollis’s husband. What follows is a weekend full of delicious food, decadent cocktails, and page-turning drama.

Every time I crack open one of Elin Hilderbrand's new novels, I think that she can't possibly outdo herself...and every time she proves me wrong. Five Star Weekend is beyond a five star read. It has all of the ingredients that have become Hilderbrand's trademark: friendship, secrets, love and just the right amount of scandal.

Hollis has become an internet sensation with her amazing recipes and her Nantucket charm. When her husband unexpectedly dies, Hollis spends months reeling from the loss. As a way of healing, she organizes a five star weekend with her four closest friends from different stages of her life. Tatum, Dru-Ann and Brooke have all loved and supported Hollis throughout her ups and downs but Gigi is the only mystery guest. They met online and bonded over childhood losses and shared interests, but is there more to Gigi's story?

Five Star Weekend will make you laugh out loud, shed a few tears, and make you want to plan your own five star weekend...

What can I say that hasn’t been said already about what an Elin Hilderbrand novel does to me, and for me? The Five-Star Weekend is her twenty-ninth novel, and every year Elin Hilderbrand proceeds to craft a book that is light, airy, fresh, easy to read, quick, full of wit and sharp humor, and just makes me so damn happy to read…..while at the same, being so layered and full of fully fleshed out characters with so many relatable issues in their lives.

Her books get placed in a box and often written off as simply being a beach book; but they just do something to me every year when I read them, and for the last 5-6 years I’ve been lucky to enough to get them as ARCs, so my Februarys are always the time of year I look forward to most, when the typical reader has to wait til June for their summer to begin with Elin….my summer always starts early!

And this year’s novel was no exception, what she has crafted in The Five-Star Weekend is a deeply intimate portrait of grief, resilience, and the bonds of female sisterhood; all sprinkled with fun, food, music, and ofcourse, some time at The Chicken Box ;) (If you haven’t been to Nantucket or read an Elin Hilderbrand book, I’m sorry that you don’t get that final reference 😅)

Quintessential Hilderbrand beach read with drama, family/friend dynamics, and Nantucket as the backdrop.
I'm glad Hilderbrand got away from the ghost phase of her writing, as I didn't care as much for Golden Girl and Hotel Nantucket.
I liked Hollis and her group of friends. The relationship between Hollis and her daughter was realistic.
However, I really thought Brooke's "big reveal" was going to be about her having an eating disorder because she was constantly saying things about gaining weight, etc. "It's so delicious that she doesn't care if they have to roll her off the island in a wheelbarrow." For real though - it's bread, Just eat the damn bread on this free trip to Nantucket, for crying out loud! And Brooke asks Gigi "How do you stay so thin?"
I do feel Hilderbrand places too much emphasis on weight/having the perfect body in most of her novels. Although, I will give her credit for describing Hollis as "nobody's idea of thin...her bottom, although plump and round, is firm."
Really, though, I love Hilderbrand's books and Nantucket is on my bucket list because of her!