What’s summer without the annual EH beach read? For many summers I’ve come to anxiously anticipate what exciting new read she’ll come up with next. The Five-Star Weekend delivers another Nantucket summer story. I loved this book. The storyline itself was unique, gathering five of your friends together for a weekend of activities. Friends from different stages of your life. Throw in family drama, ruptured relationships, new acquaintances, heartache and juicy revelations and bingo you’re off and running. Elin does a stellar job of making you feel like you are on the island experiencing everything her characters are. Great characterization, food descriptions that will have your mouth watering, island vibes and a storyline that will catch your attention quickly. I have to say her latest ranks as one of my favorites. #NetGalley for the ARC all opinions are my own.

I would classify this as a very standard EH novel... the classic Nantucket setting, easy writing style, and a healthy heaping of drama. It won't stand out as one of my favorite books from her, but a solid beach read all the same!

This is a charming and dramatic story of five friends, invited to Nantucket for a Five Star Weekend. Although most of the women know each other fairly well, each one is dealing with their own secrets. As they all try to come together. Conflicts arise and must be resolved. These women are dealing with grief, negative social media and unemployment, possible cancer, infidelity and doubting their sexuality. Throughout the story, you fall in love with each of these women and wish them all well.

Overall’ the story was well written, with empathetic characters and the pacing itself was fast moving. I enjoyed observing each woman’s struggle and how she resolved it. I would give this book 4 stars and would definitely read another book by this author.

Summer isn’t the same unless I read the newest Elin Hilderbrand aka The Queen of Beach Reads novel! The Five Star resort did not disappoint. I loved the idea of five mature women coming together for a weekend and bonding and growing and learning more about each other and themselves. As always Hilderbrand has colorful characters that you fall in love with as a reader.

Elin Hilderbrand always writes a great book for the summer. I am so glad that this one did not disappoint.

After the passing of her husband, Hollis Shaw plans a weekend in Nantucket with four friends. .Each friend is from a different part of Hollis's life; they all don't necessarily like each other but they want to support Hollis during this time.

I enjoyed all the perspectives the characters bought to the book and let me feel immersed in the drama.

I really enjoyed this book. It was refreshing to read about women in their 40’s and 50’s! I thought the characters were (mostly) well rounded.

“The loneliest place in the world, she realizes, is between two other people.”

I mean, is it even summer if you haven’t read the newest @elinhilderbrand book yet?!

I was so happy to take my yearly “trip” to Nantucket within the pages of Elin’s most recent story. And, as expected, it did not disappoint.

This book has just about everything you would want in a beachy read. It has love, both old and new, the beach (obviously), some girly drama, seafood, summer nights and a storyline that has you hooked until the very end. I devoured this story, as I tend to do with her books, and always find myself a bit sad when they end. I could have read a hundred pages more about these ladies and their five star weekend!

If you need something to throw in your beach bag this summer grab this one. Enjoy!

Thank you to @netgalley, @littlebrown, and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Five-Star Weekend is the perfect Elin Hilderbrand summer beach read. I read and listened to it at the same time and couldn't have loved it more! The narrator, Erin Bennett, is perfect!

Months after Hollis' husband passes away she invites 3 of her "old" friends and one that's new, to spend a weekend with her. They don't all necessarily like each other so that brings some drama but then Gigi, her internet "friend" shows up. There's also, Jack, a man from her past. Will Hollis find love again with him? And what will Caroline, Hollis' daughter think when they find out who Gigi really is?

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review. All opinions are my own.

Publication date: 13 June 2023

It’s not summer until I’ve read my annual EH novel 👏🏼

every time I read one of these books I’m ready to plan a trip to Nantucket … eventually one day I’ll get there 😅

I thought the premise of this one was really unique! After tragedy strikes, Hollis Shaw plans a weekend in Nantucket with four friends from different stages of her life. She plans their entire itinerary and one of the “friends” is someone she hasn’t even met before. This was the perfect beach read and I even saved this one so i could read it on the actual beach!

EH novels are soap operas in book form and I can never get enough of them. I recommend not reading this book while hungry because some of the food descriptions are just *chef kiss* — Overall this won’t go down as my favorite EH novel but it was still a fun one!

Elin Hilderbrand never misses! Another great summer book by the Nantucket queen herself. This was fun, salacious, and easy to read.

Elin Hilderbrand has written another wonderful book about women, friendship, and life on Nantucket! This one had a good plot line with lots of sub-stories going on, along with interesting, diverse, and well-developed characters. I love the author’s writing style - she manages to include just enough description of people, places, and things – food and clothes, stores and houses and bedrooms and kitchens! - and she doesn’t spend paragraphs describing the sunset! I always look forward to reading Hilderbrand’s next novel!

Thank you to NetGalley for sharing this ARC with me!

Decent read overall, but I didn’t quite connect to this storyline or cast of characters the way I have with other Elin Hilderbrand books. Plenty of summer favorites, but sadly this one was a miss.

Hollis is a food blogger, wife and mother. She grew up in Nantucket but moved to Wellesley, MA. After her husband suddenly dies, she decides to plan a 5-star weekend in Nantucket. An idea that she read about online. She invites her best friend from 5 decades of her life for a girls weekend, all planned and paid for by Hollis. Some of the friends know each other, some do not. Some don't even like each other, but they all come for Hollis. One guest is an online friend who Hollis met through her food blog.

This story unfolds in true Elin Hilderbrand fashion as a great beach read. There is friendship, heartache, family bonds, romance and of course Nantucket, MA. I really enjoyed The Five-Star Weekend, just as I enjoy all of Elin's novels. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this novel.

3.5 stars!
Hollis runs the lifestyle blog called Hungry with Hollis that went viral during the pandemic. She is married to Matthew and has one daughter who is in university. When she receives a phone call that Matthew has died in a car accident, her world is flipped upside down. As part of her grieving process, she decides to host a five-star weekend to try and cheer herself up. This involves inviting friends from all parts of her life to her home in Nantucket for the weekend, to have a girls getaway.

I read one Elin every summer and this was my pick for this year. It was perfectly atmospheric as Elin’s reads always are. The food and beverage descriptions and the settings were absolutely dreamy. There was lots of tension as the reader was able to get invested in all of Hollis’ guests' problems and drama. I just didn’t love the characters as much as I usually do and I found it was missing that romance that Hildebrand can write in so well. I still really enjoyed it and was very grateful to @littlebrown and @netgalley for my review copies.

THE FIVE STAR WEEKEND

Elin Hilderbrand is back with a new book, so it must be summer! Every single year I wait with bated breath for Elin’s latest to publish and once again this book did not disappoint!

Hollis Shaw runs the popular food blog, Hungry with Hollis, and from the outside her life seems picture perfect. When her husband, Matthew, suddenly passes away the cracks start to surface - life suddenly doesn’t seem so perfect, especially with her strained relationship with her daughter Caroline. When Hollis hears about something called a “Five-Star Weekend” she knows that’s just the thing she needs. She gathers four friends from her teenage years, her twenties, thirties, and midlife and brings them to Nantucket for a Five Star Weekend of fun, friendship and self discovery.

Hilderbrand tells this story set in Nantucket in only a way that she can! Each character was so interesting and had a new perspective to bring to the storyline. The character growth in this book as fantastic and I loved getting to know each of the girls! I also really liked the alternating points of view and inner monologues we got from them. So many of the scenarios felt real - from the jealousy that someone is “better” friends with Hollis to the drama, and secrets! As always I devoured this one and couldn’t get enough of the writing, the descriptions, and the characters.

After Hollis’s husband dies, she goes to Nantucket and spends time with her daughter and plans a girls’ weekend with friends from each phase of her life. While it appears Hollis has the weekend meticulously prepared, nothing at all goes as planned. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to be an early reader in exchange for my review.

After her husband's death Hollis decides to have a getaway weekend with people from different phases of her life. Little did she know she invited her husbands mistress. I enjoyed the book but once the reveal was revealed I didn't get the interaction between the two I was looking for.

I quite enjoy Elin Hilderbrand's novels, and the Five-Star weekend does not disappoint. In fact, it might be one of my favorites of hers!

I loved The Five-Star Weekend! I shouldn’t be surprised Elin’s books are always favs for me. I loved returning to Elin’s Nantucket as well!! The storyline and characters was also amazing!!!

Elin Hilderbrand is the Queen of chick lit with the right amount of everything!!! She is literally one of my favs ever and a staple on my book shelf!!

I liked this a lot. I always love the Nantucket setting so much and I liked the premise of different best friends from the main character's life, plus her relationship with her daughter. I'm sad to hear this may be her last book, though that will allow me to catch up on all of the ones I haven't read yet.