If you’re anything like me and were super sad when Hilderbrand’s last series came to an end then I’m sure you’re going to fall in love with this new series as well. Per usual the characters are immediately relatable and feel like fast friends and the setting is idyllic. It’s a departure for the author, it’s not set in Nantucket but in St. John and I’m currently trying to figure out how to talk my husband into taking me there for our tenth wedding anniversary!

Irene’s husband dies in a tragic accident and if that isn’t devastating enough the discovery of his secret double life is revealed. You hear from Irene and her two sons Baker and Cash and you also hear from St. John’s locals, Huck and Ayers. (Quick side note, don’t these characters have the most interesting names?! They’re not pointless either, they all have a story and meaning) One of the many things that intrigued me about this was that it focuses on a group of people who’s lives were heavily impacted by one man but since he dies at the start of the book you never actually get to hear from him. You definitely get a strong sense of who Russ is through the other characters narrative, but he’s this silent, looming presence who intersected lives that otherwise would’ve never crossed paths.

I was a little hesitant about reading a Hilderbrand book not set in Nantucket but I worried needlessly because the authors ability to bring a setting to life is unmatched. I have this perfect picture in my mind of how the islands look, feel, sound and smell and that’s why I need to experience it for myself! Throw in a mysterious angle and amazing characterization and you have such a fun read, I’m already dying for the second book in the series and I don’t even know if it’s done being written yet! 😂

Winter in Paradise in the words: Escapist, Picturesque and Lush.

Irene Steele lives a normal, happy life. Then one winter night she gets a call that informs her that her husband has been found dead, and he’s nowhere near home. His body has been found on the island of St. John. Grief stricken and perplexed, Irene flies out to the island immediately. There she uncovers the shocking revelation that her husband had another family on the island. AS painful as it is, Irene is determined to find out who killed her husband and why (although if I was Irene, I would have wanted to kill him myself). This is the start of a new Winter in paradise series for Hilderbrand, and as a Mainer, I look forward to reading all the books in the series to help me escape the long cold winter

Elin Hilderbrand gives us another stunning story filled with surprises and gorgeous beaches. The first in a trilogy and I'm already impatient for installment #2!

An engrossing story filled with interesting characters, beautiful descriptions of the Virgin Islands that will have you packing your bags (or at least saving) for a trip of your own, and a plot that is both heartbreaking and heartwarming of the type that we can expect from Elin Hilderbrand. Irene Steele is at a crossroads in her life as are both of her sons, Cash and Baker, when she receives a phone call telling her that her husband Russ has died in a helicopter crash in the Virgin Islands, With him on the plane were a native woman and the pilot, both of whom also died. Irene and her sons go to the islands and discover that Russ had a very different and very secret life there. As they investigate Russ' past they come to find their own paths as well. I loved this book and highly recommend it.