WINTER STORMS is the conclusion to Elin Hilderbrand’s Winter Street trilogy. In WINTER STREET and WINTER STROLL, the first two installments, we find the Quinn family trying to get through their days as best they can due to their dysfunction, humor, drama, jealousy, romance and compassion. In this final volume, Hilderbrand masterfully sorts out their dilemmas in a fashion whereby the reader feels good about how they’ve solved their issues.

Kelley and Mitzi are back together after a year apart due to her illicit affair with the Winter Street Inn’s Santa Claus. It’s been a tough year for both since their son, Bart, went MIA in Afghanistan. The strain of not knowing if he is dead or alive took its toll. Somehow Mitzi picks herself up, dusts herself off and returns to Kelley. She finds the strength to “rule the roost” when it comes to his health scare and maintaining the inn.

"I’ve always been told that it is better to give than to receive, and this is exactly what Elin Hilderbrand does with her heart and soul. She always amazes me as to how much she gives, and that is the fiber of her being."

It’s springtime, and love is in the air for Margaret and Drake, Kevin and Isabelle, and Ava, who is trying to sort out her love life juggling two relationships while meeting a third gentleman, Potter. I found Ava to be the most humorous character of all, because of her funny personality and the strange predicament in which she finds herself.

Meanwhile, Patrick and Jennifer are facing their hardships due to Patrick's incarceration for insider trading activity. The only way she copes is through her drug addiction. She vows that once he gets out, everything will be fine and life will return to its normal state. Hilderbrand made me feel compassionate yet nervous towards Jennifer and her problem.

The Quinns look forward to the upcoming holiday season. Kevin and Isabelle are planning their Christmas Eve wedding. Unfortunately, though, in the midst of these preparations and the family’s uplifting spirits, a powerful Nor’easter is threatening as the wedding date arrives. Nevertheless, the family springs into action as nothing will keep them from celebrating.

We’ve become so used to these characters, and I feel like I know them very well. However, I’d like to know what happens to Kelley regarding his health. We’re left yearning for more knowledge, especially the way that Hilderbrand ends the story in this final book. Is she leaving room for another novel? We don’t know. However, I do like how she meticulously describes her characters and the inviting mental place setting I get in my mind when she describes her beloved Nantucket.

As a whole, I thoroughly enjoyed this trilogy. I thought WINTER STREET was well written and liked this first book the best. I loved the Quinn family’s sagas and the humor that Hilderbrand brought out trying to deal with their day-to-day issues. In WINTER STROLL, she showed us what it’s like living in Nantucket during the holiday season and continued the family’s dysfunction. Now, in WINTER STORMS, she expertly meshes everything together so that peace exists within each character and within the family dynamic.

I’ve always been told that it is better to give than to receive, and this is exactly what Elin Hilderbrand does with her heart and soul. She always amazes me as to how much she gives, and that is the fiber of her being. Hilderbrand currently writes three novels a year, and satisfies her readers knowing they’ll finish one of her books only to have another published a few months down the road. The queen of the romance novel is on top of her game, and she won’t let you down.