WINTER STROLL, the second book in Elin Hilderbrand's Winter Street trilogy, picks up right where WINTER STREET left off with its dysfunction, humor, drama, jealousy, romance and compassion.

Kelley Quinn, an innkeeper and the owner of the Winter Street Inn, and his family have been through their fair share of trials and tribulations over the last year. It's Christmas on Nantucket, and the town is celebrating Christmas Stroll weekend. Kelley and his ex-wife, Margaret, are looking forward to celebrating the traditional holiday weekend as well as the baptism of their new granddaughter, Genevieve, who's born to their son Kevin and French housekeeper Isabelle. As preparations are underway for this wonderful family weekend, Mitzi, Kelley's estranged wife of one year, shows up at the Inn uninvited.

"Hilderbrand never disappoints me. I can identify with each of her detailed characters and their storylines, as her writing style is comfortable and inviting."

Kelley and Mitzi were married for 12 years, but have been separated for the past year due to Mitzi having an affair with George, who was the Inn's Santa Claus for the last 12 Christmas seasons. Kelley has been chugging along and has the Inn to keep him busy, but Mitzi is miserable. They've been waiting anxiously to hear any news about their son, Bart, who is a Marine stationed in Afghanistan. He has been MIA after 44 soldiers were kidnapped by the Bely, an extremist group. Bart has been missing for nearly a year now, and Mitzi is unable to deal with day-to-day life wondering about her son. Fearing the worst, she turns to drinking for refuge. Her relationship with George is also on the rocks. Therefore, she decides to return to the Inn and seek solace with Kelley, the only person who shares her grief. Although Mitzi was sort of a villain in WINTER STREET, Hilderbrand describes her feelings superbly, allowing the reader to fully sympathize with her during her time of despair.

Margaret and Kelley have been on friendly terms during the past year, and she manages to visit him and her family on the weekends when she's not anchoring the WCBS News. She also has helped Kelley financially with the Inn and, using her celebrity, brings in many new guests. Margaret's relationship with Drake, a pediatric surgeon, hasn't been serious so far, but suddenly he realizes he's in love with her and wants to marry her.

There's also a lot of drama going on with Kelley and Margaret's older children --- Ava, Kevin and Patrick --- and daughter-in-law Jennifer. Ava and Kevin have romantic problems with their significant others, and Jennifer's husband, Patrick, has been in jail for the past year for insider trading. Jennifer, meanwhile, is barely managing to raise her three young boys, who miss their father and take their anger out on her. As she struggles to cope, she turns to drugs and booze. Although there’s a lot going on, Hilderbrand does an amazing job of keeping each storyline separate. I never once had to turn back the pages to figure out who she was talking about.

Hilderbrand never disappoints me. I can identify with each of her detailed characters and their storylines, as her writing style is comfortable and inviting. There’s a sense of humor in both WINTER STREET and WINTER STROLL, but there isn’t as much in the latter as there is in the former. How will the Quinns manage to get through all of the jealousy and heartache? We'll just have to wait until the final book of the trilogy to find out how their drama is solved. If you're like me, you’ll certainly hope there are happy endings. Stay tuned!