Book Summary and Reviews of Here's to Us by Elin Hilderbrand

Here's to Us by Elin Hilderbrand

Here's to Us

by Elin Hilderbrand

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  • Published:
  • Jun 2016, 416 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

Three romantic rivals in one crowded house equals plenty of room for jealousy in this surprising and heartwarming story from New York Times bestselling author Elin Hilderbrand.

Laurel Thorpe, Belinda Rowe, and Scarlett Oliver share only two things; a love for the man they all married, Deacon Thorpe—a celebrity chef with an insatiable appetite for life—and a passionate dislike of one another. All three are remarkable, spirited women, but they couldn't be more different. Laurel: Deacon's high school sweetheart and an effortlessly beautiful social worker; Belinda: a high-maintenance Hollywood diva; and Scarlett: a sexy southern belle floating by on her family money and her fabulous looks. They've established a delicate understanding over the years—they avoid each other at all costs.

But their fragile detente threatens to come crashing down after Deacon's tragic death on his favorite place on earth: a ramshackle Nantucket summer cottage. Deacon's final wish was for his makeshift family to assemble on his beloved Nantucket to say good-bye. Begrudgingly, Laurel, Belinda, and Scarlett gather on the island as once again, as in each of their marriages, they're left to pick up Deacon's mess. Now they're trapped in the crowded cottage where they all made their own memories—a house that they now share in more ways than one—along with the children they raised with Deacon, and his best friend. Laurel, Belinda, and Scarlett each had an unbreakable bond with Deacon—and they all have secrets to hide.

Before the weekend is over, there are enough accusations, lies, tears, and drama to turn even the best of friends—let alone three women who married the same man—into adversaries. As his unlikely family says good-bye to the man who brought them together—for better or worse—will they be able to put aside their differences long enough to raise a glass in Deacon's honor?

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What’s the last book you read that would qualify as a beach read? Is there one you can name that you’d heartily recommend?
At my age I consider beach or vacation reads as feel-good books. When I'm on vacation, which is usually with family, that involves many distractions or with my husband who wants to go places. Since I'm retired when I need a feel-good I look for my "go to authors" to name a few: Anne Tyler, Elizab...
-Lynne_G


Who's your favorite female author of the 21st century?
Kristin Hannah and Elin Hilderbrand. I have never read anything by either of them that I was not captivated by.
-Tonja_M

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"No one captures the flavor and experience of a summer place—the outdoor showers, the seafood, the sand in the floorboards—like Hilderbrand." ―Kirkus Reviews

"The queen of the summer beach read...keeps the title with another light-as-air Nantucket-centered tome." ―New York Post

"It must be summer: Hilderbrand is back with a new beach read." ―USA Today

"Beautiful people, dysfunctional families and Nantucket: That's Hilderbrand territory, and it wouldn't be summer without a visit...[Here's to Us is] just the thing for a day by the sea." ―People

This information about Here's to Us was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

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Author Information

Elin Hilderbrand Author Biography

Elin Hilderbrand is the author of twenty-eight novels, including The Hotel Nantucket. She is a proud 1991 graduate of Johns Hopkins University where she majored in Writing Seminars. In her senior year at Hopkins, Elin had her first short story, "Misdirection," accepted for publication in Seventeen Magazine.

After a short stint working in publishing and teaching in New York City, she moved to Nantucket permanently in 1994. She attended the University of Iowa writers workshop and earned her MFA in 1998, and published her first novel, The Beach Club, in the summer of 2000. Her 2019 novel, Summer of "69 SUMMER OF '69 was her first novel to debut at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. She is the mother of three children and loves riding the Peloton, cooking, and going to the beach. She...

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