Here's to Us

Another enjoyable read by Elin Hildebrand. I recommend it to anyone who wants to while away a summer afternoon on aback deck or at the beach. Relationships are complicated!

She's back!!! After a disappointing book last summer, I was thrilled that Elin Hildebrand's latest book is one of her absolute best. I devoured it in two days straight. The book centers on the central relationship between three women, all married to the same man, who get together to spread his ashes in Nantucket. There is a lot to like. As always, Hildebrand has a wonderful way of engaging the five senses. Readers will taste, smell and feel the sensual pleasures of Nantucket Island. Her characters are flawed, interesting and worth spending time with..... Hildebrand weaves enough pop culture as to insinuate archetypes of who these characters may be--think Nicole Kidman as Belinda and fascinating bad-boy Tony Bourdain as Deacon Thorpe. She inserts cultural references relevant to the time and you begin to credibly believe you are reading about real people. The pace is steady. There are a few surprises. Mostly though, this is Hildebrand at her best--inviting us into a believable world full of complex and (mostly) fully formed characters dealing with adversity. Enough tragedy to make it interesting; enough wealth, privilege and sensuality as to make it a worthwhile escape. I enjoyed every minute of reading it and am sorry I finished it. The timeline itself was slow--the action takes place over a few days--yet despite that there were enough plot twists and fun scenes as to keep me riveted. This is not a perfect book, by any means. Some of the characters are not well developed--for example, no 9-year old child i know behaves the way Ellery does. She sounds like a 4-year-old actually. I have known children who lost a parent at 6 who had more of a reaction than Ellery. I think this particular character was a complete mess and miss in equal parts. Similarly, Scarlett and Hayes are both one-note wonder and come across like an afterthought. Those two observations do make a dent in an otherwise stellar story--thus a 4-star review, instead of 5. I liked the poetic bookends of "the perfect day"--well done. Summer reading season is off to a great start thanks to EH.

The disclaimer is that I love Elin Hilderbrand. That said, I enjoyed her latest a lot. The characters were interesting, and although some weren't the most likeable people, that's how real life is. Some I wanted to like, I just didn't. That said, this is set over 5 days on Nantucket, with a "modern family" coming together after the passing of the children's father, who was a cooking celebrity. The ex-wives, best friend, and children are together on the island to say good-bye and deal with the ensuing emotions. I loved the alternating characters, and I feel this is a current writing trend, and she did a good job with it. I also loved the recipe bonuses!

I adore Elin Hilderbrand and all of her books....except this one. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it and still devoured it in two days, but I did not fall in love with it as I have with her other previous books. The characters and storylines are compelling enough, though I did not connect with any one character; maybe because there are so many. But my biggest complaint is that I did not feel like Nantucket was featured enough in this book. Yes, the house in on Nantucket and some bits and pieces pop up but honestly, this book could have been set in any beloved action spot. So it's a good book but if you are wanting to live/visit Nantucket vicariously like you can in her other books, you may be disappointed.

Great story! Love the Nantucket setting of Elin’s books.

Everyone cheats seem to be the moral of this story. Although, we also have grief, anger, pettiness, forgiveness, and closure. Here's to Us is the story of three women who have all loved one man. Deacon Thorpe has died at the age of 53. He was a famous chef celebrity who was a great father but a terrible husband. Let's talk about his three wives and their children: Wife #1: Laurel. Laurel was his first wife. She meet Deacon when they were in high school. She fell for him and his loneliness. She thought she could make him happy and for a while they were happy. They have one son together, Hayes. Hayes is currently hooked on heroin but no one knows it. Wife #2: Belinda Rowe. Belinda is a famous Hollywood actress. One look at Deacon and she wants him. She's a lonely person too and she can recognize it in him as well. After getting married, Belinda tried to get pregnant to no avail. They share one adopted daughter, Angie. Angie's currently dating a married man. She was also the child who spent more time with Deacon since she's also a chef and she worked at Deacon's restaurant. Wife #3: Scarlett Oliver. Scarlett was a fresh debutante from the south when she met Deacon. Scarlett was Angie's nanny (yes, a horrible cliche) and she wanted Deacon while he was married to Belinda. They shared a daughter, Ellery Thorpe who's still a kid. Now that Deacon is dead, his best friend, Buck will meet all the wives at the home that at some point they all shared with Deacon, American Paradise on Hoicks Hollow Road in Nantucket Island. As you can imagine, the wives don't get along and all three under the same roof can mean nothing but trouble. To make matters worse, Deacon was in trouble financially and in a few days, they will lose the house that meant so much to him - and surprisingly to them too. The death of Deacon forces the women to spend time together. They will try to stay civil with each other. However, old resentments are brought back to life and secrets always find a way to surface in the worst possible way. My favorite character was Laurel. She was the nicest wife. She had always loved Deacon. She had been there when he needed someone by his side. Belinda had a lot of issues. She was an unhappy woman but she cared for her adoptive daughter Angie although she had a terrible way of showing it. I couldn't warm up to Scarlett. She was self-centered, deceitful and superfluous. Now to the things that bothered me. I thought Laurel had more sense than to settle for Buck. Just because she was getting older, didn't mean that she needed to be with Buck. What Buck let Belinda do was not a small thing. I for one didn't agree with Laurel letting him get away with it, no matter that he could wear a pink shirt with whales on his shorts. Like father like daughter. Angie spent her time complaining about her mother, Belinda, and her shortcomings but she wasn't any better. She was currently sleeping with Joel, a married man. Don't get me started on Hayes. He loved his heroine and spent all his time high as a kite. He was present in body only. Here's to Us is an emotional story that made an impact. Despite having issues with some of the characters as a whole, I really enjoyed this story. I love how Elin finished this book. I thought it was a great way to end it. Cliffhanger: No 4/5 Fangs

This is my second Hilderbrand book and was pleasantly surprised with the story line - I thought it would be much different. The book is written in segments with each character being 'heard' so it has a nice character building quality. There are a LOT of characters and at one point I wondered 'who the heck is the protagonist?' I assume it was the character who had passed away but you learn about him through the voice of the other characters (his wives & children) and his intertwining life throughout. It is easier to follow than The Nest (which was very overrated) but written similarly.

Living the life on Nantucket. I wasn’t sure I was going to like this story line, in the middle of the novel I thought maybe 4 stars. But the ending left me feeling so uplifted I give it five. Deacon was a flawed man with monsters taunting him daily. But he was so full of love & such a great father. He couldn’t get out of his own way, but he instilled love & compassion in his children, friends & fans. This is a great beach read!

It was a good, light story. Easy to read and to follow. The characters were interesting. A great summer read!!

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the characters how they blended Together even though they were x wives. With problems. I'll certainly recommendations book. I've enjoy all Elin Hildebrands Books that I've read.

I liked the characters. I wanted the book to keep going so I really home there's a follow up book.

Light read and enjoyable. Elin is always a great read.

Love, love, love this author...always a brilliant story with amazingly defined characters. Funny, clever, sad, with marvellous attention to details of surroundings, food, etc. Always hooks me in and I can't put her books down....don't know how she does it every time...