Where I share my love of books with reviews, features, giveaways and memes. Family and needlepoint are thrown in from time to time.
Showing posts with label Elin Hilderbrand. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Elin Hilderbrand. Show all posts

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Summerland by Elin Hilderbrand (Review and Giveaway)

Title: Summerland
Author: Elin Hilderbrand
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company


About the Book: A perfect summer's night ends in a deadly crash -- and four lives are changed forever.


On a warm June evening, a local tradition continues: the students of Nantucket High gather for a bonfire on the beach.  But the celebration ends in tragedy after a horrible car crash leaves the driver, Penny Alistair, dead, and her twin brother, Hobby, in a coma.  Penny's boyfriend, Jake, and her friend Demeter are unhurt but haunted by the events of that night, and by the questions that linger about what happened in the car -- and in the dunes before Penny took the wheel.


For Zoe, the twins' mother, the unthinkable awaits: life without her daughter, and an agonizing recovery for the son who had been a star athlete with infinite prospects.  Free-spirited Zoe has been as much friend as mother to her children, but now she has to face devastating truths about them, and about her own role in all that happened.


As summer unfolds, Zoe and the other parents ask whether their efforts to protect their children from life's realities have only left them more vulnerable.  The key to understanding the accident lies in what Penny learned that evening on the beach -- but will it also destroy the survivors' fragile peace?




My thoughts: This was only my second Elin Hilderbrand book and I enjoyed it even more than the first one.  Her characters are very human and easy to relate to.  The story is told by revolving around all of those involved - Hobby and his mom,  Zoe; Demeter and her parents, Al and Lynne; Jake and his parents, Jordan and Ava.  Each of their lives is touched by this tragedy and the surviving three kids each spend part of the summer wondering what set Penny off on her crash course that night, and dealing with the guilt because they each think they know what it was. Somehow they all have to learn to start living again.


For Hobby, he first must recover physically and that is a long road.  He is also more worried about his mom's acceptance of Penny's death than his own.  Jake is hauled off to Australia by his parents and while there watches his parents reverse roles.  To him it is just more of the same though and all he wants is to get back home to Nantucket.  Demeter never really felt accepted by any of them and starts to drown her loneliness and guilt more and more in the bottle. Little do they know that their parents have secrets, too.  


I would really recommend you add this book to your summer reading list!  And to help you out with that - please sign up for the giveaway below!  This giveaway is open to U.S./Canada only and will end on July 11 at midnight. 


Summerland
Publisher/Publication Date: Little, Brown and Company, June 26, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-316-09983-7
385 pages




a Rafflecopter giveaway


~I received a complimentary copy of this book from Hachette in exchange for my review.~

Friday, August 7, 2009

New Audiobook Giveaway for The Castaways

And I don't mean Ginger and Mary Ann - I mean Elin Hildebrand's book - The Castaways!


About the book: Greg and Tess MacAvoy are one of four prominent Nantucket couples who count each other as best friends. As pillars of their close-knit community, the MacAvoys, Kapenashes, Drakes, and Wheelers are important to their friends and neighbors, and especially to each other. But just before the beginning of another idyllic summer, Greg and Tess are killed when their boat capsizes during an anniversary sail. As the warm weather approaches and the island mourns their loss, nothing can prepare the MacAvoy's closest friends for what will be revealed.

Once again, Hilderbrand masterfully weaves an intense tale of love and loyalty set against the backdrop of endless summer island life. (Hachette)

Rules for the giveaway:
  1. Three copies to giveaway.
  2. Open only to U.S. and Canada.
  3. No PO Boxes
  4. First entry - Must leave email address in comment.
  5. +2 if you are a new or old follower - but please let me know.
  6. +2 if you post a relevant comment on my review of The Castaways - but please let me know you did so.
  7. +3 if you post this on any social network - (limit of 6 entries for this one - so you can post it as many places as you would like, but only 2 will count).
  8. +3 for referrals of NEW followers - if you already follow, you will not get entries for saying someone referred you - you can however get entries for referring new people...
  9. Giveaway ends on Aug 28th

The Castaways
Publisher/Publication Date: Little, Brown & Company, July 2009
ISBN: 978-0-316-04389-2
359 pages

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

The Castaways by Elin Hilderbrand (Blog Tour and Book Review)


Title: The Castaways
Author: Elin Hilderbrand
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company

First sentence: Because the accident occurred out on the water and not on the land that fell under his jurisdiction, it was unusual that the Chief was the first one to find out.

My summary/thoughts: This is the story of 8 friends - 4 couples - Tess and Greg, Jeff and Delilah, Ed and Andrea, Phoebe and Addison. They all live on the island of Nantucket - a community where everyone knows everyone and nobody's business remains private for long.

The story opens with the death of Tess and Greg. They had gone sailing to celebrate their 12th wedding anniversary - an anniversary that they had fought hard to reach over the last year. Nobody could believe they had drowned - especially the six friends they left behind.

I love the way the story is told rotating around the survivors - so you are not just getting one point of view - but everyone's. It alternates between how they are dealing with the present and what happened in the past, what decisions they did or did not make, that shaped this present. The death of this couple hits them all hard - some because of guilty secrets - some because of what ifs. They all deal with their grief differently.

Over the course of this book, each character really becomes more and more real. I was afraid when I first started reading - because of the 8 main characters - and the way the story moved around - that I was going to have trouble maintaining who was who. But it wasn't long before I realized I wasn't having to 'think' about who was who anymore. I had come to know each one of them.

Elin Hilderbrand was a new-to-me author and I can't wait to read more of her work!

Read an excerpt of The Castaways.



About the author: Elin Hilderbrand lives on Nantucket with her husband and their three young children. She grew up in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, and traveled extensively before settling on Nantucket. She is the author of ten novels. Hilderbrand is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and the graduate fiction workshop at the University of Iowa. (from her website)


Join Elin Hilderbrand's Nantucket community!




The Castaways
Publisher/Publication Date: Little, Brown & Company, July 2009
ISBN: 978-0-316-04389-2
359 pages

Barnes & Noble
Amazon

Participating Blogs:
July 6
Booking Mama
Write for a Reader
Cafe of Dreams
Must Read Faster
Foreign Circus Library
All About {n}
A Sea of Books
A Journey of Books
The Tome Traveller
Brimful Curiosities
Carol's Notebook

July 7
Book N Around
She is Too Fond of Books
Peeking Between the Pages
Beth Fish Reads
A High and Hidden Place
Bella's Novella
A Circle of Books
Books and Needlepoint
Readaholic
A Bookish Mom
Bermudaonion

July 8
Debbie's World of Books
Review From Here
Marta's Meanderings
Chick with Books
Radiant Light
A Bookworm's World
Booksies Blog
Drey's Library
Cindy's Love of Books
Jenn's Bookshelf
Books, Movies and Chinese Food

July 9
Bookin With Bingo
This Book For Free
Ultimate Bookhound
~Red Lady's Reading Room~
Bookfoolery and Babble
Linus's Blanket
A Book Blogger's Diary
So Many Books, So Little Time
The Brain Lair
Danys
My Friend Amy

July 10
Darby's Closet
Pudgy Penguin Perusals
I'm Booking It
Book Soulmates
Morbid Romantic
Under the Boardwalk
T.V. and Book Addict
Allison's Attic
Wrighty's Reads
Frugal Plus
My Guilty Pleasures

Monday, July 6, 2009

Blog Tour - The Castaways!


The Castaways by Elin Hilderbrand

About the book: Greg and Tess MacAvoy are one of four prominent Nantucket couples who count each other as best friends. As pillars of their close-knit community, the MacAvoys, Kapenashes, Drakes, and Wheelers are important to their friends and neighbors, and especially to each other. But just before the beginning of another idyllic summer, Greg and Tess are killed when their boat capsizes during an anniversary sail. As the warm weather approaches and the island mourns their loss, nothing can prepare the MacAvoy's closest friends for what will be revealed.

Once again, Hilderbrand masterfully weaves an intense tale of love and loyalty set against the backdrop of endless summer island life. (from the publisher)

Read an excerpt of The Castaways.

About the author: Elin Hilderbrand lives on Nantucket with her husband and their three young children. She grew up in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, and traveled extensively before settling on Nantucket, which has been the setting for her five previous novels. Hilderbrand is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and the graduate fiction workshop at the University of Iowa. (from the publisher)

The Castaways
Publisher/Publication Date: Little, Brown & Company, July 2009
ISBN: 9780316043892
368 pages

Barnes & Noble
Amazon

Participating Blogs:
July 6
Booking Mama
Write for a Reader
Cafe of Dreams
Must Read Faster
Foreign Circus Library
All About {n}
A Sea of Books
A Journey of Books
The Tome Traveller
Brimful Curiosities
Carol's Notebook
July 7
Book N Around
She is Too Fond of Books
Peeking Between the Pages
Beth Fish Reads
A High and Hidden Place
Bella's Novella
A Circle of Books
Books and Needlepoint
Readaholic
A Bookish Mom
Bermudaonion
July 8
Debbie's World of Books
Review From Here
Marta's Meanderings
Chick with Books
Radiant Light
A Bookworm's World
Booksies Blog
Drey's Library
Cindy's Love of Books
Jenn's Bookshelf
Books, Movies and Chinese Food
July 9
Bookin With Bingo
This Book For Free
Ultimate Bookhound
~Red Lady's Reading Room~
Bookfoolery and Babble
Linus's Blanket
A Book Blogger's Diary
So Many Books, So Little Time
The Brain Lair
Danys
My Friend Amy
July 10
Darby's Closet
Pudgy Penguin Perusals
I'm Booking It
Book Soulmates
Morbid Romantic
Under the Boardwalk
T.V. and Book Addict
Allison's Attic
Wrighty's Reads
Frugal Plus
My Guilty Pleasures

Saturday, June 6, 2009

ARC Arrival: The Castaways


The Castaways by Elin Hilderbrand

Publisher: Hachette

I received this book for a July blog tour from Miriam and Hachette Books - Thanks Miriam!

About the book: (from the book jacket)What happened between Greg MacAvoy and April Peck?

On the tiny island of Nantucket, everybody's business is everyone's business. When the charming, talented music teacher Greg MacAvoy shares a rainy Sunday night with the beautiful high school senior April Peck, rumors swarm the island like tourists on Memorial Day. The stories strain Greg's marriage, and his wife, Tess, is torn between her love for her husband and a secret of her own. With their anniversary approaching, the MacAvoys head out on their sailboat to celebrate, hoping the roughest waters are behind them.

But instead comes heartbreaking news: Greg and Tess have mysteriously drowned, leaving behind two small children. Their closest friends - the Kapenashes, Drakes, and Wheelers - are devastated. For as long as anyone can remember, the four couples have vacationed and celebrated together, confided in and depended on one another. But tragedy brings long-simmering conflicts and emotions to the surface. The six friends, upended by grief and denial, set out to answer the question: What happened to Greg and Tess MacAvoy?

A page-turning story of passion and suspense, The Castaways is a masterful exploration of the boundaries of friendship and forgiveness, filled with the perfect details of summer life that have made Elin Hilderbrand's novels bestsellers nationwide.

About the author: Elin Hilderbrand lives on Nantucket with her husband and their three young children. She grew up in Collegeville, PA, and traveled extensively before settling on Nantucket, which has been the setting for her seven previous novels. Hilderbrand is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and the graduate fiction workshop at the University of Iowa.

The Castaways
Publisher/Publication Date: Hachette, July 7, 2009
ISBN: 9780316043892
368 pages

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