"The Matchmaker" by Elin Hilderbrand~A Summer Hit!

SUMMARY :

A touching new novel from bestselling author Elin Hilderbrand in which a woman sets out to find love for those closest to her - before it's too late.

48-year-old Nantuckter Dabney Kimball Beech has always had a gift for matchmaking. Some call her ability mystical, while others - like her husband, celebrated economist John Boxmiller Beech, and her daughter, Agnes, who is clearly engaged to the wrong man - call it meddlesome, but there's no arguing with her results: With 42 happy couples to her credit and all of them still together, Dabney has never been wrong about romance.

Never, that is, except in the case of herself and Clendenin Hughes, the green-eyed boy who took her heart with him long ago when he left the island to pursue his dream of becoming a journalist. Now, after spending 27 years on the other side of the world, Clen is back on Nantucket, and Dabney has never felt so confused, or so alive.

But when tragedy threatens her own second chance, Dabney must face the choices she's made and share painful secrets with her family. Determined to make use of her gift before it's too late, she sets out to find perfect matches for those she loves most. The Matchmaker is a heartbreaking new novel from Elin Hilderbrand about losing and finding love, even as you're running out of time.

PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK :

Published by:  Little, Brown & Co.
Pages:  357
Genre:  Fiction
Author:  Elin Hilderbrand
Website:  http://www.elinhilderbrand.net


ABOUT THE AUTHOR :

Elin Hilderbrand does her best writing on the beaches of Nantucket, as well as on the charming streets of Beacon Hill in Boston. She has three magical children who beg her not to sing along to the radio or dance in public. The Matchmaker is her 13th novel.

THE BOOKISH DAME REVIEWS :

I know, I know....beach reading, right?  My daughter said to me tonight, "Mom, don't give in to the girly and the light!!  Go back to your dark and drafty reading material, quick!"  I know.  But, honestly, Elin Hilderbrand just can't be resisted.  Her stories that take place on Nantucket are like cherries dipped in chocolate glimmering on a cold, silver plate to me.  I can't help myself...I'm just hooked every summer!

This is a particularly gripping story of Elin's.  It starts out light and fluffy, I'll give you that.  But, before you know it, you're a huge fan of the main character, Dabney.  You're feeling like her best friend.  And, you kind of remember well that boyfriend you had that you were madly in love with in  high school that you haven't seen in years.  And before you know it, you're drawn in and can't stop reading.

Elin Hildebrand's characters are simply charming.  They are the friends you never had but wish you did.  They are real and vulnerable, wholesome and lovable.  The family members she writes about are your family, too.  I just couldn't get enough of the people that populate this novel.

As Dabney is reunited with her first love, my heart was laid out right there with hers.  As she negotiated around all the obstacles in their path, I held my breath for them.  And when tragedy began its viney way towards them, I was shell shocked along with them.

This is the first book in a long time that's lifted my heart; made me laugh and cry in the same sittings.
In fact, I cried a bucket at the end.

It's a summer read, of course.  But, it's a great one!

5 stars                           Deborah/TheBookishDame

"The Blue Bistro" by Elin Hilderbrand~Nantucket Summer!

SUMMARY :

Adrienne Dealey has spent the past six years working for hotels in exotic resort towns. This summer she has decided to make Nantucket home. Left flat broke by her ex-boyfriend, she is desperate to earn some fast money. When the desirable Thatcher Smith, owner of Nantucket's hottest restaurant, is the only one to offer her a job, she wonders if she can get by with no restaurant experience. Thatcher gives Adrienne a crash course in the business...and they share an instant attraction.

But there is a mystery about their situation: What is it about Fiona, the Blue Bistro's chef, who captures Thatcher's attention again and again? And why does such a successful restaurant seem to be in its final season before closing its doors for good? Despite her uncertainty, Adrienne must decide whether she'll move on, as she always does—or finally open her heart…

PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK :

Publisher:  St. Martins
Pages:  384
Genre:  Fiction
Author  Elin Hilderbrand


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Elin Hilderbrand is the author of The Island, Nantucket Nights, and Summer People, among others. She grew up in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, and is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop, where she was a teaching/writing fellow. Her short fiction has appeared in Seventeen, The Massachusetts Review, and The Colorado Review. She lives with her husband, Chip Cunningham, and their two sons in Nantucket, Massachusetts.



Thought I would bring you something completely different today and hook you into a YouTube review of "The Blue Bistro" by a young adult reader.  This one is fairly clear and has made some strong points about the book.  Cute!  Listen...

 
 THE BOOKISH DAME REVIEWS :

I found this another engaging, quick read by Elin Hilderbrand.  It's not a "fluffy" beach read and it's not going to win any prizes, either, but it's good, solid reading.  I love the way she draws her characters and the way she puts them into realistic settings and time frames.  Her descriptions of Nantucket life alone are worth reading her books.

This brooding love story is pure Hilderbrand.  Relating the main character's search for a summer job working in a restaurant, it tells about an unexpected happenstance for her and the handsome restaurateur. And, as love and hot summer kitchens will have it...the two come together over mysteries and foodies.

It is especially fun to read about the ins and outs of restaurants behind the scenes.  I had an eye-opener where that was concerned.  And, I always love to hear more about Nantucket and the quirky people who actually live there year 'round.  So this book will bring great pleasure to those looking for that.

Elin Hilderbrand always brings the goods for her readers:  a good story, a trip to Nantucket, some love and some mystery, and a fairly fast-paced story.  Can't beat that for the summer or any time!

4 stars                  Deborah/TheBookishDame

Huge Giveaway! "Summerland" by Elin Hilderbrand ~Nantucket Lost

Summary: 

Publishers Weekly

Nantucket Island’s year-round residents are shaken when a car crash claims the life of driver Penny Alistair, a vibrant and popular high school student, and leaves her twin brother, Hobby, in a coma. The other passengers, Penny’s boyfriend Jake and their friend Demeter, each have secrets, and everyone is touched by the tragedy, in fact, practically everyone on the island feels some responsibility for the accident. What did Demeter, who had been drinking, divulge to Penny on the beach that night? Was it Jake’s indiscretion after the cast party for the high school’s production of Grease, or Hobby’s just before prom? Was it the newspaper publisher’s affair, or Penny’s knowledge of his wife’s depression after the loss of her infant son? Each character’s guilt rubs them raw with worry. The sparks that this story throws out becomes a current that circles the agitated kids and their parents, electrifying the atmosphere as they grapple with what happened. Hilderbrand (Silver Girl) has a gift for building tension, and the reader will be willing to do just about anything to discover the real reason why Penny would drive herself, her brother, and her boyfriend over an embankment into oblivion.

Particulars of the book :
Published by Regan Arthur/Little, Brown & Co.
Pages:  385
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction
Author:  Elin Hilderbrand
Find out more about Ms Hilderbrand here!:  Facebook
Pre-order on:  Barnes & Noble



A Bit 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.


The Dame's Review :

I've been avoiding reading Elin Hilderbrand for years!  Yes, I'm not a chick-lit reader and I haven't been interested in a dip in the Atlantic with light fiction.  But when approached to read and review "Summerland," something just clicked with me, and I decided to take a chance on it.  I'm so glad I did.  This is a fabulous book!  Contrary to my prejudices, Elin Hilderbrand is no light-weight author, and her story about a family in distress is one of substance and real values to share.

Hilderbrand has hit a home run with her character development.  She not only knows women, but she has keen insight into the minds of young adults; particularly teens in trouble.  Her characters are well-developed, wholly alive and beautifully rendered in their dysfunctional ways!  I especially loved the character of Demeter, the girl who was on the fringes of the "in crowd," but who was pivotal on the fateful night of their destruction.  Her personal awakening and her mother's is a vital and gripping part of this story.  It was moving and read real to me. Nothing quite like denial!

The storyline was captivating. Difficult to pull myself away from after the first chapter. I found each of the several vignettes Ms Hilderbrand wrote into her book just compelling as they circled the main mystery of why a beautiful, successful and popular girl would floor her car and drive madly off the edge of the road to her death with her brother and friends beside her!  Each character developed was rich and exciting.  Their individual stories helped build the mystery and the plot of "Summerland," and their different insights into the behind the scenes of the summer "playland" of the wealthy and famous was just fascinating.  Nantucket never looked so interesting to me, and I'm a Massachusetts native (by way of the South!).

Drawing the curtain back on what motivates us to follow love, what pushes us beyond the pale and how we survive the choices we make as well as the choices of others that affect us, this book is one you'll remember a long time after the cover is closed.

"Summerland" is a book I would love to give to all my best friends, bookish friends, my daughter, my mother and my daughters-in-law.  I can't give it any better praise than that!  Not a disappointment at all, but a great surprise and an author I need to apologize to...Elin Hilderbrand is one I'll be going back to the stacks to read.

Highly recommended to everyone!  This one is a "Deep End of the Ocean"- type read.

5 stars

Giveaway!!!

3 copies of "Summerland"

Available for Giveaway!!!

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Giveaway ends on July 31st

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Thank you for visiting me, I know you have many places you could choose to be today.

Deborah/TheBookishDame