Elin Hilderbrand, the queen of beach reads set on Nantucket, is back with a book of short stories and novelas. This collection is a series of stories that are prequels, sequel stories, lost chapters and longer stories that tie into her previous books and characters. We revisit characters from books like Summer of 69, Beautiful Day, The Matchmaker and more, and learn what happened next, where it all began or sometimes more about a side character.

In most cases, the stories in this book are interesting in their own right, but having read the books they’re springing from may make them more poignant or meaningful. All of the stories have Hilderbrands usual flair for the beach-read style and tone but with substance which have made her a bestseller, and they’re mostly set in Nantucket, of course. I do find that there’s a lot of facing your mortality in her books, and there’s a little of that here too.

This is a great book for Hilderbrand fans, especially those of you have read all of her books and love the characters. There is one short story, an alternate ending, that felt a little flat to me and will maybe only appeal to readers who have read the particular book that it belongs to, but on the whole, these are all really good stories. I liked this book, on the whole, and may even seek out some of her books that I haven’t read yet that these stories sprang from.

Read It If: This one is probably not the best Elin Hilderbrand to start on, but it’s a good book of shorter stories, and will definitely please her fans.

Thank you to the publisher for the copy of this book for review.