The Five-Star Weekend

January 1, 2023

In this follow-up to Audrain's New York Times best-selling debut, The Push, a child loudly berated by his mother at a suburban barbeque later slips from his window and ends up in a coma, prompting Whispers in the neighborhood about what really happened. After debuting with the all-star A Proposal They Can't Refuse, Ca�a cooks up A Dish Best Served Hot, featuring a single dad who falls for his daughter's teacher but jeopardizes their relationship with actions (undertaken for familial duty) of which she disapproves (50,000-copy first printing). In mega-popular Carr's The Friendship Table, four women working together on a highly rated cooking show join forces when they discover that their youngest member has an abusive boyfriend (200,000-copy first printing). When her mother, badly injured in an accident, asks Cornelia Brown to bring her the Northern Lights, a puzzled but obliging Cornelia sorts through her mother's secret past to figure out what she means in Watch Us Shine; from New York Times best-selling de los Santos (75,000-copy first printing). In Trinity author Hall's Reproduction, a novelist abandons a book about Mary Shelley that touches on her challenging pregnancies when she confronts her own painful pregnancy and childbirth and instead turns to writing a modern Frankenstein (75,000-copy first printing). The young man who walks into the Cape Cod bookstore where unassuming Harlow Smith works isn't exactly A Little Ray of Sunshine--he's the child she secretly birthed and gave up for adoption 17 years previously; from the New York Times best-selling Higgins. With the death of her husband, popular food blogger Hollis Shaw decides to heal by engaging in something called The Five-Star Weekend, which entails inviting a best friend from each stage of her life to a special gathering--in this case, on mega-best-selling author Hilderbrand's beloved Nantucket (750,000-copy first printing). Moderately contented Heather is surprised to find herself gobsmacked when a former flame finds new love, and friends Daphne and Tori have their own troubles, but in Mallery's latest, will The Happiness Plan of each woman work? In Monaghan's Same Time Next Summer, following the LibraryReads pick Nora Goes Off Script, Sam is hunting for a wedding venue near her family's Long Island beach house when she encounters Wyatt, the love of her life until he broke her heart at age 17. Following the LJ-starred The Messy Lives of Book People, also a LibraryReads pick, Patrick's The Little Italian Hotel features relationship expert Ginny Splinter, who's sideswiped when husband Adrian asks for a divorce and recovers by taking four strangers to Italy on the vacation she had originally planned with Aidan in the (75,000-copy paperback and 10,000-copy hardcover first printing). In Pride and Piazza's You Were Always Mine, a Black woman named Cinnamon is grateful to be leading a secure, quiet life when she causes an uproar by keeping a white baby she finds abandoned in the park by teenage Daisy, whose grandparents threaten to take custody. In this latest from the beloved Shipman, daring Mary Jackson is Famous in a Small Town in Michigan for her 65-year-old record in the annual cherry pit-spitting contest until modest schoolteacher Becky, determined to shatter her shell, lands in town and breaks the record (100,000-copy paperback and 10,000-copy hardcover first printing). When her parents die in an accident when she is 23, Cosima Saverio inherits their fabulous Palazzo and haute couture Italian leather brand, but she's all work until...

Starred review from April 24, 2023
In this stunning, sun-drenched mix of romance and women’s fiction from bestseller Hilderbrand (The Hotel Nantucket), famous food blogger Hollis Shaw gathers one important woman from each decade of her life for an unforgettable girls’ trip to Nantucket. Reeling from her husband’s sudden death in a car accident, Hollis is trying to make sense of their marriage, which had been failing; cope with her teen daughter’s resentment; and figure out plans for her upended future when she stumbles across the idea for a “five-star weekend” online and sets about recruiting friends. Her best friend from childhood, Tatum, who still lives on Nantucket, is reluctant to renew their friendship, particularly when she knows that Hollis’s college roommate, Dru Ann, a high-powered sports agent whom she fought with at Hollis’s wedding, will be in attendance. Meanwhile, Hollis’s friend from her 30s, Brooke, always tries too hard to fit in, filling her with anxiety that colors her interactions with the other, seemingly more self-confident women. Hollis also invites an internet friend whom she connected with through her blog and has never met in person. Hilderbrand makes the most of gathering these big personalities in Hollis’s small, photograph-ready abode; as they navigate their differences, the women discover things about themselves—and may even find love along the way. This should become a beach bag staple. Agent: David Forrer and Michael Carlisle, InkWell Management.

April 15, 2023
Lifestyle guru Hollis Shaw is still reeling from the sudden death of her husband, but after months of mourning, she needs to do something. So she concocts a Five-Star Weekend, inviting one best friend from four stages of her life on a weekend getaway to her beloved Nantucket, with daughter Caroline along to film it for her website. She invites childhood friend Tatum, who is awaiting the results of a biopsy; college roommate Dru-Ann, a successful sports agent about to be cancelled; prime of life bestie Brooke, who is worried she won't fit in; and a wild card, Gigi, who is a commenter-turned-friend on Hollis' blog. There is immediate tension. Tatum still feels like Hollis abandoned her for life off the island. Brooke is annoying everyone, and Gigi is hiding an incredible secret. Hildebrand's latest is dripping with her signature Nantucket details; the food descriptions alone are enough to get readers to book the next ferry. Readers will be transported both by the setting and the emotional drama as Hilderbrand sets up seemingly impossible odds, then manages a convincing happy ending.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: It's not officially summer without a novel from Hilderbrand, and she delivers exactly what her readers want--female friendship, family drama, and gorgeous descriptions of Nantucket.

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Starred review from March 1, 2023
A dreamy Nantucket house party given by a meticulous hostess goes off the rails. "When Hollis posts a potato and white cheddar tart with a crispy bacon crust, her foodie community breaks the one-million-member milestone. (Leave it to bacon!)" And leave it to Hilderbrand, in her 30th book of Nantucket-based fiction, to cook up more literary bacon, this time focusing on female friendship, female "friendship," and the power of the internet and social media. When Hollis Shaw's doctor husband dies in a crash on the way to the airport, she steps back from Hungry With Hollis, her popular website. After moping around her house in "Swellesley" for a while, she returns to Nantucket for the summer, planning a kick-out-the-stops weekend party that will involve one girlfriend from each phase of her life--youth, college, motherhood--plus her favorite internet follower, an Atlanta-based airline pilot, whom she's never actually met. Two of these old pals are definitely not as close to Hollis as they once were, one of them has done her secret harm, and Hollis dramatically increases the potential for trouble by paying her angry 20-something daughter to document the weekend on film. Add two bottles each of Casa Dragones tequila, Triple 8 vodka, and Veuve Clicquot, plus some Hendricks gin and Mount Gay rum--what could possibly go wrong? Known for gently inserting social commentary into her plots, Hilderbrand here highlights the ridiculous fickleness of cancel culture when one of the characters--Dru-Ann, an extremely successful Black sports agent--almost loses her clients, her job, and her boyfriend when a video clip of a private conversation in a restaurant is posted on social media. Everyone says there's no way forward without a self-effacing apology. Dru-Ann says pass the Casa Dragones. Meanwhile, Hollis is about to learn that friendships forged on the internet are not always what they seem. Hilderbrand has announced plans to retire in 2024. Wait--that's next year! No! The people in her books may screw up, but Hilderbrand always gets it right. Kind of amazing.

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