Notes from the Shelf

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The Winterville series by Carrie Elks is one of my favorite series, and it’s a perfect read for the winter season. It’s a romance series, and each book focuses on someone from the Winter family, who’s matriarch of the family was an actress who retired and opened a town that is basically Christmas year-round.

I actually read Book 4 first; I had come across it and didn’t realize it was part of a series. What I like about the series is that each book could be a stand-alone as you don’t necessarily have to read the books in order or know the other characters from the previous books to enjoy each book. Each time the other characters are introduced in each book, there’s a little bit of backstory so you’re not completely lost on who they are, even if you didn’t read the others.

Book 1: Welcome to Winterville

Welcome to Winterville is 311 pages and the introduction to the Winterville series. This book focuses on Holly Winter, who loves her small home town, but when her grandma passes away, the town is struggling to survive. A ruthless company comes in to buy the town, tear it to the ground, and build a new luxury resort instead. Holly is determined to do anything to save her beloved town, but then she meets with the CEO.

Josh Gerber is handsome, suave, and wildly successful. He’s also the man Holly spent a night with eight years ago. Now he’s back to take everything away from her. But if anyone can stand up against him, it’s Holly. She’s clever, single-minded and understands his weaknesses.

However, the more they fight, the stronger the attraction between them grows, and before long, their arguments are ending in stolen kisses that make her forget Josh is supposed to be the enemy. Holly may be able to save Winterville, but at what cost?

This book is marketed as It’s A Wonderful Life meets The Hating Game, and I absolutely agree with that. Enemies to lovers is one of my favorite tropes, so I enjoyed this first book a lot. Also, Holly and Josh ended up being a very cute couple throughout the series.

I gave it 4 stars.

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Book 2: Hearts in Winter

Hearts in Winter is 319 pages and focuses on Everley Winter. When her annoyingly handsome ex-husband Dylan walks back into her life eight years after their divorce, “we’re still married” was the last thing Everley expected to hear. Their marriage had only lasted a year, burning bright before crashing spectacularly, and they both thought they had moved on by now. However, someone forgot to file the papers to seal the deal.

Now Dylan is back in town for a few months, taking a break from being a doctor overseas, and he’s determined to clear up the issue. The only problem is, the more time they spend together, the more they remember how good they were together. And the chemistry is too explosive to ignore.

This is a second chance romance which I don’t always enjoy, but it was still a good read. Everley can be a little bit of an annoying character, though; she’s a little more dramatic than Holly.

I gave it 3 stars.

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Book 3: Leave Me Breathless

Leave Me Breathless is 334 pages and focuses on Gabe Winter. When his best friend calls with the request to give his broken-hearted little sister a place to live for a few months, Gabe readily accepts. But he never expected Nicole to be so enticing, or for her to bring out all his feelings. Feelings he’d thought were buried a long time ago beneath his womanizing reputation and easy-going attitude.

Now they’re spending late night together watching movies, snuggled under blankets, and there’s only inches between her lips and his. He feels it’s wrong but inevitable, falling for the one woman he shouldn’t want.

I loved this book the most out of the series, maybe because it seemed more of a forbidden romance than the others since Gabe and Nicole were trying to keep it platonic for the sake of Nicole’s brother who is Gabe’s best friend, so it seemed like there was more tension than the first two books.

I gave it 5 stars.

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Book 4: Memories of Mistletoe

Memories of Mistletoe is 338 pages and focuses on Alaska Winter. Alaska Winter is a pure romantic, where her silver linings always outnumber the clouds. So when two brothers move into the abandoned shack next door, she puts on a smile and introduces herself.

Mason Parker doesn’t believe in love. Sure, he can care about people, like his younger brother for instance. That’s why he’s taking him all the way to an abandoned cabin in the mountains to straighten him out. But love is for fairytales, and for people who haven’t had the hope knocked out of them. people like his new neighbor with the golden hair and unwavering smile.

Mason tries to keep Alaska at a distance, which is okay. She’ll just be neighborly from afar. She won’t pay attention to the way Mason’s muscles flex whenever he uses an axe, or the way his eyes are like flint whenever he looks at her. And he won’t mind the way she plays with her dog in the snow in her pajamas. They’ll just be neighbors, nothing more. What could go wrong with that?

This has the grumpy/sunshine trope which is one of my favorite tropes, and it didn’t disappoint in this one. This book also felt a little more serious with Alaska talking about the two nights she had disappeared as a kid while camping with Gabe. It gave the story an element of seriousness that maybe was missing in the previous books.

I gave it 4 stars.

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Book 5: Every Shade of Winter

Every Shade of Winter is 326 pages and focuses on North Winter. Every woman in town has had a crush on North Winter, except for Amber Stone. North is her best friend and co-worker at the tree farm, and everyone knows you don’t mess up a friendship by catching feelings. Maybe that’s why she’s never viewed him as a potential lover until she runs away from her cheating fiancé on their wedding day, into North’s arms.

For the past ten years North has been Amber’s friend and protector, but now he’s imagining the possibility of more. He’s not great at relationships or showing emotions, but for Amber he’s willing to try. Then Ambre discovers a secret, one that will change the way North views her if he were to find out. He’s always been the one person she could confide in, but now she’s afraid she could lose him for good.

This has the friends to lovers trope and a runaway bride. The book starts with Amber fleeing her own wedding in her wedding dress, so a little more dramatic than the others. I did enjoy seeing North flounder with the relationship a bit since he’s such a stoic character. But there were a few things on their relationship dynamic that I didn’t enjoy as much as the others.

I gave it 3 stars.

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Book 6: Mine for the Winter

Mine for the Winter is 320 pages and the last book in the series. This book focuses on Kris Winter, who had fled the town more than a decade earlier when he had a falling out with his two best friends Lyle and Kelly. He’s been very successful in London, but is on a sabbatical and returns to the town, which causes quite a ruckus.

Seeking forgiveness, he aims to mend the broken bond with Kelly Fraser, the one woman he’s never been able to forget. The strong-willed single mom is hesitant to let him into her life again, for her own sake as well as for her son Cole. But as the holidays approach, Kris’s advances reignite buried emotions. He had broken her heart when he left the first time. Can she trust that he won’t do it again?

This is ex-friends to lovers, which I’m also not a huge fan of but it was fine. I was looking forward to seeing what Kris was like since he’s mentioned in most of the books as the one who left the town to London. I felt really sad for Kelly. Her two best friends growing up were Lyle and Kris, and Kris ends up leaving town for over a decade with little contact, and Lyle ends up being a horrible dad for Cole and didn’t treat Kelly very well as they got older. Also, I was interested in seeing how it would turn out once Lyle and Kris ran into each other again, but it seemed pretty anticlimactic when it happened.

I gave it 3 stars.

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Conclusion

Overall, I really loved the series. As the books progress, there’s cameos with the other couples and eventually with their kids as well, which I like seeing the next generation within a series. Also, the town evolves with each story as well, which it was fun seeing how it changed over the years. I also enjoyed seeing each person’s role within the town, like Holly is the town manager basically, Everley is in charge of the theater, Alaska runs the inn, North runs the tree farm, and Gabe runs the ski resort that they made with Josh’s help. It was very fun seeing the town expanding and seeing their family expand with their children.

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