Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for my copy of The Secret of Snow by Viola Shipman in exchange for an honest review. It published October 26, 2021.
A resounding 5 stars! Once again, Shipman does it. I loved everything about this book. She made me want to go to Michigan. She got me excited about snow and the winter. She touched my heart with character growth. Just read this winter (not Christmas) book.

‘The Secret of Snow’ was both heartwarming and an emotional roller coaster, perfect for not only the holiday season but winter too.

This is marked as a holiday novel but I feel it’s appropriate all winter long. Focusing on a meteorologist and her mid-life reckoning, this was incredibly heartwarming. Her personal journey was authentic and very emotional. I went from laughing, to tears, and back to laughing. It’s witty and full of heart. 4⭐️

Can you go home if you essentially ran away from home to get away from the guilt and sorrow? This is the question Sonny Dunes faces in The Secret of Snow by Viola Shipman. The most touching aspect of this book comes in the unexpected letter to the readers found at the end of the book and the author’s very personal connection to this book. A sweet story with a lovely message.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2021/12/the-secret-of-snow.html

Reviewed for NetGalley and HTP 2021 Holiday Romance Blog Tour.

Starting over is never easy, especially when you spend most of your life running from your past. A situation, Sonny Dunes will discover when she was replaced by an Artificial Intelligent meteorologist. After an embarrassing meltdown on national television, the only station willing to offer fifty-year-old Sonny a job was in her hometown in Michigan. The very place she dreaded returning to  after tragic family events led to her leaving home and abandoning all she held dear in her quaint little hometown.

Sonny is a talented meteorologist, but one other thing she has a talent for is running away. The moment things get rough, Sonny runs. However, in running, she burnt several bridges, which adversely affected her ability to form lasting relationships. Returning home meant interacting with persons whom she treated poorly in the past and facing painful memories.

Initially, Sonny rubbed me the wrong way with her woe is me attitude. It is never easy losing all you have worked so hard for, but  her actions in the aftermath were that of a spoilt brat instead of a mature fifty-year-old. The only thing it did for her was to make her a laughingstock. Then, as the story progressed, I saw another side to her. A side which made me sympathetic to her position.  

Sonny grieves not only the loss of her job but also that of her younger sister and her dad. She has gone through the stages except for the final stage acceptance. She struggles with acceptance, especially with the loss of her sister. Guilt associated with the loss of her sits heavily on her shoulders. Her journey of self-discovery, healing, forgiveness, renewal of old relationships and the formation of new ones was heartbreaking, heartwarming and fun. 

The story had its share of drama with Sonny, dealing with opposition to her employment as the chief meteorologist. Not everyone welcomed, and they made their displeasure known in the many attempts to sabotage her. Accompanying the drama was humour and a dash of romance.

Secret of Snow provided a behind-the-scenes look of the work involved in reporting on the weather. If you have never experienced a winter weather in Michigan, The Secret of Snow will have you thirsting for such an experience. 

I enjoyed watching Sonny come alive in this tale, letting go of the pain of her past and embracing all life offers. Overall, Secret of Snow provided a heartwarming story of family, friendships and love. It shows that starting over may be frustrating, but it opens the door for bigger and better things.

My favorite book this year. This is a beautiful story from beginning to end. If you are a mother, a sister, a daughter, a woman who is more than half way through life, you will identify with these characters. Beautifully written making northern Michigan come alive with what winter there is like. You can’t help but laugh at but also sympathize with the winter challenges. This is the second book I have read by Viola Shipman but it won’t be the last. I was provided this book by Net Galley but the opinions are mine.

An absolutely wonderful book that will touch the heart of many women of a certain age. Sunny Dunes left her childhood home to become a leading meteorologist in Southern California. However, her station receives a new manager and decides to replace Sunny with an AI weather person. What results is one of the funniest escapades of “woman scorned” rage that results in Sunny being banished to her former hometown in upstate Michigan, the only station who will hire her. Coming home is fraught with so many emotions that Sunny must short out even as she faces a hostile manager and others who would take delight in her failure. But, through it all Sunny’s mother provides the support she needs.
Entertaining and delightful.
Highly recommend for all Shipman fans and for those women who need to gain faith that they are unstoppable and victorious.
Shipman writes wonderful humor, yet maintains compassion and understanding.

Love the Michigan setting of Shipman's books but have decided this author is not for me. However, as a librarian I know plenty of readers who will enjoy this gentle, Christian read. thanks to Netgalley for the advance e-copy.

Southern California has done Sonny Dunes quite well. She has been a meterologist for years and her career was flawless. However, she is being replaced by an AI unit. How undignified. Not only must she return home to start over, but she is now in the middle of a harsh Michigan winter.

Things do not go smoothly for Sonny. In fact, although she finds a new job rather quickly, there is definitely tension there. Part of that tension is her new boss, and they did not get on well when they were in school. Also, she left her past behind but now she must deal with some unresolved issues. While Sonny starts over she must work to mend fences with her mother as the two did not part on good terms.

As if that is not plenty enough for Sonny to cope with, she agrees to work with director of the chamber of commerce, Mason Carrier. The teo will be working together for the town's winter festivals. Sonny finds herself drawn to Mason and that proves surprising to her, especially as she is in a turning point in her life. All of this comes together in a heartwarming story that proves that life can begin anew.

Many thanks to Graydon House and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

The Review

Such an engaging and memorable read. The balance found between the humorous character interactions and the emotional character growth really highlighted a great character arc overall not just for the protagonist both those closest to her. The setting and tone of the narrative really were perfect, because they captured the magic of winter without focusing intently on the holidays themselves, showing how there is distinct energy and feeling that this time of year can bring.

To me, the standout of this novel was the equal parts romance and equal parts emotional personal growth. The harmonious way the author delves into “Sonny” and the woman behind the public figure was so incredible to read, as the author truly explored the psychological and soulful journey the protagonist went on while also highlighting this blooming romance that she and Mason found with one another, becoming a very healing and hopeful message for readers.

The Verdict

A brilliant, engaging, and hopeful journey of love in all its forms, author Viola Shipman’s “The Secret of Snow” is a must-read winter read of 2021. With captivating characters and entertaining storylines that will harness the magic of winter for fans of cozy winter romances, this is one novel that readers will want to binge read before the end of the year.

THE SECRET OF SNOW by Viola Shipman is a holiday Women’s fiction story with romantic elements that is an emotional rollercoaster ride of heartbreak, love, friendship, forgiveness, and redemption. As I have found when reading other Viola Shipman stories…you will laugh out loud and you will need the tissue box handy.

Amberrose Murphy lived in a happy and loving home in upper Michigan until tragedy struck. Her main goal after that was to escape Michigan winters and she reinvents herself after college as Sonny Dunes in California where no one would know of her painful past or remind her of her loss.

Sonny is blindsided at the age of fifty when she is replaced with an AI meteorologist. After a public meltdown, the only station that will take a chance on her is in her hometown of Traverse City, Michigan. She moves back to memories she has tried to forget and is forced to confront her past while also trying to revive her career, reconnect with her mother and deal with a widowed Chamber of Commerce Director who loves all things about winter in Michigan.

Even though this story covers almost a year in time, the holiday season plays an important role in this wonderfully emotional story. Sonny is an empathetic and believable character. The pain in her past makes her relationship phobic and many women have been affected by ageism in careers. The mother/daughter relationship is so well written with support, caring, and love. She is a very smart mother. The new friends Sonny makes at the station all grow and change right along with her. The romance is sweet, and Mason is a survivor of grief who is very open about his feelings and love of Michigan winters, but their romance does not overpower Sonny’s own personal growth.

I absolutely love Viola Shipman stories and this holiday book is no exception!

I had to slowly warm up to this book before I really got into it. If you want a book that has some christmas spirit with winter festivals, sledding and such you'll really enjoy this book, these are the kinds I prefer to get myself pepped for the holiday. Then theres a different side of the story since Sonny the main character has a sister who loved snow and passed away and its got a different outlook for her because she still dealing with the heartbreak of loosing her sister. Sonny lost her job and now his back in her hometown and obviously its going to be hard having to face a past, I mean she wants to continue her career and her only choice it seems is being back home. Theres plenty of little things throughout the book to keep anyone interested and I really enjoyed the book.

There’s a lot about Sonny that I can relate to. Because of this I could understand her running and closing herself off.

Sonny, 50 years old, made a lot of decisions she now regrets. After being fired from her job as Chief Meteorologist in Palm Springs CA, she now returns to her small hometown in Michigan. From sunshine every day to long, cold, snowy Michigan winters.

Sonny carries the guilt of a secret that once revealed, accounts for her behavior throughout the book. She is forced to face her guilt and finally deal with the pain instead of running from it.

This book touches on the topics of suicide and OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder). I am not sure just what purpose they served in the story as they were barely brushed upon on.

I enjoyed the interaction between Sonny and the other characters in the story, especially with Icicle, another character who faces the pain he has been carrying. There is a love interest for Sonny, but I thought that storyline was very weak. I especially liked having a 50-year-old main character.

Overall, it was a cute story with touches of humor but also about second chances and forgiving oneself.

The Secret of Snow by Viola Shipman gave me the impression I was reading a Hallmark movie. It wasn't bad, but it's not memorable either.

Some parts of this novel were plain cheesy. Throughout the novel I was under the impression that the main character was a 30-something person. She was in her 50s! Not to mention, the cover is plain deceiving, what with those twinkle lights and that young person on the pontoon. It added to the feeling of reading an easy holidays romance.

It was interesting to see the transition of this person to life in a winter wonderland after she's spent decades of her life in the sunny California. Because she could easily be mistaken for a younger person, I had trouble remembering we're reading about someone who's had a long career up to that point.

The unexpected romance between Sonny and Mason seems to me to by the typical romance between people in their 50s: you quickly move past the friendly banter and get to the "my wife committed suicide" part. In all honesty, it was hard to believe they just fell in love and in a rhythm that allowed them to become so close. But then again, a Hallmark story in novel form.

It was an easy read, just what I needed on a fall week. Not a story I'll remember forever, but a cute one.

Meteorologist, Sonny Dunes, loves the warm climate in Southern California and loves being successful in her job. Then, her world caves in when her network replaces her with a robot. At fifty years old, Sonny does not want to start all over.

When Sonny gets a call from a former college friend from her hometown in Michigan, she’s not sure she wants to accept the meteorologist job at such a small station. However, no one else is willing to give her a chance. Her agent assures her this is her best route for now.

Reluctantly, Sonny heads home to Michigan and moves back with her mother. She is surrounded by memories of her younger sister who died when they were younger. Her sister loved winter, Sonny does not. Going from her warm climate back to a very cold one is not an easy task for Sonny. She vows to make this opportunity a success, no matter how difficult it is.

Sonny is immediately thrown into winter activities, new relationships and mending old ones. The most important relationship being with her mother, who is more than happy to have her daughter home again.

Sonny’s career takes some rocky turns, especially when a rival is out to get the job for herself. There’s also a touch of romance in the air for Sonny but it’s not easy for her when she is surrounded by unpleasant memories.

Wow, can I say that again? Wow! I can’t say how much I loved this book. It grabbed me from the first page. I could not put it down. I felt myself totally transported to Michigan. I even felt the chill of the snow, although I live in a warm climate.

The characters are quite realistic in extremely true-to-life situations. It’s the perfect book to read at this time of the year. It makes you laugh, it makes you cry. It’s filled with hope, inspiration and family love.

This is my first Viola Shipman book and definitely won’t be my last. I’m on my to check out this author’s backlist right now. This is going on my “Best of 2021” list for sure.



FTC Disclosure: I voluntarily reviewed a free Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Questionable lead, unimpressive writing, melodramatic

I would like to thank Viola Shipman, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a free ARC in exchange for an honest review. Also thanks to Sophie James for inviting me on the blog tour.

When Palm Springs meteorologist Sonny Dunes is fired and replaced with a sexy robot, she gets drunk and lets the world know how she feels about the change on live television. Now a disgraced laughing stock, she’s lucky to be offered a job opportunity by an old college classmate; however, the job requires her to move back to the hometown and traumatic memories she ran from over thirty years ago. Can she face the tragedy she blames herself for and salvage her career?

Possible Spoilers

Bring wine and crackers, people, because this here is a big ol’ ball of cheese. I was choking on sentiment. I got thoroughly sick of touchy-feely, what-life-means, what-really-matters speeches. Barf.

In that vein, several characters came on waaaay too strong from moment one, particularly Mason and Mom. God, they were heavy. Their let’s-get-in-touch-with-our-feelings-RIGHT-BLOODY-NOW dialogue actually made me uncomfortable. They were okay characters, likeable enough—everyone was more or less likeable, except the mustache-twirling cartoon villain Polly Sue—but I didn’t find them endearing, and I did not want to spend more time with them.

I wasn’t sure what to think about Sonny. As with the others, she was likeable enough, but the only way I related to her was being born and raised in the Upper Midwest. She was supposedly two decades older than me, but she honestly didn’t act like it. I can’t imagine the women I know her age behaving like her. Same for her mom—I simply could not imagine her as a fit and energetic seventy-five. Sonny acted like the thirty-something typical of books like this, and Mom seemed in the upper fifties, sixties range.

The only things that helped show Sonny’s age were her dated references, but many of them were too dated and went way over my head. Ironically, Sonny acknowledged that: “I need to stop watching old TV shows with my mom . . . or every reference I make will only be understood by people over fifty.” The way that’s written even sounds like she’s excluding herself from that demographic, that fifty-plus is her mom’s demographic, not hers; she could have said “people my age” and simply said she watched old TV shows herself instead of with her mom. Ya know?

There was one particular moment when I despised Sonny. Toward the end she’s called on to announce the winner of an ice sculpture contest on air. Just before she does so, she has one of her many emotional revelations, because the winning sculpture is of her and her sister as children. So what she ends up saying is: “I’m here with the winner tonight. And it’s me. It’s always been me.” For one thing, her meaning is horribly unclear. One would assume she means that the sculpture is of her, but the way it reads sounds like she’s calling herself the winner. All I could think was, “She did NOT just make that moment about her. She did not just take that away from the sculptor. What an absolutely self-centered dick move. That poor sculptor.” And none of the other characters thought twice about it. How did none of Shipman’s team catch that? The idea for the sculpture was neat, but it was not cool to take that moment away from the sculptor and make the entire scene about Sonny.

As you can probably infer by now, I was not impressed with Shipman’s writing for a number of reasons, those above as well as:

• The book isn’t nearly as funny as it thinks it is.

• The premise itself felt irrelevant—like, who watches the news anymore? Admittedly, that could be just me, because I don’t often watch the local news. Definitely not the national news. Or TV much in general. Books, baby.

• The story felt very 90s and resembled the movie Snow Day, especially with the meteorologist being forced to do stunts and be ridiculous. (Which is something I do not understand. When I watch the weather, I do not want to see a meteorologist sledding in a cardboard freaking box, I want them to tell me about the effing weather.) (Speaking of resembling movies, though, the news team-against-news team snowball fight reminded me of Anchorman, though it was pretty different.)

• There was a very awkwardly shoehorned-in theme of feminism and workplace sexism, made even more awkward after I realized the author is a man.

• There were missed opportunities, like making Sonny do something about Groundhog Day for Sonny in the Winter; that’s weather-related and ripe for a laugh.

• Obvious connections weren’t made, like at one point Sonny comments on how her mother has a bunch of nightlights in the house to prevent nocturnal injuries; a few pages later Mason tells Sonny that he got the scar on his forehead by tripping over the dog one night and landing face-first on the fireplace, knocking himself out—but no mention whatsoever was made of Mom’s nightlight habit.

• Failing to follow up with Palm Springs—we never again heard or saw anything about Ronan and his robot meteorologist. I thought for sure the robot would fail, Ronan would get humiliated, and Sonny would be offered her job back. The GMA development was nice, but Palm Springs remains a dangling thread. And not having Ronan and his robot fail did not help the feminism and workplace sexism theme. And speaking of the GMA development, we did not need that many-paragraphs-long “tour” of NYC. I skipped every word.

• Failing to have Sonny speak to probably the most important person in the Joncee tragedy—the guy who was driving the car. That event defined Sonny’s life and drove all her decisions for over thirty freaking years, but the guy truly responsible for the accident was only ever mentioned once in the book, and never even given a name? That seemed like such a bizarre element to omit to me.

Overall, this was a Hallmark—or Lifetime—Christmas movie in book form. That is the perfect description, and if you like that kind of thing, you’ll probably love this book. But it wasn’t for me. And I don’t think I’ll be checking out any more of Shipman’s work any time soon. He needs a better editor.

It’s hard for me to pass up an opportunity to read a book about my home state of Michigan. Especially with the intriguing title such as this one has. This story was not what I had thought it would be and not what I was hoping for. The setting, the premise, and the secondary characters are all wonderful. My problems, for the most part, were with the main character. But I can’t lay all of the blame at Sonny’s feet.

This story starts out strong enough. Sonny is pushed aside in her career and has a bit of a meltdown…on the air. She decides (along with her agent) that it would be best for her to leave Palm Springs, where she’s lived most of her adult life, and return to Northern Michigan, where she grew up, to pick up the pieces and rebuild her career. Okay, I can get on board with all of this. I can even have sympathy for Sonny and her reasons for not returning to her hometown very often. There is a tragedy in her family that happened when Sonny was in high school that she blames herself for, it’s painful and uncomfortable for her to be in her childhood home and town. But Sonny is not a very sympathetic character.

I’m sure, for the most part, that is by design. Yet I feel the character is tipped beyond the point that is necessary. Her outright disdain for Michigan, winter, snow, and ice is very off putting. At one point Mason, a big bright spot in this book, says to her, “Stop stereotyping us. Maybe we’ll stop stereotyping you. Have you considered that maybe we’re just good people up here who love all four seasons just like Californians love the sun?” While that does make her reflect a bit, it still doesn’t put a stop to her selfish behavior or her attempt to get out of anything to do with winter…in Michigan in the middle of the winter.

Like I said, Mason was a bright spot. So was Sonny’s mom and a couple of people at the news station. They grounded this story in a way that it really needed. In fact, a letter Mason writes to Sonny is so touching and caring I can’t regret the time I put into reading this book. It was frustrating that the story was good enough that I wanted to see it through, but I kept running into problems with it keeping me engaged or even liking the main character. I was more invested in those secondary characters.

Being as I love Michigan, I thought I’d love a story about Michigan with plenty of descriptions. But I was wrong. At times, the author over described things. And, worse, had the characters over explain things. I mean, even if you’re not from a snowy stated, I think most people know how to build a snowman. We didn’t need Sonny’s narrative.

Again, there was something that held me to this story since I didn’t leave it unfinished even while frustrated. I just want a reader to be prepared that this is NOT a holiday book, as Sonny doesn’t even go back to Michigan until after the holidays. And it’s wordy when it doesn’t have to be.

I am sorry to say I lost interest and gave up trying. Very trivial. Nothing hooked my interest about the characters.

If you are from the Midwest, you either love the snow or strive to be a snowbird and flee south in the winter. Snow is that magical moment when millions upon millions of snowflakes gather together to blanket the earth in glistening pure wonder. Being from Michigan, I have always loved the snow, but usually it’s watching it from inside as the world around me becomes a snowglobe. In this timely book by Viola Shipman, snow serves as a memory of a warm hug of a lost love and regrets. As stated by the author:
“Winter can change a person. It can show you the delicate structure of the world when everything is stripped clean. It can illuminate your soul when the world is cloaked in darkness. It can warm your heart when everything else is frozen. It can let you hear your own thoughts for the first time when the earth finally falls silent.”

Sonny, a 50-year-old meteorologist in California is replaced by an AI weather robot. As a result, she totally loses it LIVE on TV, which goes viral. Sonny has one more chance but she will have to return to her hometown in Traverse City, Michigan and work for a college frenemy, something she is not wanting to do. Sonny fled TC more than three decades ago after the deaths of her sister and dad. She tried to create a new life away from those who knew her as Amberrose and knew of the accident that killed her sister. Sonny must face her past, including her mother, and also finds that there is animosity at the station from someone who doesn’t want her to succeed at a second chance. Sonny has to look inside herself and rediscover the beauty of the snow, and both her new love Mason and her cameraman Icicle helps her to do just that. It just goes to show you that it’s never too late to enjoy living.

As I said earlier, being from Michigan, I loved the setting and connection to the Traverse City area that I know so well. I could easily relate to many aspects in the story. The author shows through the character of Sonny that sometimes, instead of grieving, we need to be thankful and count our blessings for the presence of one we’ve lost and how we are who we are because of them. Sonny would never have been a meteorologist if not for her sister. And she loves that about (a-boat) her life. The author is very descriptive to make the area come alive and develops the characters well. Being a science geek, I also enjoyed all the details about the weather and the simple explanations of snow and the winter vortex. I wish he would have expanded a bit in other areas though as sometimes the plot jumps around. This is a great book to read in the winter and really just anytime.

Many thanks to #netgalley, #ViolaShipman, #thesecretofsnow for the opportunity to read and review this book.

While this was a good read, I was a little disappointed in the story. I love every book that Viola Shipman has written. This was advertised as his first holiday book but there are other Christmas books. A meteorologist returns to her home town in Michigan after being fired in southern California and she decides to embrace the cold weather and promote winter in Michigan. A romance for Christmas. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.