This was cute but hard to believe in a Hallmark movie kind of way.

Let me paint the picture: Iris has moved to New York with the hope of starting anew after leaving an abusive relationship. In NY she comes across Bellotti's, an ice cream shop that only serves vanilla flavored ice creams but is currently out of them because the one person that knows the secret family recipe was in an accident and cannot remember it. However, it turns out that the super secret family recipe that has been passed on through generations of Bellottis is the exact same recipe Iris's mother taught her. And, even better, it turns out Iris's mom was in a band with Gio's father and had a fling with Gio's uncle. Gio being the handsome single dad that works at the ice cream shop and Iris's love interest, of course.

You get my Hallmark movie reference, don't you? And Iris could just be like "hi, I see you are desperate, here's the recipe you need and let me explain the whole situation so you understand how I know about it" but no, she has to spend weeks trying to figure out the recipe with Gio.

Anyways, getting over the suspension of disbelief and the Hallmark movie vibes, the book was cute and the characters were fun. It was nothing mind blowing but it was an entertaining read. Solid 3 stars.

This is a gorgeous book. Isla is trying to rebuild her life - her heart is completely broken after losing her Mother and after running from her abusive ex in London. When she happens across a Gelato shop she finds alot more than she ever bargained for when she discovers she has a deep personal connection to this shop and the family who run it. But she cannot tell them how and why she knows so much about them. Loved the character of Isla and how she is embraced by the enigmatic, big and loud Italian family. But will it all work out or will Isla end up alone again, broken hearted again and looking for another place to try and make home.

This book had so much potential to be a really great one - with the setting, the meet-cute, the gelato and the family history but the miscommunication and the lying didn't do it for me. This book was much heavier than I thought it would be. I don't know what I expected but I thought it would be more lighter, festive and a fun read. I think a lot of people will love this book, I wasn't in the right mood to read this book.

I decided to give Josie Silver another go after dnf-ing her previous books because of plot issues. I really tried and have come to the conclusion that Josie Silver's plots just are not for me.

While I like her writing I just don't get on with her plots and this one was heavy in lying and miscommunication which are two big things that put me off a book. I gave it a shot to see if I could power through but I just couldn't get on with it. Sorry!

Giving 2 stars because of Silver's writing

You really want true love to prosper from a difficult situation and as always a pleasing happy ending!

This was a very cute Christmassy story.

If I had any criticism, it would be that it took a while to get going.

Gino and Iris made a very cute couple, and I loved that the big Italian family were so welcoming.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an arc of this book.

This was such a sweet read perfect for the festive season!
What’s not to love, the New York setting, and a love story set around gelato!
Loved the relationship that develops between Iris and Gio - and how his loud Italian family takes her in as one of their own.
Josie Silver knows how to pull at the heart strings!

After the death of her mum and escaping an abusive relationship, Iris moves to New York, a city that was close to her mum's heart. When Bobby, Iris’s best friend, drags her to a famous autumn street fair in Little Italy a little family-run gelateria catches her eye—could it be the same shop that’s in an old photo of her mother’s?

A Winter in New York is an enjoyable read that will leave you craving vanilla gelato. It is a story of love, grief, new beginnings, secrets and lies and will appeal to readers who like Tammy Robinson, Jo Thomas and Isabelle Broom books.

Enjoyable storyline giving mix of feelings and emotions taking storyline from the past right up to present day. Good feel good read.

This book was a sickly sweet slow burn romance. Unfortunately for me it was too slow.
I would have liked to see a bit more chemistry between the two characters. I also wasn't overly comfortable with the start of the relationship built on a lie.
What I did love was the idea of a secret family recipe and that there was a little mystery surrounding why the secret recipe was given to someone outside of the family.
Overall this was a quick fun read.

Winter in New York, large Italian families, family celebrations ,memories of lost loves. What's not to like about this book?
Iris and Gio' relationship is intense, eventually
absolutely loved it

My first introduction to this author and I’m hooked. Lovely book. Great for the festive season and I love finding new authors to add to my list.

3.75 ⭐️

I enjoyed this wintery somewhat festive read. It is somewhat cookie cutter romance but there's nothing wrong with that and I often like to know exactly what I'm getting with romance books.

A few things that knocked it down slightly
- the connection between Iris and Gio via their parents felt a bit too close for me. I appreciate the author clarifying relatively early on they couldn't be related but it still gave me a little ick
- miscommunication is one of my lesser liked tropes. It annoys me that situations are created that would not be an issue if people talked to each other
- I love the Belotti family and the concept of a perfect vanilla but gelato and winter seemed like a weird combo to me

This gave me some Lindsey Kelk I heart New York vibes which is one of my favourite series. I loved Gio's protective side and I was pleasantly suprised by the spicy bits!

One to pass a cold afternoon with a hot chocolate and a blanket.

Thanks to Penguin for the ARC

This was an alright read - it definitely fulfils some of the tropes and cosies that you look for in a wintery, Christmas read. There was a gorgeous storyline of navigating grief and loss as well as a found family in the Belottis.

Where this one didn’t quite meet the mark for me was the romance plot. The miscommunication at the beginning was a hinge for much of the storyline, but it just didn’t feel realistic- I feel like you’d have just come clean? I also struggled with other aspects of Iris’ motivations - I both understood her feelings on the gelato recipe whilst also not really understanding the longevity of the ruse. As a result I don’t feel like I wholeheartedly invested in them as a couple because I didn’t fully support Iris which is a shame.

There was lots to like about the story - the setting, the heartache of the past timeline, Gio and the side cast of characters were all fab, but unfortunately for me the main area of investment fell a little short overall.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy of this earc

Thank you for allowing me to review this book. I found this to be an enjoyable rom-com. Easy to read with an engaging storyline. Iris is in New York recovering from an abusive relationship. Gio is a member of the Bellotti family running a gelateri in NY. Both these characters are very well written with backstories of trauma, grief and family history. The Bellotti family are typical Italians.
I'm not usually a big reader of rom-com but I enjoyed this one and can recommend it.

If you love Fluffy romance books based on New York then this is definitely a book for you. I really enjoyed it, the characters were good and the plot was pleasant.

A beautifully written winter romance with important messages about grief and healing. It was so empowering to see Iris begin to heal from an abusive relationship and make a new life for herself. While I loved the Belotti family, I was less invested in the backstory between Santo and Iris's mother.

"theres something about you thats just like pure fuckin sunshine.”

𝗖𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿
ooh its such a cute festive cover!! however it does not reflect what the book is about, there needed to be icecream on the cover!!!

𝗧𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝘀
Secrets
Icecream
Food
Love
Family

𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀
I love this author and have read all their books. i found this one a little bit slower, and harder to get into. however overall i loved it and i was sobbing near the end.

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀
I loved both Iris and Gio, but i have to be honest, there was nothig special about either of them. this is the perfect copy and paste type of romance (and there is nothing wrong with that)

𝗪𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴
as always, i love Josie Silvers writing! especially chapter 35, honestly i had to go and read it twice, thats how raw it felt!!!

𝗔𝗻𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗱?
the beginning was REALLY good, i laughed so much but then chapter 1 to about 35%, was really dry?!?!?

𝗙𝗮𝘃𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗤𝘂𝗼𝘁𝗲
“but we're book people for gods sake we dont behave that way”

Oh hello lighthearted yet poignant and touching cosy read 🫶🏻 I SO enjoyed this story! I’m a sucker for a New York setting - I’ve never been (which should definitely change sooner rather than later), but I love how the place is full of magic and romance in literally every book that it’s featured in.

With Josie’s beautiful writing, it was so easy to imagine walking through the city with Iris. It was also easy to imagine the famous Belotti vanilla gelato 🤤 I’m not a particular fan of gelato but I swear my mouth watered every time it was mentioned.

I absolutely adored every one of the characters from each member of Gio’s fun-loving family to the wonderful Bobby and Robin and of course the slow burn romance’s dream Iris and Gio 😮‍💨 every single cast member was written perfectly.

While it wasn’t quite a 5 star standout read for me, I certainly have nothing negative to say about it - it was the sweet, heartwarming piece of escapism I didn’t know I needed!

Thank you Penguin & Netgalley for an E-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

After leaving her abusive ex on Christmas day, Iris decides to move to New York to feel closer to her late mother. Whilst wandering the streets of a food festival, she stumbles upon a gelataria that looks very familiar. Inside, she meets Gio, who is suffering from a crisis of his own. The only person who knows their famous vanilla gelato recipe has lost their memory but unbeknownst to him Iris is the one person who can help him she just can't tell him that as the recipe is a sacred family secret. Will she manage to help without breaking their hearts in the process?

This was a good wintery read. Even though it dealt with some heavy topics, it was still so much fun to read. I loved the strong family dynamic and the friendships. I liked how every character had their own story, too. The romance was sweet without too much spice. The only reason it's a 3 star for me is that the end felt too rushed but otherwise I enjoyed this.