Oh, my heart. This just couldn’t be a more perfect book to be reading on a cold night in December. Or anytime really.

Iris has decided to make a fresh start for herself in the city her mom always spoke so fondly of, New York. A bad relationship and a devastating loss have her searching for new beginnings. Gio is running a gelato shop in Little Italy with his big, warm, loud Italian family. Trust me, this makes for a beautiful, funny, tragic, hopeful, romantic, lovely story.

I love the way Josie Silver ties everything together, the glimpses from the past, the backstory. I love Bobby and Robin so much. I want to be friends with them and be a chef in their noodle restaurant! I love the movie references. They all hit perfectly, especially the one about Baby and the watermelon. Most of all, I love the love story. I should say stories. The expected one, the family love, the adopted family love, the love of a city and its magic.

Go pick up a copy. You definitely won’t regret it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the advanced copy.

This was my second book by Josie Silver and I enjoyed it as much as I did One Day In December. In this book, Iris comes across a gelato family recipe left by her late mother, but she learns that the recipe belongs to another family which Iris by pure chance runs into when she moves to New York.

This book has so much drama - in a good way! The dual timeline takes us back and fourth between before Iris's birth and the present day as we learn how Iris's mother came to own the secret recipe. Back in the modern day Iris is falling for the handsome gelateria owner. The MCs are getting over the heartache of (his) losing a partner and (hers) running away from abusive relationship. I love how slowly and cautiously their love story develops. I was so hoping that the recipe mystery would not break these two up.

The author has such a beautiful writing style, so rich and descriptive. It was such a pleasure to read this novel!! It's an open door romance, but done very tastefully. Despite romance being in the center of the narrative, the suspense was the moving force behind the story. The drama only intensified when Iris's ex decided to show up in town! The supporting characters were so well written, I couldn't help but love them all.

This story was so heartwarming and at times emotional. Giving a second chance at love after a heartbreak is no easy feat. But the main characters prove that taking that leap of faith is important and can be done. I truly enjoyed this lovely winter read.

A little too slow and cutesy for me. There wasn’t much in the way of turmoil, trauma, or anything majorly distracting, albeit having some sad and melancholy moments. It was a sweet novel about Iris and Gio and how they care for one another as their relationship blossoms. Not super fluffy, but nothing mega heavy either. I’d recommend it to someone looking for a sweet holiday story! Thanks for the opportunity to read.

I kept hearing about this book and seeing it literally everywhere so I was excited to read it. Everyone has been raving about it for months and I was so excited to tuck into it. But I was just so so disappointed. I really liked Iris, I think she's such an interesting character and her story and strength was motivating. But from the get-go like literally chapter 1, finding out that she starts her relationship with Gio with a lie, literally kills me and the entire time it made me on edge in anticipation of a third act breakup. Additionally, she and Gio had less chemistry than two strangers. Like they got together pretty quickly all things considered, and basically never had a flirting or banter stage, which I really hated. For me the book dragged onnn, and even at the end I still wasn't into it.

🍨Review - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5🍨

Iris Raven is a chef in New York who has recently moved from London. Attempting to escape an emotionally abusive relationship, Iris goes to NYC since it was one of the places her mother loved most.

While out with her friend Bobby, Iris passes a gelato shop that she recognizes from a photo of her mother’s. This shop is Belotti’s Gelateria and the photo also contains a vanilla gelato recipe that no one outside of the Belotti family is supposed to know. The Belotti family treasures this recipe so much that only one member of the family knows the recipe. And unfortunately, that family member is currently in a coma.

Iris knows she can’t just go into the shop and share the recipe, as her mom always promised she’d keep it a secret. Instead, Iris decides to help Gio Belotti recreate the recipe. During this process, Gio and Iris begin to develop feelings for each other. But can this relationship survive after it was started based off lies and secrets?

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I thought Iris had some great character development and I love her and Gio together. I also loved seeing the love and dysfunction of the Belotti family.

My only complaint is the miscommunication and lying throughout the whole book. I understand the need for it in some aspects of the story, but I felt like it was excessive at one point.

✨Read if you enjoy:
🍨Foodie romance
🍨Found family
🍨Slow burn
🍨Dysfunctional family

⚠️TW: death of a parent, death of a spouse, abusive relationship

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cute romance comedy. A woman from London, Iris, moves to the New York City. As she begins to find her footing in a new city, Iris soon finds a connection to Gio who runs his family's gelato shop. It was an overall heartwarming story, but I did feel like the secrets and messy relationships were a little too much and took away from the depth of the characters and their relationships.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

🌃Book Review🌃
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Summary: When Iris decides to move to New York to restart her life, she realizes she underestimated how big the Big Apple really is—all the nostalgic movies set in New York she’d watched with her mom while eating their special secret-recipe gelato didn’t quite do it justice.

But Bobby, Iris’s best friend, isn’t about to let her hide away. He drags her to a famous autumn street fair in Little Italy, and as they walk through the food stalls, a little family-run gelateria catches her eye—could it be the same shop that’s in an old photo of her mother’s?

Curious, Iris returns the next day and meets the handsome Gio, who tells her that the shop is in danger of closing. His uncle, sole keeper of their family’s gelato recipe, is in a coma, so they can’t make more. When Iris samples the last remaining batch, she realizes that their gelato and her gelato are one and the same. But how can she tell them she knows their secret recipe when she’s not sure why Gio’s uncle gave it to her mother in the first place?

Iris offers her services as a chef to help them re-create the flavor and finds herself falling for Gio and his family. But when Gio’s uncle finally wakes up, all of the secrets Iris has been keeping threaten to ruin the new life—and new love
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Rating- ⭐️⭐️⭐️
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My thoughts: this one was good but slightly disappointed me. I usually really enjoy Josie Silver books but I thought this one was super forgettable. When writing this review I was actually struggling to remember character names and the plot. I just didn’t feel the connection to the characters like I normally do in her stories. This one is also heavy on the miscommunication trope so if that’s your jam then this is right up your alley. It will make you hungry for gelato though😂
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QOTD- what is your drink of choice while reading ? I love a hot toddy on the weekends when I read at night. My husband likes to make me cocktails 😍but typically I’m a water or tea girl!
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#winterinnewyork #josiesilver #bookreview #bookreviewer #bookstagram #booksofinstagram #booksofig #booksofinsta #bibliophile #booklover #bookaddict #bookaesthetic #bookish #booknerds #bookworm #bookwormsunite #bookobsessed

A really sweet holiday story about found family, community, and grief, with a lil romance thrown in. I enjoyed this book and thought the setup was unique, but the conflict mostly hinged on miscommunication which became frustrating to read after a while—the book could’ve also shaved off 75 pages and been better for it. The pacing was a little wonky and the big secret is revealed to readers long before it is revealed to Iris. Despite its length, the end felt very rushed and lacked any real resolution.

I did really love all these characters though, and Iris’s grief over her mother was very touching. Josie Silver’s writing is just easy to read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the e-Arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book had it all, complicated family history, misunderstandings, toxic relationships, sacrifice, and loss. Despite all the previous adjectives it was wrapped in a big swoony bow and you could just feel the love. This book felt like a hug at times and made you think about the concept of family and how it isn’t always the one you’re born into but found families as well. I adored this book and could not put it down no matter how disciplined I tried to be I just couldn’t stop reading. I’ll never look at gelato the same again. ❤️😍

What begins strong, bogs down with repetition in the middle, then finishes with tears and laughter.

I’m not usually a romance reader, but there is something about Josie Silver’s books that has me waiting in anticipation of her new releases. My practical side has me typically talking to the book, but I always hold on, knowing that there will be something around the next corner that will draw me back in and make her moments resonate with truth and beauty.

If you aren’t a regular romance reader, Josie Silver just might open you up to the genre and a different way of looking at the sweetness in life.

I tried to read this book but found I couldn’t get into it and decided to DNF around 25%. I loved her book One Day in December and was so excited to read this one, but I think it just wasn’t for me. I may circle back and try it again another day. I know others loved it, so be sure to check their thoughts on it too!

A winter in New York

Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for ARC. Sorry for the delayed review.

I had high hopes for this book. Josie Silver’s One day in December is my favorite Rom-Com. I have been following her books since that book. I love the author, loooove the setting of NYC, and I love winter. What a perfect book! But it was a bit disappointing. It is missing something that made the author’s story more fun. I can’t tell what it is. It was a bit predictable?

I have to say that her word choices and the way she describe scenery and food are magical. After reading the book, I raved gelato and Italian food

I'll be honest I didn't love this at first. The intergenerational plot line was a bit confusing at first, but I quick found myself falling in love with all of the characters. Gio and Iris have great chemistry and are two fantastic characters, but the relationship between Iris and Bobby was also heartwarming!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of “A Winter in New York” by Josie Silver. All opinions are my own.

This book follows Iris as she leaves London and begins a new life in New York. She meets Gio and they instantly have a connection. Iris realized this connection extends to 30 years ago when her mother met his uncle in the same place. While Iris helps Gio try to figure out the secret family gelato recipe, she keeps the a number of other secrets as well.

I loved this story and the Belotti family most of all. I saw parallels with Moonlight and While You Were Sleeping, which was cute and perfect winter romance. The story with Iris’s ex felt a little under developed. We got random details here and there, and his showing up randomly at the end had some loose ends. But I loved Gio’s reaction and how despite being upset with her, her safety was the most important thing to him.

Overall would recommend!!

I got the arc of this and saved it for December. It was so sweet. I love anything she puts out. She’s a auto buy author for me and I enjoyed every second of this one

A Winter in New York is another masterpiece by Josie Silver. This author weaves words to create characters who are so real and evoke a real deal of emotion. Iris is a chef who had fled to New York for a fresh start. She longed to visit the places that she had seen through the movies that she had watched with her mother. Recognizing the window of a shop in the background of a photo in her mother’s scrapbook and walked into a shop that she realized was the origin of the secret gelato recipe that her mother made her promise to never share with another. She met a man named Gio, a member of the family who owned the shop. He confessed that his uncle had a stroke and couldn’t remember the family recipe, a closely guarded secret. Feeling an obligation to help the family from going out of business, she offered to try to replicate the recipe. The two began working together and she moved closer and closer to the family recipe without disclosing the secret that the recipe had been shared with her mother.. In the process, she found herself drawn closer to the family, while holding secrets and lies that she expected would topple that connection like a house of cards. This book transported me to New York at Christmas as Iris experienced so much, growing more confident in her new life and happy for the first time in years. Gio was genuine and vulnerable and so good for Iris and it was easy to hope for them. This author always takes her readers on an emotional journey that leaves us feeling so better in the end. She definitely did it again.. She did an amazing job, and I strongly recommend that readers of contemporary romance not miss this story. I am voluntarily submitting this honest review after reading an advanced complementary copy of this novel thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing, Ballantine.

I plan to post my review to my instagram later this week.

5/5! This story was cozy, raw, heartbreaking, heartwarming, charming, emotional, and loving. Keep your tissues handy because there’s a few scenes where you will need them. Honestly, each Josie Silver story I read seems better than the last. This is a book about love, loss, grief, hope, loyalty, family, secrets, and healing.

Synopsis: Iris, a chef, fled London on Christmas Day for a fresh start after losing her mother and to escape an emotionally abusive relationship. Her place of choice: New York City, to help reconnect her to the memory of her mom. So with suitcase in one hand and gelato maker in the other, she traveled to America and found peace with a job in a noodle shop and an apartment in the same building. One day, Bobby, Iris’ friend/boss/landlord, took her on a walk to visit a festival in Little Italy. There she saw a little Gelato shop and was stuck by the familiarity of it. Turns out, this Gelateria is one she’s seen millions of times in a photograph in her mother’s scrapbook. Curiosity getting the best of her, she wanders inside. It is there she meets Gio Belotti, a handsome widower who is trying to keep the family shop afloat. The problem: his father recently had an accident that impaired his memory and now the secret family gelato recipe is missing. Connecting the dots, Iris soon realizes that her mother’s sworn-to-secrecy gelato recipe and Gio’s family’s top secret recipe may be the same. Desperate to help the Belotti family out without betraying her mother’s secret, Iris ends up spending a lot of time with Gio and his family…and maybe falling in love while trying to save the Gelateria.

For those worried about if this is a “winter story” or a “Christmas story” I would pop it in the winter category. Only the last 30% or so of the book occurs at Christmas, but the holiday isn’t a focal point.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group, Ballentine Dell for this ARC.

I love everything Josie Silver writes. This book started off smooth and fun, but the end packed one heck of a punch. Every emotion imaginable was felt. 5 big old shining Christmas trees for this one. Thank you, NetGalley for the eARC. It was spectacular as always.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy. This was a fun winter read. I loved the connection between Iris and her mom, and the story of family with the Belottis. Good character development.

This is my first Josie Silver book. I enjoyed it- likely for it's NYC at Christmas time setting. It was a cozy read, great for the holiday season.. I just feel like something was missing from me connecting to it the way I do other stories. I just don't feel much for this story, so it's hard to write something super meaningful.