Slightly cheesy, definitely fed my desire to drop everything and run away to New York City.

iris (the number of times I forgot her name is slightly embarrassing), is simultaneously running away and coming home. She's escaping a crappy relationship in England as well as the pain of losing her mom. But given her mom's love of NYC, it's more like a homecoming than anything else. While she's at a street fair with her landlord/friend, she sees a gelato shop from her mom's past, and can't resist going in. That's when stuff really hits the fan.

It was cheesy. It was relatively predictable. It's what I needed after a tough week, but probably not a reread.

A feel good holiday book that made me long for cozy nights in, bright lights of the city, and a romance! Josie Silver's novel provides the backdrop for a fun, entertaining novel which i greatly enjoyed

I am in my Italian phase of life *wink* so this book fit right in on my kindle. If you love the big Apple, Italian gelato (and men), found family, then this book is for you.

This book was an easy read - I liked the over arching story line with fun side characters and great setting - (Italian store in NYC) and the main male character was dreamy .

**Potential Spoilers**
- Chapter one in the book store was fun - I wish the book and the banter from the initial chapter was blended in more (while referenced, I wish they read the book together or found themselves joking over the book's true owner, etc)
- The "miscommunication thread"... I think Iris could've easily told the truth to Gio about her ex and about the gelato right at the beginning. To me, there wasn't a believable reason not to just be honest. So I felt that there needed to be a stronger reason that Iris kept it a secret. Maybe if Santo had seen her earlier in the book and asked her not to tell or something. Towards the end of the book I was mildly annoyed that the secrets were still there.
- The ending felt rushed. We spend so much time working on the gelato and growing this relationship and then it's like "Eat Glass Adam" - the end. I'd like to have felt a bit more angst in the reveal of the lies and then the obvious work things out story. I'd also have liked to have a bit more on the gelato at the end. Do they make it together now - does the sister still make other flavors?

That said - I did overall enjoy. Parts made me smile and I liked Gio as a love interest.

Overall: 3.5 Stars
Spice: 2.5/5

I received an ARC from Penguin Random House UK and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is such a cozy, holiday romance. Iris escapes her abusive ex and seeks to find herself in New York. While searching for herself, she finds herself discovering her mother's secret gelato recipe. The problem is, the recipe is also the flagship recipe for Gio, an owner of a gelateria and from a big Italian family. As they grow closer, will Iris be able to let Gio in on the sudden secret success of why she's able to help him after his mother's stroke? Will he forgive her?

A Winter ❄️ in New York by Josie Silver
Publishing Date - 10/03/23
Rating (5/5) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thank you Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and Netgalley for this eARC. I have enjoyed all of Josie Silver’s books so I was so happy when Netgalley approved my request.

Loved this one! It’s a cute rom-com set in New York. Iris is alone after losing her mother 3 years prior. She moves to New York and stumbles upon a gelato store , and realizes her mother has been there before. As Iris gets to know the family that owns the Gelato store , she learns about her mother’s life and her own. Themes presented in this heartwarming book are love, grief , family, and loyalty. Highly recommend this one when it releases October 3rd , 2023.

Such a fun and cute winter read. While I am in full soooky mode, this book had me so excited for all things winter 💙

I really like Josie Silver but this was not my favorite. I thought I would love this book based on the characters and storyline, but it fell a little flat for me.


https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/101673373

Josie Silver has a great story with Winter in New York! I really liked the characters and liked reading about Iris as a chef. She is likeable and I was rooting for her. Another great romcom by Josie Silver!

I enjoyed the characters, the storyline, and the setting. All of it together made for a great book and definitely one I’d recommend to folks that want a happy-ever-after ending. I did think it a bit unrealistic for so much time to pass in experimenting with gelato recipes. Is it really that precise/difficult? As time flew by, it just felt a little like we missed out on some key conversations and relationship development.

SPOILER: This book has the same vibe as the movie “While You Were Sleeping”. A family secret, a key character hospitalized and unable to provide clarity, falling in love, the truth comes out, and the big family scene at the end where all is put right. This is one of my very favorite movies, so a book with a similar storyline was very enjoyable!

My favorite character was definitely Bobby, and I’d love to back up a bit and have a book focused on his love story.

Much thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the opportunity to read and review this book prior to publication.

I would like to thank Net galley and random House for the opportunity to read this as an ARC. I really wanted to love this book. The main character was a gilr from England, whose mother, a singer had died recently, and who had given Iris( the main character) a love of New York City and of Romantic movies about New York. She had also given Iris a gelato recipe, unlike any other.After her mother died, Iris started a relationship with a man named Adam, who was mentally and verbally abusive. Iris left England and moved to NYC. All of this is back story , and told in flashback scenes through out the book. The book opens on Valentines Day. Iris in in a book store and there is only 1 copy of a book she wants, and someone else gets it first. What seems to be a semi typical meet cute, turns odd when Iris tells the man that he can spend Valentines day with his wife( she sees a ring) but that she , Iris is a widow. She doesnt get the book. Several months later, as she and her friend/employer Booby go to a festival in the city, she sees a gelato store and the door looks familiar. The door looks like a photo in her mothers album , which is a picture of a storefront, with a good looking man in it. The ;icture is in the album next to the recipe for gelato. Iris goes back the next day, and finds that the man running the store is upset because the family patriarch has had a stroke and can't remember the gelato recipe. She also realizes that the man she is talking to is the man from the bookstore on Valentines day. Rather than admit that she lied about being a widow, or telling him that she has the recipe, she agrees to work with him daily on creating a gelato recipe. I know that the time honored trope of Romance novels involve a meet cute, and a secret of some kind, or a mistaken identity or misunderstanding, but this one is way over the top. Iris of course falls in love ( his name is Gio and turns out he is a widower,)but doesn't know how to tell him the truth. The books spirals on , with Iris getting involved with all of the family( who are so stereo typical as to have come from a central casting call for Italians). I read it all and liked parts, but it was too convoluted, even for a Romance novel.I wanted to give it 2.5 stars but rounded it to a 3.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

2.5 ⭐️ rounded up. This was a bit of a miss for me. It was well written, but reminded me of how I don’t enjoy books with storylines based upon lies. I find that they give me anxiety, and particularly in this case, I get annoyed by the constant repetitive angst and discussions about revealing the truth. It’s just rehashing the same thoughts over and over until it’s resolved. I also felt there was a lack of development of the main characters and the chemistry just wasn’t there. It is a quick read and great for those who enjoy the slow burn storylines of getting to the truth after a series of unintentional deceits.

Josie Silver is one of the queens of romances and her newest book just confirms that status. Running from an emotionally abusive relationship, Iris leaves London for New York, the city they her late mom loved. Stumbling upon a store front from one of her mothers pictures Iris starts on a journey of learning about her mom but also about her own inner strength and finding not only romantic love but love of a family.

Silver not only did a wonderful job with the romance of the book but also with the development of Iris finding family support both with Gio’s family but also her friends. I also loved seeing Iris grow and find herself in this wonderfully written book.
Thank you to Netgalley and to the publishers for allowing me to read this advanced copy.

After a crumbling breakup Iris relocated to New York. She meets Gio once and she sets off a lie she’ll have to continue when they meet again. She can save his business through more lying. She begins to love his family and Gio himself. Can love endure through a lie?

I thought this book was well written and charming. A big pet peeve I have personally is a big lie that you know will blow up in someone’s face and ruin everything. It’s just a bomb waiting to go off and I don’t like the tension of it. That being said I still liked this book, but it was hard to just enjoy because I was worried while reading it.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC.

Too much gelato and not enough romantic development. Thought this was going to be a cute, light holiday read but I didn’t really have fun reading this. Had trouble buying into the romance and the central conflict dragged on forever for literally no reason. I love gelato, but this book may have ruined it for me.

A Winter in New York by Josie Silver was a letdown. I loved Silver’s previous books but this one didn’t live up to her past works. The title is misleading as most of the setting is actually before winter. The characters were not overly likeable and I feel like Silver missed the mark by providing just enough character detail to make a reader think they will get more, but it never happens.

The story itself was cute and I like the way Silver wrapped everything together at the end. Everything else missed the mark though. I feel like I didn’t get anything out of this because it felt half done and rushed.

This was a sweet book, but not my favorite, heartwarming-found family- and gelato

Iris ran from London leaving behind an abusive ex., she decides to move to New York to restart her life, 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. This is a romantic comedy that is told mainly from Iris's perspective, the first half was a bit slow, were parts that I got really bored, and was hard for me to keep reading, Sometimes I wanted to know some side characters a little better, Iris could have told her secrets way earlier, and there was too much focus on gelato, eventually became a bit distracting, light fun read, beautifully written, a tale worth reading for people that love woman's fiction. and cozy winter stories.

Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

I got an early copy of this through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

I really didn't like this book. I am definitely an outlier after seeing reviews, but I really didn't feel connected to any particular part of the book. I wish there were more parts with the mom's backstory (only three ish chapters?!) to add more depth to the story. The main character told a lie in the first chapter, and it haunts her the entire story... I felt like she wasn't giving Gio enough credit by keeping it from him and just kept making the situation worse. I think I should stick to the Christmas rom/coms because this felt like it was trying to be a lot deeper than I was expecting.

I love Josie Silver and her writing style and was beyond excited to receive a copy of this novel. While I did like it and liked all the characters in this book and the found family element I just didn't love the novel as a whole as much as I wanted to. I'm not even sure what it was that brought the rating down for me it just wasn't my favorite of hers. I liked the Christmas in New York element and the story of starting you life over after a traumatic event but something just didn't click with me. I'll give this one 3.5 starts rounded up to 4 would absolutely recommend it and everything else that Josie Silver writes just not my favorite. I want to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballentine for the digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

After Iris's mom passes away and she leaves an abusive relationship, she finds herself in New York ready to start over. While at a festival with a friend, she recognizes a gelateria door from a photo her mom left her in a scrapbook. This leads to a very complicated situation and relationship with the owners, who are on a quest to recover their famous gelato recipe. Little do they know, Iris has what they need but how can she tell them without upheaving their entire lives because no one outside of the family is supposed to know.

I have gone back and forth and back and forth on three stars versus four stars. Ultimately, I am going to settle for four (3.5 rounded up) because I did like the writing, the setting and the characters. I become very frustrated at books where the main plot line could be solved with one mature, adult conversation. I guess I understand Iris's reasons for not coming clean but ultimately, she could have saved herself and everyone else a lot of heartache with just a little honesty. This definitely gives While You Were Sleeping vibes and I couldn't get mad at Sandy B in that movie so I can't get too mad at Iris here. I loved all of the rom com references because I adore those movies too. The Adam plot line got a little weird and unrealistic. I feel like that was definitely written with a movie scene in mind. Overall, I enjoyed Iris's journey and became big fans of Gio and all of his family. If you like rom com movies, this is a great book to pick up.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing/Ballentine/Dell for the ARC!

A Winter in New York had some great things going. I absolutely loved the found family aspect, both with the Belotti family and with Iris’s friend Bobby. I loved the food-centric plot and rich descriptions of gelato and all the Italian goodness. I also really liked Iris’s journey of starting a new life in a foreign country to escape an abusive relationship and deal with the grief of losing her mom. I just didn’t really love Iris. She was making bad choices left and right and I find it a little hard to sympathize for someone so hellbent on self-sabotage. For someone in her 30s, she read much more like a 20-something. I found some parts of the book to drag, thought the final climatic moments a bit underwhelming, and wished some parts had played out differently. Very sweet ending, though. Recommend to fans of contemporary romance with foodie plots, characters battling grief, and MC starting a new life in her 30s.

3.5 ⭐️