3.5⭐️ - I loved the characters, and the overall vibe, especially when side characters and family were involved. But the lying was just so unnecessary and frustrating, esp when the story didn't need it and could have just gone much deeper without it. That said, it was still an enjoyable read, and I loved Gio and his family.

Still reeling from the death of her mother, Iris leaves her life in London for New York City as she flees an abusive relationship. The city was once her mother's home and soon she spots a storefront — a gelateria in Little Italy — that she recognizes from her mom's photo album. The photo features a handsome man and a gelato recipe, both of which her mother kept secret for years. She soon meets Gio and learns that the recipe tucked with the photo is Belotti's Gelateria famous secret vanilla gelato recipe. The recipe is only known by the family patriarch who recently suffered a stroke and cannot remember it. Iris finds herself drawn to help, as well as to Gio and the entire Belotti family.
"A Winter in New York" is a cutesy, cozy holiday romance. The plot itself is a little flat, but the large cast of side characters are certainly memorable. The story, unfortunately, falls victim to the familiar trap of lots of unnecessary drama that could have easily been prevented with some simple communication.
Thank you to the author, NetGalley and Delacorte Press for sharing this advance copy with me in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoy Josie Silver's writing; she writes about interesting women and her books always have an interesting concept. A Winter in New York is about Iris, reeling after the death of her mother and escaping an abusive relationship, finding herself in New York. She stumbles across Gio and the Berlotti family and realizes that she has their secret family gelato recipe. How did Iris's mother have the recipe and what would it do to the Berlotti family if the secret was revealed? The premise kept me interested throughout the book. What took away from the story for me was the secrets/lies Iris keeps from Gio. I hate when characters could solve all of their own problems if they would just be honest and talk to one another. I found myself getting irritated every time Iris mentioned her lies and how they were weighing on her while also doing nothing about it. Overall I did enjoy the book, Silver's writing and character development helped me overlook the few things I didn't like about the book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book.

After losing her Mom, Iris feels as though her life has hit rock bottom. She realizes that she has to get out of her current situation and start over, so she packs her suitcase and moves to New York - her mother's favorite place! She's really hoping to find her mom in the little places where her memories in NY took place. What she did not expect was to not only find some connections to her Mom through a little gelato shop down the street, but also to feel some major connections with the strong-handed shop owner, Gio.

As they work together to find his family's lost gelato recipe, they find themselves growing closer and closer over each little spoon (iykyk). But Iris' past looms over her head, and threatens to spill all of her dark secrets, including some surprise connections that she has kept hidden...

If you like Hallmark Christmas Rom Coms, you will LOVE this book!! The plot twists were great, but at times predictable. Excellent friends to lovers, secret relationships, and found family tropes!! A very enjoyable read that I was able to fly through in a day!

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!!

Publication date - October 2, 2023

3.5 ⭐️

A Winter in New York was such a dramatic book for no reason. All the family secrets and confusion all over gelato were so unnecessary. The main character Iris was very emotionally immature and acted more like a girl in her early twenties than a grown adult in her thirties. I enjoyed the side characters like Sophia and Bobby much more. The book's pacing was also quite slow and I had to force myself to keep reading as there never was much happening until the last 25% of the novel. I kept waiting to find out what the point was and what the plot was moving towards. I found the ending to be super cheesy and predictable and overall this book just missed the mark for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced reader's copy in exchange for and honest review.

Charming story didn’t want it to end!
So many luvable characters.
Would make such a great movie!

With thanks to NetGalley & Random House Publishing Group for this e-ARC!

Huh. I had hopes for this, but... It's just so, so cheesy and contrived. Of course she has a fabulous gay best friend. Of course she has baggage. Of course she's dragging along the baggage throughout most of the book when she could easily be an adult and tell Gio her lie.

The dialogue between Iris and Gio seem unbelievable. I'm not sure of the timeline, but it seemed like Gio was telling her his deep emotions as after knowing Iris for what, a few days? A week?

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.