This was such a sweet comfort read. Girl meets boy after escaping her abusive ex boyfriend and running away to New York. She randomly sees a door from an old photo her mom had and goes inside. Where she meets hot gelato maker.

Thanks NetGalley for the E-Arc!!

I love books that take place in NYC and this one was so good! A fun, quick read that I couldn't put down.

2.5🌟 I loved Josie Silver’s first book — it was 5🌟 for me — but sadly none since have really measured up and this one I struggled to finish, skimming mostly, because the relationship was based on a series of lies. As such, the relationship just had no spark for me. Silver’s first book had compelling characters with interesting back stories. The rest of the books have been formula stories with a depressed (for various reasons) MCs who enter into a frothy new relationships. At a minimum, they were palate cleansers. But this one, with its lies-based plot, left a disappointing taste.

Did Not Finish

A Winter in New York is a holiday romance novel involving, you guessed it, gelato. After ending a toxic relationship, Iris decides to move to New York, thinking it would be the same as movies she watched with her mother. Through quite a bit of happenstance, Iris meets Gio, who is trying to save the family gelateria after his uncle has a stroke and can no longer remember the secret family recipe. Iris offers to help only to discover that their gelato tastes exactly like her mother’s secret recipe.⁣
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I started A Winter in New York hoping for a cute romance to put me in the holiday spirit. And I was not exactly impressed. The book starts out slow and continues at a glacial pace. Just when things seem like they are going to start happening, the narrative flips back in time to Iris’s mother’s time in New York. When I found out that the plot would be further delayed by this subplot, I put the novel down, hoping I would find more patience another day. Sadly, that day still has not arrived. Since I am unwilling to put myself into a slump to finish it, let me tell you why I closed the cover on this title.⁣
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Iris moved to NYC with absolutely no plan, no job, etc. which seems pretty unrealistic to me, more so when you find out she was living in London. No, just no. Even more ludicrously, she just so happens to land on her feet, finding a place in a building that boasts a restaurant & a landlord who becomes her bestie. That is not how things work here. Moving here by yourself is a special form of hazing. ⁣
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Add in the whole gelato disaster, and the story becomes more contrived than a typical romance novel. An entire business relies on a family recipe for the sole flavor of gelato they serve, yet they have no backup. Seriously? I feel like that stupidity is just asking for something to happen.

When Gio and Iris meet, chemistry is absent, and I had not fully come around to like Iris. So to add that I also had to read about her mother’s fling when I did not even care about her daughter yet. Nah. The cherry on top is that this book deals with grief & is heavy, which is not something I can handle right now nor what I want in a festive read.

Thank you Random House and Netgalley for an arc of Winter in New York by Josie Silver. In this book, a young chef, Iris, moves from London to NY a few years after her mom dies to separate herself from her abusive, controlling boyfriend. Iris has a gelato from her mom’s possessions and of course finds the restaurant that it is for and of course they are in need of it. It’s predictable but it is a lovely holiday story about love, lost, food, nyc, and friends who turn family. In this book, Iris is in search of herself in a city where her mom used to love and told her stories about.

“Part of painting my own background set involves being assertive enough to do things alone, otherwise my background will always be someone else’s take on life, and thjs needs to be mine”

Loved this delightful new story by Josie Silver. A story of finding one's self and embracing fate. Romantic, thoughtful and cozy. Thank you netgalley for this arc ine exchange for my honest opinion.

If you’re a fan of the movie 𝗪𝗛𝗜𝗟𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗪𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗦𝗟𝗘𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗡𝗚 w/ Sandra Bullock - you must read this!!! Silvers character development is nooooo joke. I’m a huge fan of her other work for this reason. You cannot help just loving her main characters.
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𝘚𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘠𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 (𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥). 𝘐𝘳𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘐𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘳. 𝘎𝘪𝘰 𝘉𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘪, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘐𝘳𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘐𝘳𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸? 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵?
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This book is sooooo much more than gelato. It’s about love, loss, and grief. Both main characters processing such heavy losses coming together with hope for easier days. I loved the past POV the mother’s past life with the Belotti family. I loved how in the present timeline the Belotti family welcomes Iris with no questions asked (just like the movie with Sandra). This is definitely a feel good story with some depth and tugs all the heart strings!! Must read!!
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𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚: you will crave gelato while reading this!

I got about halfway through this and had to put it down. It sadly just wasn't for me. the writing was beautiful but the plot was slow moving. I would recommend this to someone who truly love a new york setting .

As a New York girlie, this book had me immediately googling “gelato store on mulberry”

Overall this book was super cute, absolutely loved it. The flashback scene where baby MMC gives baby FMC her toy back? I just about died.

Josie Silver books have always been hit or miss for me. And unfortunately, this one was a miss. The concept is strong but the execution was weak. I hated the lie and the secret throughout. And I had enough of the gelato talk. This just wasn’t my cup of tea.

Unfortunately, beyond the atmospheric setting and cuteness of the story, I just couldn’t get over the lying. I don’t like when characters lie to one another especially if they’re interested in one another. A relationship can rarely survive when it begins with distrust.

Josie Silver is an auto buy for me, so I was thrilled to receive this eARC! This one did not disappoint. In fact, I think it might be her best yet. It

The plot of this one was one big frustration. I really did not appreciate the entirety of the plot being centered on a lie by omission that could've easily been set right initially and still had a solid premise of figuring things out together regarding the female main characters past. She was absolutely immature, made a series of terrible decisions, and did not make me like her by any stretch. The redeeming thing about this book was the large, darling Italian family and her landlord/neighbors who I absolutely wanted more of. Less Iris, more of literally every other character. Gio deserved much better than that, and I found myself frustrated the entire way. Normally I adore Josie Silver books, but this one was a clear miss for me. Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a delightful holiday romance read but went a little deeper with the plot which I always appreciate. This book is about love, loss, grief, family, loyalty, hope, redemption and healing. I loved all the witty banter, secret dates and amazing chemistry between Iris and Gio... he certainly was SWOONworthy. The setting of New York was just what I was looking forward in what was one of my favorite 2023 holiday books of the year!!

First half of the book with really slow but I wanted to keep reading for the conflict resolutions. So many tears for the final chapters.

I absolutely loved this book. It had so many things to love!

❄️Gio… where can I find one of them?
❄️A tender hearted Brit? (Do they make those? You know, stiff upper lip and all.)
❄️THE EIGHTIES.
❄️Rom-Com movies references.
❄️New York City. In Winter.
❄️A big Italian family.
❄️And, oh yeah, allllll the gelato.

Yes, there is miscommunication. But some of the best romcoms have the same trope and are adored. Notting Hill, While You Were Sleeping, You’ve Got Mail, and The Holiday- all have miscommunication plot lines but I rarely hear complaints about any of them. Yet, almost every review I’ve seen about WiNY has been negative regarding this trope.
Instead, I think more focus should be put on the fact that Josie Silver put so much focus on grief, self care, and healing. I also lost my mother just about two years ago so I related so much to Iris and her journey to healing. The scene with the Joni Mitchell song “River” (one of me and my mom’s favorites) left me sobbing. So thank you for that Josie, I needed that connection with my mom again, especially at this time of year.


Thank you to Josie Silver, Random House Ballantine, and NetGalley for the early review copy.

I really like Josie Silver's books, and this one was good but wasn't my favorite of hers. My favorite parts were reading about Gio and his family, and the descriptions of NYC and it's neighborhoods. I found myself getting slightly annoyed at the main character and it dragged on a bit in the middle. Still a good read - Gio and his family are lovely.

I was very much looking forward to this one! I love a holiday read and Josie Silver.

But unfortunately fell quite flat for me. I could never get on board with so much lying and it didn’t feel like it mattered much in the end.

This was a cute and nice Christmas story. We follow Iris as she navigates living in New York after moving from England. She is trying to escape her past but also connect with her mother. She comes to find a place her mother frequented and a mystery unravels and love unfolds.

I really enjoyed the characters especially the family both by blood and found. I think that was the core of the story was family can come in all different packages.

Gio and Iris were a sweet romance and I appreciated the spicier moments of this but I would say this book is one chili pepper at most.

I definitely recommend and look forward to more Josie Silver in the future.

This sweet romance was the coziest, happy-sad romance. I desperately wanted (needed) gelato after reading this book. Gelato Mamma Mia meets invisible string theory.
I loved Iris, she was complex and funny and sweet. This book had great side characters.