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meredith_williams_'s review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Main character, Iris, moves to New York after her mother’s death and after leaving an emotionally abusive relationship. She has a job as a chef and stumbles across a gelato shop in the city that she recognizes from her mother’s photographs. She meets the owner, Gio, who discloses that the secret family gelato recipe has been lost. Iris happens to have the exact recipe among her mother’s photographs, but can’t tell anyone because…she promised her mom not to?? So instead she offers to help Gio recreate the recipe under the guise of being a professional chef.
The winter city setting and family dynamics in this book were enjoyable. I also liked Gio as a love interest and thought the dual timeline between Iris’s present and her mothers past were interesting. However, the secret that serves as the main conflict in the book was simply not that serious. It caused a lot of unnecessary miscommunication between the love interests and it made Iris’s character hard to root for at times.
Ultimately, this book was as vanilla as the gelato that Gio’s family is known for. It’s good if you want a little something sweet, but you’ll be wishing it had more flavor by the time you’re done.
The winter city setting and family dynamics in this book were enjoyable. I also liked Gio as a love interest and thought the dual timeline between Iris’s present and her mothers past were interesting. However, the secret that serves as the main conflict in the book was simply not that serious. It caused a lot of unnecessary miscommunication between the love interests and it made Iris’s character hard to root for at times.
Ultimately, this book was as vanilla as the gelato that Gio’s family is known for. It’s good if you want a little something sweet, but you’ll be wishing it had more flavor by the time you’re done.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Cursing, Pregnancy, Grief, and Sexual content
Minor: Alcohol and Vomit
piratenami's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Stalking, and Sexual content
alissamargaret's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content and Emotional abuse
Minor: Grief
readingwithmeredith's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, and Domestic abuse
sariereads's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Grief
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Stalking, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Vomit, Sexual content, and Cancer
bookedbymadeline's review against another edition
lighthearted
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin UK for the eARC!
I was pulled in right away and enjoyed the switching POVs as we occasionally get glimpses of Iris’ mom, Vivien, in the 80’s. At first I really liked them but they became a bit like filler because we don’t get much new information (most of what we know can be found in the present timeline).
I love Gio’s family, absolutely obsessed with their relationship and dynamic! I enjoyed the character development for Iris and the found family aspects too.
Love the rom-com movie references 💗 The novel is both a romance with Iris and Gio but it’s also a romance/love story for New York. I loved the descriptions and felt like I was in NYC during the holidays!
Love the rom-com movie references 💗 The novel is both a romance with Iris and Gio but it’s also a romance/love story for New York. I loved the descriptions and felt like I was in NYC during the holidays!
Didn’t love the friendship between Bobby and Iris-he doesn’t feel like his own character and is more like a flat, background character purely there to further Iris’ development (and at times feels like the cliche “gay BFF”).
The spicy scenes were fairly well done except for one line about how Gio’s actions were “insanely sexual that I feel as if he's actually drawing circles on my cervix.” that was weird…🫠
Miscommunication is a HUGE plot point which was unfortunate because it’s my least fave trope 😭 The story was also predictable, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I would’ve enjoyed more plot twists that I didn’t see coming.
The romance was okay, it wasn’t great or horrible, just average. It didn’t feel like a main focus and was more the journey of Iris discovering herself, fleeing a toxic relationship, and grieving the loss of her mom. I much preferred Silver’s “One Night on the Island” and I don’t think the miscommunication helped with how I felt either.
I recommend for a light, fluffy holiday read! But be aware of the triggers as it tackles heavy topics like grief and domestic abuse. I’ll probably check out Silver’s other books to see if she’s an author for me or not.
Spice: 🌶️🌶️ (1.5-2/3)
Tropes: single dad (widower), found family
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Sexual content
Moderate: Stalking and Cancer
meganpbennett's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Winter in New York is a lovely story of a young woman learning who she is and where she wants to be in life, while also falling in love with the son of a gelato maker. Before she was born, Iris's mother had a fiery fling with Santo, a gelato maker who gave her his family secret - his gelato recipe. Flash forward 40ish years, and Santo has just had a stroke, forgetting the famous recipe. Iris stumbles upon the shop and the secret by accident - she had no idea her mother's secret recipe was really Santo's secret recipe - so she decides to help them.
Very interesting. Bit of an emotional rollercoaster through the last few chapters, what with Adam and Iris making some spectacularly stupid decisions.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the free electronic Advanced Reader.
Very interesting. Bit of an emotional rollercoaster through the last few chapters, what with Adam and Iris making some spectacularly stupid decisions.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the free electronic Advanced Reader.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Sexual content, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Domestic abuse
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