Reviews with content warning for Domestic abuse - A Winter in New York

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!

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

meganpbennett's review against another edition

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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.

Content Warnings

memoirsofabooklover's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I loved this book. It may not be winter but I read this book at the exact right time. I rarely ever cry at books but this book had me brushing tears from my cheeks over the last few chapters. This book was beautiful and a little heart wrenching. I loved the story, unique but not outlandish.

her abusive ex brought up a lot for me. I appreciated that it wasn’t the main concentration of the story but it wasn’t brushed over.

I loved that a lot of the characters had their own complex baggage and emotions that added to the story so well, allowing you to really feel for them, not just the main character. I loved the couple of chapters from Vivian’s perspective, to give us an insight in to her side of the story. I adored the writing style. I would definitely recommend.

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