A review by bookedbymadeline
A Winter in New York by Josie Silver

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!

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

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