NetGalley Review: A Winter in New York by Josie Silver

A Winter in New York by Josie Silver

Rating: ✩✩✩✩✩

So here's the thing: I hated the premise of this book (or at least how Iris handles said premise) with the seething fire of a thousand dying suns. If you have a piece of information that would literally save the livelihood of an entire family, you just offer that information to them. There is no moral high ground to leaking a secret slowly especially after having made a decision about complete strangers on their behalf. That said, something had to propel the plot and Iris being a damaged manic pixie dream girl with "quirks" was vital to the narrative, so I swallowed it down and carried on.

Once you get past all that, this book is a stunning story about grief, second chance love and found families. Iris behaves the way she does because she is grieving her mom and will do anything to expand the time spent with part of her mom's past, even if she knows it is going to blow up in her face. Gio and his whole family are working through their own grief and struggles while trying to blend the future of a family with honoring the past. The romance serves as the perfect foil for Iris' healing and Gio maturing out of his set role in the family. The supporting cast, while tropey, help push the plot along even when the chemistry between Iris and GIO feels lacking. I think the story could have lived without the big showdown with the abusive ex. The fact that she had escaped domestic violence could have been a central tenet of her story without him coming back to wreak havoc. Plus one man enacting violence in order to "save" her from violence gives me the big ick, but YMMV. Granted this would have required the characters talk and mature instead of playing the Grand Gesture Olympics, but we were already up to eyeballs in a Romance of Miscommunication, so why not?

Somehow despite the awful premise and unneeded subplot, I devoured this book in one sitting while shedding a tear for the HEA that results...if that isn't a good book, then I don't know what is!

Published on 03 October 2023 by Random House Publishing Group

 Book #67 of 2023