Welcome to Day 5 of #12booksofchristmas. During December I am sharing 12 festive reads. The idea came from the wonderful Icelandic tradition of Jolabokaflod where a book is given on Christmas Eve and read together. This is my 5th year doing this and you can check out a whole host of books on my books for Christmas page at the bottom of this post. In case you’ve missed any titles below is a list of #12books so far this year….

• Day One - Countdown to Christmas by Jo Thomas
• Day Two - Who KIlled Father Christmas Edited by Martin Edwards
• Day Three - This Christmas in Paris by Sophie Claire
• Day Four - Tied up in Tinsel by Ngaio Marsh

Do you remember on day 3 of this year's #12booksofchristmas that I mentioned reading 2 books back to back set at Christmas in foreign cities? Well we have moved the action from Paris to New York. A city I am desperate to visit. So many movies are set in New York that it already feels like we know the city, but I always relish a chance to visit it in a book.

The Plot

Iris arrives in the city of dreams, intent on restarting her culinary career and leaving her recent heartache behind.

Wandering the streets at a famous food festival, Iris feels like she’s living in a movie. The she stumbles upon a gelateria that looks strangely familiar. Inside she meets Gio: a perfect leading man with an irresistible smile - and a crisis of his own.

As fate would have it, Iris is the one person with the answer to his problem. She just can’t tell him that….

So can Iris finally let go of the past - and let herself fall in love?

My Thoughts

This year I have been thinking about going to New York, a city I have never visited before and was told by my sister that it is just like walking onto a movie set. Each street corner is the ghost of movies Christmas past. Christmas present and Christmas yet to come. In this novel all 3 ghosts reside side by side in the world’s most famous city.

After leaving an abusive relationship, Iris heads to New York, makes friends with the wonderful Bobby and Robin and takes up a post as a Chef in a Chinese restaurant. In New York she feels close to her dearly departed Mother, a free spirit and lead singer in a famous band. A relationship between her Mother and a young American Italian man many years earlier has led to a secret recipe being passed to Iris. When Iris stumbles upon the Gelateria in her mother’s photographs, it is a chance to find out more about her and the choices she made in her life.

And it is here that the fun begins. Iris meets the gorgeous Gio, who is having quite the crisis. The recipe for the Gelato that the Gelateria is famous for is temporarily lost. Iris has that recipe, so how does she help Gio without spilling her mum’s secrets?

This was such a cosy, gentle read with a cast of characters full of heart. Iris and Gio are lovely leads. Iris, gently refinding herself and discovering her passion for life again after leaving a very difficult situation in London. Gio is trying to hold the family business together whilst his Uncle is ill balancing tradition with new opportunities.

I loved the supporting cast members. Bobby and Robin in particular are friends you want to get to know, Gio’s family, the Belotti’s are just brilliant, noisy, loud and passionate. I loved Maria and Sophia in particular. The story is gentle paced but not too slow. Just like the delicious gelato served in the Belott’s gelateria, this is the perfect pick me up for any Christmas reading. You will probably spend most of it hungry like I did!