Josie Silver's bingeworthy inspirations...plus a book giveaway

Credit: Justine Stoddart

We are pleased to welcome Josie Silver to CLC today. Her latest rom-com, A Winter in New York, released this week and it sounds like the perfect book to cozy up with on a cold day (or take to the beach, depending on where you live). Josie is here to talk about the TV shows that have inspired her writing and we can't say we're surprised by her picks (for good reasons)! Thanks to Dell Books, we have THREE copies of A Winter in New York to give away!

Josie Silver is an unabashed romantic who met her husband when she stepped on his foot on his twenty-first birthday. She lives with him, their two sons, and their cats in England. She is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of One Day in December, The Two Lives of Lydia Bird, and One Night on the Island.

Visit Josie online:
Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram

Synopsis:
When Iris decides to move to New York to restart her life, she realizes she underestimated how big the Big Apple really is—all the nostalgic movies set in New York she’d watched with her mom while eating their special secret-recipe gelato didn’t quite do it justice.
 
But Bobby, Iris’s best friend, isn’t about to let her hide away. He drags her to a famous autumn street fair in Little Italy, and as they walk through the food stalls, a little family-run gelateria catches her eye—could it be the same shop that’s in an old photo of her mother’s?
 
Curious, Iris returns the next day and meets the handsome Gio, who tells her that the shop is in danger of closing. His uncle, sole keeper of their family’s gelato recipe, has recently suffered a stroke and lost parts of his memory, so they can’t make more. When Iris samples the last remaining batch, she realizes that their gelato and her gelato are one and the same. But how can she tell them she knows their secret recipe when she’s not sure why Gio’s uncle gave it to her mother in the first place?
 
Iris offers her services as a chef to help them re-create the flavor and finds herself falling for Gio and his family. But when Gio’s uncle finally comes home from the hospital, all of the secrets Iris has been keeping threaten to ruin the new life—and new love—she’s been building all winter long.

“Iris and Gio’s relationship is full of sexy, heart-meltingly romantic moments in this emotional and charming rom-com from [Josie] Silver, which deserves its own movie.”
—Library Journal

“A tender, heartfelt read with the perfect blend of ingredients: New York, food, family, and romance!”
—Sophie Cousens, New York Times bestselling author of Before I Do

“A unique and gorgeously written love story bursting with characters you’ll want to protect.”
—Lizzie Damilola Blackburn, author of Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband?

As a writer of love stories, I’m always on the look-out for TV shows that put love and romance front and central. You know that feeling you get when you watch those big classic nineties rom-coms - While You Were Sleeping, When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle? That heart-sigh of joy is what I’m waiting to feel whenever I watch new TV shows, and I’m happy to say there’s been a few that have hit that mark for me recently. 

I’ve watched the entire six season run of Schitts Creek several times over, it has become my gold standard for beautiful relationships on screen, both romantic and familial. 

I adore how the show intentionally sets out its stall as a study of love and loyalty, and equally intentionally steers clear of darkness or drama. It’s a complete gift in that every episode genuinely makes you laugh, never leaves you feeling low, and the closeness of the cast absolutely radiates from the screen. It’s wholesome without being cheesy, and snarky enough to never feel cutesy. Moira Rose in particular has my whole heart, she’s so terribly self-centred but kind, joyfully unhinged and hilarious with an accent every bit as unique as she is. David… If I could lift one character from TV and bring them into my own life as my new neighbour, it would have to be David Rose. The show is masterful in the way it absolutely normalises LGBTQ relationships, none more perfectly than the love story between David and Patrick. The "Simply the Best" episodes are exactly that, and their wedding – I gasped aloud at Moira’s entrance, I cried at Alexis and David’s entrance, and I happy-sobbed at the vows. And now I know I’m going to watch the wedding again this evening and heart-sigh all over again. 

Next up on my list is the lock-down phenomenon Ted Lasso. I resisted watching it for far too long, sure it would be football heavy and not at all my cup of tea. Oh, how wrong can one girl be! Ted hooked me in from the very first episode with his folksy wisdom and eternal optimism, I fell hard for Roy Kent, and I still want to be in Rebecca and Keeley’s gang. It’s visually appealing too, heavy on exterior shots of fairy-lit Richmond complete with red telephone boxes and black cabs, creating a fairy-tale vibe that spills into the storylines too. Good triumphs over evil, loyalty saves the day, and they do it all in excellent clothes, Rebecca especially! I’ve found myself googling more than one piece in her wardrobe, that pink woollen coat is to die for. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say they don’t love Ted Lasso, which tells you everything you need to know if you’re on the fence about giving it a go.

An honourable mention has to go to philosophical comedy The Good Place – narcissistic Eleanor Shellstrop is so entirely shallow and self-centred, yet Kristen Bell’s charm, vulnerability and comic timing has the audience rooting for the character to find her happy ever after in the afterlife. Her romance with Chidi, who is her intrinsically decent polar opposite in every way, is heart-achingly well done.  It’s another show designed to be visually engaging, The Good Place is a riot of colour and pattern designed to really pop, and it absolutely does. 

Loyalty is the heartbeat of all of these shows, as is a sense of resilience and hope. They’re pure comfort to watch, and the characters slide under your skin and into your heart. All hail the rise of feel-good TV. 

Thanks to Josie for her wonderful guest post and to Dell for sharing her book with our readers.

How to win: Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. If you have trouble using Rafflecopter on our blog, enter the giveaway here. 

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Giveaway ends October 10th at midnight EST.

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