A Love Song for Ricki Wilde follows the story of the titular character who moves to Harlem for a new life as a florist after she decides not to follow her family's footsteps in their funeral home business dynasty. One night at a community garden, she encounters a handsome, enigmatic stranger, Ezra Walker, who has a past monumental to the Harlem Renaissance that can ultimately change of course of Ricki's life within the month of February.

There is no doubt that Tia Williams can write a well-developed, sensual romance filled with humor that's a breath of fresh air. Yet the lack of detail on the voodoo/magical realism elements felt out-of-place beyond this star-crossed romance that became a little unrealistic; as the story developed into how Ricki can avoid her fate and save Ezra from the curse, pushed behind Ricki's storyline of succeeding her floral business that became imbalanced. Still, I will pick up whatever Tia Williams will write next.

Interesting very unique concept but I did not feel particularly pulled by the characters. I liked Ezra but Riki's story didn't really flow and seem seamlessly and together, it was just too forced and too fast and I didn't really fall for them and I didn't stay with them as a reader. Really nice idea and plot.

Went into this book blind and was totally blown away. So good!

This was such an amazing read! It centers on Ricki Wilde, who grew up feeling like a complete outsider in her family, which runs a well-known set of Atlanta funeral homes. Ricki has no desire to become part of the family business. When she meets Miss Della, an older woman who offers her space in her Harlem brownstone to open the flower shop of her dreams, Ricki jumps at the chance, even if it means leaving behind her family's wealth and all the security it brings.

I don't really know how to describe this story, and I don't want to share too much. It's such a beautiful love story, though, with magical, almost paranormal elements, sprinkled in. Once Ricki moves to New York, the book weaves in historical stories about Harlem in the 1920s, covering the Harlem Renaissance, as well as some of the utter horrors inflicted upon black southerners in that time period.

Much of this is done through the story's narrative. While much of it is from Ricki's POV, it also skips back in time to the 20s, giving us amazing insight into 1920s Harlem. I loved the history--reading this book around the end of February (it has a Leap Year spin to it), as well as during Black History Month, was perfect.

In New York, Ricki keeps running into a mysterious stranger. Oh my gosh, I was so invested in this relationship, the potential romance, and all these characters. There's the lovely Miss Della, plus Ricki's new best friend, Tuesday, a former child actor. Everyone falls together seamlessly, in their fun quirky way, and Ricki herself is just so spunky and unique--you can't help but root for her! I'm honestly not doing this book justice. You'll find yourself in another world as you read it, partially in the 20s and then caught up in Ricki's magical romance. It's a gorgeous, fantastical read!

“To me, love is like listening to an album. Some people skip to their favorite songs and ignore the rest. Other people listen to the entire album over and over until it's familiar and cherished and they know every note by heart.

After reading Seven Days in June, I knew I had to read more by Tia Williams! This book was very different from SDIJ, this had more of a magical spin to it. I love the concept of this book, and I loved that it was told in multiple timelines. I feel like we really get to know the characters. Ricki was a complex character and I loved her story.

My only issue with the book was there felt like a major lull midway. All the interest that the beginning created kind of went away and I thought about calling it quits...but I stuck it out and really enjoyed the ending.

This is for fans of romance with some magic sprinkled in.

Calling this book a love story feels some simple for a story that is so complex but, at it's heart, that's truly what it is. Ricki and Ezra are incredible main characters and all of the supporting characters steal the show as well, the backdrop of the Harlem renaissance was fascinating to read, and the arc of the main relationship is so beautiful. I really loved this book and Tia Williams is quickly becoming an automatic read author for me. If you have not read Seven Days in June, it is a must read as well.

Thanks to Tia Williams, Quercus Books, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

A story of Harlem. A story of history. A story of love. A story of religion. A story of fate.
The Harlem Renaissance. 1928. A band leader. Ezra.
2024. New beginnings. An entrepreneur. Rickie.
Time is infinite? Time brings new things. Time brings loss. But what happens when your time stops but keeps moving at the same time. Ezra has lived a literal lifetime and has been trying to finish this one song that will seal his fate. Rickie is trying to find her self and her happiness out here in the Wilde. She relocates to Harlem where she keeps being drawn to a man. They keep meeting. Is it chemistry or is it fate?

This story is where the past meets the present so there can be a future. This is a story where culture, history, religion, and magic all reside in the same space. The characters are full, they each have their own story that brings them together in a way that is unbelievably Wilde but necessary. If I’m honest there were parts of the story that lagged and slowed down the pacing but overall all this is a great book. Read this story if you love historicals. Read this story if you love romance. Read this story if you believe in destined souls. Just read this book.




If you liked I Am Ayah by Donna Hill and/or Prior Affair by Christina C Jones then you’ll like this book.

I absolutely loved this book!! Ever since I read “Seven Days in June” a couple years ago, I have been obsessed with Tia Williams! This one was even more magical!! I loved Ricki and Ezra were so beautiful together! This book is told in alternating POV- Ricki, present day Harlem, and Ezra, 1920’s Harlem. I loved this because we got to see how everything happened and where all the magic came from! I also LOVED Ms. Della.. she was everything you could ever want in a grandma and she just melted my heart. This book made me cry more than once, in a good way. I loved it so much and the narrators did so great bring the characters to life! I will read anything Tia Williams writes.

The Age of Adaline and Fried Green Tomatoes meets the Harlem Renaissance in Tia Williams' latest romance novel. The novel is narrated by Ezra, a young musician from the segregated South who moves to 1920s Harlem, and Ricki, a young woman from Atlanta, who moves to Harlem in the present day to pursue her dreams.

I absolutely loved this book. For a brief time, I was able to temporarily leave 2024 behind and live during one of Black history's golden ages. Ezra's POV was written so vividly that I could easily picture the Harlem of a bygone era with its chic fashion, groundbreaking music, and cameos of future icons. However, Ezra grew up in a vastly different world than Ricki, and there were some parts from his POV that were hard to read.

Aside from the romance that's the focal point of this story, this was also about the love found in platonic relationships, and one of my favorite parts was the friendships Ricki strikes with a former child star and the elderly widow who imparts her wisdom on the younger women. It emphasizes that friendships shouldn't have any age limits.

The ending was a bit predictable, but I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. It's one that will definitely tug at heartstrings.

4.5 Stars
A Love Song for Ricki Wilde is so hard to explain without giving anything away. After hearing such good things about Seven Days in June (I haven’t had a chance to read it yet but will soon) I was so excited for this one! Williams is such a beautiful writer. I was shook but the plot twist in the middle but it made so much that happened at the beginning make way more sense. This was such a unique idea for a story. I really hope we get to see Tuesday’s story at some point because I loved her character!

Im so conflicted with this book. I loved the characters, I loved the two timelines but the big “twist” fell flat for me. In fact very early on I had it figured out, to the point that I just assumed I had skipped over the part where we got told. It was not surprising at all. However I’m still confused about the actual curse itself.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for this e-book copy!

Rating: 3.5 stars

A Love Song for Ricki Wilde is an enchanting story about the titular character as she branches out of her rich family to make a name for herself as a florist. A chance encounter with a stranger has Ricki wondering if she truly found her soulmate. Unfortunately, this stranger has a secret that Ricki could not anticipate, leaving her unsure of their future. I went into this story already a fan of Tia Williams and her writing. This was unlike her other works as I felt it was almost too unserious at times. I thought Ricki was very immature and it made it hard for me to root for her decisions. She does get better but it almost feels too late when she does. I loved Ezra and I think he is what saved the book for me. I kept hoping he would get his happy ending with Ricki. Outside of that, the side characters were great additions to the story and I loved how they supported Ricki. This is a good story and I believe it is worth the read. It isn't like Tia Williams's other novels which is what makes it unique but expect a different tone and storytelling.

This ended up being a Dnf. I tried to read this twice and finally have given. The writing of this one just wasn’t for me. The pacing was incredibly slow and I just could not get into this book.

Full disclosure: I’m obsessed with SEVEN DAYS IN JUNE. It’s one of my all time favorites, it’s the reason I found and joined bookstagram, it gave me the biggest book hangover I’ve ever had…so to say that A LOVE SONG FOR RICKI WILDE was one of my most anticipated books of the year is an understatement.

And that was a problem.

I expected a different version of SEVEN DAYS IN JUNE, so when I realized this was a completely different story I had to put it down because I refuse to put anything but respect on Tia Williams’ name. I knew I’d come back to it, but not until I could manage my expectations and I was in the mood for an all consuming love story.

So that’s what I did, and it was everything!

As I’ve come to expect from Tia Williams, the writing is beautiful and immersive — you couldn’t tell me I wasn’t strolling in Harlem, reliving the Renaissance, and admiring Ricki’s gorgeous bouquets and distinctive fashion choices. Every character, even those whose arcs are short-lived, is intentional. It feels like they have rich histories and entire lives off the page, which I love! And they — Tuesday and Ms. Della, especially — were some of my favorites parts of the story. There’s no filler, everything and everyone is purposeful.

Full disclosure (and not a spoiler unless you want to go in completely blind) unexpected magical realism doesn’t work for me at all. But here it felt like the seasoning on an exceptional dish. She wasn’t heavy handed and it perfectly complemented the themes rest of the story— found family, true love, and the bravery in being your authentic self… It made me smile, laugh (Tia is HILARIOUS!), tear up, and swoon.

I was completely swept up in the charm, beauty, and magic of this gorgeous story.

All the stars for Rickie Wilde.

What a spellbinding read! At the core this was a love story, but for me the magical realism and historical fiction elements were the best part of the book. I found myself enjoying the flashbacks of Ezra’s time during the Harlem Renaissance as well as his contributions to music over the years and wished for more of his timeline. I loved that Ricki Wilde was unapologetically herself and the wild child of her family. There were some great lessons in here about taking leaps in life and love.

𝗢𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 & 𝗧𝗶𝗱𝗯𝗶𝘁𝘀:
💙 Rashidaginarae are insufferable
💙 Tuesday is my Shirley Temple, sarcasm toting sprite animal.
💙 The B2K reference made me squeal, literally one of my favorite boy bands.
💙 Loved seeing her book worlds collide, she always manages to give us a quick update on previous book charries that we love.
💙 Everyone deserves a grandmother or grandmother like figure that can adorn them with important life lessons, funny stories, and comfort.

This book served as a reminder as to why I love Tia Williams and her books. She’ll remain on my all reads, no skips list forever.

This felt very different than the authors previous works, and at moments, very unrecognizable as coming from the same storytelling voice. It felt like there were a lot of inspiration ideas that were competing to space, instead of being woven together seamlessly.

I guess what I’m saying, is that I really struggled with this one. I restarted it twice and found it hard to stay engaged with the characters and story. Ricki didn’t feel like she grounded the story or moved it forward. She didn’t feel especially interesting or complex, despite my best efforts to want to love her story. She felt so passive in the story where I expected more vibrancy and emotion.

While the historical references and context of Harlem and New York was amazing and exciting, I felt that the main characters felt flat. I didn’t feel compelled to see how Ricki’s business would succeed and ultimately this lacked substance and emotional depth to make it feel like Ricki’s path was all that moving or impactful for her. She walks away from the family funeral empire and sisters that felt like Cinderella’s evil stepsisters, but so what? You never feel that she’s ever really at risk of failing, we don’t see her grit through obstacles and set backs to succeed because good things and help seem to fall her way time and again. So while some of this was definitely meant to weave in the supernatural aspects, ultimately it felt like it smoothed Ricki’s journey of complete independence in a way that prevented me from feeling a sense of accomplishment and pride at her work by the end.

The supernatural elements were fine but I felt they were more distracting than enriching to the story. It adds a whimsical, magical element that at times was charming and romantic, but ultimately felt like it wasn’t sure how much prominence it should have. It felt uneven in application and as a reader, I just didn’t know how much focus and weight to give it.

The romance really lacked the maturity and substance I’ve come to expect from the author and didn’t feel especially captivating. I didn’t feel the spark and chemistry come off the page or feel wowed by their encounters.

Overall, this sadly felt forgettable and a bit confused, despite bringing forth incredible historical knowledge and context that were fascinating.

I’m admittedly so disappointed from this book. Every aspect felt rushed and under-developed. I didn’t have any connections to the characters, and the historical/Perennial timeline was downright hokey. I’m glad others found this genre bending novel enjoyable, because Tia Williams deserves to be read (hence not going lower than 3 stars). But this one was not for me.

I love Tia Williams, I have even blocked a few people behind Seven Days In June. So when I heard she was coming out with a new Novel I made sure to preorder it. However, A Love Song For Ricki Wilde just did not live up to my expectations. First of all who names their daughter Richard ?!!!! I was so annoyed by this the whole book. I don’t care if she was supposed to be a boy, find another name.

In romance novels, I have to fall in love with the man. If I am not feeling the man, I’m not going to like the book. I think that this was the case here. It is hard to explain why I didn’t like him without spoiling the book but if you really want to know just DM me. I did like that this book was set in New York and my favorite character was Della.

Will this stop me from reading more Tia W in the future? Absolutely not.

If this is genre bending, I like it! A little bit of romance, a little bit of history, and a little bit of magical realism made for an exciting reading experience. And I’m so relieved, because even though I loved Seven Days in June, A Perfect Find was a big “no” for me. So I wasn’t sure how I would like another Tia Williams Book. Thankfully this one didn’t disappoint.

Starting the book off getting to know Ricki and her family was smart, as it instantly made me connect with and root for her from the beginning. I’m always glad to see romance novels add some depth to characters. Ricki is quirky, smart, and a little awkward, but she is also so funny and lovable especially compared to her family. I wanted more interactions with her family throughout the book because I’m not a huge fan of characters being introduced and then completely abandoned until the very end of the book. When her family came back I didn’t really feel like it added any value to the story. It was kind of annoying actually because it made the story meander for too long.

When she ventures off to New York to launch her business despite her family’s objections, we get a wonderful story with the beautiful backdrop of Harlem both in current day and during the renaissance era. The alternating timelines really worked in this book and made it feel like somewhat of a mystery for awhile which kept me turning the page. Tia Williams did a really good job of connecting the timelines and revealing a fated mates, swoon worthy love story.

I’m not going to lie, fated mates isn’t my favorite romance trope but it surprisingly really worked for me in this story. The way everything came together was done creatively and believably. The thing about fated mates and “insta love” is that you just kind of have to believe in the attraction. There’s no build up. You just have to believe in the magic of their fate. She even has a sort of “fated mates” story with a new best friend, Tuesday and an older lady named Della who she eventually adopts as “grandma.” I loved the depiction of all three of these relationships.

The best part of this book, in my opinion is the gorgeous scenes Tia paints with lush descriptions of colorful, flagrant flowers and the tidbits of Harlem history. I would love a book on just that honestly. There was just so much about this book that was lovely and interesting, but the pacing was a bit off for me. It lagged too much at certain points, especially the end. I felt myself saying ok let’s get on with it! lol.

That said, I still think you should believe the hype and pick this one up!

TW: mention of late term pregnancy loss, suicide, physical violence with the use of a weapon, death, cancer, grief

This book is GORGEOUS - and not just the amazing cover. There’s just something about the way that Tia Williams writes that I love. A Love Song for Ricki Wilde is not just a love story between Ricki and Ezra - it’s also a love letter to 1920’s Harlem. It’s beautiful, haunting at times, so sexy 🎹 at others, lyrical, and I could not give it up. I’d read ten more books about Ricki and Ezra. Plus, it’s the perfect Leap Year read. If you love a love story where the environment is basically an additional character, where magical realism plays a role, and where the writing is (as I mentioned before) gorgeous, this book is for you. 🪴

“For a long time, I thought I knew what my calling was. My grand purpose. But when I met Ricki, I knew I was wrong. I was a fool, thinking that I was born to do anything grander than loving her.”

I Received an advanced reading copy, receipt of which did not impact my review.

Included as a top pick in weekly February New Releases post, which highlights and promotes upcoming releases of the month (link attached)