The magic of a leap year... time and music...

Ricki is criminally unappreciated by her wealthy funeral business family so nobody believes it’s a good idea when she says she’s going to open her own flower shop... one would think that flowers and funerals go hand in hand and I don’t know could have been a wise investment but her family sucks and makes no sense.. they are all about being the same and living their socialite lives and never actually thinking for themselves. So after a chance meeting with an older woman on one of her last days working for her family Ricki leaves Atlanta behind for Harlem and a fresh start. Ricki’s a bit chaotic at times and a little awkward but she gets her business going and even finds a bestie in Tuesday. The woman who helped to make her dream come true Ms Della has become her adopted grandma. Everything is progressing until Ricki meets Ezra. A man who fate has positioned to knock her world off its axis. Why does she feel so connected to this strange man? And what is he hiding? Despite their best efforts to avoid each other it seems rather impossible so they give in to the inevitable. Then the truth comes out. And the truth is far stranger than fiction and only serves to throw Ricki’s life into complete chaos. Because if this is all true destiny brought her here and there’s no avoiding it.

I really liked Ricki and Ezra and Ms Della and even crazy Tuesday. Ricki’s family really sucked so it was nice that she found her own family and her own way in life. Great story and great characters and though I knew what would likely happen it still broke my heart that it did. Um did I mention that Ricki’s family sucked? It bears repeating. Ezra was great though his backstory was a lot. Still as a whole it was an intriguing and magical story that I loved.

A LOVE SONG FOR RICKI WILDE is a breathtaking romance full of magical realism, depth, and heart. Tia Williams’ writing is whimsical, captivating and everything that is good about love stories. 

"Ricki felt a punch of emotion in her chest, almost knocking her off her feet. This moment was important. She didn’t know why, but it was. She didn’t know him, but she did.”

Upon receiving this book, I decided to go into it blind and I'm so eternally grateful that I did. Reading this story with fresh eyes was such a wonderful experience. The confusion Ricki felt translated so well into confusion I felt, simultaneously, the magnetism that Ezra and Ricki experienced was like watching a dance between soulmates. 

I found both Ricki and Ezra to be so endearing and likable. Ricki going out on her own to escape the future her family had mapped out for her in order to follow her passions was so admirable. I love a strong FMC and Tia Williams writes them so well. Additionally, Ezra was a force: Intelligent, humble, lost and searching. I love a tortured artist and Ezra fully encompassed that. I adored their dynamic and the ease in which they loved each other.

The conflict in this story was gripping. The moment details were revealed and the pieces were falling into place, I knew I wasn't putting the book down until the very last page!! Overall, I truly enjoyed this book and cannot wait to read more of Tia Williams' work!

Thank you NetGalley, Grand Central, and Hatchett Books for my eARC!

Highlights:

Leap year magic
Voodoo magic
Black Love
Fated lovers
Harlem history
Found family

I loved the setting of A Love Song for Ricki Wilde. Two people from different centuries magically meet in Harlem and fall in love. But the same magic that allowed them to meet threatens to tear them apart. I enjoyed the book but didn't love it as much as Seven Days in June. I liked reading about the history of Harlem and the Renaissance glamour. But the pacing was slow, and I wasn't very invested in the love story. My favorite character was Ricki's eccentric landlady, Ms. Della. My rating is 3.5 stars, rounded to 4 stars.

This boom was sheer perfection. I loved Ricki, she is so unapologetically herself and I related to her on so many levels: being the odd one out in her family, doing social media, being a dreamer, a romantic, and SO quirky. This book was just SO cute and I'd recommend going into it blind because I think it added an element of magic for me. Perfect (minimally spicy) romance!!

Tia Williams’ "Seven Days in June" was such a delight that I was eager to see where the author would go next, and "A Love Song for Ricki Wilde" lived up to my high hopes. It takes place in the same universe as her previous novel, since "Seven Days"’ protagonist Eva Mercy pops up in a cameo. There is also a central love story, but Ricki Wilde spins off in some very different directions. Call it an adult fairy tale, or magical realism, but in any event, I was charmed and entertained throughout.

Ricki Wilde is the fourth daughter of a prosperous Atlanta couple, and the black sheep of the family. (Her father was so convinced Ricki would be a boy that he and her mom didn’t even come up with any girls’ names, ultimately opting to name her Richard Wilde Jr.) Expected to follow in her older sisters’ footsteps and go into the family funeral home business, Ricki instead is determined to become a florist. Her Instagram account, Botany Flowers Lately, is a hit. When a serendipitous encounter with an elderly woman from Harlem provides Ricki with an opportunity to move to New York and open a shop on the ground floor of a brownstone, she jumps at the chance.

Ricki loves Harlem, and she’s willing to work hard to make her store a success. But she’s distracted by the handsome man she keeps running into all over town—she is strangely drawn to him, but he warns her that she must stay away. It takes a while before we find out what his whole deal is, but I had my suspicions after a few flashback chapters that take us back to the Harlem Renaissance, when a wildly talented young piano player from rural South Carolina arrives in town, hoping to make it in the “cosmopolitan land of plenty.”

The pages are alive with the wonder of Harlem in the 1920s and the 2020s; it made me wish I could take a walk through the neighborhood with Ricki and see it through her eyes. “[B]eneath the 2024 version of the city was an enchanted universe—characters, places and faces suspended in time like Pompeii.” In the chapters set in the earlier era, Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong and Fats Waller make appearances.

I didn’t want the book to end, but I couldn’t put it down, either, and finished it in a single sitting. If you allow yourself to get swept up in the magic, as I did, you’ll fall in love with "A Love Song for Ricki Wilde."

Not going to lie, because of the magical realism coponent, as well as the way my brain works, I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy this book as much as i have with the author's other books. Once I got to a certain point in the story, I was able to enjoy it better. It was different in many ways from her previous works. And i eventually understood why people kept saying keep going. My absolute favorite parts were the history from the 1920's Harlem Renissance Area. This was a beautiful love story between Ezra and Ricki. And the addition of Ms. Della and Tuesday ( and If my friend doesn't ride for me like Tuesday, then I'll need a new friend) made the story that much more enjoyable. I'm glad I kept going.

I am a big Tia Williams fan and was very excited to get this ARC! Unfortunately, it just wasn't for me. I never got into it, and struggled with the fantasy elements.

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed the whole concept of this book! It’s definitely a steamy love story but also gives lots of black history and voodoo at the center. The characters have complex backstories and were easy to connect with and honestly, I wish there had been a few more chapters at the end! If you like forbidden romance with just a touch of magic, give this book a try!

I go into most of my books blind and this is exactly why. I ended up falling in love with this book from the start. I feel like you get deeper into books when you don't know what to expect. The chemistry between Ricki and Ezra was absolutely amazing! I can't recommend this book enough. Do yourself a favor, grab some coffee and sit down with this beautiful book!!


Thank you NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for allowing me to read this ARC in advance for my honest opinion.

There were so many things I liked in this book. The romance, humor, and magic truly had me by a grip. The visuals were my absolute favorite. Tia has a wonderful way of describing the scenery and fashion. I’m a Florida girl through and through, but I feel like I need to take a trip just to visit those areas and lay my own flowers. I loved how she highlighted histories from the Harlem Renaissance era and mentioned significant individuals from it.

I was so engulfed in the characters. I really liked Ricki Wilde and her carefree spirit. Her determination to achieve her dreams despite obstacles was inspiring. Ezra, the mysterious man, kept me intrigued and wanting to know more about him. His story tugged at my heart the most. Overall, I enjoyed reading this book and recommend adding this to your tbr if you haven't already! Can’t wait to get my physical copy to reread and annotate.

I really enjoyed the beginning of this book but it slowed down quite a bit and I wasn’t enjoying the flashbacks at all. Around 40% I had to set it aside for now. Will update this review if/when I come back to it.

A Love Song for Ricki Wilde is a strange and beautiful love story, with a hint of leap year magic and plenty of hilarity

Normally, I would give a little summary of the book here, but I think that this is a story where going in knowing as little as possible is the best route. So I'll just say that Ricki Wilde is a perennial disappointment to her over-achieving family who finally moves to Harlem to follow her dreams of being a florist. And that's where she meets Ezra, a musician who isn't entirely as he seems.

I absolutely adored this book, devouring it in about 2 days because I needed to know how everything was going to turn out. The chemistry between Ricki and Ezra is insane, and the side characters (Tuesday and Ms. Della, in particular) are incredible, adding both emotion and humor at the exact right times. There are some twists to this story and admittedly, they aren't that hard to call in advance. But even sort of having a sense of what was coming, I enjoyed every reveal.

This is a book that plays with fate and time and magic, and it's gorgeous and lovely and made me both laugh and tear up more than once.

5/5

Ricki arrives at family dinner ready to pitch the life plan she’s put years of secret work into - leaving her receptionist job at one of the family funeral homes in Georgia and opening her own florist shop. She has the drive, training and money saved - everything but the location.

You’d think that a family with a chain of funeral homes would have welcomed this - think of the cross branding opportunity! - but sadly they just look down on the idea, like they do everything else she says or does.
(Their funeral offerings are so tasteless and crass, but they give her a bad time for dressing in vintage fashion?! Make it make sense!)

Days before her make it or break it deadline, recently widowed Della comes in with an offer to rent the perfect shop space below her home in Harlem. Once there Ricki meets former child star and delightful new friend Tuesday, and handyman and hobby conspiracist, Ali, her ‘not-boyfriend’

She also stumbles across a man in the shadows of an off season blooming garden created to commemorate a scene from the Harlem Renaissance Era of the 1920’s - mysterious!

And that takes us to Breeze - his lifetime love of music feeding into his new life’s adventure in 1920’s Harlem. His cousin Sonny arrived the year before, when he’d fled South Carolina after a horrific attack by the Klan that had wiped out the rest of their family.
But how does he connect with the present day story line? Hmmm…

The descriptions drew me right in, both the present day storyline of Ricki’s new friends and business and the prohibition and jazz scene of the 1920s.
The puns are so fun, and I wish everyone in Ricki’s life enjoyed her random bursts of facts and anecdotes as much as I did!
The troubles of the past are, of course, upsetting but there’s also the hope of Breeze starting a new life and the excitement of things to come.

The side characters were great, adding to the story without drawing too much focus from the main storyline. and about that storyline…
Just before the halfway point the stage is set and things really start to pick up.
I’m not sure what I expected, but it wasn’t this - NOT a complaint!
Going in blind was best - this book on my radar solely because people raved about the author’s last - so I’m not going to give any more specifics but it was A Ride!

Thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Pub for the arc!

I so enjoyed my previous reading experience with Tia William so I just HAD to pick this up. I'll get the only negative out of the way, the magical realism, but that is purely personal and not at all a reflection on the story or writing here. These two characters are so clearly a true love connection and that is just delightful to read about. The other major thing going for this book is all the added bits about music and the Harlem Renaissance, just delightful and enlightening. Do yourself a favor and pick this up, if I know you I'll be making you!

- Tia Williams does it again with A LOVE SONG FOR RICKI WILDE. Drama, snark, two people drawn toward each other in a way they’ve never felt before.
- Even if the plot is easy enough to predict, I loved being with Ricki and Ezra as they unraveled their story and fell hard for each other.
- Somehow, amid the over the top ridiculous family members and the paranormal elements, Williams gives us a fated mates story for the ages, filled with intensity and longing and love.

"to believe in some magic is to believe in all. you couldn't be terrified of demons without believing in angels, too."

it took me a while longer to read it than i expected but i definitely enjoyed this one so so much.

this is a story of two beautifully written characters that are meant to be together by circumstances you'd never expect.

a romance with complexity and a super interesting and unique background and the most loving supporting characters you'll find.

so this is what you'll find: quirky-fun mc, leap year magic, modern harlem and bits of renaissance style, found family and a love story that's gonna make your heart skip a beat.

this tittle came out of february 6th so make sure to check it out. and thank you to @grandcentralpub & @netgalley for providing me an arc in exchange of an honest review.

This book certainly was magical, from the amazing book cover, the dazzling drama of historical Harlem, to the complexity of Ricki’s character, and the smoothness of her new love Ezra. What I didn’t expect was that the story would also have hints of romantic fantasy. Told in current day as well as in flashbacks to the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920’s the author balanced Ricki’s natural effervescence with the sultry sounds of jazz and blues. Ricki alone was interesting, her moneyed background could have provided her with a solid, staid existence, but she chose to go her own way without the backing of her family. She is a strong heroine and very easy to like, but it was her stylistic choices and confidence that drew me in. She was a different character than others and her light shone so bright it was hard to look away.

Ezra, who much of the story revolved around, was always magnetic, but in a smooth, easy, way. He was a mystery that you want Ricki to solve, but not at the cost of losing too much of herself. Unfortunately, this is a story about fate which often makes those choices predetermined and the author was very careful to ride that line of fantasy and reality. I didn’t stop to question the plot just rolled with those magical elements and enjoyed the story.

When you’re reading a romance where the two main characters connect in a way that is electric and palpable it’s really special and a Love Song For Ricki Wilde was that book for me.

This is a beautifully written love song. One that I very much enjoyed and will not soon forget.

Tia Williams is a very talented writer who knows how to get right to the heart of a story. I had several laugh out loud moments as well as several ugly sniffles.
Her nod to The Harlem Renaissance was very much appreciated as well!

I received an Advanced Reader Copy and am voluntarily reviewing it. Richard Wilde the second, Ricki, was born into a family that she did not fit into. The mold was broken when Ricki was born. Her family, heirs to Wilde Funeral Home franchise, was a force and had created a legacy. Ricki was supposed to follow in the foot steps of her older sisters, Rashida, Regina, and Rae, but just could not force herself to be a carbon copy. Ricki craved life, craved the beautiful things that made us different. Her family did not understand her and let it be known that her ways were not welcome.

This book took an unexpected turn. Readers get flashbacks of the 1920's. Breeze Walker was finally ready to take his shot in Harlem. He was ready. He had the piano down and knew he could duplicate any artist. He landed in Harlem with his cousin, Sonny, ready to take on the world. He knew he played to "Carolina Shout" perfectly. Everything was going good until he found out perfect was not what he needed to be there. Different is what was wanted. Could Breeze put his stamp on the world?

Flashing back to Breeze in the 1920s at the same time as Ricki in 2024 was great. The amount of research Ms. Williams did is definitely appreciated. I loved reading about the present and the past. Ricki eventually pursued her dream of opening up a flower shop, Wilde Things. This eclectic shop was nothing like the usual flower shops you see. Nestled in a brownstone, owned by Della Bennett, Wilde Things became exactly what Ricki wanted. Unfortunately, her vision took a while to take hold. While working on Wilde Things, Ricki noticed a handsome stranger. A stranger she just had to get to know. This stranger would change both of their lives.

This love story was one hundred years in the making. Ricki finally meets her handsome stranger, Ezra, and knows he is hiding something. They decide to spend the day and night together before he tells her something that could change her life forever. The connections weaved throughout this book will have readers captivated. This is the first book I have read from this author and I will definitely be reading more. History with a love song. Who could ask for anything more?

To keep is short and spoiler free, this is the love story between two creative souls destined to be together in a very unique and tragic way.

This was my most anticipated read of 2024 and it did not disappoint. This book was nothing that I expected which made the experience so much greater. This book is a romance with a touch of magical realism and the fusion of contemporary and historical fiction.

This book felt natural for me even with its unique storyline. The dialogue was perfect between the characters and it has so many moment when I was laughing out loud. And most of all I felt the chemistry of the characters radiating from the pages and it felt undeniable that they were meant to be.