A Love Song for Ricki Wilde
Tia Williams
I really enjoyed Seven Days in June, so when this story came available in NetGalley for review I quickly requested this ARC.
Ricki comes from a well off family, but she felt out of place. She moved from Atlanta to New York and befriended two ladies Miss Della and Tuesday. A chance encounter in a garden with Ezra started her journey. Unfortunately, I did not finish because 57% in the book took a turn I wasn’t expecting. I’m not a fan of paranormal activity or fantasy, so that’s the only reason I had to DNF. I do not like paranormal and I don’t like fantasy base novels or books. This may be for someone else, but it wasn’t for me, but the story is well written and I did enjoy some of what I read, it definitely takes you on a journey.

Firstly, thank you to NetGalley, and Grand Central Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

And thank you to Tia Willliams for sharing her craft. This book, simply put, is beautiful. It reads like the lyrics to a love song you never want to end.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

I can't say enough good things about this book! It's hard to describe the plot without giving things away, but if you enjoy unique love stories, flowers, music, and New York, this book is for you. Tia Williams has done it again with this incredible story that is sure to stay with me for years to come. I will be quick to recommend it to many when it releases next year. Run don't walk to read this beautiful story!

Thank you to netgalley and Grand Central Publishing for allowing me to read A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams. This was a romance book I've been waiting on for such a long time.

A Love Song for Ricki Wilde is a romance with a twist. It took a while for me to get used to the tone of the book but once I settled into it I was hooked.

This book tells the story of Ricki Wilde, the privileged youngest daughter of a wealthy black Atlanta family, who moves to Harlem to make her own way and follow her dreams of opening a flower shop (sort of a Matchmaking for Beginners vibe.) Soon after, she meets Ezra Walker, a mysterious and quiet man. As their relationship progresses, Ezra reveals secrets about his past and introduces a dilemma that he and Ricki must solve in order to get their happily ever after.

I found a lot of the plot twists to be pretty predictable (I mean the key plot element was very easy to figure out) but it was still enjoyable even if the problem was solved a little too easily.

Overall, the book was a fun and enjoyable read and a real tribute to Harlems past and present.

Thank you to Netgalley and Grand Central Publishing for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really loved this for the first 50ish percent but then the "big reveal" was a trope I really dislike. I could see it coming since it follows the plot and structure of [redacted] nearly exactly.

The flashbacks to Harlem were a bit heavy handed for me but I'm very familiar with the Harlem Renaissance and I realize that the target audience for this may not be. I love that it will introduce new people to that time period! I'm just really sad the book didn't do it for me.

I was absolutely swept away by Tia Williams’ new book, A Love Song for Ricki Wilde. From the prologue to the last page, I couldn’t put it down. It was the perfect escape to read during that liminal week between Christmas and New Years.

Ricki Wilde is branching out, rejecting her family’s Atlanta funeral home empire in favor of owning her own floral shop in Harlem. One night, she meets a mysterious man in a garden and over the next few weeks they keep bumping into each other. The pull between them is magical but both are unsure if it’s the best decision to lean into that pull.

I loved that each chapter was told from different points of view and at different periods of time. The writing alternated between deeply tender and beautiful and laugh out loud hilarious. The supporting characters - especially Tuesday and Ms Della - were amazing.

I voluntarily read an early copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

In A LOVE SONG FOR RICKI WILDE, Tia Williams has written a Wilde bouquet of a book: Combining the blooms of a beautiful love story, themes of passion and talent and what it really means to fully discover and embrace our innermost selves, and a time-hopping setting that becomes itself a character, brimming with life and tied together with magical realism that sparkles. A thoroughly enjoyable read, from the first page to the last.

Since I read this early from NetGalley, I’m looking forward to seeing what others have to say about it once it’s published… to prove that I missed out on something.

Because I’ll bet I did — I couldn’t get into this book, but I’ll bet if I had, I would have raved about it. I wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes a buzzy book…. Or else I’m right and it was a great concept but a total misfire.

I think a lot of people will love this book, but since I struggled to get into it from the start, it wasn’t a great one for me. The tone of this book was random - especially for the first half - and I just could NOT get into it. I didn’t know what it was supposed to be for far too long… I’m still not sure I know what it was going for.

It starts out in 2020s Harlem with a 20-something woman moving in and starting a business. She meets an old lady and a former teen star. Random. Then we hop to 1920s Harlem and a jazz musician on the rise.

Was it a comedy? A historical drama? Is this a romance? Is it original, or is it totally derivative? Was it a great concept poorly executed, or was it all my fault? I felt disconnected from the whole thing, I found it frustrating… but maybe it was just me. And that ending was telegraphed from a mile away….

What a book!!! A Love Song For Ricki Wilde… Omg! I am so in love with this story. A leap year romance in New York, specifically Harlem. Flash backs to the Harlem Renaissance, which I mean who doesn’t love to hear stories about that time!! I really fell in love with Ricki’s character because she’s the Wilde child who beats to her own drum and although she is eccentric, creative, unpredictable with a gift of knowing random trivia facts it’s what makes her so amazing. Like I would’ve loved to be her friend. And Ezra…whew. I don’t want to say too much but what a connection and the way he was described, yeah who wouldn’t fall. I was not expecting this love story and the turn of events that happened with these characters. Every character is this book was amazing for me and hearing their own stories was one of my favorite parts. Like Ms. Della, I instantly loved her. She really reminded me of my great grandmother who was a force to be reckoned with till the very end. I can’t wait for everyone to read this. Leap years have always been interesting to me and this story was definitely very interesting, fun, heartwarming, emotional, funny, sad, and just amazingly good.

Thank you Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for this eARC copy for an honest review.

This novel is unlike other Tia Williams novels I've read- it is really engaging and unique with elements of paranormal/magical realism. A love story woven into a broader richer story. Black History, Harlem Renaissance provide a captivating atmosphere for this novel. Beautifully written, great characters- a very memorable read

I was completely surprised by this story, which was nothing like I expected but enchanting just the same. It was a story of love, magic, and found family set against the backdrop of Harlem, a setting with which I’m not familiar but that I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know.

Ricki Wilde leaves her life in Atlanta behind to move into a brownstone in Harlem and open her dream floral shop. Ezra Walker is a musician who also lives in Harlem. Once their paths cross, they can’t seem to stay away from each other.

I want to tell you everything about this book and I want to tell you nothing about this book. I want you to experience it the way I did - with absolute delight. This book is so clever and witty - it is frequently laugh out loud funny, and also has a lyrical, almost poetic way about it too.

This has shades of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo with a throughly modern romance. It’s both familiar and new at the same time.

✅ dual timeline- past and present. The past is during the Harlem Renaissance, 1920s
✅ fated mates
🌶️: yes, in a very sensual way

This is going to be one of my best reads of 2024 and I’m going to be absolutely evangelical about everyone reading this book.

3.5 rounded up

This book was kind of a mixed bag for me. I loved her previous novel, Seven Days in June, so I wanted to try this one. In the beginning, it felt kind of jumbled - jerky transitions in plot and timelines - but they did eventually work themselves out.

I went in blind so maybe that was a bit of the confusion, but I also liked the element of surprise that came at the apex of the story. It worked for me! Ultimately, the way Williams tied the story together - although a bit neat and tidy for my general taste - made me appreciate the story in the end. I definitely think Seven Days in June was a stronger book, but I also liked this one enough that I’m glad I read it.

A Love Song for Ricki Wilde (out on 2/6/24!)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ricki Wilde is the misfit of her family. While her three sisters went into her father’s funeral home business in Atlanta, Ricki’s artistic and non-conforming personality has always led her in other directions — including moving to Harlem, NY to open a flower shop. In between trying to keep her fledgling business afloat and paying visits to her sweet elderly landlord Miss Della, Ricki keeps bumping into a handsome stranger, Ezra, that she can’t stop thinking about. Little does she know that meeting this stranger will set off a series of events that turns Ricki’s leap-year February completely upside down.

I love this book because on its face it seems to be a romance, but it actually spans a few other genres as well: it is part historical fiction, as we learn so much about Black Renaissance in Harlem, it’s part magical realism, and it’s part coming-of-age fiction.

The characters and the humor make this book shine. Miss Della is one of my favorite characters I read in 2023, and I highlighted at least 10x of Ricki’s one-liners in the book (i.e., when insulting an ex: “you sentient Buddha statue from urban outfitters”). At the same time, we see real conversations between Ricki & Ezra about his experience being Black in the south and the history of Black artists in Harlem. The balance of levity & depth in this book is so well done.

This book is so funny, cute, and heartwarming, and I highly recommend 💜🪻

I adored Seven Days in June (and loved the callback to that book in A Love Song for Ricki Wilde!) so I was very much looking forward to this new book by Tia Williams. It wasn't what I expected but was a very enjoyable read. I always love a good magical realism book set in the real world and the book couldn't have ended in a better way. While I didn't like it quite as much as SDiJ, I will definitely be adding Tia Williams to my must-read authors list.

I feel like this book is going to be divisive, because it has an incredible love story but also relies on magical realism and switching between time. I love Tia Williams, having gotten hooked by Seven Days in June (which has a nice cameo in here) and then working on her backlist, and I found this to be an exciting new story with a protagonist that I would love to keep following. What makes this story for me are all the characters that Ricki befriends, including her elderly landlord/neighbor and a friend that is a former celebrity working on her memoir. The women are rich in stories, and the setting of Harlem is its own main character in this book. Full of flowers, history, music, pining, and maybe a curse or two, A Love Song for Ricki Wilde is not to be missed. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the early review copy, all opinions are my own.

It is nothing short of serendipitous when the right book finds a reader at the right time. Told with great joy and humor, this is a story about love between folks, family, life, and with the latent allure that is New York. Full of history and familiarity that takes readers on a true journey, this is definitely a great book club selection.

Pub date: 2/6/24
Genre: romance, ownvoices
Quick summary: Ricki Wilde's last name describes her impulsive nature - a nature not shared with the rest of her family. When she takes a leap and opens a flower shop, she worries she's doomed to fail - until she meets a mysterious stranger who pulls her into the Harlem jazz scene.

You could really give this book 5 stars based on the cover alone. Lucky for us, the book itself is worth 5 stars too. Right when Williams introduced Ricki and her sisters, I felt that this character was something special, and I so enjoyed following her story through Harlem. I loved how steeped in Black culture the narrative was - from Ezra's jazz expertise to Ricki's floral publicity activities at sites associated with Black history.

Ezra and Ricki's love story was beautiful and magical - but there is so much more to this book that made it a true gem I'll recommend to lots of readers. It kept a smile on my face from start to finish. Plus - if you've read SEVEN DAYS IN JUNE, there is a great cameo from Eva and Shane!

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I read Seven Days in June last year, and was so happy to read this next book from Tia Williams! Once again, romance is upfront and beautiful! But this time with a rich background of music and historical black events, people, and places. I enjoyed this twist on a modern love story. You could feel the love and passion between the main characters. It is also a great story of female empowerment, of finding yourself, and it's never too late to pivot or try something new. I would have liked to see more character development in the first chapters, and the ending was a little predictable. But this should be added to your TBR, especially if you like romance, with a little twist. 4.5 stars!