In classic Tia Williams fashion, A Love Song for Ricki Wilde takes the reader on a long journey to discovering the various meanings of love. Love of art, of history, of family and friends; I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of passion each character brought to the story.

In many ways, this story is unlike anything else Williams has written.Ithoroughly enjoyed how the historical elements were weaved through the plot (please note, I am NOT a historical fiction reader, normally!) I must say, I selected this book on the merit of the author, and the intrigue created by the gorgeous cover. But, be not deceived, A Love Song for Ricki Wilde is so much more than your everyday romance.

Buy it. Read it. Love it. Then do it again, but for all of your friends!

A Love Song for Ricki Wilde is a love song for Black History, the Black Renaissance, Black entrepreneurship, and the Black family. This captivating and layered romance novel by Tia Williams narrates a spell bound love between Ricki Wilde and Ezra Walker during a mystical February leap year; their paths even cross with Tia’s beloved Eva Mercy and Shane Hall!

This ode to sacrifice is a five star read and is the epitome of true love.

This was a beautiful fairytale love story. Ricki was the black sheep of the family. She was creative and not inspired by the family business. She wanted to choose her own path and live life on her own terms. She was passionate about flowers and moved to Harlem to pursue her dream. Ms. Della was also a free spirit and became family to Ricki. Their relationship was so special. They were put into each others lives for a reason and a season. Ezra's background story was told very well. Ezra's and Ricki had awesome chemistry. He was so intrigued and gentle with Ricki. I was rooting for them to make it beyond all of the obstacles in their way. The addition of the history of Harlem was an added bonus to this story.

Now, I don’t cry much from books. But with this novel, tears were definitely shed. A Love Song for Ricki Wilde has turned me into a Tia Williams stan. No book is perfect by any means, but for me, this is quite close. I was literally in the middle of the airport in Washington D.C. when I finished the book, and I had to create a voice note of my thoughts because I was too overwhelmed to write them down. In the protagonist Ricki Wilde, a 28-year-old florist and firecracker of a woman, I saw so much of myself as I enter my late 20s— someone who’s actively trying to not spend their life vying for the approval of others and putting their own passions and wants to the side. Ricki’s creative spirit was palpable throughout the book, and I adored how descriptive Williams was in talking about Ricki’s quirks. You can tell how much respect Williams has for her characters in that each and everyone is multidimensional and each of their importance is clearly explained. Ricki is sort of the black sheep of her upper-crust family who take pride in their Black elite status. So she throws everyone for a loop when she decides to chart her own territory by moving to Harlem and opening up a flower shop. She’s spurred on by the free-spirited Ms. Della, a headstrong 96-year-old woman who offers Ricki a place to stay in her Harlem brownstone. While getting her business off the ground, Ricki has a sudden run-in with a mesmerizing, yet mysterious, man at a local community garden. It’s a moment that she just can’t seem to shake off, and the run-in serves as a catalyst for the rest of the story. Williams does a wonderful job of creating a literary mosaic of Black pop culture, history, mysticism, and steamy romance with depth. There’s much more I can say about the book, but I’ll leave you with this: It’s a romance classic in the making.

Wow, wow, wow. This book is magical and empowering all at the same time. Following Ricki as she decides to not follow in the family tradition and make a life for herself, all the empowerment is there. The magic is there when she meets a stranger in a community garden and she can’t get him out of her head. Huge thanks to Net Galley and Grand Central Publishing for being able to read an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

I truly enjoyed this book. The references and flashbacks to the 20s felt real. Like I could visualize it all and it felt authentic and connected. The characters were so loveable especially Tuesday and Ricki's "grandma". Truly loved this book. 10 out of 10

Once again, Tia Williams delivers an outstanding tale that grips readers and doesn't release them from the page until the very end. Highly recommend - it's easy to devour in a single setting.

I loved this. The history of Jazz Age Harlem mixed with the present... the impossible love story... the fantasy... so fun. I happened to be listening to the audiobook of "The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue" at the same time and there were some fun similarities, but I found myself enjoying this one more. The only other Tia Williams I've read is "Seven Days in June", and I look forward to reading more of her work.

I am a true romantic at heart. I love romance, especially the old-fashioned kind. This modern romance novel seemed to hit that spot for me. The heroine has been given an opportunity to achieve her dreams and our hero is looking for an opportunity to be himself. They were destined to meet! Set in New York and scenes from the Harlem Renaissance, this story is both modern and classic. I love that the story has a light-hearted humor to it. I have read previous novels written by Ms. Williams. This one does not disappoint either. Truly a good and entertaining read. Do yourself a favor and play some real jazz in the background while reading.

Let me just say this story is alright with me. I loved it. Thank you Netgalley for the arc copy. I mean what a beautiful story to go with such a beautiful cover. I often wonder how many magical beings are amongst us. Like have i ever encountered one? Could they be my true love? Your true love is out there and y’all are just waiting til that moment y’all cross paths then everything makes sense.

-Dealings of dark magic.
-The epilogue was just perfect and i loved the persons pov we got.
-The daughter’s names though. Like omg. So cute.
-Rickis family but most certainly her sisters are lames. When Ricki got them together I was like “YES! MA’AM!” They are the perfect example of what being scared to be different looks like. Hating someone because they’re not afraid to be them day in and day out is crazy.
-And please don’t stay in a relationship if you got to do all. (Ricki’s parents).
-Love is like a song but not just any song. It’s the perfect song. I can’t wait to have that moment.
-Ms. Della is so sweet. Honey when that story came together my jaw dropped.
-Ezra is such a gentleman.
-Tuesday is a force. I love it. She’s definitely my kind of friend. LOL.
-Ricki is that girl. Showing you how to live and just go. Her being into botany compared to what her family does and wants her to. You go girl.
-The historical sights/lessons was such a good idea.

This is my first book by this author, but I'll definitely check out her other works. This is a contemporary love story with hints of historical fiction. The main characters, Rikki and Ezra are lovable and relatable and you will genuinely root for them. The side characters are also brilliant, and I'm glad we got a glimpse of them as well. A sweet, fun read.

3.5 rounded up

I loved her novel Seven Days in June so was excited to read this advanced reader copy. I love her writing, which is accessible and witty. She has a knack for writing romances with some substance. In this novel, the main character Ricki Wilde is a Black socialite who goes against the grain of her family and moves to Harlem to start her own florist shop. The story alternates from present day with Ricki to the roaring 20’s of Harlem, with some fun historical fiction.

I did not read much about the premise of this book so I was not prepared for the magical realism, which was a bit of a turn off for me. There is still a great romance between Ricki and the male protagonist, Ezra but this is also not “just a romance novel” which I appreciated and which made it more enjoyable for me.

For readers who care, this has a few explicit open door scenes, spicy level 4/5.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is one of my favorite books of the year. Which year, you might ask? As I write this review in 2023 and yet this book doesn’t release until 2024. To that I say: BOTH.

Quick Synopsis: Ricki Wilde has gotten out from under the thumb of her very rich family and escaped the family funeral business. Now a florist with her own business in NYC, Ricki is living out her dream, until she locks eyes with a very beautiful man one day. He disappears, but she can’t get his eyes out of her mind. Then, they meet again. And again. And again. Until it’s almost as if the universe is forcing them together.

I didn’t know what to expect going into this novel, because I didn’t read the description, and I loved that I went in blind. This book was overwhelmingly beautiful, hilarious, sad, ironic, and happy all in one breath. What I learned from this experience is that I will not only auto-buy every single novel Williams puts out, but I’ll go in completely blind as well.

How this author managed to make each sentence beautiful, poignant, and also hilarious is beyond me. There is such a sense of sarcasm and irony throughout these pages, and yet I was weeping at how beautiful the writing is. She is mocking so much about so much, and while I was laughing, I was ogling the alliteration.

The love between Ricki and Ezra is just astounding. I loved how we get so much black American history and it is all just woven in so beautifully to Ezra’s character. There were so many tough topics handled so gracefully all I could do was nod along.

One of my favorite parts though is a short cameo from one of my favorite couples ever, Eva and Shane from Seven Days in June. I will take as many words about those two as this author will give me.

So altogether, I think you can probably guess, I thoroughly recommend this novel to everyone. I will accept no criticisms of it.

This was my first Tia Williams book, even though I own seven days in June, and I was not disappointed in the slightest. This is a book I will recommend to everyone. I don’t usually enjoy magical/fantasy books, but the immortality and witchcraft was done so well here that I didn’t mind. Reading this warmed my heart and there was no way to not root for Ricki, as she is the outcast of her family, and goes to prove them wrong (resonated with this a bit). The romance was steamy, and quirky, and was so easy to devour this book. Grab this one when it comes out in Feb!

Ricki Wilde is the youngest, free spirited, artistic daughter of a family dynasty that runs a chain of funeral homes. Ricki is unlike any of her sisters and feels very isolated, so ends up going across the country to open a flower shop. There she meets a delightful grandmother substitute as well as a best friend with her own quirky issues. As she begins to get her feet on the ground she also meets a very interesting man, who seems to have secrets of his own.

I did enjoy this novel, although it had quite a bit more magical realism in it than I had anticipated and I felt it did start to drag in the middle before it picked up again. I liked Ricki's independent spirit and her kindness, and her best friend and adopted grandmother were also great characters. I eventually learned to like Ezra, our male protagonist, but it took me longer to be interested in that character. Overall I felt this was a solid romance with a twist.

Thank you to Net galley for this e galley in return for an unbiased review.

for like the first 20 pages of this book, i was thrown off--things just seemed more flat and insufficiently lush than i would expect from tia williams. and then the book continued, and i realized that was part of the point--the flatness of that place, of those people, how out of context the MC was and how she deserved fullness. this book is layered and loving and full of deep and unexpected connections and commitment.

also someone does very explicit things to a piano, if that's your scene.

𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘙𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 • 𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘍𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 • 𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘮 ⁣
𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 • 𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 • 𝘋𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦
𝘦𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘗𝘶𝘣 𝘋𝘢𝘵𝘦: 6 𝘍𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘺 2024

This is a story of love, reinvention and soulmates. Ricki surrenders her wealthy, pampered upbringing to pursue her dream of being a plant-fluencer & opening a flower shop in NYC. There Ricki meets a mysterious stranger with a secret past. Set against the backdrop of modern Harlem and Renaissance glamour, the two are drawn together by a mystical power and magnetic attraction. 🌶️🌶️

I loved the:
• Vivid descriptions of the Harlem Renaissance period, the rich music and vibrant art scene, as well as vignettes providing insight into the Great Migration, Red Summer, Sharecropping, Black pigeon-holing and Brilliance, and more
• Puns that were constant throughout the book had me laughing at the word play wittiness
• FMC’s awkwardness was endearing and relatable

Here's what didn't work well:
• The magical realism elements felt underdeveloped, slow to be revealed and simplistically and predictably tied up. Had this been purely a contemporary romance I would have liked it more; as written it felt like it was trying to do too much.
• The individual character development was well done but development of the connection between the two MCs left me wanting more than the Insta-love we were given.

Overall the book was engaging and definitely worth a read! This was my first Tia Williams novel and I will definitely try another.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘈𝘙𝘊.

I loved the dive into Harlem throughout decades. It's a dark and sweet story and my investment in all the characters was very high-Tia Williams develops the stories in intriguing ways.

Thanks to Netgalley for access to this E-ARC! This was so good! Loved the writing style & the characters. It was very beautifully written. Definitely recommend.

I loved this book! From the slow burn between Ricki and Ezra to the way all the characters were fleshed out I couldn’t get enough of this story. I like how the author makes us wait to see the full picture and how the story kept me eager for answers the entire time. I had a hard time putting down this book and was sad when it ended. Definitely a book everyone should check out.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.