whitneydaniell

by: Tia Williams
published: Feb 6, 2024
genre: Romance, Contemporary, Fiction
352 Pages, E-Book ARC Courtesy of NetGalley
GoodReads Link

Tia. Tia. Tia. I love a good love story but, I am missing something with this one. Something just wasn’t coming all the way together for me.

I. Characters

One thing I cannot discredit about this book is the character development of Ricki and Ezra. I enjoyed both characters and while reading, I felt like they were fully realized people, like people that author Tia Williams knew in real life. Ricki being the baby out of the four sisters, the one who came in as a surprise, it’s no surprise to me that she would blaze her own path without regard for others. Where her sisters may call her flighty or, stupid, Ricki is brave and unafraid to make mistakes in the world. Ricki is a sunflower in a bush full of roses; head held high to the sky and shining bright like a diamond – word to Rihanna.

Ezra on the other hand, is the realization of the type of men that end up in hypothetical scenarios on Twitter. Chivalrous and kind. Generous and nurturing. This man is not going 50/50 with a woman. Ezra is the archetype of the man that most women wish would stumble into their lives. It also doesn’t hurt that he is a beautiful man.

While I love the characters Ezra and Ricki, I felt like Ricki’s sisters lacked depth. I get why their story needs to be there – because it gives context to who Ricki is and why she has to become the Ricki she ultimately becomes. I get it but, I just didn’t like how they were thrown in there almost as a second thought. All of the ancillary characters in this story feel flimsy, like after-thoughts, like as a reader we would forget them in a month. Even, Della. As much as I loved her and, as much as I wanted to believe a 96-year-old woman would be as active and mobile, her story still felt incomplete. I did enjoy Tuesday however, she provided a funny, side-kick vibe. Very much so the Molly to, Ricki’s, Issa.

Big Richard, her momma, and the Task Rabbit man could have been left on the cutting room floor.

II. The Story / Plot

Love a good love story and this one was no exception. While I do think a few things about the story should be reworked, overall it was cute. Very fluffy, tamed sex scenes, and lots of great wordplay. (because this is an ARC I don’t want to give too much on the story as edits could be made before publishing.)

I must give credit to the Ode to Old Harlem and the Renaissance era. There had to be lots of research that went into that and for that, I’m appreciative.

III. The Writing

Tia Williams can write a love story, even if it’s one that I don’t mesh with, her writing is still exceptional. Tia dropped some excellent words into this story, some I had to look up like aesthete (don’t judge me). Ricki Wilde is a lover of words and often uses more complex words than simpler synonyms.

IV. My Final Thoughts

This book is a love letter to love. A kind of love that only a few of us in our lifetime will ever experience. I enjoyed the love story but, the world building around it, the people who orbit this love story, they’re surface. I finished this book without any real connection to the characters – as much as I liked them both, it just didn’t do it for me. Maybe I was looking for an Eva and Shane love, from Seven Days in June. I don’t know what it is but, I didn’t connect with this story the way I wanted to. The story felt rushed, quick to wrap everything up with a cute bow. The characters’ stories feel unfinished like there is so much more that we need to know. So much to unpack. Maybe I’ll give it a second read and come away with something different.