This was by far the best and most meaningful romance novel of 2021.
Thanks to NetGalley / Edelweiss and the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for a review.

I received this book as a host copy for The Gloss. This book was filled with emotion and was a powerful read that was well-received by my book club. I found the love story of the characters to be complex and flawed and was quickly wrapped up in their story. I would recommend this to friends and also as a book club pick.

February is always romance month for book club, which means…it’s not my favorite month. Haha I just can’t quite get into the romance genre! I will say that this one had some realness to it that helped up my enjoyment of it a bit. It was different in that the main character has a chronic illness (migraines) and a very cool daughter. I also liked that the couple didn’t just get together and it was happily ever after – there was a storyline that had them splitting up and getting back together in a more believable way.

While in high school, Eva meets young and troubled Shane and they spend one crazy, torrid week madly in love. Their week ends in flames and they lose touch. When they reconnect unexpectedly at a literary event, sparks fly, raising not only their past buried traumas but the eyebrows of NYC's Black literati. They may be pretending that everything is fine now, but they can't deny their chemistry - or the fact that they've been secretly writing to each other in their books ever since.

This was a second chance romance done very well. The chemistry between Shane and Eva was palpable. It was so much more than a love story; there was an invisible disability, grief, trauma, but also a focus on Black excellence and joy in this book. This was a contemporary romance that I think even those who don't typically read romance would enjoy.

I received a copy of this book as host of The Gloss Oakville.

What a stunningly beautiful book. I’m honestly a hopeless romantic and this made my heart melt. This story manages to capture within its pages an entire spectrum of Black spirit, joy, and redemption. It doesn't shy away from the fact that both of its main characters are flawed individuals.

This was a thoroughly compelling modern-day romance. Its message that everyone deserves redemption and love, even those with flaws and baggage, is a worthy one. And the author's homage to Black lives lived to their fullest is beautiful to witness.

Tia Williams’ new novel Seven Days in June is a book I picked up because I was seeing it everywhere in the summer of 2021, especially after Reese Witherspoon chose it as one of her book club picks. Judging this book solely on the cover, I was expecting a dense, literary romance, but was quickly surprised to learn that this novel is a colorful, humorous contemporary romance that also delves into some pretty heavy topics such as addiction, violence, and toxic relationships of all kinds,

Both Eva and Shane are wildly successful novelists. Their best-selling books are secretly about each other and to each other, attempting to capture all of the passion and emotion they shared as teenagers over seven heady, lustful days in June. Now many years later, Eva and Shane reconnect by chance and can’t stop their former relationship from rekindling. This is how it has always been between them - the pull of each other magnetic and electrically charged. As they find themselves drawn together once again over seven days in June, Eva is not sure that she can trust Shane with her heart after he ghosted on her all those years before. But can she resist the temptation?

Because Seven Days in June was not the romance I was expecting to read, I was pleasantly surprised by the level of engagement in Williams’ writing and the compelling factor of this sometimes rom-com, sometimes rom-dram book. I also wasn’t prepared for how steamy this book was going to turn out to be. I shouldn’t be surprised, as Eva is an erotic-fantasy novelist, but Seven Days in June was much more explicit than my standard romance fare. That’s not to say that I didn’t like this book - just take note that there are many R-rated scenes between these pages!

In all, Seven Days in June is just as enthralling as Eva and Shane’s relationship with one another. I found myself drawn to their story and how their relationship came to be and ended. I thought that Williams gave an accurate portrayal of toxic relationships in young lovers, and showed how easy it is to overlook red flags in the name of love. Just as compelling was the peek into the world of writers that Williams gives us with Seven Days in June. I appreciated the narrative of Eva’s writers block in creating and continuing a long, over-drawn book series, and connected with Eva’s struggle to work around a debilitating invisible illness - her migraines. Seven Days in June also shows how Shane gives back to the community by working at schools with at-risk youth, not dissimilar from himself when he was growing up, and tries to give them the chance and support that he himself never got as a teenager.

Seven Days in June is for readers who are look for romances that combine passion-fueled romances with modern literary elements.

Nearly a year after its publication, I finally read Tia Williams’ summer-hyped, rom-com 𝙎𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝘿𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙅𝙪𝙣𝙚. Eva Mercy and Shane have a second chance to forget the mistakes of the past and seven days to make it right. Can these two successful writers get on the same page and reignite the passion they shared 15 years ago as teenagers? Williams creates two witty, smart, charming, sexy, and flawed characters in Eva and Shane that utilize their fiction to speak to each other. Even though the novel is labeled as a romance, it does the service of tackling other important issues like self-harm, alcoholism, addiction, child abuse/neglect, sexual assault, and chronic illness. Williams lets readers know that love is complex and risky, but still worth it.

What I connect to most in this book is the disability representation. I am a chronic migraine sufferer, too. Eva reminds us: “Sickness wasn’t sexy. And her disability was invisible…Her level of suffering seemed impossible for others to fathom.” Williams shows the explicit ways Eva struggles and succeeds in spite of her disability. Continuing to be strong, when all she wants to be is vulnerable is taxing.

I admire the way Williams portrays the mother-daughter relationship between Eva and Audre. Eva gives her daughter the space to be eccentric and articulate her ideas with open communication. Eva is active in breaking the generational curses that plagued her mother and grandmothers before her. You can tell that both Audre and Eva have a sincere and loving relationship.

Overall, I enjoyed the novel, but I have a point of contention that needs addressing. Shane warns us: “You’re dangerous. And I’m worse. I’d be hazardous to your health.” Eva and Shane had no business being together—their drunk, drug induced haze was nothing more than a week of codependent chaos. I don’t believe their meeting was romance at all. Eva even states, “As kids, we were too raw; we just weren’t ready for each other. Now we are.” 15 years later, Eva and Shane can “…lov[e] each other with enough ferocity to quell the fears of the past.”

it is hard to even form words for how amazing this book was! Eva and Shane had such a powerful, moving, and dynamic story that hits you right in the feels. This book was fleshed out and tugged at my heart strings, especially as each character was working through their trauma and trying to find that slice of love again. I need to see this as a movie!

Steamy, sexy, modern day love story. I only wish we were constantly reminded about racism and black characters. We know it, but it was brought up constantly. It took away from the story.

Really enjoyed this nontypical, non corny romance that I read with my book club. Loved the authors style.

Just as amazing and wonderful as everyone said: grown-up and real, but also hilarious and heartfelt. Pretty nearly perfect, in fact!

This book was so good and entertaining! What a thrill of a book and a lot of fun! I definitely think this was one of the best books of the year. So good!

Seven Days in June is a slow burn as Shane and Eva attempt to heal old wounds, their love affair made all the more delicate by Eva’s history of abandonment. Chosen family is a strong central theme in the novel, and characters like Eva’s spunky daughter, Audre, and book editor, CeCe, bring warmth to the pages. But this isn’t a light romance by any means, especially during flashbacks. Shane entered foster care as a child and is now in Alcoholics Anonymous. Eva has a history of self-harm, and an early scene depicts an attempted sexual assault.

Through this gripping love story, Williams reckons with family histories and shows the power in rewriting our origin stories. She lays bare what happens when we are “fearless enough to hold each other close no matter how catastrophic the world” becomes. Readers will feel as attached to these characters as Eva and Shane are to each other.

I absolutely loved this book! The writing is amazing and I couldn’t put this book down. This is a second chance romance and these characters are so compelling. There are so many issues happening in this book that are timely and important. This is a book that will stay with me and will be one of my top books of the year.

What a beautiful story. Seven Days in June was so much more than I anticipated it would be, and while it was immensely sad in many ways, it was also immensely wonderful.

First and foremost, I really appreciated the representation of chronic pain in a main character. But I also really loved the representation of the Black male role model and the incredibly smart, ambitious young Black girl (though I will say I wasn’t sure how believable her character was - kids seem so young to me and I don’t remember being any kind of way as a pre-teen).

But let’s talk plot. Incredible! I loved it so much. Teenage love that was always a little something more, a lifeline, and thread connecting two souls in need, years and years of writing love letters to each other through novels, then finding each other again. It was just so special - romantic isn’t even the right word here. This book was more than that.


"Adulthood is a lie, Audre. We're all just tall toddlers."


But that’s not to say there’s not lots of trauma in this book. This is not the kind of book where a small, lack of communication situation tears two people apart (but there is lack of communication - it always boils down to lack of communication). This story features some really intense trauma, substance abuse, and lots of self-harm - honestly more than felt necessary, which is the reason this wasn’t a 5-star read for me.

This book is also wonderfully steamy. The sexual tension is intense and the build up is done so well, which makes it all so much more steamier. That scene at the pop-up nap room. Yowza!

Seven Days in June is a sexy, unexpected romance with flawed characters that are believable and easy to root for. I feel like there’s so much more I could say about this book, but just know it’s incredible. I absolutely enjoyed it, and think it’s a great read for anyone who’s interested in romance stories that have a stronger drama component.

ARC was archived before I could down download, then was on every wait list waiting for book!
I have been waiting to read, started and finished in 1 day!! Good read!

White lies are easier than truth.
Meet a mother who has an invisible disability- migraines.
Then the past comes to visit the present, revealing the same bones underneath a changed appearance
bringing a flood of emotions, muting others. Dynamic friends can lead the way.
With all of this, raising a child is full of struggles and tugging.

Loved this book, completely recommend!

This book takes place over a very long seven day period. It's starts out very confusing and doesn't begin to piece together until approximately 30% into the book.

I love how Eva and Shane reconnected at a literary event...accidentally, and tried to begin the healing process.

There was a lot going on in this 💎💎💎read.

Fun read for anyone who has had a past relationship that they wonder what would happen if they ever met that person again. Would things work out differently.

This book started out so strong. The tension and chemistry between Eva and Shane in the present storyline was crackling. I was curious to know how they started and where they would go. I loved Evas's strong personality and Shane's vulnerability, as well as the fact that they were both writers.
Unlike other romance novels that follow the Old Flame trope where the couple drifts apart then reunites, Shane and Eva's beginning is raw and heartbreaking; it was a compelling story on its own, not just a setup for the present-day relationship.
Where it went wrong for me was at the end. No spoiler on the content, but there was a sudden change of structure that didn't carry through the intensity of the buildup. Also, the story did not stick to the "seven days" premise.
Thank you Netgalley for an Advanced Readers Copy of this book.

People LOVE this book!! I liked it. :) I really appreciated the inclusion of a character with chronic pain, as that's not something I read about often. I also loved the teenage daughter and her relationship with both her mother and Shane.

I am uncertain about whether this book glorified or romanticized trauma (including drug use and self-harm), so I'll be reading other reviews to see what smarter readers and readers with different experiences than me thought.