✔️ Magical Realism
✔️ Fated Mates
✔️ Secret Identity

-my thoughts-
I went into this book with no information, only that it was written by Tia Williams, author of Seven Days in June. I recommend you go in blind (though the summary on goodreads doesn't give anything away).

You're swept up in the plot right away, and immediately root for Ricki after some familial background. The storytelling felt rich and lush, partly due to the setting - I didn't know very much about Harlem and the Harlem Renaissance til now.

I loved the romance here but I think the winners for me were the found family elements as well.

The audiobook narration added so much funny and feels to the book, particularly the parts read by Mela Lee. It was easy (and fun) to hear each character and they were distinct. Kudos to her Della as well, the octogenarian who owns the building Ricki lives in. Her voice as Della was like butter, glorious and resonant and chock full of wisdom and emotion (how did she do that?!?). It drove me, a stoic Capricorn, to tears at the end of the book.

This is one you could listen to at a faster rate but if you go higher than 1.25x, I'd worry that you'd miss out on the emotional journey. Sit back, relax, grab your tissues just in case, and take your time with this one. 5⭐️ for the book and 5⭐️ for the audiobook.

Steam 🔥
Banter 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️
Swoon 💕💕💕💕

A Love Song for Ricki Wilde | Tia Williams | ⭐⭐⭐⭐.85

An enchanting homage to life-affirming love and a lyrical ode to black brilliance; A Love Song for Ricki Wilde serves as a portal to the magical Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s while being rooted in modern day America.

📖📖📖📖📖
Belonging from a most formidable business family, Ricki could never quite adhere to the proven formula for success, like her elder sisters.
When a life-changing chance meeting with an enigmatic 96 year old woman presents this Wilde black-sheep with the opportunity of establishing her very own dream artisanal floral boutique in Harlem, NYC; Ricki not only gets to prove her self-worth but also meet her soul-mate, her one true love, musician Ezra.

However, fate had other plans for this hopelessly in love couple.
Because, it's 2024, a leap year and it's February.
And this is when century old curses creep in to rip apart hopes and dreams of blossoming young love.
📖📖📖📖📖📖

Dipped in magical realism, armoured with feminism, chosen families and heartwarming female friendships, the plot is absolutely sensational, albeit with a somewhat predictable ending.
But you don't read Ricki Wilde for the plot.
You read it for the endearing characters, a love story of epic proportions, a nostalgic glimpse into the brilliance of the Jazz age, the allure of the Harlem Renaissance, exquisitely lyrical prose of @tiawilliamswrites and for having the pleasure of reading a book that brings you joy, solace and makes you smile.

The reading experience is further enhanced by listening to the audiobook with wonderful and memorable performances from @themelalee and @prestonbutler. They not only captured the essence of the book in the most beautiful way possible; but also, the vocal artists lent a magical and mystical quality to the prose, which renders the listening experience almost unforgettable.

If you listen to just one audiobook this February, let it be this.
This one is for keeps. And I know I will keep humming A Love Song for Ricki Wilde for days to come.

A Love Song for Ricki Wilde is a tale of an immortal who finds the love of his life 100 years after he was cursed. I had a little trouble connecting to this love story because although Ezra kept the body of a 28 year old, his personality seemed to match his actual age. Maybe I, as the reader, lack imagination, but this book didn’t resonate with me.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was recommended to me by a local book seller. She stated this book was life changing as she received an ARC last year. I listened to this book and adored the narrators and the story. What a beautiful story, well written, and highly engaging. I will be telling people about this book and telling them they should read this beautiful story.

A love story that spans a century, this is the story of Ricki and Ezra, rooted in the heart of New York City and the Harlem Renaissance. And with a connection to leap years, this is the perfect month to read this.
An outlier from her successful Atlanta family, Ricki Wilde is making her way in New York, pursuing her dream of opening a flower shop, with the help of her elderly neighbor and good friend, Ms. Della. One night, she meets Ezra, a handsome stranger who has been working a long time to compose a piece fitting of his true love. As the music comes to life, their connection is meant to be, but there are long buried secrets linking these two through fate.
I was surprised at how this book escalated near the end. I did not enjoy the first half and found much of it slow, but wow did it pick up in the second half and hook the reader in with the ties between Ricki and Ezra coming to light. A beautiful love story fit for a leap year. The narrators Mela Lee and Preston Butler brought the story to life, from bubbly Ricki to smooth Ezra and sassy Ms. Della. I especially loved the addition of music (i.e. the love song) at the end.
Thank you to Hachette Audio for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Y’all, this is a work of art. I recommend going into this one without reading the synopsis. It’s best enjoyed by letting it unfold before you.

Here’s a brief non-spoilery overview:
- They’re fated.
- There’s chosen family.
- Music is a central theme.
- Harlem is the primary setting.

Once I picked this up, I did not want to put it down.

I highly recommend listening to this one on audio. The narration is excellent. Mela Lee and Preston Butler bring the emotion and magic to life, and there’s even a bit of music included.

I received an advance copy of the audiobook from Hachette Audio and NetGalley. All review opinions are my own.

Magical Realism is a genre that I very rarely read, but when I do, I remember how much I enjoy it. Tia Williams is at the top of her game with A Love Song for Ricki Wilde. In the novel, Ricki Wilde is the protagonist, and the reader realizes from the git-go that she is the underdog, and it's not hard for you, the reader, to pull for her from the beginning, and throughout the whole novel. Read A Love Song for Ricki Wilde and discover, along with Ricki, her journey.

Wow! This book took me by surprise. It's totally different from Tia's previous books. I enjoyed the magical realism and dual timeline set against a Harlem backdrop that draws upon an important time in Black history. You get to experience the rich and soulful culture of Harlem both in the 1920s and the present day through Tia Williams's stunning prose. It's chock-full of beautiful quotes that you'll want to highlight. The audiobook was done really well. I loved that we got two narrators, one for Ricki and one for Ezra. Tragedy, angst, joy, this book has it all! A Love Song for Ricki Wilde is an absolutely beautiful love story that burns slow and transcends time.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫/5
Spice Level: No spice

Thank you @netgalley @tiawilliamswrites @hachetteaudio for the Advanced Listening Copy.

I recieved both an ARC and an ALC copy of A Love Song for Ricki Wilde. The full review for the ARC is here:
https://www.netgalley.com/book/309675/review/511978

This review is for the audiobook.

From the start, the audiobook had me enthralled. The narrators Mela Lee and Preston Butler infused warmth and heart into the story, and their voices for the different characters were spot-on, and complemented each other's versions well as they brought Ricki, Ezra Ms Della, Tuesday, Felice and so many more to life.

A bit of a shout-out to the production team behind the scenes, too - the music fading in at the end behind Ms Lee's voice brought me to tears.

An excellent audiobook - i'll be buying it on Audible!

~Many thanks to Netgalley and Hachette audio for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review~

The narrators of this one were perfect for their characters. The FMC had a romantic twang (if that makes sense) that perfectly fit with Ricki’s personality and Ezra had a jazzy smoothness. The story was overall great, just a wee bit slow to start because it needed a lot of build up to get to the plot twists.

I loved the storyline. This will be a great Rec for all my romance or historical fiction readers.

A LOVE SONG FOR RICKI WILDE
𝚃𝚒𝚊 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚖𝚜
February 6, 2024- Out TODAY!

🗽I read Seven Days in June when I joined Booksta last year and, as someone who suffers from chronic illnesses, was so moved by the disability rep in the book that I reached out to her to tell her thank you. So when this book was announced suffice it to say I shrieked. Did I order it on the B&N preorder sale last year? Yes. Read the ARC/ALC, yep. Order the Aardvark copy to get that velvety hardcover trophy for the shelf… YEP.
But, let me back up. Before I ordered it or read it, I didn’t even look at what it was about. I went in completely blind. Because I trust in Tia that much. And that’s what I suggest you do.
What I will tell you is this-
In leap year, something always seems a little special doesn’t it? (Aren’t we a little jealous of those leap year babies?) Well, 2024 is a leap year that finds Ricki Wilde unsatisfied in her life. She’s the youngest of four sisters from Atlanta (I legit lol’d at what she calls them- you will too) and she doesn’t want to go into the family business, so she moves to Harlem to start her own floral shop. Once she’s settled in, with a new grandma to boot, she’s on her way. Then, on a walk in a fab garden she meets a man and ✨✨…
The rest you need to read.

There is an interwoven story of the historical culture and life that is Harlem and the Renaissance. The found family is INCREDIBLE. The way Tia Williams writes about soulmates leaves me feeling SO many feels.

*Seven Days fans look for a visit from a couple of old friends.*

I did an immersive read and Mela Lee (who also narrated Seven Days) and Preston Butler did an outstanding job. The emotion, heartache, lust, love… it’s all there. Phenomenal audio experience. 

💜𝚁𝙸𝚈𝙻:
Soulmates
Black love
Musical expressions of love & pianos
NY settings
The magic of Leap year

🎼Thank you @grandcentralpub @hachetteaudio & @tiawilliamswrites for my review copies.
These thoughts are my own.

Thank you Netgalley for gifting me this advanced audio copy!

Wow wow wow! This books!!!! Tia WIlliams has done it again. This book was nothing like I was expecting and way better than I could've ever. imagined. I think my favorite part, as someone living in NYC currently, was the ode to Harlem and the Harlem Renaissance that this story was. Because of Tia's descriptions, I could vividly picture everything that was happening, the club scene, the outfits, the streets. It was magical. I will be thinking about this book for a long long time. Also, the narration was asbolutely fantastic! It really brought the story to life and I can't recommend this one in audiobook format enough.

I received an earc of the book and I will more than likely continue this book that way rather than the ebook. I do not enjoy the audio book as it seems scratchy. I also was not that big of a fan of the narrator this time around.

Thank you to hachette audio and netgalley for the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Let me start by saying that I thought I would dislike this book. People were saying it was weird, and I didn't care for the last Tia Williams book I read, but this one right here is DIFFERENT in every magical way possible.

We are first introduced to Ricki, who comes from a "perfect" family, but they all have baggage and constantly dump it on Ricki because she's the "imperfect" one. Readers will hate her family, especially the sisters. Ricki is a jack of trades. When I say that, I mean she does it all, then goes and does another thing to add to her resume. Ricki is a bomb ass creative florist; I mean, her mind is amazing, and she falls into her influencer era unexpectedly by just being herself, which rewards her well. I loved seeing this all happen throughout the book.

Ezra Walker is then introduced, and he carries pain and music. His character has been struggling for decades; he has the most going on out of the two and is ultimately the reason the novel packs multiple genres into one novel. I loved how his character added nodes to notable people in each decade over time and brought the Harlem Renaissance era to life. This story gave historical fiction, magical realism, mystery/suspense, and romance in that order. Because of this, I'm not sure I really felt the romance heavily in this one, but for me, the historical fiction part carried this story, and for good reason, because the reader needed the past to explain the present, and without it, we'd all be lost.

Ricki and Ezra are destined to be together, but they have to figure out how to be together, if that makes sense. Their love is instant, but this time I wasn't necessarily mad at that; I just didn't feel enough chemistry between the two because of it. As I noted before, it seems like there are too many genres in one pot, and other genres overshadow the romance element constantly. It isn't an equal flow between all of them. So, if you're looking for something that gives you the feel of previous works by Williams or something that makes you kick your feet and giggle, this may not be the one.

That being said, I really loved this one by Tia. I liked that it was different, and I feel like it would translate well into an on-screen film. Please skip the bad wigs this time. I loved the supporting characters, Ms. Della, Tuesday, and even Mr. Bennett (men need to take some notes out of his book). Ms. Della added elderly wisdom, and Tuesday added humor, and it just all flowed so smoothly with the storyline.

Favorite Quotes:
- "Some people skip to their favorite songs and ignore the rest. Other people listen to the entire album over and over, until it's familiar and cherished and they know every note by heart. That's how Dr. Bennett and I loved each other. He was music I could listen to forever."

-"You can't cheat grief Ricki. You have to work with it. Accommodate it."

The voices of the narrators of this book (Mela Lee and Preston Butler) added to the magical feeling of everything for me. Their voices conveyed humor, love, and grief to the listener.

Thank you, Netgalley and Grand Central Pub, for the e-ARC and the ALC.

What a hauntingly beautiful story of love, loss, mortality, and the family that you choose. Our MC Ricki embodies girl power and is the strong feminist that we need in a romance these days. Ricki boldy steps out on her own without the support of her family, and faces difficult decisions with grace and love. One of the best romance stories I've ever read!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this audiobook.

Wow. This is my first Tia Williams book and I am in awe of her writing; each page came to life so vividly in my head, characters and setting alike. This was such a beautiful love story full of whimsy and magic and my heart is so full knowing this story is out in the world for everyone to enjoy.

The main characters, Ricki and Ezra were absolutely worthy of carrying the story, but the side characters were also incredible (ahem, Tuesday and Miss Della). Ricki’s desire to prove her worth to her family is so admirable and so relatable. Williams weaves magic into this story so seamlessly that all of it feels so real. The aesthetic Williams portrays of both Ricki and Wilde Things is so effortless and having Ricki’s floralscapes as the backdrop to this story really elevated it for me. The love on the pages was so tangible, I felt it all.

I laughed out loud, I cried, my heart soared and broke. This one really has it all. Everyone needs a Miss Della, everyone needs to read this book.

All the feels!

I loved this book so much. I was hooked from the prologue and remained highly engaged throughout. It was unlike anything I've ever read. Historical fiction mixed with current events, mental health, family relationships, love, destiny, tragedy, and a little magic. ✨️ I truly couldn't have asked for more.

I adored both the main and supporting characters, and their backstories all provided incredibly thorough depth and development. Ricki and her ambition and determination to walk to the beat of her own drum was so admirable to me, and Ezra was a breath of fresh air and went to the top of the book boyfriend list. Their chemistry had me awestruck, and the magnetism between them was beautiful.

I got lost in this book and hated that I started it on a week night because I had to go to bed for work instead of finishing it the same day. Highly, highly recommend!

🌟Audio Book Review🌟

🎧📚 A Love Song For Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams

Leap year's are strange and wonderful things. Even one February can be life changing.

Rickie Wilde, a free-spirited young woman takes charge of her life and becomes the florist she always longed to be. But a chance encounter with a mysterious man truly turns her life upside down in the most wonderful and terrifying way.

A Love Song For Ricki Wilde is a gorgeous story about love in all its forms. It has some of the richest female characters ever depicted on the page and a romance for the ages. Williams' masterful prose will grip you from word one and the you on an adventure you will never forget.

A Love Song For Ricki Wilde will be published on February 6, 2024.

Thank you, NetGalley and Hachette Audio for this ALC.

This book. THIS BOOK. I am but a puddle of tears after finishing this book.

I was not expecting the absolute journey that Tia Williams takes us on with this one, but I thoroughly enjoyed every single part of that journey. Ricki & Ezra’s connection and chemistry was palpable from their first meeting.

Apart from the romance, we have beautiful relationships between Ricki & Della, and Ricki & Tuesday. The platonic love of friendship and chosen family was so wonderful to read. There is also the love letter to Harlem itself. I dare you to read this book and not fall in love at least a little bit with Harlem.

A Love Song for Ricki Wilde is out today, so run to your nearest store, library, favorite audio platform and get it. Thank you to Grand Central Pub for this e-arc.

Ricki Wilde is so carefree and I loved her personality. She beats to her own drum and opens a flower shop called Wild things. She meets up with an older lady named Della and she becomes like a granddaughter to her. She also meets this beautiful man named Ezra but he has a lot of secrets and Ricki is wondering what he’s hiding from her and why. This book was beautifully written and I loved the audiobook. The narrators voice is beautiful and I believe it made the book more enjoyable for me.

Happy pub day. Thanks netgalley and publisher for this free audio in-return for my honest opinion .

This is our bookclub book for February, so I was so excited to read it early and I loved this book but some aspects I didn’t love but overall, highly recommend this book.