Reviews with content warning for Racism - A Love Song for Ricki Wilde

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A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams

72 reviews

amateur_bookworm's review against another edition

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hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

My summary:

Ever the disappointment in her family, Ricki Wilde has dreams of opening her own flower shop. But her family owns the nationwide chain of Wilde Funeral Homes and all of her sisters have successfully followed in their father’s footsteps, with the expectation of Ricki doing the same. When she finally finds the nerve to reveal her grand idea to her family, they completely dismiss her and then her father effectively fires her. All hope seems lost for her dream to gain traction, until Ms. Della, a kind older woman, comes into the funeral home on one of Ricki’s last days there. Worried it’s too good to be true but out of options, Ricki takes up Ms. Della’s offer and moves to Harlem into the bottom floor apartment of Ms. Della’s building. As Ricki pours her heart into Wilde Things, her flower shop begins to grow and she is drawn to the magnetic Ezra Walker in an inexplicable way.

My thoughts:

This book is the perfect blend of romance and intrigue and magical realism. A vibrant blending of modern day with the Harlem Renaissance makes you feel like you’ve stepped right into the pages.

This book is fantastic and I felt so drawn into it. I really didn’t know anything at all about the Harlem Renaissance during the Roaring 20s before picking this up and Tia Williams made this glimpse of it sound so incredible that I want to learn more about it.

I love Ricki’s social awkwardness and wit. Ezra is maddeningly intriguing and I just couldn’t get enough of him. The mystery of his story is both tantalizing and infuriating. I love Ms. Della with her found family and guardian angel role in the story—and she gives us all someone to aspire to be like when we’re 96! Tuesday is also such a fun yet somewhat tragic character as a former famous child actress.

I saw Tia Williams at a panel at the LA Times Festival of Books and I had never read any of her books before. And after hearing her talk—especially about the, ahem, piano scene—I knew I wanted to dive into this as soon as possible.

Going into this book after hearing Tia talk about some of her inspiration for this book made it SO much better than just going in blind. Listening to her talk about not knowing flowers or pianos before this book, her previous work at magazines, and that she loved the idea of how exotic night-blooming jasmine sounded all made reading this such an incredibly richer experience for me.

Go to author events. Or listen to podcasts featuring authors. Dive into the author’s story a bit before reading and all of it will really take your reading to a new level of enjoyment.

Content Warnings

amberlfaris's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

lauraelovesbooks's review

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Not what I was suspecting but delightful nonetheless! Tia Williams’ writing is so beautiful and her characters are so rich

Around the 50% mark, when the direction of the plot was revealed, it wasn’t difficult to see how the story would play out. But the beauty here was in the journey, not the twists.

I am not generally a fan of insta-love, but Ezra and Ricki had enough of the star-crossed, fated feeling that I didn’t mind it as much as I normally would. There was still that undercurrent of pining and longing that I love most

This book is magical realism done well. I’m very interested to see where future books set in this world will go

Content Warnings

thirdeyeangel23's review

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I would give this 10 stars if I could. A strong contender for the top book of 2024.

A Love Song for Ricki Wilde felt like coming home. Ricki Wilde has been a wayward soul her entire life. When she goes against the grain of familial expectations, she encounters a kindred spirit who offers her the opportunity to open her business in New York. This move open her up to a world she never saw coming, including Ezra Walker. A man who she is destined fall for and who is destined to be her demise. It’s hard to put into words how this story made me feel. From the deep roots of her new found family to the culture and history we walked through with Ezra, this book is so perfectly layered. If you need something to make you FEEL… just read it.

Content Warnings

enneirda07's review

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funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

IDK how to feel about this book. I enjoyed it but didn't love it as much as Seven Days in June but it was still good overall. I guessed most of the major twists so it wasn't as surprising as me. As always, Tia writes great dialogue but I fear the many pop culture references may make the book seem dated in a couple of years.

Content Warnings

peachani's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

pnreads's review against another edition

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emotional funny sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

theoceanrose's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Content Warnings

carriepond's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

A Love Song for Ricki Wilde is a genre-bending romance with a lovely blend of romance, history, and fantasy. As she did in Seven Days in June, Tia Williams creates characters with such compelling backstories and inner lives that the eventual (or in this case, not-so-eventual) romance feels like a lovely bonus— you like them so much and feel happy that they’re happy. The setting also felt so lush and lovely— 1920s Harlem, present-day Harlem, Ricki’s gorgeous and wild flower shop. I don’t want to give too much away, but I really loved the way Williams handled the fantastical elements of the story— it felt natural and added some cool moments to the book.

I loved this one and highly recommend to romance readers for sure but also anyone looking for a lovely book with fully formed characters, a cool setting, some cool history, and some magic.

Content Warnings

kdailyreads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

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