Will I love Seven Days in June?

A book about writing and publishing is always special to my heart, and even more so when it incorporates dual timelines. When Eva Mercy, a single mom and best-selling erotica writer, encounters literary darling Shane Hall, their chemistry raises eyebrows.

But what I loved most was how their week falling in love twenty years ago was a secret to everyone else, as it really amplified my intrigue. I love this book for how it managed to portray a heart-wrenching romance while also addressing other hard-hitting topics, including chronic illness, overcoming generational trauma, and addiction.

I also enjoyed how this book… show more.

This gritty romance between two writers had me hooked. From the intensity of their week-long romance as teenagers in Washington, D.C., to their years of sending messages to each other through the plots of their books, this was an absorbing love story with substance, which has made me a fan of Tia Williams for life.

I was drawn to this book by the cover. Set in New York, famous erotica writer Eva Mercy is a single mom with a depilating auto-immune disease. Eva’s experiences of the writing life as a Black woman and how she managed her health drew me to her.

However, the unexpected connection between Eva and Shane, the award-winning literary writer she reunites with during a literary event, was my favorite part of this book. I loved how each writer’s trauma-informed the stories they told. I found myself encouraged to write about my own traumas in my stories. But what I loved… show more.

This novel meshed together many things I enjoy about narratives on the messiness of imperfect people still coping with the trauma of their past.

We are complex creatures, and we all carry the legacy of our experiences, whether we choose to acknowledge them or ignore them utilizing less-than-ideal methods. Those depictions are truly relatable and arouse empathy for the kind of individuals society often deems as irredeemable in many aspects.

Despite how heavy some situations were, I found the dialogue to be humorous in many places and made the overall mood lighter when needed to propel the story along. There… show more.

This book is so raw and so damn sexy.

Eva Mercy is a single mom with chronic illness but it doesn’t stop her from being an incredible writer – it just makes her so damn tired. But she has a secret. Her main character is based on a boy she once loved, Shane Hall, who has also been writing about her.

Flipping between past and present, you can’t help but let these two break your heart and then sew it all back up again. 

Whew! Crack the door while reading this gorgeous romance by Tia Williams. The protagonists, Shane and Eva, meet each other broken, they share a fragmented upbringing, a deep love of writing, and seven days in June that changed their lives forever. Fifteen years pass, then Eva's quiet, ordered life is turned upside down when Shane reappears. Dear reader, when they meet again... all bets are off. Shane is a revelation as a leading man: sensitive, vulnerable, and so powerful and erudite that I started to side-eye my partner. There were instances when I swear to you I could smell Eva's… show more.