Book review: Seven Days in June by Tia Williams (Spoiler Free)

Seven days to fall in love, fifteen years to forget, and seven days to get it all back again..

Eva Mercy is a single mom and the author of a bestselling paranormal romance series. Shane Hall is a reclusive, enigmatic award-winning novelist. And to everyone’s surprise, Shane and Eva have a history together.

When Shane and Eva meet again at a literary event, they realize that the spark between them has never faded. What no one knows is that fifteen years earlier, Shane and Eva spent a whirlwind of a week together in which they fell madly in love. But things didn’t end in a great way, and Shane and Eva are now forced to navigate their feelings under the sizzling Brooklyn sun.

Seven Days in June has all the hallmarks of a good romance novel: a handsome couple, a typical meet-cute, dazzling chemistry, lots of witty banter and a few well-placed sexy scenes. It’s witty, sexy, smart and the story feels deeply personal. Both of the main characters feel well fleshed out, especially Eva. I was surprised how much I loved reading about Eva’s relationship with her daughter and how having a child had changed her so much from when she was a teenager.

The novel also includes a beautiful world of Black Literati as well as some well needed anti-racism education. I personally found this to be incredibly interesting to read about and had the idea it was weaved into the story real naturally. I myself am working on decentering whiteness in my own reading reading and Seven Days in June was a wonderful addition to my bookshelf.

The only reason I didn’t end up giving the book five stars is because I felt that the ending was a little bit rushed. I do not want to get into spoilers, but at the end of the story, Eva makes a big decision and the story takes a new turn. I would have loved to see the story be a little bit longer and have that plotline explored a bit more than we ended up getting.

But in the end, Seven Days in June is a lovely book that will make you think, smile, giggle, and who knows, maybe it’ll even make you cry.

Trigger Warnings: Child neglect (recounted), alcoholism, self harm (recounted), drug abuse, sexual harassment