A Love Song for Ricki Wilde

In this enchanting love story from the New York Times bestselling author of Seven Days in June, a free-spirited florist and an enigmatic musician are irreversibly linked through the history, art, and magic of Harlem.

“The book’s calculus of love and loss is brutal, and grounds the dazzling prose and light magical element.” –– The New York Times
 
“With humor, soulful prose and a touch of magical realism, Williams takes a creative chance with RICKI WILDE that’ll make it one of your most memorable reads of 2024.” –– People

What readers are saying on Goodreads:
 
“I am a Tia stan at this point. It was perfect.” 
 
“Gave me all the feels, and even made me question my own personal goals.”  
 
“Hands down one of the best stories of love I’ve ever read. A true masterpiece.” 
 
“The perfect story of Black love and Black history. I feel like this book was written for my soul.”
 
“Atmospheric, haunting, beautiful, lyrical, I could wax poetic on this story forever and never do it justice.”

Leap years are a strange, enchanted time. And for some, even a single February can be life-changing.

Ricki Wilde has many talents, but being a Wilde isn’t one of them. As the impulsive, artistic daughter of a powerful Atlanta dynasty, she’s the opposite of her famous socialite sisters. Where they’re long-stemmed roses, she’s a dandelion: an adorable bloom that’s actually a weed, born to float wherever the wind blows. In her bones, Ricki knows that somewhere, a different, more exciting life awaits her.

When regal nonagenarian, Ms. Della, invites her to rent the bottom floor of her Harlem brownstone, Ricki jumps at the chance for a fresh beginning. She leaves behind her family, wealth, and chaotic romantic decisions to realize her dream of opening a flower shop. And just beneath the surface of her new neighborhood, the music, stories and dazzling drama of the Harlem Renaissance still simmers.

One evening in February as the heady, curiously off-season scent of night-blooming jasmine fills the air, Ricki encounters a handsome, deeply mysterious stranger who knocks her world off balance in the most unexpected way.  

Set against the backdrop of modern Harlem and Renaissance glamour, A Love Song for Ricki Wilde is a swoon-worthy love story of two passionate artists drawn to the magic, romance, and opportunity of New York, and whose lives are uniquely and irreversibly linked.