A Whiff Of Fresh Love In The Air

Occasionally, comes a modern love story which has the perfect blend of magical realism and old-school romance. Bestselling author Tia Williams’ A Love Song for Ricki Wilde reads like a sexy contemporary fairytale of a talented woman (Ricki Wilde) who wants to live life on her own terms and a handsome mystery musician (Ezra Walker) with secrets of his past. The novel reflects the power of love!

Ricki comes from a wealthy, powerful and stiff-upper-lip family (read dynasty). Her family is known for funeral home services (Wilde Funeral Homes) and is famous in the power corridors of Atlanta. Her sisters are socialites but Ricki is an oddball. She prefers to stay away from the limelight. She is an artist at heart, who loves flowers and flower arrangements. She dreams of setting up a flower shop, but there are logistical and financial constraints.

A chance meeting with a nonagenarian, Della Bennett, makes her dream come true. Della offers to rent her basement floor in Harlem to Ricki. It’s an offer Ricki can’t refuse. She moves to Harlem lock, stock, barrel and sets shop in the basement of a brownstone building.

While struggling to get a foothold in Harlem, Ricki sets up beautiful flower arrangements on the Harlem Renaissance sites. The local paparazzi highlight her flower arrangements, converting her into a flower power girl!

The irresistibly handsome and talented Ezra enters Ricki’s life in a public garden filled with the intoxicating France of jasmine flowers after sunset. Before you know it, the whiff of love is in the air. Although Ezra tries to keep a distance from Ricki for her own safety, the two are like a moth and flame. Ezra has a tragic past and hidden secrets.

The author shuffles between modern-day Harlem and Ezra’s murky past. The characters are well-etched, but the romance between Rick and Ezra sometimes is tedious and rushed.