Seven Days in June: A Reese's Book Club Pick

4.5 starsWhew chile. What a way to start 2023 with this gem of a book! I was initially sucked in by the gorgeous cover and summary, but I truly savored this story of Eva and Shane. It took me longer than usual to read because I would stop, think and reread sections before giving myself permission to move on.I won’t say this book is “delightful”, although it kinda is in its own way. But I will say that it’s a lovely story about youth, resilience, pain, loss and love. All of the characters are wonderfully complicated. Eva has a perfect circle of friends and I could read entire books just about them. I want to know how Eva’s daughter Audre turns out. I’m curious about Shane’s students and how they’re doing.How Eva and Shane find their way back to one another is heartbreaking and real. People have problems, some seemingly invisible, and I appreciated how the author handled their challenges. The banter was top notch and sexy. Really, such an amazing book.

An endearing tale that takes you through time exploring different perspectives on love, family and trauma. It's both entertaining and enlightening.

The characters are so vivid and layered. I couldn't put the book down. Definitely a true love story that will tug at your heart strings but will also make you laugh and smile at times.

From feeling broken to being loved and accepted for who she was. What an amazing love story of being broken and unloveable to finding love from someone who was there from the beginning. A must read!

The book starts off very slow. It may be hard to grab the readers attention. When it does pick up; it’s a nice book.

a new fav 4 sure! even if u dont consider yourself different, weird, not normal, or an outsider; u will get a lot from this book. u will learn so much, laugh out loud, love, tear up & maybe cry. most of all u will root 4 eve & shane.p.s. audre is absolutely ADORABLE!!!!!!!

I think I wanted a happily ever after here like there was in Ricki Wilde. Eva and Shane were supposed to be together, through it all. They might have gotten together again in the epilogue but I wanted it sooner I guess. I love the way Tia Williams ties current events and pop culture in her fictional story. Makes me feel like I could actually know the characters from my hometown or something. I enjoyed the book, just wanted more.

Eva and Shane such an unlikely misfit couple that fit!!! It was beautiful, daunting, cringe even but so worth it!!! 7 days in June will be a book that just sticks with me because it’s deep and raw and honest and vulnerable and full of culture and romance and disability and family and friends and loyalty and relationships that don’t always end with a wrapped bow!!!

This is 4.5 star book for me. I loved it! Beautiful writing, and two characters that you fall in love with in both the present and the past. Growth, love, and toxicity are all themes in this book and I really really loved it. It wasn’t quite perfect for me? I feel like there were something’s I really just needed to know more of that I didn’t get.That being said, it was beautiful to read. There was a part or two to skip, so keep that in mind if you want to read it.

I enjoyed the story and showing the vulnerability of TBE characters. It showed that love isn't easy or predictable. The dump of the mother daughter relationship from two different perspectives and how important it is to break negative patterns

I’ll be honest I put this book down multiple times and almost didn’t finish it because I just couldn’t get into it. I only kept trying because of the amazing reviews and I wanted to see what it is everyone else saw. I started getting hooked once I made it to chapter 6/7 and from there I was reading almost every night while in bed with my husband. I remember telling him “this book is soooo hard to get into am I crazy? Do I have high standard? Why do so many people love it? I don’t understand” to “yeah babe Im hooked. I see why they love it. You can watch your show tonight I’m going to read”So glad I made it to the end or I would have missed an amazing story. Kudos to the author!

i ate this book ALIVE. i didn't want it to end! loved the characters, the plot and the love story between Eva and Shane. i was starving for it page after page. the ending was okay considering how intense their relationship was but it was a happy ending so i'll take it. LOVED the call back to Tia's other great book-The Perfect Find. it's like the Tia Williams Cinematic Universe and i'm here for it. now i gotta stare off into space and rekindle what i just read. *sigh*

This was a second attempt at reading/listening to this book. It was still a struggle for me. It's definitely a slow burn and that I had to fight. The story itself was EXCELLENT. I found myself rooting for Eva & Shane out the gate, but it took so long!

Listen, it felt like this book took a minute to hook me in. But once I was in, I was locked in! This book took me on a roller coaster. Looking back, it has many of the same characteristics of any run of the mill romance, but Tia Williams managed to make this feel brand new and unlike any other romance I’ve ever read.Possible spoilers ahead…Eva and Shane’s stories are heartbreaking and tragic for most of the first half of the book. It felt right when they rekindled their flame but by the end of Thursday, I could tell that Shane’s story was far more devastating than we (Eva included) had been led to believe.By Saturday night though I knew it was about to come crashing down. But I thought he would fight for her! He just let her go and she didn’t put up a fight either. I was so upset! Now I’ve read many an epilogue but never before have I experienced an epilogue that had as much of a plot twist as the book itself. I’m gonna go decompress now.

This was the first book that I’ve read by this author and I really enjoyed it. This second chance romance took me through a myriad of emotions. Gia and Shane definitely went through a lot, but I’m glad that they finally got it together. Audre was so cute and interesting. I would love to read more about her.

This book was the epitome of a beautiful love story and perfect romance book. This book has changed the way I view love and how it’s supposed to be forever. Shane and Eva’s love was so raw, captivating and beautiful.Shane and Eva were two broken teens who found themselves to be kindred spirits and a sanctuary to each other. A traumatic event caused them to be apart for several years with no contact. Then one day Shane decided to finally apologize to Eva for leaving her behind and tell her what caused it all. The two end up falling victim to the magnetism that is their love because no matter how far apart or how long they’ve been apart they will always be each others’.This book is everything to me. The chemistry is unmatched. The characters are so loveable flaws and all. The story compels you to keep reading and never want the book to end.I also loved the cameo we got of Jenna, Eric and Otis! I’m so glad they got married!Tia Williams I was already a fan of yours after reading The Perfect Find but now I’ll be a fan of yours for a lifetime. I will read ANYTHING you write, you’re such a brilliant author!

The writing style of this author is so refreshing. It’s great to read a plot by a black author, about black characters , that carries realistic & heavy themes in a mature and thoughtful way. Every scene/scenario fit in where it should nothing in the book seemed out of place or just extra. The flashbacks capture the reader just as much as the present day story, you equally want more of each account.You can’t help but to root for Shane and Eva’s love story despite the insight you have as a behind the scenes witness (unlike the spectating fans along side them in the book) to the ups and downs of their relationship. The main characters and their relationship do evolve by the end of the novel, their individual character development takes place before the final evolution of their relationship imo.There are adult themes throughout the book (obviously I guess) and the “spice” level is up there but nothing you can’t skip over and still be wrapped in the story line if it’s not your style. In other words I definitely wouldn’t avoid the book because of it.Overall I give this book a 4/5 stars. I definitely recommend it to readers. Tia handled the heavy themes in this book very well. There was great comedic relief throughout the book as well which helped balance things out.Happy reading!

This was the first book that I read by this author and the story captivated my attention immediately. So much so, that it literally only took me 8 days to read. The only reason that I gave this book a 4/5 stars is that I feel that the ending was a bit rushed. The author left me wanting more. I feel like there were too many things that weren't really resolved for me and I get that it is kind of the point but I didn't like that it was rushed at the end. There are so many different and complex relationship dynamics going on. The relationship between Eva and her mom, the relationship with Eva and her own daughter Audre (whose name I love), the relationship with Shane and Eva all made for a great story. I am not quite sure that I understand what was going on with Eva's health as far as her migraines- this part left me with questions. There are so many things that happen and that are discussed that could potentially be triggering including self-harm, drug abuse,alcoholism and gun violence, inferred sexual assault, etc. The ending definitely leads me to believe that Eva and Shane story is not done, especially with the information that Eva learned about her grandmother and her mother. I really want to know how that information /revelations impacted the relationship with her and her mom moving forward. I can't say that I loved the ending. It just seemed too perfect for the Eva and Shane that we were presented with. The best part for me was the fact that Eva seemingly finds the courage after all these years to really own all of herself and who she is and to become unapologetic for the things about herself that she hid and repressed for so long.

Genevieve aka Eva Mercy is a fantastic fantasy author, her book about Gia and Sebastian, a witch and a vampire. Shane Hall was her what you call the "one". It is set back in their senior year in high school set in Washington D.C. Shane Hall is an accomplished author as well and has four best sellers to his credit, which he wrote while he was not sober. Eva has a 12-year-old daughter Audre who is smarter than the average 12-year-old. She attends a private school and her peers come to her for advice because she is the local psychologist of sorts. I loved that they were two young people who didn't fit into any mold. Eva was smart but she eventually started doing not so well in school because of the different places that her mother a beauty queen from Louisiana, had them living. In the beginning they lived in mansions, toward the end of her high school year she lived in shabby apartments. Eva basically took care of herself and her mother most of her life, when she should have been taken care of because of her migraines. She came from a so-called generation of "cursed" women. I hated and loved that Shane had no family to speak of. Shane had a foster home when he was young and the one person, he knew loved him died in a car accident and he survived, and the foster father couldn't take care of him anymore because his wife had died, and he didn't. These two smart wild and crazy young people got to know and fall in love with each other seven days in Washington D.C. their senior year in high school. She thought he had left her when he said he never would, and he thought she had died or at least that he might have killed her because she had an invisible debilitating migraine and had to take all types of pills until someone came up with some medicine to manage her migraines. I started reading this story because Kennedy Ryan recommended her on her website which I am part of the group and I started listening to an evening with Kennedy and Tia by Hatchette group and realized that I had not finished Tia's book and so I had to stop listening and go read it and then get back to listening to these two black authors talk. I had been a Kennedy Ryan family for a while now and have read her books now I am definitely a fan of Tia Williams and I definitely have to read some more of her books, but I have to get the paperback book also to add to my collection of books. I am proud of these black women authors who have set a mark in their field of writing. I definitely enjoyed Seven Days in June and would highly recommend this book. It is written romantically and dramatically, and it is a creative work of art.

I initially bought this book simply because I'm an author with a women's fiction book coming out soon, and I wanted to read another women's fiction book by a fellow UVA alum! At first, since the book is about an erotica author and contains pop references out the wazoo, I was tempted to write it off as trendy and trite. That said, this novel quickly drew me in, far exceeding my expectations, mainly because the characters totally drew me in. I'll mention a few notables...Shane: For me, Shane was the perfect male love interest. As a person who's been through my own addictive struggles with food and relationships, I'm a sucker for recovering addicts. As far as I'm concerned, recovering alcoholics are the best of both worlds - they're bad boys, but they're being good! What could be better? Shane was deep and complex and weird and dark but also sweet and kind and vulnerable - not to mention those hazel eyes. Plus, I'm a marathon runner, and I loved that he channeled his addictive tendencies into long distance running. In case I haven't made it clear: Shane checked ALL my boxes.Audre: This tween girl - protagonist Eva's daughter - was so cool! I didn't want to like her, because I don't have kids and don't relate to the whole mom thing. But Audre was really fun! I loved that she was a tween practicing therapy - without a license, obviously, and more competently than plenty of adult shrinks, from the sound of it. It busted and poked fun at a lot of the navel-gazing therapy stereotypes. At the same time, Audre had moments of true childishness which made her a credible and endearing character. In short, an atypical daughter character who kept surprising and delighting me!Cece: I found Cece's borderline cynicism and pragmatic personality refreshing. If this book had any major flaw, it might be the over-the-top romantic nature of the Eva-Shane dynamic. Salty Cece was a welcome counter-balance to this hyper-romanticism. I appreciated that while she was apparently happy and content in her own marriage, her romantic relationship with her husband, Ken, was more ordinary and "normal" than the celestial fire between Eva and Shane - good, and good enough, but not unattainably, hyperbolically romantic.Eva: Protagonist Eva was the character who grew on me the most. I'm pretty hyper-healthy, and although I've dealt with my own "invisible" health issues in the past, Eva's crippling migraine problem was new for me. Her disability was described in a way that made me have compassion for her without making her seem pitiful or annoyingly needy. In addition, as a writer myself, I also enjoyed hearing about the often ludicrous ins and outs of the writing world. When it came to her writing, Eva's saving grace was that she didn't take herself too seriously. I appreciated the arc of her creative development and how she ultimately abandoned her crowd-pleasing fantasy writing to write about what matters to her.Aside from these main characters, there were many other engaging and enjoyable minor characters who made the book very fun and lively - the literary equivalent of the best sort of people-watching. And as a native New Yorker, I loved all the Brooklyn details. The happy ending was happy, and even better, it didn't come too quickly. The delayed gratification made it that much sweeter.All told, it's clear that UVA alums write fabulous books! Thank you, Tia Williams, for entertaining me, educating me, making me laugh, and opening my heart to the world just a little bit more.