Seven Days in June

by Tia Williams, Mela Lee (Read by)

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Two writers rediscover what it means to love and be loved. Seven Days in June is a fun escape of a read that will appeal to romance readers and fans of Jasmine Guillory and Emily Henry.

The instant New York Times bestseller and Reese Witherspoon book club pick is "a heady combination of book love and between-the-sheets love.” (Ruth Ware)

“Tia Williams’s book is a smart, sexy testament to Black joy, to the well of strength from which women draw, and to tragic romances that mature into second chances. I absolutely loved it.”
—JODI PICOULT, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Two Ways and Small Great Things

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 bestselling erotica writer who is feeling pressed from all sides. Shane Hall is a reclusive, enigmatic, award-winning novelist, who, to everyone’s surprise, shows up in New York.

When Shane and Eva meet unexpectedly at a literary event, sparks fly, raising not only their buried traumas, but the eyebrows of the Black literati. What no one knows is that fifteen years earlier, teenage Eva and Shane spent one crazy, torrid week madly in love. While they may be pretending not to know each other, they can’t deny their chemistry—or the fact that they’ve been secretly writing to each other in their books through the years.

Over the next seven days, amidst a steamy Brooklyn summer, Eva and Shane reconnect—but Eva’s wary of the man who broke her heart, and wants him out of the city so her life can return to normal. Before Shane disappears though, she needs a few questions answered...

With its keen observations of creative life in America today, as well as the joys and complications of being a mother and a daughter, Seven Daysin June is a hilarious, romantic, and sexy-as-hell story of two writers discovering their second chance at love.

A Best Book of the Year: NPR • Kirkus • Marie Claire • PopSugar • New York Public Library • Bustle • Reader’s Digest • Literary Hub
A Best Book of the Summer: Harper’s Bazaar • Oprah Daily • Shondaland • The Los Angeles Times • CBS News • PureWow • Good Housekeeping • BuzzFeed • theSkimm
A Best Romance of 2021: The Washington Post • USA Today • Vulture • Goodreads • BookPage • BuzzFeed • Happy Mag
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781549138553
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	06/08/2021
Product dimensions:	6.60(w) x 6.00(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Tia Williams had a fifteen-year career as a beauty editor for magazines including Elle, Glamour, and Essence. In 2004, she pioneered the beauty blog industry with Shake Your Beauty. She wrote the bestselling novel, The Accidental Diva, and penned two YA novels: It Chicks, and Sixteen Candles. Her award-winning novel, The Perfect Find, will be adapted into a Netflix film starring Gabrielle Union. Tia is currently an Editorial Director at Estée Lauder Companies, and lives with her daughter and husband in Brooklyn.

Editorial Reviews

"What’s on its face is a delightfully steamy read is a story layered with nuance…Through it all, Williams’ clever and witty writing will leave you clamoring to be part of Mercy’s world."

’s Digest

A hugely satisfying romance that is electrifying and alive.”

Kirkus Reviews

In Seven Days in June, Tia Williams conjures a seductive fantasy-rich friendships, star-crossed lovers, artistic fulfillment. But Williams, a canny anthropologist of contemporary urban life, is writing realism, exploring personal pain, family entanglements, and the negotiation of black identity in a world defined by whiteness. The result isn't escapism (though the book is a delight) but a vision of life at it truly is: complications and difficulties punctuated by profound joy.

author of National Book Award finalist Leave the W Rumaan Alam

Narrator Mela Lee’s extraordinary range and dramatic style allow listeners to experience every dark, humorous, and heartbreaking moment of this fraught second-chance romance…Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”

AudioFile

I can always rely on Tia Williams for a novel with a delicious plot, compelling characters, and all of the pop cultural references my heart desires. Seven Days In June is nothing short of a good time. It's funny, thoughtful in both a real and thotty way, and its protagonist Eva Mercy may not know it, but she is my new favorite pretend writer.

New York Times bestselling author of I Can't D Michael Arceneaux

This book is so spicy and romantic, and I just could not stop turning the pages. It’s so good.”

actress Reese Witherspoon

Sparkling with delicious sensuality and an intriguing plot…overlaid with challenging themes of poverty, disability, and childhood trauma that the author fearlessly addresses with grace and tenderness.”

Shelf Awareness

A seductive fantasy: rich friendships, star-crossed lovers, artistic fulfillment.”

New York Times bestselling author Rumaan Alam

Gutting, arousing, and sparklingly witty… a love story with depth.

Vogue

Williams has a knack for realistically portraying how childhood trauma lingers into adulthood. In her exploration of how people cope, she also delivers hope: psyches can be mended and relationships can help to resolve pain. Williams doesn’t shy away from the darker aspects of human experience, and her characters are fully formed and believable as a result. This is a winning romance.

Publishers Weekly

While this is a sumptuous, fun, romantic story about two authors who reunite at a conference, it's also an ode to anyone who goes through life wishing they were more normal.”

Good Morning America

Seven Days in June is a slow burn as Shane and Eva attempt to heal old wounds…Through this gripping love story, Williams reckons with family histories and shows the power in rewriting our origin stories.”

BookPage (starred review)

★ 2021-03-17
Two writers reunite 15 years after an intense, weeklong affair changed both of their lives.

Eva Mercy is the successful author of a long-running erotica series with a devoted fan base, but as the deadline for the 15th book approaches, she has to admit she’s run out of ideas. She can’t afford to give up the series, which keeps her and her 12-year-old daughter, Audre, financially afloat, so her dream of researching and writing the stories of the Louisiana Creole women who are her ancestors is permanently on hold. At a Brooklyn literary panel, she has a surprising public reunion with Shane Hall, the reclusive, award-winning author of four books of literary fiction. As seniors in high school, Shane and Eva shared one week of passionate connection; they revealed to each other their raw pain and the extreme coping mechanisms (addiction, cutting) they used to survive. Now Shane has been clean for two years and Eva’s finally found a doctor who properly medicates her chronic, debilitating migraines. With chapters from the past interspersed throughout the novel, Williams juxtaposes Shane and Eva as reined-in adults with their terrifyingly out-of-control teen selves. Their reunion feels like coming home but also reveals that they might not have the skills to sustain a successful adult relationship. Williams’ novel is a tour de force, capturing Eva’s experience as part of the Black literati in Brooklyn, her urge to hide generational trauma from her daughter while still celebrating their ancestors, and the ways in which fate brings people together. The structure of the novel is complex but ultimately rewarding and provides a portrait of a richly layered world.

A hugely satisfying romance that is electrifying and alive.

Kirkus Reviews