Romantic Black Beach Read to Add to Your Collection

Seven Days in June is one of the best Black beach reads I’ve read in a while.

Seven Days in June by Tia Williams – book cover

This is one of those books you can read in one sitting on a brisk morning at the beach. It has that light, airy feeling that can be described as “brain candy”: not too difficult to digest and incredibly delicious.

What sticks out the most is just how romantic this book is as we trace along the love story of young writers Shane and Eva. There are many moments in the novel where we can melt into this love: caught in the crossfire of their stares or in the heat of their newfound proximity. The reader wonders if fifteen years later that love like they had when they were teens will still be there. The biggest question the novel entails: was that love ever unconditional, and what are they going to do about it now that they have a second chance?

You can’t help but root for them, seeing their transformation from broken teens to confident adults with realized dreams, a journey that is both admirable and inspiring.

The prose in Seven Days in June could be a bit juvenile at times, however, and the staccato writing didn’t do much for the story either, jumping between descriptions abruptly. This was worsened by the heavy-handed descriptions of wardrobe and publishing events. (Though, Williams is a fashion writer, so it seems more of a quirk than a negative).

Though Williams makes up for this with an intense yet subtle plot of the unfolding of a lost love. What was supposed to feel like seven days felt like a lifetime. She took a somewhat predictable love story of getting reacquainted with an old lover, and infused life and passion into it. It was a refreshing take on an old tale with the Black American publishing bubble on full display.

The parallel between their week together as teens and again as adults was a well-thought out premise. It revealed a lot about Eva and Shane without losing her intriguing plot that makes the book so approachable, nor compromised the chemistry of the characters. Williams did this by using a typical trope of turning heartbreak into gold. But even as adults, Williams did not make the characters perfect; she just made them better.

She also utilized sex scenes to add to the romance without feeling contrived or tacky. They had just enough detail to put me in the scene while keeping the momentum and excitement. These writing sections are where the author soars.

I’m grateful for this author giving two Black people the happy ending they were both mature enough to have. The romance genre was designed for happy or tragic endings. I’m glad the author avoided the “bittersweet” one, especially when the two characters already suffered so greatly. So often in novels it’s easy to make Black people suffer (because conflict does make a great story) while not having any reward by the end. This wasn’t that book. This book will leave an open-minded reader (or lover of romance) warm and fuzzy, and wanting more. I want to see what happened to them as writers and people as a couple. I could see an intriguing sequel for this one. Their love was a catalyst for a second coming-of-age; from young adult to maturation (or the beginning of wisdom.)

This is one of the best black “beach reads” I’ve experienced in a LONG time, a definite feel-good experience.

Side note: For those who self-harm, you may be triggered by this story.

Tag: Black beach reads

photo by: Photo by Sam Hull on Unsplash