Seven Days in June by Tia Williams

Seven Days in June by Tia Williams is the story of Eva, a best-selling romance novelist who lives in Brooklyn with her oh so precocious child Audre, and Shane, a reclusive author. It turns out that Eva and Shane once had a burgeoning high school relationship and they are suddenly thrust into each other's orbits again as older adults and sparks rekindle

Interesting characters: Absolutely. I thought Eva was interesting. She's an author suffering from a chronic pain illness AND writer's block with an intriguing backstory. Shane is a recovering addict, which may be my least type of character after an actual addict, but I think Williams handles it well (in a way in which I believe may be unrealistic based on the fact that I didn't find it absolutely off-putting).  I liked how Williams spent time in the past with the two characters and we learned about their past together. We saw how they were and then when they meet as adults, their relationships and interactions make complete sense.

My caveat about the interesting characters is Audre, Eva's daughter. She is too twee, too precocious, and every scene with her in it was never-ending.  

Believable conflict: Again, absolutely.  I thought that the misunderstanding they had as kids was actually something that would happen and I thought that Shane's actions that caused the misunderstanding as adults was something a recovering addict would do.  

Emotional tension: Williams is an excellent writer and I thought she handled all of the heightened emotions quite well. I thought some of the teenage angst was over the top, but aren't all teens over the top?  I also quite enjoyed Eva's conflicting emotions about her writing and liked to hear about the issues associated with her profession.  There was tension in the relationship, sure, and it was perfectly acceptable, but I almost would have liked a contemporary fiction book about Eva dealing with a high stress career, single motherhood, and managing a chronic illness.  That's high stakes tension.

Happily ever after: The book falls apart at the end.  Shane makes a huge mistake and Eva forgives too easily. I'm not satisfied with her choice and I'm once again left with the idea that this couple is not going to last. I just had this feeling in The Heart Principle and here I am thinking these folks are going to break up and it's going to ruin their lives an the lives of that precocious teenager and I was left feeling sad rather than uplifted.  It's a shame, really, because the book was so good until the last 10%.

I would recommend folks read this book, but I don't think I'd strongly recommend it.  It's not Indigo or Romancing Mister Bridgerton or anything by Talia Hibbert, but if you are a romance fan, it's probably worth a read.  

Also, I looked up Tia Williams after reading the book and she's very admirable. She's an editor with Estee Lauder and has written several best-selling books. On one hand, what a very accomplished person.  On the other hand, what am I even doing with my life?  Ha.