Whew! This was disappointing. I'm really not understanding the high rating. I knew Valentine's Day was coming, and I figured I'd read a romance novel that would surely put a smile on my face and leave me with a warm feeling inside. Right? I expected this to be a light cutesy read, but I finished this novel being highly annoyed, irritated and underwhelmed.

Basically, Ricki is a woman in her late 20s who moves to Harlem to open a flower shop. A chance encounter with a stranger in a garden leads to an insta-romance where Ricki learns that her lover comes from the Harlem Renaissance/Jazz-Age era and has been cursed with immortality.

The Good? The pacing was decent. I continued to turn the page......hoping it would get better.....that I would connect in some way, you know? I wanted to feel the passion, the tension, the love, the loss. Despite 80% of the novel being unnecessary fluff, I turned the page, so for that this novel gets two stars for holding my attention somewhat.

The Bad? Where do I start!? To ME, the main issue is authenticity, or lack thereof. I have to be VERY careful about what I'm going to say because my opinion might be offensive, and I want to be sensitive......The entire time I was reading this novel, one question kept popping up in my mind: 'Did a black woman write this?' Yes....I went there! As a BLACK WOMAN, I had to ask this question. Let me be clear. This is a BLACK ROMANCE written from a BIRACIAL WOMAN's perspective (judging by what I've seen). Why is it important to say this? This novel is being promoted as a black romance when there are waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too many moments where the black perspective is highly questionable. Moments that stood out in a way that was just too hard to ignore.

Example #1:
Context: Both characters are black; Ricki meets Della (90-year-old woman) while working at her family's funeral home business in Atlanta.
p.16 - "Her gentle presence and precise, direct way of speaking were so soothing to Ricki. But older Black women always melted her".
Now, if you're writing from a black perspective, why would a black character even need to point out the race of the other black character? There would be no need to even bring up race if both characters are black. It's written as if a non-black character is highlighting the good qualities of older black women.

Example #2:
Context: Ricki attends an event hosted by a spiritual healer who she thinks can help her break a voodoo curse.
p.268 - "White people didn't understand it. So it gave Black people a sense of power and protection."/"She grinned and held up a Black power fist, to delighted applause. A room full of bookish women in purple witch hats raised their fists in the air."
Just cringe! At black gatherings where we discuss race-related topics, do you really think we salute one another with the black power fist!? Um...WHAT!? It's as if the author needs to 'prove' how black these characters are by over-stating gestures typically associated with black culture. Once again, if you're writing from a black perspective, there would be no need to do this.

There are MANY examples throughout where I questioned the 'black perspective'. Even voodoo was depicted in such a Disney-cartoonish way which took me completely out of this story. Yet again, did the author watch a YouTube video on Louisiana voodoo or read a book and decided to throw it into the story just to spice things up? There was zero depth or complexity in how voodoo was woven into the story.

I don't think I'll be picking up another book by this author. I actually find it quite scary that she's being celebrated as a 'black' romance writer with all of these issues in her work.