Book of the Week #45—The Perfect Find by Tia Williams

Greetings, readers! My name is Sareeta Domingo, and I’m an author and fiction editor. It’s my great pleasure to be bringing you a Book of the Week, each week here on Morning Mari.
 
Despite writing romantic storylines quite a bit as an author, I don’t often come across other romantic novels that really nail everything I’m looking for in a story in that genre—representation, chemistry, sexiness and emotional depth. However, my Book of the Week this week is one I’ve selected because it does everything that I’m looking for! So this week, my Book of the Week is Tia Williams’ delectable 2016 novel The Perfect Find.
 
The novel follows Jenna Jones, a formerly high-flying magazine editor who, at the start of the story, finds herself humbled into a new, lesser job at a webzine, run by a woman who’s Jenna’s former arch nemesis. Having been dumped by her fiancé and fired from her last job, Jenna’s not in a position to be picky, and just entering her 40s, she struggles a bit with things like social media and current trends, having been out of action for a while. But when she meets sexy Eric Combs at a party and has a steamy encounter with him, things get even more complex when he turns out not only be a new colleague, but almost half her age.
 
The set up of the story might seem like any run of the mill rom com, but this book feels different. Tia Williams’ focus on African American characters who aren’t directly contending with trauma or struggle is a refreshing relief, and rather unusually, the book centres an older female protagonist and her younger beau, but without falling into cliché or predictability. Jenna and Eric’s relationship unfolds with a delicious sexiness that doesn’t ignore the very real challenges these two characters will face. Williams writes with a zippy but astute touch that really draws you in as a reader, with genuinely witty lines and emotional scenes.
 
It’s absolutely no surprise that actor Gabrielle Union is soon to make this into a film for Netflix, and I’ll definitely be looking out for it when it drops. But for now, I really encourage you to sink into this romantic novel, which is full of real fizz and depth. That is why The Perfect Find by Tia Williams is my Book of the Week this week.