I finally did it–I read an entire series. This is the first time I've read a series since I was a kid. It helps that it's really three separate books with the slightest of overlaps between them. The main characters for each book are 30-something best friends and Black women who fall in love with Black men in the vibrant city of Atlanta. The books explore deeply emotional topics and social issues, all while delivering steamy romance and undeniable attraction.
The first in the series is Before I Let Go, and I read it last because I'm deeply broken. The story follows Yasmen, who divorced Josiah semi-recently after a heartbreaking miscarriage left her in a dark place and shattered their marriage. We begin the story after the turmoil of the miscarriage and the divorce when Yasmen is in a better headspace. With renewed clarity and stability, she's drawn back to Josiah time and again. Their attraction and love are undeniable, but both struggle to trust each other and themselves. It's a truly compelling second chance romance with tense family dynamics, along with discussions about therapy and mental health. The unique dynamic between the MCs kept me riveted and their problems were believable and not solved by a simple phone call. Everyone made mistakes and they are learning to live with them. I also liked the positive depiction of therapy and the realistic stigma for men seeking help, especially Black men.
The second book is This Could Be Us. I read this one first, and I immediately picked up the other two. It was my favorite of the series. Kennedy Ryan threw me right into daytime television drama. Soledad is a full-time parent with three teenage girls and a worthless husband who works for a big corporation. The new company accountant catches said worthless husband embezzling money and turns him in to the feds. Soledad finds herself in a big house with no income and three kids to take care of. Amid this very public drama, she commits to dating herself while taking a stab at social media influencing to make ends meet. What she can't seem to avoid is the man who put her husband in prison: Judah Cross. Judah has two autistic sons and a great relationship with his ex-wife. He also can't stop thinking about Soledad and finds ways to keep seeing her without being a creep. It's a forbidden romance with fantastic chemistry and drama for days. The thoughtful autistic representation was fantastic, and an introductory note from the author describes her own relationship with her autistic son.
The third book is Can't Get Enough, and follows Hendrix, a successful talent agent and auntie. She's committed to her career, doesn't want kids, and is dealing with her mother's Alzheimer's diagnosis. I thought this would be light and breezy, but I was crying on page one. Her mother's situation is heart breaking and Ryan doesn't pull any punches. I called my mom multiple times while I was reading this just to hear her voice. During the chaos of figuring out how to support her mother from states away while running her business, she meets Maverick, a soon-to-be Black billionaire who just broke up with Hendrix's business partner for her dream project producing a TV show. Hendrix is exuberant, the life of the party, and wants nothing, including a man, to get in her way. At a party, the pair bond over the shared experience of losing a loved one to alzheimers. They have immediate chemistry, but Hendrix doesn't want to lose her big career opportunity. She has to figure out if she can truly have it all instead of denying herself a chance at love. It's an interesting take on a billionaire romance where the female character doesn't need the billionaire, but wants him.
This series was incredible. The representation was diverse and inclusive, with plus-sized characters, autistic characters, mental health depictions, and feminist male love interests. It wasn't queer, which is perfectly fine, but since I mostly talk about queer books, I want to be clear that these aren't in that genre. There are enough mentions of queer family members to let us know these characters aren't homophobic.
The issues the MCs face are real and complex. They pull at the heartstrings and take up just as much page time as the romance and that's mwah (chef's kiss) in my book. Also, the audiobooks were fantastic and had dual narrators. And the spice was spicy. No closed doors here. I highly recommend this series!
/rae
