This story was absolutely beautiful! A real and emotional telling of what happens after that happily ever after we crave in these books. Kennedy surprises me every time I open up one of her masterpieces. They just get better and better and I have no idea how she does it. Gripping, intense, wonderful second chance romance. You won’t want to put this down.

Kennedy Ryan is an exceptionally gifted writer and storyteller, and Before I Let Go is a perfect example of her amazing talent. The Wards are an average American family living a middle class life in an average American neighborhood. They fell in love young and broke, built a life together, had two kids and a business and when life got hard, as it always does, they got a divorce. He’s not a billionaire. She’s not running away from a secret life. These are regular ass people doing regular ass things; and yet their story is so beautifully told that it makes you laugh and cry and root for them as you fall so head over heels in love with both of them that your heart aches when they can’t seem to put the pieces of their life and love back together.

The character development is fantastic. The pace and arc of the story is very well done. I listened to the audiobook and the voice acting by Jakobi Diem and Wesleigh Siobhan is excellent. Still, the star of the show here… is the writing. This book is for anyone who enjoys a well written novel because Kennedy Ryan has produced a beautifully crafted story that pulls you in from the beginning and keeps you enthralled until the very last word.

I received an arc of this book from NetGalley, but once I found out the audiobook was being performed by Wesleigh and Jakobi I opted to hold off on reading it until release day and spent my own money to get the audiobook. It was so worth it!

“Do people remember the exact moment they fall in love?”

“Before I Let Go” by Kennedy Ryan introduces us to Josiah and Yasmen Wade. The two have been divorced for two years but are still trying to navigate co-parenting as well as being business partners. But is it truly over for them or is love still in the cards?

I knew from the first page that this book was going to take me on an emotional rollercoaster and that it did. What happens after the happily ever after? What happens when things don’t go as planned and the life you planned changes in the blink of an eye? Josiah and Yasmen are at a crossroad. I really enjoyed how the chapters alternated and gave us insight into both of their perspectives. The development of these two characters was top tier. They were real. They displayed real emotions. There was no right or wrong person between them, just gray. They’re both trying to navigate so many different things. The portrayal of everything they went through was exhausting, beautiful, poignant, and realistic. Through all of this, I never questioned the love they had for one another.

"Before I Let Go” centers around grief, love, and second chances. This wasn’t an easy read. Death and mental health are some topics that are at the forefront. I cried (which isn’t unlike me but still) throughout the book. I feel like I’m rambling because I can’t even tell you how much I enjoyed it. All you need to know is that I cannot wait to delve into more of Kennedy Ryan’s work. Five well-earned stars.

I am not a huge second-chance romance trope person, and for it to be super engaging there needs to be more time spent apart for the love interests. For me, the two main characters being fairly recently divorced and still so involved in each other's lives made me miss that 'rediscovering' each other thing that often happens with second-chance romance. It also made the first half-ish of the book drag a bit, as the reasoning for their separation is teased out to us. That being said, in the end of course you're rooting for them because obviously these people belong together. The romance is a bit slow burn until the end, but the ending - woooo it goes there!

HUGE TW for grief especially - this book covers some heavy topics (miscarriage, death of family members) but does so in beautiful and meaningful ways. If you have experienced grief you will likely get teary-eyed. I love to see an entire family in therapy by the end of a book!

3.75/5 ⭐️
4/5 🌶️
(IG review saved in my stories)

✨🧡Before I Let Go🧡✨

The 5 star reviews are always the hardest to write. That’s because the best books make you confront some real sh*t. The very best books can do that plus make you laugh, cry, and swoon. Not to be dramatic but my friends have been trying to convince me to go to therapy for years. Kennedy Ryan did it in three days.

This book took me through the motions. I loved everything about it. I found it relatable because I tend to have the same feelings about therapy as Josiah. 🥴. And though I couldn’t relate to the specific circumstances, it was amazing to see this family put in the work at all levels. The mental health representation is refreshing. I am truly inspired. Highly recommend!

To top it all off, last night I was able to meet the wonderful @kennedyryan1 (again) and she’s amazing in person. I love authors who are intentional about the words they put to paper. Kennedy does that and it shows.

Also, I met @angieoverbooked and she gifted me a copy of BILG 🥹 it’s so great to meet booksta friends in person 🧡

A few more musings:

🫶🏾The black love 🥹❤️
🫶🏾Kassim deserves everything great in the world 🥹
🫶🏾Deja was so realistic. I have 6 nieces and the depiction of a teenaged girl is on point.
🫶🏾The story felt true to Atlanta
🫶🏾The Southern culture was on full display and I loved it! You have to really understand chitterlings to write about them accurately 😂
🫶🏾I love the community the characters found in their friends/family ❤️
🫶🏾 The angst and spice were perfect! 💛
🫶🏾The garage scene 🥵
🫶🏾 Si and Yas 4L ❤️

I can’t wait for the next installment.

Thank you @netgalley and @readforeverpub for the ARC.

Photo edit by @happyharvee 🤎

#bookstagram #blackbookstagram #secondchanceromance #kennedyryan #beforeiletgo #romancebooks #onlyonebed #diversifybookstagram #blacklove #diversebookstagram #blackromance #womensfiction

I know when I pick up a Kennedy Ryan book, I will be in for a whole emotional experience. Even though I read the synopsis and some of the CWs, I don’t think there was any way I could have prepared for the ways Kennedy’s writing would get me in touch with my own emotions. Watching Yasmen and Josiah both work through their issues as grown adults, communicating their needs and boundaries, and approaching their feelings with love was so refreshing. This book found me when I needed it, especially the mental health representation that includes therapy and medication to deal with depression, grief and trauma. With that said, please take care of yourself when you read this book and check out the CWs.

Thank you to Forever (Grand Central) and NetGalley for the advanced copy

This is one of my favorite reads of 2022! What a beautiful story of mental health, forgiveness, and true love! The relationship between Josiah and Yasmen was felt from page 1. I love books that mix sexual chemistry with real feelings of love. I highly recommend everyone read this!

What a beautiful, emotional, second chance romance! This book is very heavy, and not a page turner in the typical way. However, I was so invested in these characters and their love story. I was rooting so hard for them to address the problems that they had in the past instead of continuing to sweep them under the rug. I couldn't wait to see them work things out!

I don't know if I can put into words how amazing and touching this book is. It tore me apart and then put me back together again.

I am utterly obsessed with Yasmen and Josiah's story from beginning to end. There are moments in this story that just touched my heart so much that I found myself ugly crying. LOL! The story felt so real and honest that it felt like I was watching a movie. Whether you agree about the choices between Yasmen and Josiah, I really admire how they co-parent Kassim and Deja. There are several moments where Deja isn't giving her mother any "air" to be human and make mistakes and I just loved how Josiah would stick up for Yasmen as a mother. It's so nice to see positive co-parenting.

This story was nothing short of excellent. Kennedy Ryan is the GOAT in my opinion and one of the greatest contemporary romance writers of our generation.

All the stars!

I have no words to describe how much I loved Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan. Books like this is why I read. Books that captivate. That make me feel. That break my heart. And then puts it back together and will live in my brain forever. This is that type of book and more. Josiah and Yasmen are soulmates. They are meant to be together. But love is not always enough. Sometimes life is just too hard. Now they are working hard to find their new normal after divorce. But somehow they always find their way back to each other.

Their journey was raw, real, and heartbreaking. We see their struggles and grief. It was a second chance romance that was epic, gripping, and emotional. Josiah and Yasmen were not perfect and found themselves sometimes hurting the other, but also raising each other up. I found myself cheering for them. I loved the characters, their story and how impactful it was. Easily one of the best books I have read this year.

Happy reading!

Well this is my favorite romance of the year.

Every time I read a book by Kennedy Ryan I think there is no way she can out shine her last release, well, she did it again. I loved both characters Yasmen and Josiah and I loved that they were older, with older kids, in the thick of the collapse of their marriage while still trying to co-parent and be business partners - all of it just felt so raw and authentic it was hard not to be invested in every single part of this story. The underlying message about depression and therapy was so well written, some of the exact same things I have felt as a mother came out of Yasmen's head like she knew exactly what I needed to hear.

The CHEMISTRY was off the charts. The emotions made me feel something in the depth of my soul. You really have to read this book.

4.75

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review*
To put it simply this book was beautiful. I’ve heard of Ryan’s ability to create thoughtful, relatable, dynamic characters and now that I’ve read one of her works all I can say is everyone is right.
This book had me crying, smiling and laughing. I’ll be recommending it to everyone I know whether they’re a reader or not.

The only reason this isn’t a five star is because I had some personal issues with Josiah and it made the 3rd quarter of the book a little less than exciting for me. I do think those issues could’ve been resolved if he had more chapters or his existing ones were longer but otherwise I can’t think of a bad thing to say about this book

With every Kennedy Ryan novel I read, I feel at a complete loss to do them justice with a review. I don’t have adequate words to convey just how powerful and moving her writing is. Ryan’s latest, Before I Let Go, is no exception. She has woven a story of loss, healing, and second chances that is stunningly good.

To friends and family, Yasmen and Josiah were relationship goals - a shining example of a happy marriage – until they weren’t. Blow after unexpected blow shook their once rock-solid marriage to its foundation and created a chasm they seemed unable to bridge.

Post-divorce, Josiah and Yasmen found a new normal: running their successful restaurant together and co-parenting their two children. What didn’t change was their deep love and respect for one another. Josiah never wanted the divorce and was shaken to his core when he lost the one thing he believed in, the one steady presence in his life that he was sure would never abandon him. Yasmen felt Josiah’s absence like a physical ache. He was her first love, but drowning under the weight of grief and trauma, divorce seemed the only option.

While Yasmen found a therapist she connected with and began to claw her way out of the darkness, Josiah only began therapy to serve as an example for his young son. Stubborn and skeptical at the start, Josiah started to confront past trauma and acknowledge the ways it had impacted his life, and his relationship with Yasmen. Their lives were still irrevocably intertwined, between the children and the business, and their love for another was evidenced in every shared memory and inside joke. When a business trip forced them together, lines were crossed and all the old feelings that had been hidden under a layer of hurt and recrimination spark to life.

Before I Let Go was tender and poignant while packing a powerful emotional punch. There was laughter and tears and most importantly: hope. Yasmen and Josiah’s struggles felt all too realistic and the unexpected place they found themselves in was heart wrenching. The love was still there but buried under grief and pain.

Kennedy Ryan has been candid about her own struggles with depression and mental health, which came to a head while writing this novel. That intersection of real life and fiction likely went a long way in making this remarkable story that much more realistic. Ryan is a born storyteller and Before I Let Go is an achingly beautiful story of two people who stumbled and fell, only to travel a rocky road back in hope that it leads them home.

"It wasn’t your love I couldn’t find under all that rubble. It was me I had to find. I had to dig myself out."

Kennedy Ryan will forever be an auto-buy author for me. She has the uncanny ability to write the most beautiful and heartbreaking stories that make readers feel all the things. Before I Let Go has been high on my anticipated reads list since the book was announced. This book did not disappoint.

Before I Let Go follows a divorced couple finding their way back to each other. The book explores the hardships of marriage and parenting coupled with deep grief and depression. It is full of raw emotion packed with real vulnerability. There were many parts of this book that were tough to read and digest, because they hit so close to home. While I spent a lot of the book crying cathartic tears, I also felt seen. Ryan's words encapsulated so many of my feelings and struggles over the past two years and put them into the words I could never fully articulate myself. The amount of passages I highlighted are ridiculous, which speaks to the power of these characters and their experiences.

I adored Yasmen and Josiah and were rooting for them to make it from page one. Both are in obvious pain trying to navigate life apart while also co-parenting and owning a business together. They have palpable sexual tension, but fight it at every turn. I appreciated how both characters needed to heal and go through their own grief journeys in order to make the relationship work. In the end, there was no blame placed for their struggles. The pair had to change and grow apart from each other before they could belong together. The positive depiction of therapy and proper medication for depression was refreshing. I know first hand the power of these two things, which literally saved my life the past two years.

Yasmen and Josiah’s love story was absolutely beautiful and I am so thankful I got the opportunity to read this. I requested this on NetGalley on Sunday and was approved on Monday and RAN to get started on it before it was published — I am a day late posting this but this book deserves every bit of hype I’ve seen for it and SO MUCH MORE.

Yasmen and Josiah are divorced after losing Aunt Byrd (Josiah’s mother figure) and Henry, their child who was stillborn after Yasmen had an accident in the restaurant they own. It’s been two years since they got divorced and are amicable for the most part, and coparent their two children, Deja and Kassim. Despite being divorced, we see how both of them have deep rooted feelings for each other still, but neither want to admit it to themselves or anyone around them. They both move in and date other people, but eventually the attraction between them comes to a head and they give in to their desire for each other.

Their story is definitely one of pining and is such a slow burn but there’s sizzles and sparks flying all over the place as they fight to hold back their feelings. I can confirm the author writes some hot af smutty scenes!

Besides being sexy, at the heart of this story is love and grief. Besides their love for each other, the love Yas and Si have for their kids is so heart warming - even when at times their oldest, Deja, lets her resentment for her mom get the best of her to the point where she says hurtful things to Yas. It was hard to read Deja saying hurtful things to Yas but I found it super realistic because she’s a young kid who’s going through the trauma with her parents of losing their family members but also going through the trauma of her parents splitting up too. I felt for her! I did love though, when Josiah made it clear her disrespecting Yas was not okay, that was 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻 so lovely to see how much respect and love he still had for his ex wife even if they did have their problems. And Kassim — boy genius who was such a little sweetheart making sure not to hurt his moms feelings and dealing with his own trauma and fears was super sweet to read.

I loved that therapy and owning your trauma and facing your fears was such a key part of this book! Yas goes to therapy prior to the events in the book and throughout and even as a mostly “healed” version of herself she still goes through some raw emotions that made me choked up. I also loved that Si started out not really thinking therapy would help and then he started going for Kassim and it turned out to help him and open up more to both his therapist and Yas.

The mentions of depression where definitely some of the more emotional parts for me and I applaud the author for researching not only what mothers have dealt with when they have had a stillbirth as well as consulting with therapists because she really included some poignant insights on depression that hit home for me and choked me up a bit. “Depression is an altered state of mind. Not just feeling sad, but the chemistry of your brain, your hormones. Your body is a participant, held hostage to depression just as much as your mind.” This quote and a couple of others that followed in this scene really opened my eyes a bit to how I view my own depression, and seeing Yas talk out her feelings with her doctor was so important to me and I imagine so many others who read this and experience the same feelings and thoughts.

I truly am so glad I was given the opportunity to read this book. I’m not usually someone who enjoys second chance romances but this one feels like an exception because it felt like the stakes were so much higher, and the author did an absolutely stellar job of not only making this a story about redeeming love but also a story about grief and forgiving oneself as well as the person who may have hurt you most and trusting them with that love. I recommend this to everyone, but if you’re a fan of second chance romance, mutual pining, slow burn, the one bed trope, and fantastic mental health rep, you’ll love this!

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever/Grand Central Publishing for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review! All thoughts and opinions are my own!

Is there anything that Kennedy Ryan writes that isn't a masterpiece? The answer is no and the latest evidence is Before I Let Go. This book touched me in a way that I wasn't expecting. Not because I've gone through what Yasmen and Josiah have but because marriage is hard. Life is hard. And even on the hard days, the love is still there.

Yasmen and Josiah's second chance romance was poignant, passionate and powerful. Filled with nuance and soul (and I'm not just talking about the food). The healing journey they took separately and together was raw and gritty and real. It made my chest ache and my heart soar. And when all was said and done, I wanted more of this incredible family and their epic love.

This was my first Kennedy Ryan book and it was perfect. I loved everything about it. It was filled with raw emotion and honesty. The dual pov was a critical part of the storytelling, and this was beautifully told.

Thank you so much Booksparks and Forever for my gifted copy in exchange for a honest review.

4.5 stars ☆ Now this book is how you would write a second-chance romance. It’s been a bit hard to find a good second-chance romance book and I’m so glad that this one lived with my expectations. It made me sob so many times cause I’m so connected with the characters so much.

josiahyasmen, my loves <3

Kennedy Ryan’s writing is just amazing and this is just the second book I’ve read by her which means I need to read more of her works.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever Publishing for the ARC !!

THEMES 🎭: second chance romance, divorced partners, co-parenting, business owners, HBCU grads, mental health, self discovery

CW ⚠️: suicide ideation (not described in detail), depression, stillbirth, grief and loss (off page)

Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan is a stunning second chance romance about Yasmen and Josiah. Living in the aftermath of divorcing her college sweetheart and dealing with the losses of two loved ones, Yasmen is simply trying to stay afloat mentally. Although she and Josiah have found a good rhythm co-parenting their two children and running their restaurant together, there is still a lot of dust settling in the air. Tensions from unresolved issues continuously arise, however, there is no greater tension than the electricity in the air between Yasmen and Josiah. Will they be willing to give their marriage a second try? Or will they let bygones be bygones and go their separate ways?

LET ME TELL Y'ALL SOMETHING. When this book first popped up on my radar a couple months ago, I had a good feeling in the pit of my stomach that this was going to be an unforgettable read. AND BOY! BILG touches on topics such as mental health and therapy with such grace and ease. This book was written with those who have struggled with mental health issues, who have gone through tough periods in their lives, who have sacrificed their relationships with loved ones in order to maintain their relationships with themselves. I thought the way Kennedy Ryan wrote the therapy sessions, inner monologues, and conversations about mental health were soooo true to script. So well done. 🤩

I loved the world building! I can't wait to read more from the Skyland series. Kassim was also one of the purest angels to ever exist. I loved how hard Yasmen and Josiah were willing to work in order to come back together, whether it was expressed to either person or not. I LOVED the representation of Black men being in therapy. It's truly a taboo topic in the Black community, so to see Josiah make the effort to be better was very refreshing.

Including the recipes was GENIUS (because I was going to ask for them anyway lol).

The plot for this second chance romance is unlike anything I’ve ever read before! Lord, the tension between Yasmen and Josiah was making me want to slam my head against the wall because of how intimate every private moment felt, regardless of what the conversation was about 😭. At around the half way point, I was down for anything to happen at that point. It’s definitely a slow burn, but it’s soooo rewarding in every way. Also, THE SPICE?! Immediately yes. (CHAPTER 39!)

RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (easily)

I absolutely loved this emotional, profound, and exquisitely beautiful second chance romance! Yasmen and Josiah's moving story was so compelling that I couldn't stop reading, needing more as I devoured every moment! When Yasmen and Josiah first met, they fell hard and fast for each other, and their chemistry burned bright and hot. They planned their life together and it was all going as designed, until it wasn't. They had heartrending life losses that shook their very foundation. They both delt with it in different ways and couldn't understand why they weren't in sync. Now they are divorced, working together, putting their children and business first. They never stopped loving each other, but could they be vulnerable enough to try for a second chance, or strong enough to trust that they won't break their heart for good? I was totally consumed by this breathtaking, emotional, and sizzling story. I loved both Yasmen and Josiah, they felt real and authentic and their relationship was so raw, poignant, and hard fought. They were so perfect for each other and their passion and chemistry only grows more explosive. I loved seeing the relationships they had with their kids, and with their friends who added so much heart to this story as well. This journey through love, laughter, loss, guilt, anger, hope, and healing will have you in tears of heartbreak and joy! I love Ryan's writing style and she did not hold anything back when she wrote this book. She tackled heartbreaking topics with honesty, and empathy, not taking any shortcuts, allowing us to feel every emotion that all of these characters felt. Ryan takes us on an exhilarating journey that will leave you raw and breathless and totally satisfied. I loved every word of this beautiful, poignant, and sizzling epic love story!