From the first page I felt the emotional turmoil that I was about to experience. The trigger warnings attempted but failed to prepare me for the level of grief and depression surrounding this story...because I am battling my own grief and depression, I could not complete this book. I tried reading the ebook and the audiobook, but the dept of the pain was too triggering for me to bare. Kennedy Ryan did an excellent job developing this portion of the journey in the story. I will try to finish the journey some day.

Sometimes it takes some of the biggest struggles, love, trust, and the will to fight to make the biggest leaps forward and to make the biggest changes towards a happy life. Yasmen and Josiah definitely met some of their biggest struggles in the story and life quickly fell apart. We get to have the honor of witnessing this couple and their little family learn how to heal and grow from of things that have led them to where they are in life. It was a pleasure to read the story. Kennedy Ryan definitely knows how to tell a tale about love, loss, and growth. It's a beautiful story to watch unfold.

This was such a raw portrayal of a marriage shattered by loss. The writing was beautiful and poetic. The emotions and actions of Yasmen and Josiah are so honored and vulnerable, you couldn’t help but feel so deeply connected to them. I appreciated the way this author took on such a difficult topic like the loss of a pregnancy with sensitivity and grace. The way these characters as a family unit were there for each other, and worked through their grief to heal and come back together made for such an emotional but uplifting read. I truly loved these characters so much and rooted for them until the end! I can’t wait to read Ryan’s next book now! Thank you to Netgalley and Forever for my gifted eARC!

One of my FAVS of 2023 that I cannot stop thinking about! Kennedy Ryan has this magical way of creating the most dynamic/delicious characters and helping me see the world from another perspective. She is an automatic read for me and I cannot wait for the rest of this series!

One of my favorite books of the year!! Beautifully written!! Kennedy Ryan always manages to pull out every single emotion possible out of me.

Highly recommend!!

After an unfathomable loss, Yasmen and Josiah have been divorced and co-parenting their children for 2 years. They never thought it would be this way, but sometimes life gets in the way. Soon, they’re finding their attraction and spark is very much alive. They start sneaking around, but they truly open up their hearts again, can they?

A really lovely second chance romance full of Black love. I loved both Yasmen and Josiah, I loved the exploration of their parenting and therapy and how they were able to find their way back to each other. Just lots of love across the board. Each book I’ve read of Kennedy Ryan’s has been a romance with suspense and deep emotional impacts and this one was no different. Would recommend.

ALL THE STARS! 🌠

Before I Let Go was utterly spellbinding and all-consuming! Kennedy Ryan tells the story of a divorced couple fighting for a second chance—love that was one of a kind, but sadly torn apart by loss and grief.

Together, Yasmen and Josiah must venture on a journey of healing and reconnect with one another. This story touches base on extremely difficult topics like miscarriage and depression but also the benefits of one seeking therapy, so please check the trigger warnings before beginning to read.

Throughout their journey, there is a lot of character growth. It was frustratingly beautiful, but when these two finally come back to each other, they come wholeheartedly. It's truly a full circle moment, one that only made them stronger.

Before I Let Go is emotional, raw, and just so real. Once again, I applaud Kennedy Ryan for being such an amazing and talented storyteller!

I loved this book it was heartbreakingly beautiful. It was a love story, but even more it was a story about growth and restoration. I loved the family in this book and what a supportive unit they were. I liked that the characters seemed so honest, bare, and relatable. This definitely will not be my last read by Kennedy Ryan.

I love love LOVED this book. It broke my heart and put it back together. Kennedy Ryan knows how to write love and grief in a way that is thought provoking. I was lucky enough to meet her, and I can see that she takes pride in writing empathetic characters that are able to grow beyond their difficult situations. She write black characters in a way that is deeply loving, kind and gentle.

Does love conquer all? In this beautiful story, Yasmen and Josiah are divorced, having once promised to love each other “until the wheels fall off.” Two family tragedies affected each of them in a very different way, and they fell apart. With Yasmen in a deep depression, she asked for the divorce, and Josiah had to learn to deal with that. The fact that they run a business together (a restaurant) and have two children keeps them in close contact. A couple of years later, it is clear that they have not gotten over each other. Yasmen is getting back on her feet and wants to see if they can rekindle what they had.

This is not a light read, but a powerful examination of a marriage. While Yasmen has faced her feelings, Josiah has repressed them. I loved how the author focused on psychology/therapy as a positive force. The story is told from both perspectives, with some chapters narrated by Yasmen and others by Josiah. There were some great side characters, including Yasmen’s two friends: Hendrix and Soledad, and young teen Deja.

Warning: graphic depiction of pregnancy and miscarriage/stillbirth; lots of curse words (for those who don’t like that sort of language in books); graphic open door “spice.”

I was surprised to find some recipes at the end of the book, as I’ve usually only seen those in culinary cozy mystery books They sound delicious!

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book, although I was very late to it. With the next book in the series coming out shortly, I guess I had the incentive to finally read this one! I bounced between the ARC and the published audiobook, courtesy of my public library. The audiobook was beautifully narrated by Wesleigh Siobhan and Jakobi Diem. All opinions are my own.

What a refreshing romance read! I loved the characters and all of their complications. Their love story was so unique and told in such a way that you were rooting for them the whole way.

And the spice! At times it had me blushing. And I think I cried twice.

Such a great read - can't wait to read more from this author!

There are few authors in contemporary romance today whose books are as unputdownable as Kennedy Ryan's. We chose this for our February 2024 pick for A Bookish Affair and I truly can't wait to hear if everyone was as enchanted as I was. There's going to be a LOT to talk about!

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review.

I can’t believe I waited so long to read this book! Between the hype and the fact I heard the content was heavy and I’ve been leaning more toward lighthearted books lately, I was nervous to read this one. I’m so glad I finally picked it up though; I knew within the first few pages that I was going to love it.

What a beautiful, intense, emotional rollercoaster of a book. Before I Let Go pulled on every single one of my heartstrings. Yasmen and Josiah’s pain was so real, and I felt it deeply. They had so much between them - history, undying love, chemistry, hurt, resentment, anger, plus two children who kept them going and also kept them tied to each other, along with their shared business. I enjoyed watching them grow separately and together, and I also enjoyed their relationships with their children and their friends.

The grief and mental health rep in this book was incredible - some of the best I’ve ever read. I loved how these topics were addressed so openly and honestly, and that therapy and the healing process were such a big part of the story.

This was my first book by Kennedy Ryan and it certainly won't be my last.

This was torture.

And in the BEST way cause I love being in agony over a couple that should be together. The slow burn life is the life for me.

The pining- ugh the PINING!! And these characters?! They’re perfect and I loved getting to know them so deeply. Yasmen and Josiah have wiggled themselves into my heart.

I’m diving into book 2 asap!!

“Love happens in the fragile context of our mortality… love and life occur just beyond the reach of our control. There is only one letter of difference between love and lose, and somewhere along the way, for me they became synonymous.”
 
 
It’s taken me a couple days to write this because once again I am reeling from another Kennedy Ryan story that was just as just as meaningful and significant as it was warm and passionate.
 
Before I Let Go is a second-chance romance about a divorced couple, Yasmen and Josiah, who raise their children together while running a business, both of whom are healing through heart-breaking and life-changing loss.
 
This was just so substantive, traversing several difficult and valuable discussions, which was evident in the different ways each character grappled with the loss they’d experienced - be it death or the divorce at the centre of the story.
 
I was particularly touched by Yasmen’s meditations on her struggles with debilitating mental illness, which coincided with a harrowing loss and the resultant grief and her journey to healing, and this cultivated some of the most enriching conversations, many of which I resonated with deeply.
I also loved the positive and hopeful approach and insights to seeking therapy, even in cases where there was initial reluctance (I LOVE Josiah’s therapist).
 
The romance and passion between Yasmen and Josiah soared just as much as the emotional aspects, palpable in every one of their interactions, the ever-present stakes of possibly giving into it, and of course the good ole’ pay off (if you know you know😉). It felt just as warm and familiar as it did new and hopeful.
 
This is the kind of story that makes you feel - whether its sadness; or frustration (both by forces and fears which threaten to keep these obvious soulmates apart, and the stone-cold, snarky façade of the protagonists’ daughter as she grapples with her own hurt and resentment); or the ooey-gooey warmth of a hopeful and passionate romance done right.
 
Thank you to @ReadForeverPub for this ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

I received a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. Yasmen’s life completely fell apart. She had some major losses in her life, including her marriage, and she was drowning in grief. Finally, she feels like she’s coming out of the darkness to live and enjoy life again. But it looks like her ex-husband has found joy as well, with a new woman. Josiah has never stopped being pulled to Yasmen, but it’s been 2 years since the divorce Yasmen asked for. He needs to move on, doesn’t he? So, he starts dating a wonderful woman. But it doesn’t feel the same, it doesn’t feel like… home. Can they find their way back to each other? Can Yasmen and Josiah heal the wounds to their relationship?

I generally make it a rule not to read marriage-in-crisis books. Due to my only person history and experience, they’re just not a good fit for me.  As a result, it has taken me a very long time to pick up this book, despite Kennedy Ryan being one of my all-time favorite authors. But once I picked this one up, I was hooked. Kennedy Ryan writes magic, every single time. Their love (and lust) was palpable, the reasoning behind their divorce made complete sense. This wasn’t a case of one person not wanting it to work, not trying to make it work, it was a matter of it not being able to work at that time. As always, there is a painful, traumatic tale woven into the story so masterfully that I could feel the hurt on the pages in my heart. Ryan always handles these situations with such care and respect, it is one of the aspects of her writing that makes it so powerful. TW for still birth off and death of a guardian, both off page. I would recommend this to fans of any of Kennedy Ryan’s previous books, fans of second chance, Black romance, and love after loss.

Josiah and Yasmen romance had me in its clutches! I love a second chance romance, and this book topped off my love for these types of angsty reads! They're a divorced couple who coparent wonderfully, but are both missing physical and emotional connection in their personal lives.

In this book, the hero had to grow on me. I was Team Yasmen from the start. Before I Let Go is very much a slow burn, and it teeters on the edge of being women's fiction. However, as she always does, this author gets us there. This book has such high emotional investment. I found myself rooting so hard for these two to figure it out! The OW/OM drama was a good addition for me because it really brought up that angst factor.

From the first word, I knew this book would be a home run. Kennedy Ryan is a safe space for me. Her books hit on me on such an emotional level that I'm often left in a slump afterwards. No regrets 🤍

Yas and Si were everything and more. I truly appreciated reading a second chance romance for grown folks, as Kennedy described it. The level of maturity and emotional intelligence was refreshing.

We follow Yas and Si, who are currently divorced and trying to navigate their lives after a deep tragedy. They co-parent two children and both still work as partners at their restaurant. Kennedy took great care in showing us how each family member was processing their feelings and emotions. Their son and daughter both using different methods to cope, opening up important conversation pieces in this story. The struggle with mental health was written in the most raw and honest way.

My feels tank was about to blow near the end of this book. The side characters were absolutely sublime. I loved how Yas had a powerful circle of girlfriends. Strong women also trying to blaze their own life path. I cannot wait to read their stories (fingers crossed). Second chance romances are my absolute favorite. Such a god tier trope.

This is hands down one of my top reads of 2022. Special thanks to Kennedy Ryan and NetGalley for this ARC.

AMAZING. kennedy can do no wrong!!!! this story had everything! love, humor, mental health, communication, grief. it really took me for such a ride. i can’t wait for the next one!

kennedy ryan continues to outshine herself. this was beyond incredible. when reading her writing i get immersed into her worlds and leave reality.