<b>It's easy to get lost, just hold on tight enough</b>

Every time I pick up a book by this author I know I'll learn more about who I am as a person that before I picked the book up!

Josiah and Yasmen had the type of love that everyone always dreams of. Unexpected tragedies broke a foundation they thought they would have forever. It's now time to learn to live for what they have now, two amazing children, a restaurant they built together, and a friendship that's worth saving. Yasmen struggled so much with accepting her own failures, something I felt so very deeply personal. Josiah felt lost in trying to navigate his new reality.

<i>"I'm most grateful for time, which doesn't always heal all wounds, but teaches us how to be happy again even with our scars"</i>

Sometimes I don't think people ever truly learn to love their scars, but I think that's what makes everyone unique. Josiah and Yasmen's love story is like that, without the hard struggles the beautiful memories wouldn't shine so brightly.

I will say I'm not a fan of the 'second chance marriage' trope, but there has not been a book I've picked up from KR that hasn't become a new favorite!

oh. my. god. this was everything and more. note: please observe cw's listed at the beginning of the book. we jump into the story a couple years after the tragic events that led to the end of Yasmen and Josiah's marriage. they run a successful restaurant together and co-parent their children, but is a second chance at love in the cards for them?

this is a story about yasmen and josiah's love, but it is also a story about grief, about loss, and about how that process looks different for everyone. kennedy ryan allows her characters to make mistakes and to feel their feelings, and that's what makes them feel so grounded. i thought these sensitive topics were handled with love and care, and i even felt like i was able to learn a lot by witnessing their experience. you could feel the love yasmen and josiah had for each other even in the darkest moments and that is what made it so gratifying to follow their second chance at a love story. every character was so well-layered and specific; i felt like i could picture them so clearly. i found myself reading as slowly as possible to soak up this beautiful story.

*thank you Forever Publishing for the ARC!

Talk about a second chance romance! I am an emotional mess right now! Kennedy Ryan does it one more time with “Before I Let go”

Yasmín and Josiah have been separated for a couple of years now, they’re co-parenting the best they can and running a business together in the midst of IT all!

A couple who has gone through it all and couldn’t hold each other together.. a couple that failed their love and each other.. a love story like no other you have read.

Kennedy Ryan’s paints the picture of what genuine love, Loss, Grief, Relationship/married couple struggles & second chances and it’s PERFECTION!

I highly recommend this novel, get the tissues ready because it’s a rollercoaster of emotions..
Thank you Netgalley & Grand Central Publishing for an Ecopy of this lovely novel.

I snagged this when it was available for read now a while back. I was confident enough that I would love it that I added a physical copy to my November BOTM box!

I just finished the arc on my Kindle! I have so many emotions 😭😭😭 Yasmen and Josiah have my whole heart right now. What a beautiful love story!

🌼 Easy 5 Stars
🌼 Second Chance Romance
🌼 Divorced Couple Co-Parenting
🌼 There’s Only One Bed
🌼 Top Notch Mental Health & Therapy rep
🌼 Open Door Romance (it’s a bit of a slow burn but she’s spicy when we get there!)

I loved the book, 10/10 would recommend. It is a very heavy story though as a heads up. CW: child/pregnancy loss, death, grief, depression.

*Book Review*
Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan
Rating: 5/5

This book made me laugh and mostly cry from the beginning to the end. It delves into marriage, divorce, love, loss, rediscovery, forgiveness and acceptance with quite a few hot moments thrown into the mix. Each character is written with such realness that you feel as though you've met someone like them before.

Would I recommend? Yes! This is not a book to be passed over.

Thank you so much to Kennedy Ryan, Forever and NetGalley for an advance copy of this!

Wowzer! This is my first Kennedy Ryan book and I think I picked a good one to start with. I have heard so much about her writing and I own her Hoops & Grip series which I really want to read now. Kennedy's writing so smooth and the most realistic I have ever read.

Quick recap: Yasmen & Josiah are a divorce couple who went through two hard losses back to back. For the last 2 years they had been amicable for the sake of their two children Deja and Kassim. The two just cannot get past their undenying love for one another. Can they move on from their past and rebuild their future?

As I mentioned above, Ryan's writing shines a light on real things couples go through. I am a huge fan of rom coms and swoon worthy moments from the MMC but in this you do not get that. You get heart, complicated family dynamics, loss and healing. In the span of 400 pages, you are taken on this journey that is so beautiful.

"Grief is a grind. It is the work of breathing and waking and rising and moving through a world that feels emptier. A gaping hole has been torn into your existence, and everyone around you just walks right past it like it's not even there."

I love that Ryan talked about topics that are not typically found in romance books. You have characters who are in therapy, mental health, death, stillbirths and depiction of being depressed. The positive light of the power of therapy is important for all - young and old. It is healthy to have these conversations with individuals who can help you.

I have never experienced the type of loss that Yasmen & Josiah did with the loss of their son Henry, but the way Ryan wrote about it and the pain afterwards was similar to my feelings when I had my miscarriages. Specifically when talking about Josiah. This line especially got to me, spoken by Yasmen, "You never talk about him. You've never cried for him." My husband and I had many emotional conversations after our miscarriages as I was so frustrated at him for not grieving the same way that I did. Just like Yasmen, I wonder why are you not crying like I am? Why are you not heartbroken like I am? Brillant.

"You're not a robot. You're human."

Another relationship I enjoyed watching develop over the course of the book was Yasmen's relationship with her eldest daughter Deja. She is at an age where her mom is not cool and everything that she does is deemed wrong. We later learn why Deja is so angry at her mom but before then seeing how Yasmen tries to dance a delicate dance with her daughter on making things right between them. Small changes lead to big results.

Rumor had it that Kennedy Ryan can write some pretty good spicy scenes and I can tell you that is 100% the truth. Even with all the serious conversations throughout the book, there was no shortage of intimacy. I can't speak enough about the realistic images you have while reading this book. It was just so beautiful.

Thank you Kennedy for this wonderful book for the universe to enjoy & love.

PS: I am definitely going to try the corn pudding & sweet potato pie pancakes!

Kennedy Ryan WOW this is the first book I've read penned by you, and needless to say I need to review your backlist of books. Before I Let Go is a beautifully written story of one families coping through grief that destroys a marriage. Yasmen (Yas) and Josiah's love story is hopeful, real and truthful on how loss effects ones self.

My emotions were just as torn as those of the characters, and the ending literally burst my heart. The dual perspective showed the reader the differences on how each of us work through conflict and miscommunication. The positive message on therapy was powerful. Sometime we just need to learn the tools on how to resolve heartbreak to move forward.

A poignant family story - 5 stars!!

Thank you Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the complimentary e-book of this novel.

There are truly no words to describe the masterpiece that is Before I Let Go!

Yasmen and Josiah had the kind of love that everyone thought was unbreakable, but when they face a series of losses their life is broken beyond repair. And now, two years post-divorce they are managing their new relationship as co-parents and business owners. As they both try to move on with their lives, we see that the love they shared is still there and still pulling them together.

What I love most about Kennedy’s writing is that she writes about real people going through life and she does it with so much thought and care. As a reader, you know that Kennedy will take you on an emotional journey but you also go through it knowing that you and the characters will be taken care of the entire time. And I can’t thank Kennedy enough for that!

The portrayal of mental health and therapy in this book are done in such a beautiful way. Josiah and Yasmen each have their own journey with therapy and it's so important to see how different they are. I found myself crying so many times because of how honest and raw the dialogue was and how time really allowed them to do the work to heal and to understand their grief.

To say my heart broke for all of them would be an understatement. But seeing them grow and learn to love one another again was everything and more. The friendships in this are equally important and seeing Yasmen find a safe space in her friendships warmed my heart. Yasmen is truly one of my favorite protagonists of all time!

And to all the flight attendants and passengers of my flight, while I read this book, I hope you enjoyed seeing me go through it (hahaha)

cws: death of loved one (off page), stillbirth, depression, grief, passive suicidal ideation (no attempts)

Thank you, NetGalley and Forever/Grand Central Publishing for the arc!

Thanks to Forever for the gifted ARC.

Before I Let Go is a wonderful picture of the realities of marriage and loss, and a beautiful promotion for going to therapy. Yasmen and Josiah experience two big losses in a row, causing their marriage to fall apart. They're clearly still meant for each other, and as they process and work through their grief, their storyline is beautiful. The picture of intimacy - of really knowing the depths of someone - is so well done in this book. Life isn't always pleasant and positive, and marriage and intimacy are also made for experiencing the depths of grief together.

My one drawback to this book was the level/frequency of open-door scenes, which is a personal preference that I don't love, so I did skip over quite a few of those. But, I love the cast of characters in Before I Let Go, and am excited to see that it's listed as the first in a series.

4.5 Stars!

This book is so much more than a marriage reconciliation romance. Kennedy Ryan gave us a story to shows us how grief affects the entire family.

Kennedy Ryan portrayal of grief and depression is simply heartbreaking and real. Yasmen and Josiah’s journey will absolutely grab your heart. I always make sure to read the dedications and author notes, but I definitely want to make sure others read the authors note at the end.

Therapy is a big proponent in this book, and mental health in general. There are definitely things in this book that could be triggering, so do take care before starting this book.

Yasmen and Josiah’s love for each other shine through the entire book. Their story is messy, passionate, and absolutely real.

If there's something in this world that makes me believe in love - the pure undying kind of love - its Kennedy Ryan’s writing.

Kennedy’s books constantly leave me aching during and after them, like an experience i just can't get over. They hurt in the absolute best way, with every emotion and every struggle her characters go through, I can feel my heart clench as well.

Yas and Si were absolute powerhouses, such amazingly complex characters you couldn’t help but love, ache, and cheer for every step of the way. Their separate stories of healing touched a cord in me, the feeling of a deep hopeless pit you couldn’t get out of and the slow transition of becoming yourself once more could not have been more impactful.

Without a doubt, this is one of the best books I’ve read this year. Every single aspect of this book captured me - mind, body, and soul. It was a full body and emotional experience I couldn’t get over and never wanted to get over. I 100% recommend this book but please take note to read the list of TWs before you do!

Kennedy Ryan truly hit it out of the park with this stunning second chance romance. It has all the angst you would expect in a slow burn, especially between a divorced couple, plenty of steam, and alllllllll the heart. More trauma-informed romances please, and thank you!!

This story is told in dual perspective of Josiah and Yasmen--a couple who has survived great grief and absolute devastation in a succession of quick personal deaths, but whose marriage did not survive with them. Si and Yas still circulate around each other like magnets because they run a top of Atlanta soul food restaurant and healthily co-parent their two kids (ages 10 and 13). Watching them hide their true feelings for each other as they tried to move on by dating others made me want to pull my hair out at times, but the slow burn built to some fun tropes:
- only one bed, - "let's just get this out of our systems," - "we're just hooking up no feelings."

This is. a love story of two people who have been through it but choose each other. I have never seen such beautiful depictions of therapy in fiction or genre romance. In an author's note at the end, Kennedy explains that she has struggled with depression in the past. Her lived experience was so well reflected in the deep pain and grief that Yasmen experienced--it was so visceral.

This story is devastating and beautiful--Kennedy has some of the most poetic romance writing around and we are blessed as readers that Forever picked this up.

Please check content warnings cause this one packs a grief punch- death, death of parents, child death, stillbirth, depression, divorce.

Thanks to NetGalley and Forever Pub/Hachette US for the e-ARC in exchange for a truthful review.

There are so many words that can be used to express how powerful this author and this book is. I don't know if I can even find the words to articulate properly how deeply this book affected me on a very molecular level.

I wrote the above paragraph the night after I finished BILG and I still cannot fully grasp how much this book and the story held between its pages affected me.

I guess all that's left to say is you need to read it ASAP. Go now, go get it and lose yourself in this phenomenal book.

*Received ARC through NetGalley. Voluntarily reviewed *

Wow. I need to start by saying this review will in no way do justice to this beautifully written book. I'm so thankful to Forever and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion and introducing me to the writing of Kennedy Ryan! 💕 This read, which I finished on my way from Boston to South Carolina to spend my birthday weekend with my parents, was a great way to be welcomed to the South!
Before I Let Go, written in dual POV, tells the story of Yasmen and Josiah, business partners who have been divorced for about two years. They co-parent two children and one dog, inherited when Josiah's aunt who raised him and worked with them passed away a few years earlier. As the story progresses, the reader is exposed to an additional loss that occurred around Aunt Byrd's death, and the trauma that led to their divorce.
The book has excellent mental health representation and emphasizes how helpful therapy (and taking the time to find the right therapist match) can be, even for someone who doubts the efficacy. Family and friendship dynamics are described in such detail that I felt like I knew each person. The mouth-watering food descriptions made me crave Southern cooking - I dare you to read this and not want to try Vashti's ribs and Soledad's vinaigrette (the recipe is included for that one!).
This is a heavier romance than the light romcoms I usually read, but this is so well written that I had trouble putting it down. And while I'm an emotional reader, this book only brought me to tears once. I highly recommend this - but check out the content guidance to be prepared for some of the heavier topics.

CONTENT GUIDANCE: depression, complicated grief, still birth, passive suicidal ideation

Oof my angsty heart. This was so raw, real and beautiful. My heart ached for Yasmen and Josiah.⁣
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A divorced couple, navigating life with two children, a family business and a bucket full of hurt and grief. We follow these two from their start to their end, all of the heart break in between and the work it took to try to find their way back to each other. ⁣
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I loved this so much and I think it was because this portrayed the true struggles in relationships and families. While there is sunshine and rainbows in marriages, there is also hurtful words, losses of loved ones, battles fought with children, miscommunication and also so much love and this showed all the beautiful and ugly things couples endure together and broken. ⁣
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My heart was squeezed and slowly put back together in such a beautiful way. I don’t have the words for how much I felt this in my heart and soul and felt for them as a family. Their friends were also so amazing and supportive. The chemistry between Yasmin and Josiah was 🔥🔥🔥.⁣
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Before I Let Go
By: Kennedy Ryan
Pub date: November 15th

Novel dedication: "To the strong girls, to the hustlers, to the superwomen, tend our hearts with ruthless care.. and rest."

Read if you like:
- Soulmates
- Divorced couple co-parenting
- Divorced couple running a business
- Mental health representation
- Second chance romance
- Swoon, steam, EMOTIONAL

Kennedy Ryan is one of my all time favorite authors. She has written so many beautiful novels, and Before I Let Go is no exception. The epitome of raw, real, emotional and heart heavy second chance romance, featuring a divorced couple - Josiah and Yasmen, as they navigate their hearts and love, all while co-parenting and running a thriving business.

This book was full of emotional angst, an incomparable form of love, and journey to one's soulmate. These characters were beautifully written, and I so enjoyed both the scenes between the love interests, but the incorporation of their children, friends and supportive characters. Ryan doesn't shy away from the hard topics in life, and I so admire that about her writing.

This novel features mental health representation, depression, grief and death of a loved one. I felt each topic was handled with such grace and compassion. This book is truly a must read, and I would absolutely recommend Before I Let Go to readers.

Thank you @netgalley and @readforeverpub for my gifted copy in exchange for an honest review. This was without a doubt a 5 star read.

Content warnings: Death of a loved one (off page), stillbirth, depression, grief, passive suicidal ideation (no attempts)

Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan
Rating: 5 stars
Steam: 3 chilis
Pub Date: 11/15

“There is only one letter difference between love and lose, and somewhere along the way, for me they became synonymous.”

I’m not going to be able to put into words how much this book means to me, so bear with me. I truly loved all of it: the friendships, the family, and the love. This second chance romance will stay with me for a long time, and I can already say that this is going on my favorites list for this year.

Let’s get the heavy stuff out of the way. This isn’t a fluffy, happy-go-lucky romance. It’s about love and loss and feeling hopeless. It’s real and raw but also poignant and hopeful. You will laugh and cry right along with Yasmin and Josiah, and I promise that you will be rooting for them right from the start.

Yasmin and Josiah are divorced and trying to navigate co-parenting and co-business ownership together. We see through both of their POVs how the relationship fell apart, and wooooow it is hard to watch. But we also get to experience how they slowly make their way back to each other, and it is an incredible journey.

I loved the mental health progression, the positivity about therapy, and what doing the work to heal yourself emotionally means. What stuck with me the most was that no matter what was going on with Yasmin and Josiah, they always respected each other and put their kids first. These felt like real people struggling with relatable situations and emotions and Ryan’s writing made me feel like I was a part of the story. On top of all the angsty, second chance, will-they-won’t-they vibes, the steam is the kindle-melting kind. Top-notch! Seriously, what’s not to love?!

Unfortunately, I am well acquainted with the complicated emotions that come from infant loss, and I understand too well the different ways people handle grief. That being said…this book did not make me sad, even though I cried through a good chunk of it. It made me feel seen and understood, and that is a beautiful feeling. So thank you so much to Kennedy Ryan for this uplifting and heartfelt story. Big thanks to NetGalley and Forever Pub for the gifted ARC, too. Before I Let Go is out on 11/15.

This was such a beautiful yet heart wrenching story! Kennedy Ryan always brings us all of the emotions.

Yasmen was such an amazing character. She was just so real and so honest. After suffering a tragic loss she finds herself failing at her life. Overall she just feels like she has failed herself, her marriage and just at life in general. She is really just overwhelmed and needed help on navigating all of her feelings and emotions. It was amazing to see her grow and learn to cope with the life that she was dealt. She starts to realize that what she has always needed or wanted has always been right in front of her. She really starts to question her WHY. Why can she not move on? Why is she stuck?

Josiah has always loved Yasmen. He is also trying to navigate his new normal. He tries really hard to move forward, however, realizes he still has strong feelings and does not want to give up. Can he move on from the past? Is it the right thing to do?

Kennedy takes you on such an emotional rollercoaster. This story was so realistic and angsty. It really grips at all the trials and tribulations of marriage and relationships in general.

This is a MUST READ!!

This was my first Kennedy Ryan read and I was not disappointed!

This book was beautifully written and its themes were so carefully explored. Ryan's writing is gorgeous and captivating the entire way through.

Yasmen and Josiah’s chemistry is intense and undeniable, but it is also deeper than just physical attraction. Their story is real, as in, it is not a fairy tale. They are, both individually and together, dealing with trauma, grief, and mental health struggles, while trying to heal, find their joy, and rebuild their trust in each other.

A few other aspects that I enjoyed included the humor, healthy co-parenting, loving friendships, and the advocacy of therapy. This is a second chance romance done so so right, and it's easily one of my favorite romance stories ever.

(Don't forget to check the trigger warnings )

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC!

Yasmen and Wade are #goals on so many levels - from their killer business and expansion, to their great coworking/coparenting relationship, to the people they surround themselves with... I loved this book and watching their real life play out. This was realistic portrayal of a relationship and aspirational at the same time.