Like the magazine column, this is a story of a marriage under pressure. The first thing we learn is how Josiah met Yasmen and fell immediately and hopelessly in love. So, I thought, of course this couple will survive-until I read about the repeated blows of loss they had to withstand.

Josiah and Yasmen are the beautiful, successful couple everyone admires. Despite being divorced for a few years, they continue to work as a team. They have two healthy children, a thriving business and close, supportive friends. But the first several chapters slowly reveal that life has not been kind to them. We never know how we will react to loss until it arrives, and unfortunately, both Yasmen and Josiah have dramatically different ways to face the sudden changes in their lives. Yasmen, crippled by emotion, can't go on until her demons are faced and handled. Josiah, a self professed "fixer", buries the pain and plows through life with little joy or connection. The paths to coping become a wedge that drives them to separate households, but not apart. They see one another almost daily, and their attraction to one another never lessens as time passes.

So, can this marriage survive? Kennedy Ryan respectively takes us through the characters struggles while maintaining that sexual tension that won't allow them to totally abandon each other. This book is not an easy or light romance. Yasmen's depression is all too real for me, as I have spent a lifetime dealing with depression and anxiety. At times, I had to put the book down and take a break, but I couldn't stay away long.

For me, the story spent too much time in therapy, and not enough time in the love they shared. Josiah's development warmed my heart, since it took me decades to convince my spouse to seek therapy. But, I wanted to hear more about Yasmen's girlfriends, Soledad and Hendrix, two strong accomplished women in their own right. And, what about her daughter Day? She sounds like a badass in the making.

Thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for an ecopy of Before I Let Go.

Yasmen and Josiah, although no longer married, are still connected by both their children and their restaurant. But is there a chance for them to have another shot at love? Before I Let Go was my first Kennedy Ryan book, but definitely won’t be the last. She has a way of really letting the reader feel the emotions of the characters, who are all going through issues readers can relate to. The author’s note in the beginning with trigger warnings is something all authors should include in their books.

Sou Driving, Full, Art, Impactful, Wondrous in every single layer..

This is a book of the year novel!!

What do you do when you have a #bookhangover but you don’t want to be released from it?!!!

@kennedyryan1 my all Mocha Girl Book club, (My Sistahs Bookclub)(@hardylovestoreadallthetime @nikkeyreads @booknerdfam @athomewithterri @literaryhalaldiva ) meets this Sunday to talk about this gem and We can’t wait!!

You put our souls on fire with this one Sis!!

Ever single one of us loved loved this gem!!

Peepssss This gem drops in Nov!! Preorder asap so you can read it and you can get in my DMs because baybbbeeeeeeee

Thank you so much @readforeverpub for my gifted copy of this #arc!

Plus, I appreciate you all and Kennedy for putting up with all my DMs buuhahhaa because this one had me oowweeee lol

"Before I Let Go" is a deeply emotional and captivating romance novel written by Kennedy Ryan. This heartfelt story explores the power of love, forgiveness, and second chances, leaving readers immersed in a world of complex relationships and intense emotions. Ryan's writing is beautifully expressive, drawing readers in with its lyrical prose and heartfelt storytelling.

I would recommend to all!

I'm convinced Kennedy Ryan can do no wrong. This was an absolutely beautiful, heart wrenching story about second chances, not just at love but at finding one's self in that love and outside of it. I cried so much reading this and I can't recommend it enough.

Yasmen and Josiah hoped they had a love that would sustain them through every trial, but they found that love alone wasn’t enough. Now divorced, their lives are starting to get back on track. But as they are drawn back to each other time and again, they start to wonder if it’s too late for a second chance at a life together. This one packs an emotional punch.

this book. it was a rollercoaster of emotions from the beginning. you really find yourself wanting to read more about these characters and getting super invested into their story. I love it from the beginning. highly recommend if you want an emotional read!

This is my first Kennedy Ryan book, and let me just say - I get it. I get all the hype. I get all the praise. Frankly, it's probably underselling her, and I loved Before I Let Go so much. This will definitely not be my last Kennedy Ryan novel, that's for sure.

Going into Before I Let Go, I wasn't sure if I was really the right audience for it - not married, not divorced, no kids. But I can understand big emotion, everything you thought you had falling apart, and big love, so I thought I'd give it a go. and friends, I am so, so glad I did. This book was...everything. It had the big emotions, it was steamy and sizzling, and the chemistry between Yasmen and Josiah could probably have burned the literal pages of the book if physics worked that way. I was immediately taken into Yasmen and her character - strong because she's strong, but strong too because she has survived. Uncertain because she was forced to be strong. Filled with love and fierce protection for her children, because she is a mom to 1 more than she has in the car. Even though I have very little shared experience to Yasmen, there were parts that made my throat close and eyes tear up because I felt her emotion so much, and it made me think of so many things in my life that reflected similar emotions if not in situtions.

I have recommended this book to no less than 5 friends and purchased it as gifts for at least 3 more. If mine and all the other reviews haven't been clear enough: read this book. Just read it.

Before I Let Go by @kennedyryan1
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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I couldn’t go any longer without talking about this book.
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Holy moly a whole new level of romance for me!!!! Following the journey of Yasmen and Josiah had me feeling every single emotion imaginable. I was happy, sad, frustrated, anxious, heartbroken, hopeful, and everything in between.
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This isn’t your average second-chance romance. This was a beautiful, ballad of tragedy tearing soulmates apart and the journey of personal healing having the ability to patch up the holes.
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The positive talk around mental health and therapy was absolutely incredible.
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Yasmen’s found family of her friends was beautiful. I know without my friends I wouldn’t survive.
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All in all the books will leave you HUNGRY but also in your feels!
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Thank you to @netgalley for granting my wishlist choice for this book ✨
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I need a copy for my shelves now 🥹

There aren't enough words to express how much I loved this book. All the hype that you see online is absolutely true. This novel is about love, family, loss, grief, depression, etc. It shows emotion so brilliantly and thoughtfully; more than any other book I have ever read.
The story is a second chance romance between a couple that were married but recently divorced after several losses in their lives. They are trying to navigate the space between divorce, parenthood, and owning a successful business. The characters are original and dynamic. Ryan did a brilliant job writing this narrative. The story is so beautifully told that there were times when I cried because the feelings were so accurate and real.
One of the reasons I enjoyed it so much is because I could see myself in the character of Yasmen. Like me, she's a black woman who has experienced divorce, who is also dealing with being a single parent and a professional woman who has experienced the death of someone close to her.
While the book is about so much more than romance, I will say that the chemistry between Yasmen and Josiah is so intense throughout the book, the reader will end up swooning. You can tell how much they love one another, but have also had so many difficulties throughout their marriage and their divorce.
Their complex journey takes twists and turns throughout the novel, but they always show love and respect for one another. I won't spoil the ending, but it's such a wonderful story and these two characters seem to be soulmates. This book is incredible and I'm enthusiastically recommending this novel to all readers.

I really enjoyed this and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to have read it! What a wonderful book!

WOW! All I can say is that this is a heartfelt, must-read. Yasmen and Josiah are the couple that you will find yourself rooting for despite all their blows. Themes of divorce and second-chances will prompt discussions and will make this a great book club read. And, let me talk about that glorious cover. It is eye-catching and makes you want to open the book. Then when you do, you discover deep, rich writing. I can't wait to read more from this author.

NGL, I am so mad with myself for taking so long to get to this book. But let me tell you, once I opened it, I was not putting it down until I finished. The type of emotions that the author pulls out of you while reading will leave you breathless. The way the story unfolded held on tight and would not let go.. I have yet to read a book from this author that I haven't enjoyed. From the flow of the story, to the growth of the characters, I felt like I was watching a movie. Now their daughter, I originally had some words for ms thang, cause she was irritating the mess out of me, but eventually that got resolved. I especially loved the views on mental health, as well as the growth of several of the characters in regards to that. This was such a beautiful , heartwarming, at time heartbreaking and all around am amazing story. I loved it and can't wait for the next book in the series.

This is a book that EVERYBODY should read.

Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan

Type: 📙& 🎧
Rating: 5 Stars

This book was beautifully written and broke me over and over again as I read it. This was my first by Kennedy Rand and it definitely won’t be my last. This book was so relatable for me, because I experienced a loss similar to Yasmen. Without the help of therapy, family, friends, and my son …I wouldn’t have made it. I absolutely loved the narrators for Josiah and Yasmen…they were both phenomenal.

I loved how the characters were in therapy, because in our community (African American/West Indies) it is usually frowned upon. I loved that it showed how Josiah wasn’t for it, but by the end he realized how bad he needed it.

Topics touched on:
✔️Divorce
✔️loss of loved ones
✔️depression & grief
✔️co-parenting
✔️Therapy
✔️ love (losing & rekindling)

-Definitely pick this one up if you have not read it yet. You won’t be disappointed.

Before I Let Go is a second chance, contemporary romance about a post-divorce couple finding their way back to each other. This was quite the slow burn, but I enjoyed the development of the characters and the love between them. Yasmen and Josiah had an authentic connection and had to find their way back to each other after the trauma of what they went through. I also enjoyed Yasmen's girl-tribe and I would love to read more about their stories in the future.

** 4.75 BLUSHES **

Yasmen and Josiah are divorced. Still business partners in their thriving restaurant and they share two children they adore. Two years later, a lot of heartache and water under the bridge, these two feel ready to move forward. Or so they think but their hearts may have other plans.

What could have torn them apart? They obviously loved each other and had a soul mate closeness so something earth shaking had to have happened. We soon learn that Yasmen had an accident in the restaurant which caused the loss of the baby she was carrying. Lying on the floor, helpless to do anything but feel the life draining out of her. Their child did not survive and neither does their marriage.

Josiah also lost his aunt, the woman who was for all intents and purposes, his mother. Yas drowns in her grief, in her guilt and gets further and further away from her husband. Josiah (Si), also grieving, unable to reach his wife, loses himself in the restaurant, working longer and longer hours. Josiah starts dating another woman, despite still having unresolved feelings about how things ended between him and Yas. This was my one bone to pick in this love story, because yes, it is very much a love story. The person he chose to date? It seemed lazy, not too smart and out of character in my humble opinion. Also, the other chick? Yas took it in stride. In that situation, I don’t know that I would have been so easy about it.

Second chance romances are my favorite. I love how the story just flows and feels so authentic. Yas’ journey through depression feels genuine. Therapy, which is still taboo for men and looked down upon in many cultures, is dealt with honestly here. Si is resistant but comes to a point of acceptance with why it is necessary for him.

Side note - can we talk about the besties please? Sassy, loving and protective of Yas like mine are with me. Can Hendrix get her own book? I’m just putting it out there.

Does it make sense if I say that Before I Let Go is gorgeous? I’m not just talking about the cover art. Though that is gorgeous too. It is just gorgeous, sad, funny, angsty and oh so sexy. The longing, the little touches, that deep sigh when THAT man who gives you butterflies is in the room. The “let’s just do it once” swoon worthiness of it all!

Babes go 1-Click this one and snuggle in to savor it.

Kennedy! Girl! You had me at hello.

I tried to pick up/finish this book a few times, but something about it just hasn’t been grabbing me in my reading moods of late. I don’t have any major qualms with what I have read and will leave it as a “me not you” issue for now.

What a complicated life !
Yasmen and Josiah are divorced, but are still running a restaurant business together, and co-parenting their children. Big and messy and awkward. The breakdown ( and build – up ) of their lives is written so realistically and honestly. They go through a great loss together, Yasmen has another major loss, and she becomes depressed ( little wonder) The relationship falters, they divorce, but then each realizes that they still love the other, regardless.
This story is very emotion-filled, and I love that the benefits of therapy are so positively depicted.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book

KENNEDY RYAN NEVER MISSES ! i loved this book with my whole entire soul. when i finished i had to have a physical copy. heartwarming, heart wrenching, all the hearts.

I absolutely love this book. No holds barred. Why? Because it’s so relatable and real about love, loss, grief, depression and complicated familial relationships. There’s no sugar coating at play here. The romance is intense, all encompassing, and worth the work.

Yasmen and Josiah have been divorced for three years now after several traumatic losses back to back. Meanwhile, they’re juggling co-parenting their two kids and co-managing the restaurant they own together.

Sometimes love just isn’t enough. Especially when you lose yourself. It can’t solve everything. But the magnetic attraction between these two can’t be denied though they both protest and declare they’ve moved on.

The sensual tension, the dual POV, the will-they-won’t-they of it all!! This made it a 5-⭐️ for me especially.