An excellent, heartfelt and authentic start to a promising series. Kennedy Ryan is growing on me and is undoubtedly one of my top authors of 2023!

Long Shot is the first book of the Hoops series and is an intense read. Kennedy Ryan does not only shed light on the cut-throat, relentless nature of basketball but also domestic violence and abuse. Readers are warned that the description can be detailed and vivid and is not for the faint-hearted. Though it is a romance read, and the chemistry and growth of our beautiful protagonists (Iris and August) are heart-soaring, this book is so much more. It sheds light on belonging, the wisdom of the people who have walked before us and connecting to our true selves. This book spoke to me on multiple levels, and I was left reeling with a severe book hangover. The author has a distinct and amazing writing style etched with a mark of authenticity. The supporting characters have so much potential; I cannot wait to dig into their stories!

“ I have the power to determine when I share myself and when I will withhold. Your body is yours. Yours to keep and yours to share.”

Thank you to NetGalley & SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books for this e-ARC. This honest review is left voluntarily.

This book does deal with some heavy subject matter but did so in a way that felt real but could definitely be triggering for some people. I haven't really read a lot of sports romances that deal with basketball so I was excited to give this one a go. I liked both the main characters. August is a true gem of a human being and Iris is such a strong individual who has gone through/is going through a lot. I couldn't help but root for them.

💔💔💔 This book is an eye-opener and heartbreaking! 💔💔💔

This story breaks your heart, tears it apart and lets it bleed to death. It is not for the faint and weak of heart. It is an outcry to the world, to finally open their eyes and see behind the façade of the poor and weak and helpless, to save them from their misery and the endless suffering they have to endure, and to protect them from the monsters of this world.
God knows this story is not an easy read, but it is excellently written, with a topic that is unfortunately all too often glossed over and swept under the carpet: Violence and abuse against women, in whatever form!

I read another Kennedy Ryan book earlier this year and it was really well done, which drew me to this one.

Lovely cover. I am not really a fan of basketball stories, and this one didn't catch me. I stopped after chapter 1. It's easy to read and easy to follow.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the ARC.

So this book. I don't know what to say. I totally recommend it. Just be warned that it isn't a light book. What you read is not just fiction because it happens to too many people.

Let's talk about the good stuff. I loved August. He was a good man. A beautiful man. A pure man. I loved everything about him. And just his whole character I adored. Iris was a strong woman. A beautiful person. A powerful woman. And she went through stuff no one should have to but she came out the end. She had something to fight for and fight she did.

Now the bad. The book contains triggering topics. And it's not talked about lightly. I don’t have a lot of triggers but this book took me on a ride and at times I had to take breaks and I cried.

This book did have a happy ending. A happy love story. She got her prince. She and her daughter are safe.

Review also posted to Goodreads

DNF at ~20%.

The premise of this story was great, but the trigger warnings definitely weren't detailed enough for me to anticipate the kind of content that was included in this story.

So, unfortunately, based on some of the sensitive subjects covered in this story, I will not be continuing to read it.

2 ⭐️ because I'm not able to submit this review without a rating.

NOTE: ARC received in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Just wrap me up in a blanket and serve me some tea. You know how you get that feeling when you want to read a book that's going to give you the emotions? This is it. It's the book you read when you want feels.

Whew, Kennedy Ryan always takes you on an adventure. One of the good things about reading these kind of stories is knowing that the villain is going to get got, and with any luck in a very spectacular fashion. So although some parts were hard to keep pushing through due to the subject matter, the amount of winning at the end was worth it.

The way August just knew, from jump, that Iris was his. It's what book boyfriend dreams were made of. And he's not sitting there doing the minimum because ole dude was beyond evil. I feel that Iris's emotions and thoughts surrounding her situation was well thought out and treated with care.

Please, please check trigger warnings before reading this.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bloom Books for an e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

♾️/5
you guys. this book. it was AMAZING.

i’ve never read a book more raw, more heartbreaking, more beautiful than this one. this book gave me hope, broke it, ripped me apart, and then put me back together again. this book was hard to read at times… but seeing how patient August was with Iris… such a sweet, unconditional love.

please please PLEASE look up TW before reading this book.

Reading Long Shot was absolutely gut wrenching and this definitely is a boon that NEEDS to come with a long list of trigger warnings and content warnings. Without giving too much away, the depicted scenes of rape are extremely brutal and graphic and in my eyes extremely traumatizing. I am not sure where to draw the line between needing to state the reality of many many women and it being trauma porn.
Nevertheless, the story is an absolute must read. The women Kennedy Ryan writes are extremely strong and don’t need any men to save them!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I don't have the words to describe how much I LOVED THIS BOOK.
It was so real it gave me anxiety. Caleb was absolutely a piece of shit and Iris's mother, omg I wanted to kill her myself. What a bunch of despicable human beings.
August was so sweet and man, the love he has for Iris , and the respect, got me all swoony. Their love storie was so beautiful it made cry.
I really loved this.

Kennedy Ryan’s Long Shot is more than just a love story, it's a story about survival and finding trust in yourself and others again. This book was heartbreaking, beautiful, and inspirational. It opened my eyes to what it looks like to find love and healing again after trauma.

There were times that I had to put this book down because of all the emotions I was feeling. My heart ached for Iris and what she had to go through. Her story was tragic but beautiful and I loved her so much. Kennedy Ryan put tons heart and research into this book that it felt like I knew August and Iris and saw them grow as people before they came together as a couple.

I absolutely loved the way Iris and August’s love story played out. Their love was patient, kind, honest, and one I loved reading about. This was my first Kennedy Ryan book and it won't be my last!

Thank you Kennedy Ryan for writing such a beautiful/heartbreaking story with such heart and understanding. You are absolutely amazing!

I loved this book from the start. The way they meet, their banter was funny and the chemistry was there from the start, I loved that for once it involved basketball. August and Iris were two soul mates, wonderful characters. If you love sport romances this one is perfect for you.

Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks Bloom Books for the ARC!

I have loved the couple of Kennedy Ryan books I’ve read and this was no different! I love basketball and there aren’t enough basketball romances out there!

This one was packed full of emotion (check your TWs!) as our MC has been through massive trauma and tragedy. The romance is a bit insta-love for me but the story overall was really impactful and raw. This isn’t the light and fluffy sports romance that you might be expecting, so definitely go in knowing that this one is heavyyyyy but also so powerful.

Thank you to Netgalley and Kennedy Ryan for the e-book. Wow this was an intense and moving read. Be sure to check the trigger warnings because this gets graphic.

“Struggle does not make you weak. Struggling against those who hold us is what makes us, over time, stronger than they are. Strong enough to fight back strong enough to win.”

I went into this knowing that Kennedy Ryan does her due diligence and she tackles difficult issues eloquently but honestly. What she writes here is based on countless interviews with survivors. It’s hard not to heard their voices in these pages. This is a story about domestic abuse, celebrity privilege, sexual violence and emotional healing. Yes there is a sports romance between the two main characters but that is not the main theme here.

I’m ashamed that at the start of this book I had thoughts like “you don’t owe him anything. Walk away.” Or “if you don’t want this, it’s ok to terminate.”. But as the book progressed I realized that I made the judgements that so many people make of women who are being controlled by their partners. The violence is graphic but it’s not gratuitous; it’s important to understanding and feeling deeply how even “strong” women can become trapped in a cycle of abuse. I had to set the book down and just sit with the heaviness of knowing that while the characters are fictional, the situations are not.

“ I have the power to determine when I share myself, and when I will withhold. Your body is yours. Yours to keep and yours to share.”

Iris and August are soulmates and I know the insta-love trope gets a lot of flack but it feels different here. It’s not necessarily “insta-love”, it’s immediate attraction and it’s that pull you feel when you find someone who “sees” who you are from the beginning. I believe there are people that our hearts just know they are safe with. It’s not always romantic but it’s visceral. That’s what Iris and August’s relationship felt like.

The thing I really appreciated here was that while August had a role in Iris’s recovery, he wasn’t the key. It took space and time, family and friends, therapy and treatment to get there. It was just as important as the message that you never know what happens behind closed doors. Recovery isn’t linear and it isn’t singular.

Bravo Kennedy for another amazing book. You continue to blow me away with your work. This one will stick with me for a long time.

Where to begin?
I only very recently read the Grip series by Kennedy Ryan, and absolutely fell in love with her style of writing. As soon as I heard she had this book on the way, I knew I would want to read it immediately.
Kennedy's books are epic. By that, I mean that you could be reading for hours and still only be 10% in. Those are my favourite kind of books. They take you on a journey, spanning years and you are right there watching the characters grow. You know you have that time to get attached, that the story isn't going to end just as you are starting to feel. And oh, the feels. Right from that prologue, I had a wobble and I knew that I was in for an emotional ride.
Another thing I love about her books is that you read them and you learn something. They make you stop and think about the fact that this stuff actually happens in real life. Her stories are raw and they are REAL. Yes, this book has an amazing hero, but for me, it was all about Iris. I fell so hard in love with that woman. She was so strong and fierce and I admired her for everything she had to deal with. Her story had me sobbing and wanting to reach into my kindle to give her a hug. To me, Iris is the perfect heroine.
August. *sighs* - That man knew what he wanted from the very first moment he laid eyes on her. He played the long game and never gave up, no matter how defeated he was at times. He loved Iris with all that he had and did everything in his power to protect her.
Kennedy Ryan has a habit of breaking your heart into lots of little pieces, and then slowly puts it back together again and I love her for it. LONG SHOT is a story of hope, strength, faith, love, and second chances. It wasn't all hearts and flowers, but you have to trust the process and know that everything will turn out okay in the end.

I read the description of this book and thought it would be just another sports romance, cookie cutter, but good. I was wrong. This book hooked my attention from the get-go and had me up reading until 4AM on a school night and I don't regret it one bit. I came home and could NOT put it down until I finished it. It made me cry reading what Iris went through, some people will find this triggering, and may not be able to read it, but I think giving a voice to these stories not only helps others understand what these women go through, but it also lends hope for a future to those who go through these scenarios. As someone whose best friend had a similar situation to this, I have cried in the kitchen at 2AM with my best friend because what she went through is unthinkable, but it was real.

This b0ok grabbed my attention and held it from beginning to end. I will 100% be reading the next books whether they are given to me as ARC's, or I have to buy them. This will be one of my books that I will NOT accept criticism on. I'm blown away by the detail of the writing, the different ways that Kennedy Ryan found to give description to how they felt in the book. The soulmate romance between August and Iris, and her little girl. It was truly beautiful to see that happy ending. I loved it. I'm going to be a die-hard fan of this author's writing, I think.

Oh my gosh!! Such a beautiful story. Kennedy Ryan did an amazing job with this. It is a sport romance that made me feel so much. Her writing is filled with so much emotion and is very powerful. This book warmed my heart and made me cry multiple times. I love the characters, Iris and August. I love the way Kennedy Ryan makes her character have depth, real emotions and layers. This book is so moving and I recommend you read it! It’s is amazing.

I first read this book in May of 2022 and I couldn’t think of anything else for weeks. This is the kind of book that is all consuming. It sucks you in, puts you through a tornado of emotions, and then spits you back out a changed person. I was so thrilled for Kennedy Ryan when I saw that this book had been picked up and was being republished so that even more people could read this beautifully heartbreaking story.

I adore Iris and how real her character is. She made mistakes, maybe should have done some things differently, but that’s life. No one is perfect and everything she had to endure was horrible but she made it through. August is EVERYTHING. God I want to climb that man like a tree. I don’t want to give anything away with spoilers so I’ll just say I loved the way he supported Iris no matter what. They are perfection together.

I think the way that Kennedy Ryan dealt with the very tough subjects in this book was done fantastically. Everyone should definitely check the trigger and content warnings especially if you know there are things that trigger you.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.

Kennedy Ryan writes the best stories with plenty of spice! Fans will be thrilled with "Long Shot" - this is a gread addition to Ryan's work!

Iris and August have something, a spark, a chemistry. However, Iris is with Caleb, a sinister guy disguised as a golden boy.
The stakes are high and someone will lose.
There are very graphic scenes about violence that may not be palatable for some.
Ryan writes with remains, with the knowledge women face the same situations daily. Some get out, some don’t.