This book was amazing!! I loved the story between Judah and Soledad. Also loved the minor characters in the book. It was such a great story but also sad. The slow burn was so good! I also enjoyed the relationship Judah had with his ex wife and how they were still on good terms and had a good relationship with their boys. Awesome job Kennedy!! Can’t wait for the next book!

Soledad was so unexpected. I was surprised to see how much fight and bite she had in her. This romance is about recovery and a new beginning and I felt satisfied in her journey. I had moments where I was GASPING AND CRYING from anger on her behalf. I couldn't put this book down. Everything Kennedy Ryan writes is 5 stars but this book was unexpected and wonderful. I can't wait to read Hendrix's story and everything else by Kennedy Ryan.

Soledad Barnes is everything to everybody. She is the homemaker, the problem solver, and the primary parent. But when shit hits the fan and the life she built with her douche of a husband falls apart she is forced to pick up the pieces to keep herself and her daughters going.

Of course, because she is beautiful and amazing an unlikely man enters the picture but has she reconnected with herself enough to trust herself to fall in love again?

Can she make room for possibilities?

✨✨✨

Soledad was so unexpected. She was someone I deeply related to and I was surprised to see how much fight and bite she had in her. When we met her in Before I Let Go, I assumed that her journey would be met with a lot of resistance on her part rather than the desire to want more for herself.

This romance is about recovery and a new beginning and I felt satisfied in her journey. I had moments where I was GASPING AND CRYING from anger on her behalf.  I think the only thing that kept it from being a 5-star was some of the development between her and her daughter Inez.

In comparison to Before I Let Go, where Yasmen and Deja had a very cathartic conversation that helped shape their connection and bring it to life, I felt like we didn’t get that as much between Inez and Soledad. The girls are navigating something really intense with their father but unlike the first book, I felt like I didn’t feel the intensity as much which made them a little flat. But then again, it is a beginning, whereas with Before I Let Go, their story feels like almost the middle of a healing journey.

Overall, it’s a must-read. You don’t need to read Before I Let Go to read this one thought I definitely recommend that you do to be grounded with all the characters!

Wow it must have been meant for me to read this book at this time because I swear this is what my husband did to me. Making me feel insecure every chance he could and the final blow up said some things to me that made me feel that I never knew him and I too had been with him for over two decades. And I also got a call, letter letting me know after an annual that I had chlymidia as well. What a dirty bastard???? And then the audacity to blame her for getting it, “The notion of me being unfaithful to you is ridiculous. If you have the clap, I’m asking who you’ve been with.”

The questions Soledad asked of herself while she confronted the asshole in prison are all questions I have wondered about my marriage. How long has he been looking right through me? Not seeing the woman I’ve become? Did he ever love me? Is he even capable of it?

The questions he asked Sol when she was leaving is all questions that were thrown at me when I was put out of me and my husbands home. “You can’t do this,” Edward hurls at my back. “You have no money. They’ll take the house. What do you have without me, Sol? You won’t survive.”

I too feel like Sol. I only have two best friends like Sol and to have to tell them everything that has gone down in my marriage over the last year and the final breakdown/argument was pure embarrassment because I know they too knew and had their thoughts about my husband. It’s like I have been living a lie like Sol.

I ask myself the same questions why would I even be thinking about a man when I am still married to a scumbag? A woman who hasn’t been touched with any real passion in months. Years?” How long has it been since things felt right between Edward and me? Now I just want him out of my life, which leaves a void I probably shouldn’t fill with another man right away. I have other things to focus on.”

I have had to have my mother and brothers to keep me afloat as Soledad has her best friends to do.

Inez the middle child challenges Soledad just as my middle child has done with the pending breakup and chose to stay with her father.

“I’m only now realizing how he subtly cut me down all the time to keep me feeling dependent on him for my worth. All these years I thought we were working together, but Edward thought I wasn’t working at all. He viewed me as a dependent, not a partner, even though he couldn’t have accomplished half of what he has without me.”

“I’m glad you asked. Do they dismiss your feelings as ‘crazy,’ but others in your life don’t agree? Do you often feel manipulated? Controlled? Like you’re losing your sense of self? Then you might be married to a narcissist.”

“No one is on the way to rescue you. No one is on the way to save you and your girls. At the end of the day, it’s up to you.”

Soledad is an amazing woman and so giving when she is even down!!! Reminds me of myself.

“Knowing how to be solitary is central to the art of loving. When we can be alone, we can be with others without using them as a means of escape.”

Wow I have thought about all of this. Where did I go wrong? You should have given him more blow jobs. Cooked better, cleaned better, anticipated his needs. He wanted someone more ambitious. No, more docile. No, more outspoken. Because he obviously wanted someone who wasn’t you.

I’m interested in are the ones about myself. Shouldn’t I have known? The fundamental question becomes not Can I trust another man again?, but Can I trust myself? He was a bad man, yes, but was I a bad judge of character? And would I be again? What will I accept in.

I need to do this. There’s something bold about eating alone, enjoying your own company and not waiting for nobody.

“I’ve come to realize that a woman who wants more and realizes she deserves it is a dangerous thing.”

Wow Soledad I was so happy she got it in to Edward as parting words!!

I am so glad that Soledad got to confront Amber and wish that I too could find out why my life fell apart because I know there is someone else but my husband has done a good job keeping that part separate and a secret!!!

All good advice from Yasmen and I needed to hear this as well. “You were standing on your own,” Yasmen interjects. “Edward wasn’t around at the end. He wasn’t present. He wasn’t loving. You were raising those girls, managing that house, building your investment portfolio. The only way that man could build real wealth was to steal it. He tried to tear you down. He needed more from you than you ever needed from him. It’s his bad luck you finally figured that out.”

“As fast as God gives,” Yasmen says, “as fast as you get. I am waiting on my blessing but I just hope I will know when mine is at my door and I don’t turn it away.

“When we have hard times, huge changes that seem to be the end of the world as we know it, it’s actually an incubator for metamorphosis. For a new beginning.”

“She was in love with two men in her life.” Soledad leans against the stairwell wall. “Lola’s father and mine. Lola’s dad was that passion that burns so hot it consumes you. Her love for my father was...softer, warm, not hot, but it was that enduring kind of fire that just keeps burning and lets you glow.” She bites her lip as if uncertain how to go on, but I let her figure it out in the silence, afraid anything I might say would ruin it. “I used to think of that great passion as a vine that wraps around your soul, makes you feel wild and abandoned and almost out of control. And I thought of what she had with Dad as a seed that grows slowly within. Something you nurture over time that makes you feel safe and secure.” She looks up at me, resolve and wonder in her expression. “I was never sure I had either with Edward, but with you I’ve found both. You make me forget the world when you kiss me, and it’s reckless and out of control, and yet there is no safer place. No one I trust more. You’re a harbor, not just for me, but for your boys, for your ex, for anyone you love and who needs you. You are the seed and you are the vine, and I love you, Judah.”

This is what scared Sol and this is what I would love. It I know it would scare me too!!!

I guess I need to go on a self love journey to be ready when God places someone in my life that loves me unconditionally.

Kennedy Ryan does it again. This book was a warm hug and a lot less heartbreaking than the first one—heartbreak is my go to tho. She has a way of bringing awareness to important topics with a tender and realistic approach. I absolutely I love the way she incorporated recipes and household hacks in this story. I loved this so much and cannot wait for Hendrix’s story!

Kennedy Ryan never disappoints. Loved taking this journey of self love and finding yourself again after betrayal with Soledad. Judah was the strong, stoic, and steady hero that was easy to love and the chemistry between them was sizzling but tender. I put off reading this ARC for a week because I knew that her writing deserves your full attention. I always get immersed in whatever world she creates. Before I let go was a top read for me last year and this book is right there up with it. Can’t wait for Hendrix’s book next.

This book is a Romance for Women who feel overwhelmed, Overlooked and under valued! It’s about the love we have for ourselves and the value of who we are as nurturers.

This follows Soledad’s journey giving us a deeper look into things hinted at in Before I Let Go. I love Soledad’s development! I liked her in BILG but getting to know her was poetically beautiful!

Some may consider this a slow burn, when it comes to Edward I was incredibly frustrated but both items frustrated me in the way life does so often. I believe that is the beauty of Kennedy Ryan’s writing, it’s realistic and hopeful at the same time.


Where BILG tackled Mental Health through grief and depression; TCBU looks through Autism and Self Esteem! Mental
Health is handled deliberately, delicately and with care. It gives a clear understanding and helps to build empathy in real life.

I will be buying this book upon release and shouting its praises!

Oh my goodness I SO enjoyed this book! And it’s odd because when I realized who it was about, I wasn’t sure that I would. Soledad’s character in the book right before this one wasn’t one that I paid much attention to or particularly enjoyed. In reading this book, though, I am so glad that I decided to give it a chance, even though the story was about her. I so enjoyed the writing style the subject matter, and even when Soledad was getting on my nerves, making decisions with which I did not agree, I could understand where she was coming from because the author developed her character so fully. When I was not reading this book, I would find myself wondering what the characters were doing, and being in a haste to get back to it. I literally did not want this story to end. It was a well written, it was funny, it was real, and very relatable. I cannot wait for the next book in the series to come out.

Kennedy Ryan is such a queen! I can always count on her to deliver such meaningful messages, wrapped up in a sweet romance novel. I loved the ASD representation and the healthy coparenting between Judah and Tremaine. Soledad and her girls are just so sweet and remnant of Yas and her girls in Before I Let Go. I just love it! I love to see the healthy relationships that Kennedy Ryan writes between mothers and their daughters. As well as women finding out who they are and loving themselves in spite of the men they married. Sol’s journey to finding herself again and sharing it with other women was just so sweet and definitely something I would watch a real life content creator do! I especially loved Hendrix in this!! That girl is absolutely hilarious. I found myself laughing out loud at her banter. I was so glad to see at the end that the next book will be about her. So excited!

Full review will be posted on release day! Thank you for the ARC!

This book was phenomenal! I related to Soledad’s journey of healing so much. I felt affirmed that my journey has meaning and is important. I loved how Kennedy explored the family dynamic of having children on the spectrum and with disabilities. The fears we may face. I’ve already put my review on TikTok!

I loved BILG, but this? Omg. I had no idea what to expect and this book exceeded anything I could’ve imagined by miles. It got way worse before it could get better but when it did? Glorious! 10, 10, 10s across the board!

This book is literally amazing. I would do anything for this couple. My favorite book by far and I’ve read everything by this author!

I really loved the development of Sol and getting to know more about her. The mmc was such a perfect match for her. Every scene between these two I fully ate it up! In general, I found myself wanting more between these two. It did read as a lit fic, which is one of my qualms about this book. There should’ve been more time between Sol and the mmc. The epilogue even had the opportunity to take it there, but fell short. Eager to see what the final product will be as I’m highly invested in this series and in these characters!

Thank you to Netgalley and Grand Central Publishing Group/Forever Publishing for the ARC.

Thank you NetGallery for the ARC. I loved this one more than Before I Let Go. Sol and Judah were such deep characters that made me feel so much. My only issue was that it felt slowly fast paced? If that makes sense. Everything was nicely paced, but at a certain point, I felt it shift and then the timeline seemed to speed up in order to end the book and I really feel like more thing had been truly resolved, especially with Sol's Daughters and her ex.

Wow wow wow this book!! I could not put it down. This was my first book by this author and I will definitely be reading more from her!

Soledad was such a strong beautiful character. Her journey to self love is something more people need to focus on!
And Judah!! He was such a wonderful dad and partner to Soledad. Their relationship is what to aspire to!!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

I was rooting for Soledad and Judah the entire book. It was too long (by about 50 pages) but overall, I enjoyed it. This is solidly in the General/Women's Fiction category. I wouldn't label it a romance or market it as such.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the ARC.

I honestly don't even know where to start. This was not what I expected, it was more.

As the main characters, I love Sol and I love Judah both so much. Sol's entire journey and story was just so amazing to witness and Judah was just perfection. I love reading about them individually and together and that's a key component on what makes a romance work for me. Though romance is not the only sole focus which was another factor on why I enjoyed the book as much as I did (I know not everyone's a fan of that though). I love the themes and messages that were explored here. I came into the book, loving Before I Let Go and now I came out adoring This Could Be Us. And I definitely can't wait for the day when we'll get our hands on Hendrix's story too.

Kennedy Ryan keeps just getting me involved then just making this whole series my world. Like we can not allow her to get keep get away with this.

This is a journey of finding your way back to yourself and allowing love to find you. I thought my heart was prepared for what could possibly happen in the story and I was excitingly wrong. Soledad goes through a grueling disillusionment with her life and what she thought it was. She has to find a way to back herself and figure out how life and love works for her and her daughters now that she’s lost so much. I felt her pains and I swear I had my metaphorical machete in my hand with her. I went through my full spectrum of emotions. The plot was twisty and the chemistry was on fire. I am always amazed by the way that the parents depicted in the story love their children. Judah’s love and devotion to his children healed my inner child and gave me moment to pause and feel all many feelings. Not only an amazing father but the way he shows his care for Sol is unreal. He leaves room for her to find herself and still have her back without compromising himself. They both learn to love themselves to find each other. I loved this book and I took Sol's mom's words to heart learning to love myself without judgement or conditions.

This is a book for all of us who have been through life leaning to be hornets.

Kennedy Ryan just gets it. You can tell she does her research into every character she writes on the page. The inclusivity is just always leaves me awestruck because she makes it so simple.

I throughly enjoyed Soledad and Judah’s love story. It’s a trying story filled with hurt, confusion, generosity, compassion and patience. Sometimes I was frustrated with and for them! However, they taught me that love comes in so many ways and patterns.

The way they eventually make space for each other even though their respective lives were SO complicated really gives me hope. I enjoyed this book and I would recommend the Skyland Series to anyone.

Can’t wait to read Hendrix’s story.