This book's strength is how it portrays life in a realistic, thoughtful, and complex way. The romance takes a back seat to this, but if a reader goes in with this expectation, it's a great book.

This Could Be Us

If this isn’t on your radar, what are you waiting for?!? I finished this at the end of February and I’m still thinking of it.

Once again, Kennedy Ryan is one of the most intentional authors I ever come across. There is so much attention given to the little details and that’s what really makes this work stand out. This is my first 5 ⭐️ read of the year. Here are a few reasons why:

💖 This book was so affirming for me. There are gems sprinkled throughout. Have a highlighter handy.
💖 All About Love #iykyk
💖 The representation!!
💖 Self partnering / Self love. I really needed to read this.
💖 Autism rep. Such care was given to these characters. I learned so much.
💖 Delicious food 🤤
💖 Sisterhood. Some of my favorite parts were when the 3 women are together, holding each other up.
💖 Resilience
💖 Like in BILG, there’s a southern charm woven into the story that feels like home to me.
💖 Motherhood.
💖 Judah Cross 🥰 my man, my man, my man 😍

5 FREAKING STAR READ!!! Mrs. Ryan NEVER fails when it comes to the women of Skyland. I saw so much of myself in Soledad and one of my sons in the twins. I think she did an excellent job detailing how a person with autism interacts…it’s apparent how close this story was for Kennedy and her life. Just. Read. It.

DNF @ 50%. I had really high hopes for this as I LOVED before I let go. I was super curious about Soledad and her girls. This started off super strong. The plot line with her husband was not what I was expecting and it was wild right off the bat! I was invested in the story and where it would lead with Judah. As soon as Soledad started becoming an “influencer” is where I lost interest. It felt so repetitive and like it was a constant topic of her being online, talking about modern day social media references, being on live, etc that it was overbearing. I liked the autism rep as well but I felt like that was Jonah’s only identifier/personality trait and that we didn’t know much about him otherwise so the chemistry between him and Soledad was lacking. Overall a sad miss for me!

I loved the second book in this inter-connected series! Soledad quickly becomes a single mother and responsible for all financial situations in her and her daughters' lives. After experiencing repeated heartbreak from her ex-husband, Soledad becomes fiercely independent and puts herself first. Judah is a single dad to two twin boys with autism and is THE most incredible dad! Soledad and Judah have amazing chemistry and truly deserve each other's happiness! Kennedy Ryan wrote another beautiful story in the Skyland series, and I cannot wait to read more from her in the future.

The ideal second chance romance book. This book Is exceptionally written, it explores sisterhood/friendship, family life, self-love / self-discovery, infidelity, managing autism and finding the love you deserve.

Prepare to be emotional and elated at the same time. Soledad’s story is so relatable an engaging,

Straight 5/5!! Must read.

I’m so glad we got Soledad’s story! I didn’t love this one as much as Before I Let Go, but it’s still worth the read!

I LOVED the disability rep - autism, childhood apraxia of speech, and use of a communication device. It made my SLP heart so happy!

If you’re looking for an emotional and heartfelt romance, pick this one up. I enjoyed the emotion, the drama, and the romance. Judah is SUCH a good boyfriend 🥹 The spice was well balanced with the emotional pull for me. There were times where the pacing slowed down a little too much for me, though, so it didn’t keep my attention.

Seeing Soledad’s confidence grow was beautiful. She is so strong, resilient, and an amazing mother. The themes of family and friendship are strong in this one (like in Before I Let Go), and I love that!

I’m excited for Hendrix’s story next!

Thank you to Forever for my eARC in exchange for my honest thoughts!

Whoa, just whoa. Thank you Netgalley for this arc copy of This Could Be Us. Now I need to buy a hard copy because I need this physical book on my bookshelf.

I absolutely loved Before I Let Go and the strong, loyal and honest friendship between Yas, Sol and Hendrix, so getting a more in depth look into Sol’s life and how she was able to pick herself up again after a betrayal in her marriage was beautifully written and I loved every bit of it. How she picked herself up and learned to love herself fully again before committing to anyone else and how she did an amazing job being there for her girls. Not to mention Judah! My goodness, this man, whew, I thought I loved Josiah, but Judah whew, his patience, love and care for anyone that means something to him was amazing to read. The background story of him, his boys and his ex and how they co-parent was amazing to read. I give this book a 5 stars because I love that Sol and Judah got their happy ending and found what works best for them. I can not wait to see what KR has in store for us when it comes to the one and only Hendrix!

I could probably scream about this book for an eternity. The first part was so wild that I was shocked multiple times a chapter. Every reveal was so well written. Part two was absolutely beautiful. Soledad's story was inspiring. She is such a strong and powerful FMC. I loved reading a romance that was about a woman who is a little older and adapting to a new phase in her life. Judah was such a charming and sexy MMC. I loved the way he gave Soledad the space she needed to grow while also showing her that he was ready to love her. I thought that Judah's two autistic sons was written very well. It did a great job of showing the spectrum of ways autistic people experience life and how that impacts the parents raising them. I'll be thinking about this book for a long time!

Kennedy Ryan never misses! This was a slowwwwwww burn but the payoff was so good. This is a romDRAM and in true KR fashion, the content is heavy. Regardless, it is absolutely beautiful, suspenseful, heart wrenching, steamy, and hopeful. I LOVED it!

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced reading copy! I love Kennedy Ryan, and her newest installment in the Skyland series was a great addition to her body of work. Soledad is a mom of three girls and is in a bad marriage, and it gets VERY bad after she meets Judah, an accountant at her husband's firm. After leaving the bad marriage for many reasons (that I won’t divulge because spoilers) she sets out on a journey of self love, discovery, and steamy romance. This book was very different from the first of the Skyland series, but I liked that it was so much about loving yourself, particularly while overcoming trauma and being a working single mom. I think Kennedy Ryan has a great voice, and her pacing is always really well done, blending thoughtful inner dialogue with great plot. Again, another great addition to her growing body of work! I recommend this book for fans of Kennedy Ryan, love stories after a divorce, and contemporary Black romance.

After loving Kennedy Ryan's Before I Let Go, I was eagerly waiting for the next book from her. I couldn't really get into the plot of this romance, unfortunately.

So I initially requested this boo because a lot of people on Instagram were talking about it. I was approved to read it and then realized it was book two haha. So I did read book one and now finished this one. I don’t think you would need to read them in order honestly, it’s about different characters from the same world. I actually liked This Could Be Us more than Before I Let Go. I just liked Soledad and Judah better. I enjoyed there story because there was more real world problems. I don’t really know how to explain it. But the embezzling husband turned ex, and all of his shenanigans. And I liked the found love and how there was such a connection even if it was almost insta love I technically wasn’t. I liked that Soledad read books and was staring bookclub because I can related to that. Also that she was an influencer lol that was a nice touch. Also Edward is such a dick. He is a perfect villain. Kudos to Kennedy Ryan for making us instantly hate him haha. Oh and there is a bit of spicy in this book, consider yourself warned. I would recommend this book to romance readers.
Thanks to Netgalley and forever for the complimentary copy.

Kennedy Ryan is one of the best at writing romances with depth and so much heart and This Could Be Us is no exception. The hero and heroine are superb and their separate journeys are just as impactful as their journey together.

Kennedy Ryan does it again with this beautifully crafted follow up to This Could Be Us.

What I enjoyed most about this one was the friendship amongst Soledad, Hendrix, and Yasmeen. Kent, Tremaine and Judah had a wonderful blended, family dynamic going on. There were so many valid points made. My favorite theme was of dating yourself. Soledad honed in on the importance of loving oneself before loving someone else.

As a 40 year old divorcee in the story, Soledad's life and circumstances could have been easily duplicated. There are many women who marry and think they have found the one, only to find out 20 years later, their youth has been taken advantage of and they are then left to fend for themselves and pick up the broken pieces; as well as be a good mother.

Ryan did a great job of being thorough and sensitive to the autism/autistic spectrum community. There were some parts that were redundant and repetitive.

What didn't really work well for me was the repetitiveness of it all. Yes Edward was crap; yes he went to prison; yes your daughters think Judah was the cause of it. And my goodness, yes she had to downgrade and started driving a Honda Pilot. Mentioning the make and model of the vehicle was overkill.

Outside of those few minor things, I really enjoyed the story of Soledad and Judah. I am looking forward to reading Hendrix's story next spring.

I highly recommend this to any and everyone who will listen.

Kennedy Ryan continues to excel with this second book in the Skyland series! This book is more women's fiction than romance as the main character, Soledad, is on a journey of self discovery and self-partnering after her husband is caught embezzling from his workplace. She is left to be the sole breadwinner for her three girls afterwards and gets into She begins to fall for Judah, the forensic accountant that uncovers her husband's theft. This is a beautiful story of turning life around after trauma. I enjoyed the themes of found sisterhood, healthy co-parenting, and autism in a storyline. Highly recommend!

Thanks to Forever and NetGalley for the advanced digital copy of the book.

Have you ever thought you had your whole life planned out only to have everything go wrong?

Thats exactly what happens to Sol.

This Could Be Us is the second book in the Skyland Series which revolves around three best friends: Yas (the MC in Before I Let Go), Soledad (Sol) and Hen. This book follows Soledad’s story through self-discovery and resilience as she overcomes her husband’s deceit while learning how to be a single mom and provide for her three daughters on her own. I really appreciate the way Ryan write her female characters as strong empowered women.

As Kennedy Ryan states in her Goodreads bio, she ensures her characters earn their happily ever after, and Sol’s journey in this book exemplifies that perfectly. I found Sol’s journey even more captivating than Before I Let Go.

I was anticipating more of a romance book and was very pleased when it had more of contemporary and the romance was more of a back story. I’m looking forward to Hen’s story! (if there is one!)

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for an advanced copy.

I was so excited for this book as Before I Let Go was one of my favorite reads of last year! This book is about Soledad who we meet in BILGand it did not disappoint!

We get her a a loving, caring mother and wife to a strong, hardworking single mother trying to provide for her girls. I really enjoyed her becoming an influencer and sharing with her followers. She meets Judah while shes dating herself but he is the most amazing guy. Giving up his career so his now ex wife could have hers, working from him and learning everything he can to take the best care of his autistic sons. Honestly his sons were some of my most favorite moments. He’s also the most patient man, waiting on Soledad to be ready.

Hen and Yasmin were the amazing friends they were in book one and I loved seeing them again! My one caveat is that this is deemed a romance book but I really missed the romance. We get a scene and a half or so but it’s mostly Soledad’s journey to learning to love herself and healing from a bad relationship. Theresa was nothing wrong with that but after every other Kennedy Ryan book it doesn’t seem to fit her style.

BILG is still my favorite of the series so far either way it’s truly emotional story. Still loved this book too and cannot wait for Hen’s!

I’m genuinely happy that this story is resonating with so many readers, but I can’t deny that the romance reader in me is disappointed by the love story. It took a backseat to almost every other component of the story, so I’d define this as women’s fiction more than anything – and that doesn’t really appeal to me. The romance was just so underdeveloped, and the delightfully sweet and loyal hero was only seen on the page for a series of (very) brief interactions here and there. I wanted so much more of them together. I loved the twists and turns of the first act as well as the instant chemistry between our couple, so it started out strong for me. But by the time we’d made our way into the second act (and that tension-diffusing time jump), it was clear that the story was taking a detour that I didn’t love. There’s absolutely an audience for this though, and I loved many of the individual components.

The story follows Soledad, a woman whose marriage seems to be falling apart. Though they’ve been together for half of her life, Soledad is seeing a side of her husband that she doesn’t know or like. So when she discovers that he’s been up to no good, it’s the final straw for Soledad. Her world is crumbling, and she needs to find a way to pick up the pieces – fast. It’s the absolute worst time to feel sparks with someone new, especially Judah in particular. He’s tangled up in the drama surrounding Soledad, and they both know that starting up something now would be a terrible idea. Soledad has to learn how to stand on her own two feet as a newly single woman and mother before she can even consider letting someone else stand by her side.

There’s no denying that Ryan is a talented author; there’s a reason why her books are so beloved. They do tend to have OW drama though, which often makes me reluctant to dive in. So I was extremely happy to discover that was not the case this time – Judah is steady, compassionate, and willing to wait for his girl. I just didn’t like how long Soledad made him wait, lol. Though it’s easy to see the chemistry between them very early in the story, it stays on the back-burner for a long, LONG time and ultimately never reaches its full potential. The setup was so good that I was willing to wait for awhile, but when we’re halfway through the book and the leads have spent such a small amount of time on the page together, I struggle to call it a romance. Soledad rubbed me the wrong way after awhile, and this is very much her story. Quality-wise, this certainly deserves a higher rating, but it’s not a book that I’d read again.

Thank you to NetGalley & Forever Publishing for the eARC.
3.5/5⭐️ (rounded up to 4)


After reading & loving Kennedy Ryan’s novel, BEFORE I LET GO, last year, I couldn’t wait to dive into Soledad’s story. This book is heartbreaking, emotional, & inspiring all at the same time. I really enjoyed getting to know Soledad & found her journey to find self love so inspiring. I also loved the representation given to the neurodivergent community & I thought the author did a great job detailing their struggles.

Unfortunately, I found the middle of the book to be pretty slow & repetitive. I also felt like it was a little bit cliche & over the top at times. There was already a lot against Soledad & then things just kept happening & I didn’t totally think it was necessary to prove the plot point. I also didn’t feel the connection between Sol & Judah as much as I wanted to. Maybe it’s because I’m comparing it to how I felt reading BEFORE I LET GO, but for whatever reason this one just didn’t quite hit for me.

This ARC was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.