Kennedy Ryan is one of my favorite contemporary authors because she writes so beautifully and courageously about real life difficulties that her characters face. She has a way of taking the reader on an emotional roller coaster ride before you get your happily ever after.

This Could be Us takes us on a journey of a heroine who faces a shocking betrayal and has to go on her own journey of discovering her strength and resilience to move forward through challenges while raising three daughters. The hero of the book is one of the best heroes I've ever read because he is an exceptional father to twin boys who are on the autism spectrum and is committed to co-parenting well with his ex-wife.

I don't want to spoil the book's surprises in this review, so all I will say is that because of circumstances it's not easy for our heroine and hero to be together. A lot of the book is seeing the way our heroine wades her way through adversity and building a brand and career for herself and all you want to do is root for her the whole way through.

I absolutely loved this book and it's slow burn. Ryan knows how to build the attraction between the two main characters and it's delicious!

I highly recommend this book and it's easily one of the best books I've read this year!

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

Thank you NetGalley and ReadForeverPub for this E-ARC Copy!

"A woman who wants more and realizes she deserves it is a dangerous thing." This Could Be Us by Kennedy Ryan

This book explores the love of self, friendships, family, new beginnings and romantic love.

I hope when you read it you experience Kennedy's powerfully evocative words that captured every character while engaging the senses with a beautiful message of survival, love, friendship, and resilience that was hands down wrapped up in an epic slow burn! The pining was top tier! Chapter after chapter written with such immense care with all the senses turned up to the highest decibel.

Soledad’s path was not easy. She was pressed but not crushed, shamed but never abandoned, staying the course long enough to discover her true self and desires for herself while being vulnerable enough to embrace self love, her children, her friendships and romantic love again!

After all she's lost...and found...can she be brave enough to make room for what could be? (From the synopsis)

You most definitely need to read it for yourself to have your own experience.

- Powerful Afro/Latina Heroine
- Autism rep
- Bell hooks vibes
- Sisterhood
- Pining
- Single dad hero

Happy Reading!

Kennedy Ryan consistently delivers, solidifying her position as my favorite author of all time. In This Could Be Us, she takes us back to Skyland where we follow Soledad - a strong and inspiring Afro-Latina woman with admirable tenacity. Judah is equally impressive; his passion, patience, attentiveness, and caring nature make him an extraordinary man. The story beautifully represents the journey of a single mom and dad finding love again against all odds. On top of all that, Kennedy took great care in portraying the diversity of autistic experiences throughout the story. It felt good being back with the crew, Yasmen, Hendrix, and of course Soledad. I can't wait for Hendrix's book.

Kennedy Ryan can do no wrong and this is no exception. She is definitely one of my favorite authors for a reason. When I got this ARC I literally screamed and still can’t believe it. I loved the characters and story line. It was also nice to have character connections to the first book. Thank you. Highly recommended. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

♾️ /5
ALL THE STARS! All of them! This was such a beautiful and powerful story!

Soledad’s life fell apart. This is a story about a resilient woman and mother, getting her life back. Judah was an amazing character and you can’t help but fall in love with him! He’s such an incredible father and friend, and was there for Soledad when she needed him most. I loved the dual POV because I felt like you really got an understanding of their feelings.

Kennedy Ryan has a special way of writing books. They make you feel deep feelings and don’t just scratch on the surface of things. She writes about difficult topics with such grace. Her writing style is top notch!
She will forever be an auto buy author for me. Such a powerful story!

📘: This Could Be Us by Kennedy Ryan
🗓️: March 5, 2024

Thank you to NetGalley, Kennedy Ryan, and Forever Grand Central Publishing for this ARC!

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

*Reviewed on NetGalley, Amazon, and Goodreads.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the opportunity to read and review this book!

Soledad is an expert at keeping her house organized, throwing the perfect parties, being the mother everyone wishes they were. She is nothing short of a domestic goddess! So when her husband betrays her family and threatens their entire livelihood it is no wonder she resolves to fix everything. Soledad is on a mission to rediscover herself, all while providing for her children and keeping their lives on course. What she does not expect is the unlikely romance with Judah Cross, but his kindness and support are almost enough to make this forbidden romance the ideal thing for a woman on a journey to reclaim her life.

The romance is beautiful, but the friendships?! 1000% a dream come true. So much caring and compassion for and from Soledad. The emphasis on rediscovering one’s self-worth was the highlight of this story for me, and it was a beautiful reminder that life can be fulfilling in a multitude of ways, no matter one’s age. I love Kennedy Ryan’s writing, and Soledad’s story felt perfect!

This book is much more than the romance, which honestly was not even the main point of this book. That's okay because this book features themes around and loving yourself and the world you create for yourself first. If I had to quote the book, "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."

I enjoyed how patient the main male character was while also establishing his own boundaries with the main female character because, yes I love healthy communication.

This Could Be Us by Kennedy Ryan
Format: ebook
Release Date: 3/5/24
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I didn’t think I could love a Kennedy Ryan book more than Before I Let Go, but apparently I was wrong. It’s very difficult to find eloquent words to describe just how perfect This Could Be Us is, but @netgalley kindly gifted me an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review so I shall try!

First off, this novel had so much beauty & depth. Ryan wrote such an empowering journey for Soledad and reflected on what it means to be at peace with who you are as a person. She fights for her children and shows up for herself in ways that are so inspiring. But she’s also messy and angry T times and just SO real. Her relationship that develops with Judah is everything but that took backseat to the relationship she develops with herself in my opinion.

But don’t get it twisted, that does not mean that Judah didn’t ruin all other real and fictional men, because he did. That man! A nerdy but smooth and patient forensic accountant is a love interest that had me HOOKED. And his love for his sons and friendship with his ex wife? Don’t even get me started.

The chemistry and tension in this novel is absolutely off the charts, the slow burn is done perfectly, and the dialogue and steamy bits are written so well with no cringe.

Go read this book right now if you can!!! It’s out today and I promise you will be as obsessed with the second installation in the Skyland series as I was! Can’t wait for Hendrix’s book next.

“I'm the girl who has always loved too hard and offered too much, sometimes to those who didn't deserve it.”

This is the follow-up to one of my favorite books I read last year, Before I Let Go. This installment focuses on Soledad as she tries to put her and her daughters' lives together after splitting with her husband.

Is it a romance? Yes, but it's not heavy on the romance and is much more focused on self-love which I absolutely loved. Soledad is an amazing character who is so mindful that she needs to figure out who is she on her own (and what she can accomplish) before heading right back into romance.

The book is also dual POV, so we do get wonderful insight from our MMC Judah, a single dad of boys with autism, who has a great co-parenting relationship. (I love seeing healthy relationships and positive representation!)

If you need things hot and heavy right off the bat with tons of romance, this won't be for you. But if you can handle the slow burn with lots of inspiring character development, you won't be disappointed. Looking forward to Hendrix's book next year!

Read if you like:
Healing after divorce
Slow burn romance
Single parents
Autism rep

Thank you NetGalley and Forever for my arc

This Could Be Us is yet another example of Kennedy Ryan’s brilliance! From the author’s note alone, you can see the amount of love, care, and intention that she pours into her writing and her characters.

Soledad’s story is one of resilience, self-discovery, and sisterhood. Seeing Soledad re-learn to actively choose herself and her needs was such a beautiful thing to read. And the way Yasmen, Hendrix, and Soledad’s sisters rallied around her and her daughters from the start just warmed my heart. I love all of these women so much!

Judah. Judah. Judah.

I mean I loved him from the moment we were introduced to him (and he’s out here fighting Canon for my top Kennedy Ryan MC spot) and that love only grew as the book went on. He is not only a gentle and kind love interest but also a gentle and kind father, ex-partner, and co-parent.

This Could Be Us truly highlights all the different types of love in both Soledad's and Judah’s lives and does so beautifully.

I cannot recommend this book enough!!

Thank you to Kennedy Ryan, Forever (Grand Central Publishing), and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

First how amazingly beautiful is the cover?! Second, I really liked this book. Soledad was a strong FMC. She learned to put herself first and take care of herself, before anyone else. Judah was a caring, and patient MMC. They were seriously so perfect together.

Kennedy Ryan's writing is perfection. You felt every single word she wrote. You felt what the characters were feeling. I cannot recommend this one enough!

This Could Be Us
Pub date: 3/5/24
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Kennedy Ryan does it again 🙌🏼
This book was so darn good! The author note at the beginning had me tear up!♥️
I absolutely loved Soledad’s story.
The way autism was so delicately written was absolutely incredible.
Soledad is married and has three daughters. She is a stay-at-home mother that runs her busy household until her life takes an unexpected turn.
Judah is a father to twin teenage boys that have autism. His relationship with his ex-wife and how they co-parent is truly remarkable.
When Soledad and Judah meet there is a chemistry they both can’t deny. This a slow burn but one that is so very worth it. The way Kennedy writes about Soledad’s journey of self-love and discovery as well as the tension between her and Judah is addictive. I was hooked from the beginning to the end and couldn’t put this book down. Kennedy has a way of writing such raw, emotional and beautiful characters. I love that this book as well as Before I Let Go deal with relationships that involve marriage, divorce and children. Before I Let Go was my favorite romance book of 2023. This will definitely be a top book in 2024. I will read anything Kennedy writes and need to work on her backlist.

Thank you @netgalley and @readforeverpub for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was so happy to get this as a "Read Now" ARC! It was one of the books that I was looking forward to reading in 2024.

What I loved:
1. The female relationships in this book are phenomenal! All of the women are helpful and supportive to one another and its very inspiring. I wish more people had that type of support during difficult times.
2. The matureness of the characters. The co-parenting relationship between Judah and Tremaine's relationship is what dreams are made of. You can really sense that they put their kids first and understood what each child needed at any certain time. The ASD representation was refreshing to read about.
3. Judah's patience was swoon worthy. He took so much care and concern when it came to Soledad and I loved that. The chemistry between Judah and Soledad was great. I felt like the story had just enough spice but not too much.
4. I LOVED THE COVER! The colors and the flowers are so beautiful.

What I didn't like:
1. I didn't feel the same connection to this book as I did with Before I Let Go. BILG was a very emotional book and I was missing that from this book.
2. Edward overall. He was so cruel to Soledad and I just cringed every time he talked.

Overall I have this book 4/5 stars. Thank you to Netgalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the Advanced Copy.

miss kennedy ryan did it again i’ll tell you that 👏🏼 i really loved this book not as much as the first one (before i let go will always have my heart <3) this book has everything you want

- autism representation
- afro latina female character
- great friend group
- AND single dad

SIGN ME UP !!! anything and everything by this author i will read, i discovered her books last year and i don’t regret one thing at all. something about her writing makes me want more and im so intrigued about her storylines. i can’t wait for hendrix book coming out next year, another read i know it won’t disappoint 🩷

Just in case anyone had doubts, here’s another hit by Kennedy Ryan. I don’t know how there can be any doubts at this point, but there are. I really hope this book smashes all records and shows those people that she really is that girl.

Ok so this book is focused on Soledad. I felt a special like relationship with her because she’s a book lover. And not only that, but because she is learning to love herself. That resonated with me. Why? Because I’m in the same boat. Not for the same reasons, but we’re in the sam boat. Watching Sol grow and become all that she was in such a short period of time was so crazy to me. Because loving yourself is no easy journey. It seems a bit fast, but the entire time until the end of the book Sol is working on herself. The thing I loved about this book was the way Ryan doesn’t put Sol’s healing into Judah. Sol likes his company and she knew what she was ready for.

I also really admired Judah. Although my child is not autistic (that I know of) my nephew is and I have seen and been there for the good, the bad, and the ugly. From the author’s note we find out that her child is autistic so this is an Own Voices look into her life. As just an aunt I felt seen in some things, so I can imagine how my sister would feel if she read this. I loved the representation so much and it really felt like I was talking about a real person. Even the mac and cheese thing, was real. I even cried at that part because I was so happy that they had that type of bond already.

The main plot of this book is Sol finding herself, but there is a strong romance subplot and let me tell you I was living for it. Judah is definitely a new book husband. I will ride for him if I have to. Because Lordt, that man. He READ A BOOK BECAUSE IT INTERESTED SOL. I’ve seen what I needed to see. This man took care of everything without Sol having to ask and Acts of Service is my love language, so this was just so sweet to me.

Now for the people I disliked in this story…………….. I haven’t been fighting air this hard since I read the sister in Only for the Week by Natasha Bishop. So now I’m going to have to make a list on characters that had me fighting air lol Every single time Edward’s name came up I was bracing myself because it just got worse and worse. By the end of the book I was shocked that he was still alive. And I can’t lie, I was a bit pissed at the ending. Because he deserves so much worse. Wanting to be rid of him or not, his sentence was too light. Unfortunately, he just doesn’t deserve jail time for the way he treated his family lol

I don’t think there’s a single terrible thing I could say about this book. I will say I thought Sol’s journey of finding herself was a bit fast, BUT even though they got together, she was adamant about not wanting to get married and I really applauded her for that. She was serious about taking the time she needed and did what she wanted when she was ready.

This book was good, but I really can’t wait to see Hendrick’s book. The way she was acting in this book and in Before I Let Go, I look forward to see what nonsense she’s going to get up to lol So basically, don’t mind me, I’m just sitting here on my hands just rocking and waiting until it comes out.

This book is an ode to all of the stay at home mothers who are treated like their “work” isn’t as valuable.

I would recommend not reading summaries of this book before reading it - because it is heart stopping to read it when it comes.

This series just does make the pages fly when you don’t want them to end.I’m

I’m still new to Kennedy Ryan; I read Before I Let Go at the beginning of February and finished the month with This Could Be Us, and I think it’s safe to say I’ve found a new favourite author!

What an incredibly beautiful book this was. I adored Soledad and her journey of healing, self-discovery, self-love, and self-partnering. I’m sure most romance readers have read their fair share of books where the FMC has gone through a terrible breakup or some other form of heartache or trauma and decides she’s going to be single for a while to find herself or heal, and then, of course, almost immediately meets the man of her dreams. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing - I’ve read plenty of books with that trope that I loved - but it was refreshing to see Soledad stick to her decision to self-partner and take however long she felt was necessary to be ready to open herself to a new relationship. I cheered her on from beginning to end, and I loved watching her figure out who she was, pursue her passions, and fall in love with herself before allowing herself to fall in love with someone else. The friendship between Soledad, Yasmen, and Hendrix was one of my favourite aspects of Before I Let Go, and continued to be a favourite aspect in this book, along with Soledad's relationship with her two sisters. And then there was Judah. Oh, Judah. Talk about top-tier, swoony book boyfriend material, between the way he treated Soledad, what an amazing dad he was to his two sons, and what a mature and loving co-parent he was with his ex. I loved watching their separate journeys, and I especially loved watching Soledad and Judah connect and fall in love.

Before I Let Go became an instant new favourite and, if possible, I loved This Could Be Us even more. I’m excited for Hendrix’s story next year, and I look forward to diving into Kennedy Ryan’s backlist while I wait.

Excellent follow up to the first book in this series. Kennedy Ryan never misses. I’m still reeling from the raw emotion this evoked.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this early. I really enjoyed this book! I was nearly in tears at the start!

This was a beutifully written story. The story centers around friends, family and finding strength and power within your little community (family). Soledad and Judah had an instant connection, but did not act on it at first because she was married and Judah respected the boundaries. When Soledad's marraiage falls apart, Judah has to restrain himself from jumping in to help sensing Soledads need to solve her own problems for her children.

As Soledad finds the means and strength to support her family, Judah and Soledad slowly build a meaningful relationship. The story has a happy ending, even though there are many moments of turmoil and pain for Soledad before and while she finds love and happiness again with Judah.