kennedy ryan does it again. i loved this book so so much. kennedy ryan knows how to instantly suck you in. i loved being back in the world with the girls. not only did i love the love interest, but i loved the girlhood and selfhood in this book. i was constantly rooting for my girl soledad! judah… this man….. phewwwww 🥵!!!!! seeing him being a caring and attentive dad and putting that same admiration towards soledad made my heart so so happy. i can’t wait for yall to get your hands on this babyyyy. pub date: march 5th!!!

Kenndy Ryan is that girl! This Could Be Us had me all in my feels. Soledad is the epitome of strength. I love the Kennedy Ryan tackles important topics in her writing while keeping the romance flowing. I also loved to see a positive father-sons relationship. Keep up the great work Kennedy Ryan. Can't wait to see what you have coming next!

While Soledad and Judah's story still held emotional weight, this book felt significantly lighter on the emotions compared to the first book in the Skyland series. While both Soledad and Judah go through a lot of growth and change in the book, my interpretation of the story leaned more on the drama side than the emotional depth side. There were MANY moments where my jaw was on the floor because of a dramatic plot twist. It also felt a lot like more of a women's fiction story than a romance for a majority of the book. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I know some romance readers tend to lean away from that rather than leaning into it.

I loved Ryan's focus on sisterhood and female friendships in this book. We follow Soledad as she navigates a LOT of change in her life, but watching her sisters, best friends, and even daughters navigate that with her was heartwarming and encouraged me to reflect on how much I appreciate my own friends and my sister. While her romance with Judah was great as well, this felt like more of a love story with herself. Judah was such a sweet MMC, and watching him navigate with his two autistic sons educated me a lot on the nuances of autism and what parenting an autistic child could look like. I always walk away from Ryan's books more educated on a topic, and I love that about her books!

Super side note, but I am really impressed with how accurate Ryan was with the parts of the story regarding federal prisons. She included details that most of the general public do not know, and often get wrong. A small detail like getting blacklight stamps as you go in shows that she did her research or has experienced it herself. I lean away from fictional books that include the carceral system because authors rarely get it right and I interact with the system a lot due to my job. Bonus points for her accuracy!

Kennedy Ryan does not miss! I love the character development and how resilient the main character was. It was so relatable. This book shows how have a solid village/support is vital. Her friends truly came through in her time of need.

i will forever love Kennedy Ryan. I love the realness in her books, this one included. I’ve never choked up on any book except hers. She did it again with this book & though this one hadn’t released yet. i cannot wait for the release of the next book in the series.

Kennedy Ryan’s writing is so good, it’s like a balm to my soul. This book was a really great read. I loved Soledad, she’s a great FMC, and Judah was such a sweetheart. You can tell by the writing about Judah’s autistic children that it’s a very personal topic to the author. The friendship between Sol, Yasmen and Hendrix is amazing. I love them all. I did think that the ending was a bit rushed, and the epilogue tied up some loose ends that probably should have been tied up in the main storyline. But overall, the book was very enjoyable.

I enjoyed Kennedy Ryan’s ‘Before I Let Go’, so I was excited to continue the series with ‘This Could Be Us’ and I was not let down. I usually don’t enjoy books about influencers (and didn’t realize Soledad would be an influencer based on the blurb), but I enjoyed this book more than the previous book in the series. The relationship between Soledad and Judah felt mature and realistic and I liked that Soledad spent time on her own before jumping into a new relationship. The conflict made sense for the situation between Soledad and Judah and not something that was thrown into the plot just to check the “third act conflict” box. Kennedy Ryan writes dynamic characters and makes you root for them. Overall, a great read!

4.5/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is such a well executed, and very steamy, novel. The characters are diverse, the setting is perfect, and the family and found family aspects of this story are perfect. Kennedy Ryan writes smart women who you want to root for every step of the way, but she also does open door romance very well. Perfect spring break reading!

This was the first book I read by Kennedy Ryan, and it did not disappoint. The main character Soledad is introduced in Before I let Go, the first book of the Skyland series. I don’t feel you necessarily have to read that one first, to love this book or these characters.
Soledad is a fierce of a character, mom of 3 girls, who was struggling to figure out why her marriage seemed to be growing distant. Edward her jerk of a husband was unlikable from the beginning for me, but then it only got worse and worse.
Judah Cross, ahhhh Judah Cross. Newly divorced father of twin boys both whom are autistic, meets Soledad at a work function. Sparks fly. But it’s not as cut and dry as that sounds.
Kennedy Ryan does an excellent job of representing the strength of a woman that will do anything for her daughters, keeping the bills paid, and a roof over their head. Despite the bad hand she was dealt by her husband, Soledad won’t give up.
The parts on autism, were very educational and Ryan showed the love and determination Judah and his ex wife had for their boys.Very well done.
And finally the love story… well, that begins first with Soledad learning how to love herself once again. Somethings are worth waiting for! Especially someone like Judah Cross.

✨T H I S C O U L D B E U S✨
🅶🅴🅽🆁🅴—𝑅𝑜𝓂𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒
🗓ℙ𝕦𝕓 𝔻𝕒𝕥𝕖—𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕔𝕙 𝟝, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟜

“𝓓𝓻𝓪𝔀 𝓪 𝓹𝓲𝓬𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓮 𝓲𝓷 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓭 𝓸𝓯 𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓪 𝓯𝓾𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓮 𝓬𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓵𝓸𝓸𝓴 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓵𝓵𝔂 𝓫𝓮𝓵𝓲𝓮𝓿𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓬𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓫𝓮 𝓾𝓼. 𝓐𝓷𝓭 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓷𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝔂𝓸𝓾'𝓻𝓮 𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓭𝔂, 𝓘'𝓶 𝓻𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮."

✂️ P L O T L I N E
Soledad Barnes has spent much of her life being a domestic goddess and stay at home mom. When catastrophe strikes within her marriage, she finds herself having to be the sole financial provider for her three daughters. When forbidden Judah Cross enters her life, she is forced to figure out if trusting herself also means trusting him.

💭 ⓂⓎ ⓉⒽⓄⓊⒼⒽⓉⓈ
Can we take a moment to applaud Kennedy Ryan and her ability to write characters that seem so real, raw, and authentic? Characters that make your skin boil and your heart soar. Characters that 100% seem like people in real life and you have to remind yourself at the end of the book that they are in fact fiction, and as much as you wish you could meet them in real life, you can’t. As much as I loved Judah and Soledad, Adam and Aaron brought so much life to this story. The level of detail that went in to writing their journey on being autistic makes the reader fall in love with them. I was expecting to be a little more emotionally damaged from this book since “Before I Let Go” wrecked me. But despite the fact that I didn’t shed many tears, this book reminded me the level of self love we all need to have for ourselves.

📚 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎: 💫💫Second chance love 💕
💫Steamy and swoony🌶️
💫Slow burn🔥
💫Self love and friendships🥰
💫Parent / Child relationships🤝
💫Blended family👩🏽‍❤️‍👨🏾
💫Single parent☝🏾
💫Emotional and heartfelt🥹
💫Dual POV✌🏽

⚠️ 𝙏𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨: mention of parental death, cancer, and infidelity.

💜𝕄𝕐 ℝ𝔸𝕋𝕀ℕ𝔾💜
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

💕Q U O T E : “𝐼 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓃𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝓂𝓎𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝒿𝓊𝒹𝑔𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝑜𝓇 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝒹𝒾𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃. 𝐼𝓉'𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑜𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝓌𝒶𝓎 𝐼 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝑒𝓃𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝓃𝑒𝑒𝒹𝓈 𝒾𝓉—𝓉𝑜 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝓂𝓎𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻. 𝒩𝑜 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝓂𝑒 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝓁 𝒹𝑜. 𝒩𝑜 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌𝓈 𝓂𝑒 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝐼 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝓂𝓎𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻.”


🙏 Thank you NetGalley, Forever Publishing, and Kennedy Ryan for this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts. 💕

I received an ARC of This Could Be Us by Kennedy Ryan. Publication date March 5, 2024. I was sooooo excited when I found out there was going to be a second book in the Skyland series. I loved Yasmen and Josiah in Before I Let Go and was glad to see Yasmen as one of the friends in this book. I am a huge fan of Kennedy Ryan’s writing and this book gave me all the feels!!!! I could not put this book down and could not stop cheesing. This book follows Judah and Soledad. Judah is divorced and is the father of autistic twins. He has not been in a relationship for 4 years and he puts his all into his job as an accountant and raising his boys. Soledad is a mom of three girls and is not fulfilled in her marriage. Her husband Edward is always working late and she suspects him of cheating. Judah and Soledad worlds collide when they meet at Edward’s company Christmas party and Judah ends up being the one to bring all of Edward’s dirt to life. Soledad’s character is strong, caring and will do anything she can to keep her home afloat and care for her girls. Through divorce and finding out the one person she loved betrayed her in so many ways she starts dating herself and finds out how important it is to love herself first. I truly connected to Soledad because it’s so hard to love again after betrayal and it’s hard to trust again or even fathom being in another relationship, Judah and Soledad story is so beautiful and touching and I loved how the characters developed throughout the story.

This one was another enjoyable read from Kennedy Ryan! The writing has such an addictive quality to it. I liked our main characters and the journey of self love- I do feel Judah coming on to her so strong before her marriage was even over was not the greatest move, but his “I know what I want” attitude is satisfying in other places. My favorite part of this book was her dynamic with her friends, and then with her sisters and daughters.

I will read ANYTHING Kennedy Ryan writes. ANYTHING!

I was so excited for this book and IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT ME!

Soledad was an amazing FMC. She is strong, smart, creative funny. I loved reading about her journey of self growth and love as she navigates life after divorce. Soledad is also a character not in her twenties. She was absolutely relatable and this is what makes Ryan's writing so great for me-she writes relatable, human characters. Judah was so perfect. I loved the co parenting that happened between him and his ex. I loved him as a father, a friend and for our FMC. When he said " focus on your girls, focus on yourself,,," and then " whenever you're ready, I'm right here" JUST TAKE MY HEART!!!!

I want to highlight the beauty of this read. It's a romance but the magic was in the diversity. The magic was in the autism rep The magic is in the friendships we make, nurture and how we show up not only for ourselves but for each other.

Simply put? This book was beautiful. No notes. 5 stars. Kennedy Ryan ate and left no crumbs.

Thank you to Netgalley, Kennedy Ryan and the publisher for this ARC

I loved this book! From the very beginning I was invested. It took a turn I was not at all expecting, and that made it so interesting. I didn’t want to put it down.

I loved both Soledad and Judah. I loved getting both of their povs. I thought it was well written and the more sensitive topics were handled really well. Both family dynamics felt very true and natural, which I appreciated. I will say that it didn’t pack the same emotional punch that Before I Let Go did, but that’s a high bar to achieve.

Kennedy Ryan is an auto buy author for me, and I highly recommend this one! Make sure you read Before I Let Go first!

4.5 stars

I think this book reading experience is a it's not you it's me kind of situation.

This book had what I loved about the first book, the adults capable of adult conversations, the difficult topics handled with such care and represented well, these are the things that Kennedy Ryan has excelled at in the two books of hers I have read!

That being said, this one felt very long and Soledad's work on herself lasted too long to be interesting by the end. It also was very spicy in the last 25% and I was skipping those parts and still felt like this book was too long. I did read this right after reading HOFAS though so I am wondering if I am still just slumpy and maybe would have felt differently in other circumstances.

Overall I would say if you liked book one in this series you will likely enjoy this one as well!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the eARC!

Kennedy Ryan has done it again!! This was so so so much more than *just* a romance novel, but a journey for both Soledad & Judah to discover themselves again, and truly, honestly love themselves. This was such a well-rounded novel that encompassed so many different family dynamics, parent/child relationships, relationships with ex-partners, all of it, and they were all handled with such care.

And the romance! The most beautiful, stunning, all-encompassing romance I just! I cry! Judah and Soledad were so entangled emotionally and their development was just genuinely so so so so wonderful to watch play out. Judah thought about Sol with such REVERENCE! I just!!! Truly stunned by this in the best way is was so so so lovely.

The very second I saw this was read now I ran! Kennedy Ryan is just the absolute bright light in romance and I will scream about her books for all eternity, now I will be screaming about Judah Cross. I might have even enjoyed this more than the first one and I find that these books have the perfect balance of "women's fiction" and romance for me, I know for others that is like a death sentence of a statement, but I personally lean more that way in terms of taste.

One of Kennedy's best books ever! I loved the unlikely, but it happened romance between Soledad and Judah after Soledad goes through a shocking divorce that should have crumbled her.. Surrounded by family and her two best friends, Soledad finds herself and the journey is glorious!

Advanced Book Review! Thank you @netgalley & @readforeverpub for sending me this book for review. Opinions are my own.
This Could Be Us is the second book in Kennedy Ryan’s Skyland series with each book focusing on one of a trio of friends in Skyland, one of Atlanta’s most desirable in-town communities. This Could Be Us is about Soledad, the perfect stay-at-home mom to three daughters. When her world collapses with an act of betrayal by her husband. Soledad has to quickly figure out how to keep the roof over their heads.
Soledad becomes an influencer, sharing her daily activities, including preparing meals, cleaning the house, and managing the schedule and budget. I liked reading about the evolution of Soledad’s business and the various jobs she takes on to make an income. I love when she says “it’s helped me value making a home as vocationally valid in a way that culture hadn’t reinforced before.”
Soledad meets Judah and there is an instant connection. It’s a slow burn, but for anyone looking for any kind of a closed-door romance, this is not it. While I found it a bit much at times, it was nice to read about Soledad finding a good person who treated her well. Soledad also has the support of her friends and sisters and I loved those relationships as well.
I liked that Kennedy Ryan included an important piece of her own life in this novel - having a child with autism, which she writes about in her author’s note at the beginning. I liked reading about the well-established strategies the twin boys in this novel use to manage in a world that is sometimes overwhelming for them.
I also appreciated her explanation of Judah and his ex-wife introducing their boys to community first responders because, “there are too many horror stories of cops unwittingly mistreating a disabled person because they didn’t know or understand. Add to the fact that our boys are young Black men in an affluent neighborhood.” Sadly, while I’ve recently appreciated the protection the police have provided to my own community in Toronto, this is the reality that many families face on a daily basis.
I’m looking forward to reading the third book in the series, about Hendrix, coming out in 2025.

Soft dnf-ing for now as I am not in the headspace for this book. I may come back to it in the future sometime.