Jade and Nia are best friends. Michal introduced them to each other at her tenth birthday party. They thought they would continue to do everything forever as best friends do. Michal dies from cancer. 19 years later. Michal left letters for Jade and Nia for them with instructions that they are. To be opened on their birthdays. Will Jade and Nia wait for their birthdays? When Jade and Nia turned 29, their letters have a special request. The request is for them to go ona road trip. Michal’s boyfriend goes with them on the road trip. The three of them had planned to explore the history of Jews (including their own families) in the South. Wanting to cherish and honor Michal’s memory, the two women reconnect, and they set off on the trip with Jade’s twin brother, Jonah, who was Michal’s boyfriend. They seem to settle back into old habits and routines;. It feels as if no time has passed at all. However there still is a blew up Nia and Jade’s friendship—an attraction both feel but only one has acknowledged.


The author writes multiple themes within their slow romance: the history of Jewish communities in the South and the generational trauma that comes with it; This is an examination of grief; and the complexities of friendship and sibling relationships. The two women’s yearning and pining tenderly accentuate it. The romance may at times fights with the other elements. In the novel. What I liked about this novel was the romance and friendship. I like the author’s writing which showed the depth of the characters.

Rachel Runya Katz’s newest work Whenever You’re Ready is a masterpiece of the friends to lovers trope. But it also a treatise on grief and what happens when emotions run high without resolution. Reconciliation with the past and present is a big arc of this couple's journey within a journey. The road trip elements are especially well-written and tie into the overall plot perfectly. Overwhelmingly enjoyed!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for providing an eARC for a honest review.

Whenever You’re Ready is about family, friendship, and the kind of first love that could last a lifetime... if only you are willing to take a chance.
You should read this book if you want to feel all the emotions between Nia and Jade, we get to see how the friendship came about, fell out and got put back together in a different way.

The only time I enjoy romance novels are when they are 1. queer and 2. involve some other plot point. This novel was done so beautifully, exploring both the grief of losing someone close to you and Jewish history, in addition to the romance between two of the main characters. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone looking for a happy ending, but who wants to do some soul searching and crying to get there.

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary ARC. All opinions are my own. I'm normally not a fan of slow burn romances but this was super cute!

Rachel Runya Katz’s *Whenever You’re Ready* is a heartwarming, emotional, and refreshingly funny sapphic romance that explores the delicate dance between friendship, grief, and love. At its core, it’s a story of two estranged best friends, Nia and Jade, who must confront their complicated history and deep, unresolved feelings on an unforgettable road trip through the American South, rich with Jewish history and personal memories.

The novel begins with a fractured friendship—Nia and Jade haven’t spoken in three years since the death of their mutual best friend, Michal, and the brutal falling out that followed. Katz wastes no time establishing the weight of their loss and the bitterness that still lingers. Michal’s death from cancer left a gaping hole in their lives, and her absence is felt throughout the novel like a quiet third presence on their journey. When Nia receives a posthumous letter from Michal on her 29th birthday, asking her and Jade to go on a road trip they had planned before she died, the two women are forced to confront the unresolved tension between them.

The road trip becomes the perfect setting for this long-overdue reckoning. It forces Nia and Jade into close quarters, not only with each other but also with Jade’s twin brother, Jonah—Michal’s former boyfriend—who joins the trip. Jonah’s strained relationship with Jade adds another layer of complexity to the story, as the siblings must also come to terms with their past. Katz masterfully weaves in the history of Southern Jewish communities with the personal histories of these characters, creating a backdrop that feels both intimate and expansive. The road trip isn’t just a journey through the South; it’s a journey through their collective grief and unresolved emotions.

Katz’s writing is full of wit, humor, and sharp emotional insight. She has a gift for balancing light-hearted banter with moments of deep vulnerability, which makes the dynamic between Nia and Jade so engaging. Their connection is undeniable from the start, and as they begin to lower their walls, it’s clear how much they still care for each other, despite their years apart. Katz does a beautiful job of capturing that bittersweet tension of wanting someone but fearing that the risk of losing them forever is too great.

Nia, who has been quietly in love with Jade since they were teenagers, is a particularly well-drawn character. Her internal struggle—whether to protect her heart or take the risk of revealing her true feelings—is both relatable and deeply moving. Meanwhile, Jade’s fierce loyalty to their friendship and her fear of complicating things with romance adds another layer of complexity to their relationship. Katz allows their feelings to simmer, building the tension between them in a way that feels organic and true to their history.

The novel’s emotional core, however, is in its exploration of grief and how it shapes relationships. Michal’s death still casts a long shadow over Nia and Jade’s lives, and their unresolved grief is what initially drove them apart. As they travel through the South, visiting places Michal had planned for them, the trip becomes not just a chance for reconciliation but also a way for them to honor Michal’s memory and begin to heal. Katz’s portrayal of grief is nuanced, showing how it lingers and shapes the choices we make, but also how it can bring people closer when they’re finally ready to confront it.

*Whenever You’re Ready* is not just a romance, but a rich exploration of friendship, family, and the complexities of love. Katz’s decision to center the story around Jewish history and the South gives the novel a unique cultural depth, and the representation of queer love, combined with the sensitive portrayal of grief, makes this a standout in the sapphic romance genre.

For readers who love a slow-burn romance rooted in history, emotional depth, and the complicated ties of friendship, *Whenever You’re Ready* is a beautifully crafted, poignant read. Katz reminds us that love, whether in friendship or romance, often requires taking the ultimate risk: vulnerability. And in the end, it’s always worth it.

What a great book! It deftly handles tough topics like racism and antisemitism, while weaving an engaging story with characters you can’t help but fall in love with. This is the second book I’ve read by Rachel Runya Katz, and I really enjoyed them both. I think Katz is now an autoread author for me!

4.5

Whenever You're Ready was absolutely heart-wrenching. This emotional story starts three years after Jade and Nia's best friend Michal has passed from brain cancer. Jade and Nia have been fairly distant since Michal's passing, especially after some harsh things were said in the aftermath of everything. They reunite, along with Jade's twin brother Jonah, for a road trip through the South visiting various important Jewish stops, a trip that was supposed to be taken with Michal but never came to be.

This book is extremely emotional and touches on a number of sensitive subjects but I think everything was done extremely well. The author's note at the end provides some extra context regarding the specific stops that the group makes in the book but ultimately the road trip provides some interesting (and unknown to me) history about Jewish history in the South during the Civil War. Jade, Jonah, and Michal are Jewish and Jade/Jonah's ancestors were founders of one Jewish community in the South, while Michal's ancestors were founders of a different community so there is a wide variety of Jewish history that Katz explores. I really enjoyed most of the characters. Jade was a bit frustrating though and I disliked how she treated Jonah for the most part but understand that there's always a lot more history between siblings than friends typically have.

Withholding review at this time. Will review post SMP boycott. Look forward to reviewing/providing feedback for author/audience at a later date

I had such high hopes for this book but it just wasn’t holding my attention and at 30% I gave up and jumped to the end. I found the history to be incredibly interesting but the main story felt forced and predictable. I really wanted to like this one since I loved the author‘s first book, but this was a miss for me. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for an advanced copy of this.

Very slow burn will they won’t they friends to lovers
A lot of Jewish history and connections with racism included
Great diversity but I wanted more from the characters

4.5 stars

lol, some other reviewer called this a romcom. It is not a romcom. It has its light and amusing moments, but it deals with some heavy themes, including (primarily) grief, loneliness, antisemitism and slavery.

HOWEVER. Don’t let that put you off. I devoured this book in a day.

Jade and Nia are two-thirds of a group of three best friends, one of whom, Mishal, died three years ago from brain cancer. Their relationship has suffered since, due to something that isn’t revealed until much later and also the toll grief can take on even the strongest, longest-running relationships.

After putting it off for a couple of years, they agree to go, with Jade’s twin brother Jonah, on a Southern Jewish history road trip they’d planned with Mishal. This forced proximity forces them to confront lots of things, including but not limited to their attraction to each other, Jade’s family’s hurtful focus on Jonah’s grief instead of Jade’s (because, complication! Jonah dated Mishal before her death), and the often shocking history of Judaism in the American South.

It is a lot, but once I got past the first couple chapters (of which more later), Runya Katz’s skilled writing and deft characterization grabbed me and didn’t let me go. I’m not a crier about books, but reader, I teared up. There are some hot moments too, and they fit seamlessly into the story of Jade and Nia’s evolving relationship.

Now, those first couple of chapters: I requested this ARC and was sent it in April. I read to 17% but couldn’t get into it. I then decided to pick it up yesterday because I was still intrigued by the premise and also felt guilty that I missed the pub date of September 10 (SORRY!!). I am so glad I carried on, because it was a wonderful, wonderful book — but know that Runya Katz drops you right into a complex, multi-charactered story with no info dumps, assuming you will figure it out on your own. I appreciated that, but I probably would have tweaked the beginning to be a little less… abrupt.

All that said, this book still deserves a 4.5. Highly recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advance copy.

The way I ate this up. It was everything. Between the back and forth time lines, the very clear and obvious want for each other. I loved this book definitely getting me a physical copy. I loved the aspect of a road trip and basically being forced together for hours on end. I loved Nia but I loved Jade wayyy more thats my girllll. I wont say anything else because then I will be here telling you the whole book lol. Just go read it, its amazing.

I really appreciated the way this novel tackled the topics of grief and friendship. The road trip element really added to the story and I loved the build up of the relationship between Nia and Jade.

This was really good! I loved the exploration of grief, and the slow burn was slow burning. I really wish we got to see more stops on the road trip though -- they were so interesting! The flashbacks were also a very strong part. I also wish the main characters had more distinctive inner voices. When I get a multiple POV, I like to be able to know whose POV I'm ready just from their tone and inner monologues, you know? Anyway, still so so good!

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for the arc. This was a beautiful sapphic road trip romance. It was quite heavy at times, dealing with the death of their friend, intergenerational racial trauma, anti-semitism, and institutionalized racism. I really recommend this. Rachel Runya Katz writes about the interracial jewish experience in a way that educates without it feeling forced. I really really recommend this to anyone who likes deep romance novels. The character work in this was outstanding. One of my favourite reads of this year.

Note: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I am so sad I didn’t pick this up sooner!! What an amazing story of what it means to be soulmates. Soulmates doesn’t always mean romantic, and I firmly believe you will have many over the course of your life. Nia, Jade, Michal, and Jonah are proof of that.
Being a queer Jew in my 20’s from the South, the factual history included in this book was refreshing in that many people try to gloss over it. It was important not only for our characters’s growth, but as a reader, to see on a page. We can never forget the part that we as (White) Jews played, even if inadvertently through avoidance (or directly), in the slave trade and racism of the past and present. I really liked that we got some of that on page, but the focus was still on our main characters.
Part of what is really refreshing for me is that Katz is really, really good at writing characters who act their age. Yes, even after establishing careers and fully moving into adulthood, they are still in their 20’s, and will have moments of impulsiveness that are immediately regretted. All four of our main characters felt fleshed out and real, and I fully found myself sharing in their emotions. I found myself grieving Michal along with them and cheering for milestones. I think this was a beautiful story of discovering your self, your identity, and what it means to be you. I rated this 5 stars and will definitely be looking into this tour myself!

This is a great, timely, and nuanced slow burn romance. I really appreciated the layers to this story, more than a slow burn romance, Whenever You're Ready is also a story that examines intersectionality through examination of religious and cultural identity, racism and bias, sexuality and gender. I really appreciated how the story was slow paced to really allow the characters to indeed explore being ready for more than friendship, to process grief and persistence in a time and in places where it can be hard to be accepted for who you are. I was all in for the inclusive romance and road trip theme but got so much more from this powerful story.

While I really enjoyed the premise of this book, unfortunately it is not for me.

Overall, I was not a fan of this author’s writing style. For starters, the book is dual POV (third person). The POV changes throughout each chapter, and often times it wasn’t clear whose POV I was in, Nia or Jade. Throughout the entire book in both POVs, the characters often allude to a prior event and their feelings about it but readers are kept in the dark about what the event is. It was frustrating to constantly feel like I didn’t have all the information for 2/3 of this book. It’s not a technique I love but generally I feel like most authors only use this technique a couple times at the very beginning of a book. I was frustrated that this continued on throughout the entire story.

I really struggled to get a true sense of Nia and Jade as individuals. Often times the way one friend would describe the other clashed with how that character would behave when we were in their POV. It made it even more confusing to keep Nia and Jade’s POVs distinct, because I didn’t think either had standout personalities. It all really blended together.

I also thought the drama between Nia and Jade that was the catalyst for the third act break up was really overblown. Not to go too into it, but it felt like Nia was being really unfair to Jade considering the circumstances of the situation they were both in. And it just added to my overall disinterest in their characters.

What I loved most about this book was the friendship between the three women and how Nia and Jade grieved the loss of Michal. This is where the book really shines and captured my attention and my emotions. The flashback scenes of their friendship were beautifully written and I would have loved to see more of that, to be honest. I also thought the sibling relationship between twins Jade and Jonah was incredibly realistic and well done, if not also frustrating (again, so realistic).

I wish this book had been the one for me, but hopefully it’ll be the one for another reader.

Thank you NetGalley for a free arc in exchange for an honest review.