ARC Review: Before I Let Go

Before I Let Go

by Kennedy Ryan

★★★★★

Before I Let Go 

Love finds us on the first page, draws us deeper with each word, and never lets us go.

Kennedy Ryan has done it again. Before I Let Go is the breathtaking yet poignant second-chance romance story of Yasmen and Josiah, a divorced couple co-parenting and running a business together. Through Kennedy Ryan’s mastery of prose, we are transported into her characters’ world as they navigate healing and self-discovery following a series of gut-wrenching issues in the form of loss, trauma, and grief that pressure tests the bond of love between them.

I’m not going to lie. This story is raw. Kennedy Ryan is unflinching in depicting her characters’ exact emotions, which come through vividly on the pages. There were several places (ok–let’s be honest–almost every chapter) where the characters’ emotions were so intense that I had to close my eyes and breathe before opening them to read the next word. It’s that real. That good. Kennedy Ryan is that brilliant.

Before I Let Go is also a story of the strength of family and the bond of friendships. As we peel back the layers of Yasmen and Josiah’s life, we begin to see how their decisions impact their friends and family and vice versa.

Of course, you cannot have a Kennedy Ryan book without smoking hot passion. The sexual chemistry and love between Yasmen and Josiah leaps off the pages from the get-go and never lets up. Josiah had me at “I do.” He kept me at, “baby.” (As I fan myself.)

I definitely recommend Before I Let Go as a “must-read” book. I suggest you set aside a time where you can read it straight through. It’s so engaging that I couldn’t put the book down until I read the last word.

Before I Let Go is a five-star, black love, second-chance romance not to be missed.

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