BIPOC Author Spotlight Sunday: Kennedy Ryan

Author: Kennedy Ryan

Title: Before I Let Go

Publisher: Forever

Date Published: 11/15/2022

Read Dates: 01/10/2026- 01/12/2026
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Before I Let Go is a dual POV second chance romance. Yasmen and Josiah seem to have it all together, they’re running a successful business and amicably co-parenting their kids after their divorce, but unresolved emotions and feelings are always below the surface. The two are both determined to move on, but seeing each other every day, and watching each other take those steps into new relationships makes them both confront their feelings and embers of hope begin to flame from the ashes of their marriage.

This was… just wow. Not my typical lighthearted romance, this one was very intense and dealt with some heavy issues (loss of a loved one, stillbirth, suicidal ideation, grief and depression). I usually don’t cry when reading but this one had me in tears several times. I ended up ordering the next two books in the series before I even finished because I was just that hooked. I loved he Yasmen and Josiah both grew, how they learned to look at their own actions and each others actions with grace and understanding. While I have never experienced a loss like theirs, I have experienced severe depression and I like how mental health treatment was discussed and normalized.

Their love was supposed to last forever. But when life delivered blow after devastating blow, Yasmen and Josiah Wade found that love alone couldn’t solve or save everything.

It couldn’t save their marriage.

Yasmen wasn’t prepared for how her life fell apart, but she is finally starting to find joy again. She and Josiah have found a new rhythm, co-parenting their two kids and running a thriving business together. Yet like magnets, they’re always drawn back to each other, and now they’re beginning to wonder if they’re truly ready to let go of everything they once had.

Soon, one stolen kiss leads to another…and then more. It's hot. It's illicit. It's all good—until old wounds reopen. Is it too late for them to find forever? Or could they even be better, the second time around?