Kennedy Ryan is one of the best storytellers of our time, and Before I Let Go is no exception. It’s a gripping and emotional love story between a divorced couple who very much still love each other and work to find their way back to each other, despite the odds.

Yasmen and Josiah were once madly, desperately in love, when a series of devastating losses broke apart their family, but when the dust settles and the healing begins, is that brokenness irrevocable?

It’s a raw and beautiful story, filled with the gorgeous writing only Kennedy Ryan can provide. It does not pull any punches about the reality of depression, grief, and loss, but at the same time will make you laugh and cheer.

There’s a great cast of secondary characters, their kids were great and as realistically flawed as their parents. Yasmen’s friends were hilarious and I assume the next books in the series will be about them, which I look forward to.

Is it a romance? I’m not sure. It’s a love story with an HEA for sure, but I felt like it was more about mental health, therapy, finding and healing yourself before you heal your relationship. Though Josiah and Yasmen’s relationship was the obvious prize at the end of the journey, I felt this was a bit more about the journey than the destination, and I loved every moment.

Excellent!! Josiah & Yasmen the power "it" couple who everyone said had that once in a lifetime love, great marriage, kids and thriving business. Now divorce, co-parenting and business partners. The pain of grief and loss and how they both handled it drove them apart. The hurt is raw and devasting. The love is evident with heart an soul even after 2 years of divorce and dating other people. Depression is real in this second chance story.

I want to thank @netgalley and @kennedyryan1 for this amazing ARC. It was such an honor to read. This is my first time reading a book by this author and i am in love with her writing style. This book was soo amazing and it keeps your attention start to finish! Who doesnt love second chance romances? Josiah and Yasmen’s relationship was so real and so relatable. When reading, I felt EVERY single emotion that Josiah and Yasmen felt. It was almost as if i was watching a movie. Sometimes just being in love isnt enough in relationships/marriages; you need more than that. Ive never had couple goals in books, but Josiah and Yasmen take the cake. Seeing how much pain they both endured with life but was still able to find grounds to co-parent and run their business together was just everything. Wheww! Yasmens daughter, Deja reminds me so much of myself when i was younger. It made my heart smile to see the relationship she ended up having with her mom.

My favorite quote from the book:
“Whats that for, I ask, my voice emerging like gravel. He nods to my face with a faint smile. “For the tears”
(Once you read this book, you’ll know why i chose this specific quote)

Please go get this book. You wont be disappointed!!! My favorite book of 2022!!

This is the first book I have read by Kennedy Ryan & Ms. Ryan, you have made a fan out of me!!

This book was heartbreakingly beautiful and so raw. I was brought to tears by the journey of self-love, forgiveness, and healing both MCs went through. I connected with this book on such a deep level, and although I have not been through the things Yasmin has, I felt her to my core, and that is because of the immaculate writing of this book. I also loved how it discusses therapy in such a positive light and provides positive examples for people who might connect with Josiah.

I just can’t say enough about this beautiful second chance romance other than GO PREORDER!!

As soon as I finished reading, I went and preordered the book myself, because I NEED the physical copy and will be rereading it many times to come.

This book….this book!!! Loved this book and these characters from start to finish!

Kennedy Ryan writes characters who you know; flawed, imperfect, and full of heart which made this book the perfect combination of heart and soul, family, loss, and love. I felt for this family and all they had been through, I rooted for every single character. This author is a master of her craft!

“There’s only one letter of difference between love and lose”

Before I Let Go is a beautiful story of love, loss, grief, friendship and second chances. Josiah and Yasmine are a powerhouse couple who promised each other forever, or “until the wheels come off”, until life delivered them a devastating blow. In a failed attempt at grieving, they wind up divorced and coparenting their two children while also managing their restaurant. Now, two years later, they’ve started to heal their emotional wounds and have a hand at a second chance romance. Will they decide to love or lose?

Before I Let Go is emotional and raw but it is so powerful. This book will stick with me for awhile. There are some definite content warnings regarding loss of a child, depression, and suicidal ideation.

5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This title releases November 15, 2022.

Many thanks to Kennedy Ryan, the publisher and to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was so hesitant going into this one. I was warned that one of the main storylines was centered around a stillbirth. I almost didn’t read it because I wasn’t sure if my heart could handle it. But I’m so happy I did! Though that is a trigger warning you need to be cautious of, the romance was much more of a focus.

Yasmen and Josiah have been divorced for two years. They co-own a restaurant and co-parent their two children and seemingly appear to be thriving at their new status. But they both have to face and come to turns with their past.

The characters were so raw and real. They jumped off the pages and felt like authentic people. Their struggles were realistic. Though this book was quite steamier than I prefer, it didn’t take away from the depth of love and the plot of the story.

Highly recommend if you’re looking for an emotional impactful romance

All the stars!! If you loved Seven Days in June and The Heart Principle, Before I Let Go is a MUST READ.

It's a second chance romance for grown folks. And honestly, it's everything you could want from a second chance romance, especially one about a divorced couple with two kids who still run a restaurant together. It's real, it's sexy, it's emotional, it's unafraid. It takes on depression and loss and grief from two very different perspectives and delivers character growth that a lot of us can only aspire to in real life.

Will it wreck you? Quite possibly, so get the Kleenex ready. But Before I Let Go is a book you'll want to savor and rip through at the same time. It's a book that celebrates Black love in all its facets and serves up great female friendships, too. Hendrix is my favorite, so we'll keep our fingers crossed she gets her own book.

Don't sleep on this one.

CW: Death of a close parental figure, stillbirth, depression, grief, mother/daughter (teen) tension, varying attitudes about the value of therapy

This is what happens when you pick a book without checking the CWs (or reading other reviews) beforehand.
I was drawn to the premise of a second-chance romance between two MCs who were married and are now divorced and co-parenting their 2 children. The story focuses a lot of infertility, loss of a child in birth and these topics are a hard limit for me.
The proper content warnings are listed on NG page for the book and it's all my fault for not reading them.

First off, thank you to Netgalley for the e-arc. I am leaving my review voluntarily.

This book was so amazingly raw, beautiful, heartbreaking & warming. I urge you to look up the TW for this book before reading, as it does have some heavier topics in it.

Some notable tropes:
Second Chance Romance/Marriage Reconcilation
Forced Proximity
Workplace Romance

I absolutely loved reading about Yasmen & Josiah’s second chance at love. How with loss came individual healing before repairing their relationship. They were both just the sweetest parents, trying to make their lives work together as seamlessly as they could after their divorce. I loved the friendships in this book, and how it tackled more than just the romantic relationship between the FMC & MMC.

This was my first Kennedy Ryan book & it did not disappoint! I look forward to the other ones in this series :)

Kennedy Ryan is one of my favorite authors and her books always blow me away this one was no different, I loved this book so much! Def one of my faves of this year.

Kennedy Ryan continues to give you all the feels with every book she writes and this one is no different. I laughed. I cried. I swooned.

I appreciated the way she wrote grief and depression with so much compassion and realness. Grief is not one size fits all. It is different for everyone. Yasmen and Josiah had to grieve and deal with their losses separately before fixing themselves as a couple.


The chemistry between Yasmen and Josiah simmers throughout which made the steamy scenes even hotter.

I loved the friendships because every one was supportive but real with each other.
I can't wait for the series to continue.

TW: Stillbirth
Grandparent death
Parental death
Talk of suicide

This book will pull you in, break your heart, and put it back together again, all in 400 pages. Kennedy Ryan's writing style pulls you in and makes you feel attached to these characters and their stories. Yasmen and Josiah are co-parenting after two traumatic events that lead to their divorce. The depiction of co-parenting was so honest and accurate to see two people just come together to support their kids as best they can. I found it so refreshing to see since I haven't seen that often done in books. Seeing how Yasmen and Josiah worked on healing and recovering from their trauma and the discussion of mental health was just so important.

Make sure you check the content warnings before starting this book.

All I can say is go pick this one up when it comes out on November 15th, and I'm going to need to catch up on Kennedy Ryan's backlog.

Thank you to Forever Books and Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Before I Let Go takes us into the lives of Yasmen and Josiah, a couple that built a business and family together, while deeply and passionately in love, and when we first meet them that has all imploded. They’ve been divorced for two years while still business partners and co-parents.

I don’t want to give too much away with spoilers because the way Kennedy unfolds the story is wonderful. The pacing is good, the internal monologues are just enough to give you a sense of character and what’s going through their minds without getting bogged down.

There are great lessons in this book and it addresses depression, therapy, self-forgiveness, forgiveness for several examples. There are lovely examples of supportive friendships, the healing powers of legacy, what family means and of course, how love binds.

Yasmen has two best friends, Hendrix and Soledad, and I am hoping we get their stories in future books!

Kennedy Ryan knows how to write a second chance love story full of real-life issues and it’s beautiful, poignant with a satisfying ending!

CW’s for death, grief, miscarriage, depression

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

#BeforeILetGo #KennedyRyan #ReadForeverPub #NetGalley #Romance #Bookstagram #ReadingRomance

You will never be disappointed with a book from Kennedy Ryan. Her books are so good, so we’ll written and so emotional. There is a realness, a rawness to this story that you will feel in your core.
Marriage, separation, love.
Yasmen and Josiah loved, divorced, had a business and lost each other but their bond was still there.
Yasmen had losses felt deep inside causing her marriage to fail. Seeing Josiah date makes her crack a bit more. Josiah didn’t want this. He tries to move on but feelings still exist.
It’s an emotional read about love, second chances and healing.
A wonderful story from Kennedy Ryan that you won’t want to miss!

**Thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the ARC**

Yasmen and Josiah are ex-spouses that once had it all. After a series of catastrophic losses they decide divorce is the best option moving forward, but how does that look when you share children and a successful business together?

Kennedy Ryan brings us into Yasmen and Josiah's world seamlessly. From following Yasmen's journey through working on her depression and healing, Josiah's realization that he doesn't handle grief as well as he believed, to grappling with trying to raise their children in this new normal and peeling back the layers of past trauma's that never truly healed.

I laughed, cried, swooned, and sighed throughout this book. So many times I had to stop reading to jot down a quote. Kennedy's pen game will always leave me in awe.

"Grief is a grind. It is the work of breathing and walking and rising and moving through a world that feels emptier. A gaping hole has been torn into your existence and everyone around you just walks right past it like its not even there. But all you can do is stand there and stare."


I came away from this book feeling lighter and happier. This is more than a second chance romance, it's also a redemption story. Redemption of oneself, even when you feel like you may have lost that part of you forever. It's a love story, a story about forgiveness, family, friendship, and the power of recognizing when a part of you is hurt and broken that reaching out for help on fixing it should never feel shameful.

Thank you Kennedy for this phenomenal novel. I never stop being amazed by your masterful way with words.

I LOVE second-chance romance and this did not disappoint. The two main characters have been THROUGH it and I was rooting for them to find their happily ever after. The early reviews are great- 4.78 on about 500 reviews on GoodReads and this cover is gorgeous. Kennedy Ryan knows how to write fully realized characters and steamy love stories!

Kennedy Ryan never misses!! This book was such a magnificent story of love, hardship, and grief. The characters felt so three dimensional and you felt everything along with them as if they were your best friends. You laughed and cried with them. You got emotional and felt every emotion that they were. This really was a beautiful story about how love can overcome and that soulmates and once in a lifetime love do exist. This book will stick with me for a long time and will be in my Top Books of 2022 list!

Yasmen & Josiah's story was captivating from beginging to end! I adored their struggle, their growth and their vulnerability through the entire book. The details of Before I Let Go resonated with me as more than any other Kennedy Ryan book. I was so pleased to see her write a love story about a couple who tried and failed. There aren't enough second chance romances out there that involve divorced grown adults who've seen some things and barely made it out on the other side, together. I loved her perspective on their love and bond. I thought Ryan handled some extremely sensetive content with grace and grit. As an author, she's never afraid to dive into the difficult situations. Grief, loss, heartbreak.

As someone who's struggled with mental health issues as an adult, I found this book to be not only realistic but also insightful. The topic of mental health issues was written with such authenticity and care. The battle that Yasmen faced with her depression, stemming from extreme grief and loss was so raw and real. I loved that numerous members of the family were encouraged to seek therapy and truly found value in it, even the sceptical ones! Thank you for bringing this to light, Kennedy, and showing that even those who appear to have it all together... don't.

Before I Let Go was a phenonminal story. The ups and downs made the entire read hard to put down. I loved the growth that the main characters went through. I loved that Yasmen had sisters by choice who were always there for her. I loved the tight family unit that the Wades were, despite them being co-parents. There just aren't books written like this one.

Amazing beautiful book of love and lose…. “Only a one letter difference”… Thank you Kennedy Ryan for writing the realness in life. Yasmen and Josiah are broken form life and apart but connected in so many ways. Their kids are the priority.
I loved the layers of friendships and relationships, the need sometimes for counseling, how you don’t need to do life alone. How life is hard, but being honest with yourself and forgiving yourself is part of healing!!
A perfect way to happily ever after is not always easy!