Best Kennedy Ryan Books: Where to Start
If you are looking for the best Kennedy Ryan books, you are looking for romance that does not flinch. Ryan writes grown-up love stories about Black women with full lives — careers, friendships, grief, ambition, and families — and she lets the romance grow out of all of it rather than around it.
New to the genre as a whole? Our guide to Black romance books for beginners is a good companion piece. Below are the ten we would hand a new reader first, in order.
Why Kennedy Ryan Is a Go-To Name in Black Romance
Ryan is the first Black winner of the Romance Writers of America’s RITA Award, taking the 2019 prize for Best Contemporary Romance for Long Shot — a fact recorded in her biography and bibliography. That history mirrors what her books do: they center Black women’s interior lives and treat social issues — grief, caregiving, activism, workplace power — as part of the love story, not background decoration. Her characters navigate depression, divorce, single parenthood, and public scrutiny, and the happy endings feel earned because the hard parts are never skipped.
Most of her series are connected standalones, so you can start with one book and decide from there. The order below follows that logic: the most accessible entry points first, then the deeper cuts.
Start Here: The Skyland Series
Set in Atlanta and following three close friends, the Skyland series is the easiest Kennedy Ryan entry point. Each book stands alone, but read in order you get the full friendship arc.
1. Before I Let Go (2022) — Skyland, Book 1
Divorced parents Yasmen and Josiah are co-parenting well and running a business together — but the grief and depression that ended their marriage have not finished with either of them. This is a second-chance romance about learning to live again after loss. Who it is for: readers who want an emotional, grown-up romance and do not mind crying a little on the way to the happy ending. Content note: grief, depression, and the death of a child are central themes. Before I Let Go was also reported in development as a television adaptation at Peacock.
2. This Could Be Us (2024) — Skyland, Book 2
Soledad has built a picture-perfect life, and then it collapses: her husband’s betrayal and criminal trouble leave her rebuilding for herself and her three daughters. Who it is for: readers who loved Yasmen’s story and want a heroine starting over from scratch, plus anyone who likes a slow, careful second-chance arc. Content note: infidelity and divorce.
3. Can’t Get Enough (2025) — Skyland, Book 3
Hendrix is the friend with the thriving career, sharp boundaries, and no interest in rearranging her life for a man — until a widowed tech mogul and his young daughter start rearranging her assumptions anyway. Who it is for: readers who like confident, career-driven heroines and a hero who has to earn his way in. Content note: grief and parental caregiving.
For Sports Romance Lovers: The Hoops Series
If the Skyland books are Ryan at her warmest, Hoops is Ryan at her most intense. Set in the world of professional basketball, these are interconnected standalones — publication order works best.
4. Long Shot (2018) — Hoops, Book 1
Iris is trapped in a relationship with a beloved basketball star who abuses her behind closed doors, and August — the rival player she has loved for years — is the one person who sees her clearly. It is also her hardest read. Who it is for: readers who want romance that takes survival seriously and delivers a hard-won happy ending. Content note: intimate partner violence, not involving the hero, is central to the story.
5. Block Shot (2018) — Hoops, Book 2
Sports agent Jared and businesswoman Banner have a past — one night, one heartbreak — and a present in which they keep colliding professionally. Their enemies-to-lovers, second-chance dynamic is sharper and funnier than Long Shot, with the same emotional depth. Who it is for: readers who like banter, ambition, and a heroine who refuses to make herself smaller for a man.
6. Hook Shot (2019) — Hoops, Book 3
Divorced single dad and NBA player Kenan is traded to a losing team and trying to rebuild his life when he meets Lotus, a woman doing her own rebuilding after betrayal. Who it is for: readers who want a single-dad romance with real emotional stakes, and Hoops fans who want to see the wider family circle.
For Political Drama: The Kennedy Ryan All the King’s Men Series
The first two books are one story across two volumes — read them back to back — while the third shifts to a new couple in the same world.
7. The Kingmaker (2019) — All the King’s Men, Book 1
Indigenous activist Lennix meets Maxim, heir to the energy empire her community is fighting, at a pipeline protest — and their connection survives years, distance, and ideology. Who it is for: readers who like forbidden love with real political stakes and a heroine who will not trade her principles for romance.
8. The Rebel King (2019) — All the King’s Men, Book 2
The duet’s second half follows Lennix and Maxim into national politics, campaign trails, and media scrutiny, where loving each other in public costs more than loving each other in private. Read it immediately after The Kingmaker; the first book ends on an unresolved note by design. Who it is for: readers who finished book one and need the payoff.
9. Queen Move (2020) — All the King’s Men, Book 3
Childhood friends reunited years later, with secrets and old promises standing between them — Queen Move is a second-chance romance in the same political world with its own couple and its own emotional pull. Who it is for: readers who love second-chance romance and want the All the King’s Men world without committing to the duet first.
For Hollywood Glamour: Reel (2021)
Reel opens the Hollywood Renaissance series, and it is the best single-book showcase of Ryan’s range. Understudy Neevah Saint steps into the spotlight of a Harlem Renaissance biopic and catches the eye of demanding director Canon Holt; forbidden attraction, chronic illness, and industry politics all threaten the film and the relationship. Who it is for: readers who love behind-the-scenes showbiz romance and a heroine fighting for her art. Content note: chronic illness is a significant theme.
If Reel leaves you wanting romance with a speculative edge, our guide to romantasy books by Black authors is the natural next stop — and for more contemporary picks, see our wider Black romance book recommendations.
Kennedy Ryan Books in Order: A Simple Reading Path
The simplest path is: Skyland first (Before I Let Go → This Could Be Us → Can’t Get Enough), then follow your mood — Hoops for sports romance, All the King’s Men for political drama, Reel for Hollywood glamour. Her Grip trilogy — Flow, Grip, and Still (all 2017) — is the backlist deep cut to explore next. You can check her complete book list on Kennedy Ryan’s official books page before you buy.
Whichever door you enter through, the pattern holds: a Black woman with a full, complicated life, a love interest who has to meet her where she actually is, and an ending that feels earned rather than granted. That is why one Kennedy Ryan book rarely stays one. For more on the writers shaping this space, explore our guide to Black women writers.