47 pages • 1 hour read
Kennedy RyanThis Could Be Us
Kennedy RyanFiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2024A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Authorial Context: Kennedy Ryan
Kennedy Ryan writes contemporary romance and women’s fiction that highlights the experiences of diverse characters and explores controversial social issues. Her books have been widely praised for addressing raw emotion, taking on uncomfortable realities, and creating socially conscious love stories.
After training in journalism, Ryan began self-publishing romance novels. Her Bennetts series came out in 2014. Subsequent series include Soul, the Grip trilogy, Hoops, All the King’s Men, and Hollywood Renaissance. The Skyland series, which includes This Could Be Us, has a third novel projected for 2025. Ryan was the first Black author to receive the prestigious RITA award from the Romance Writers of America, winning in the contemporary category in 2019 for her novel Long Shot. In her acceptance speech, Ryan acknowledged the many romance writers of color who inspired her and stated that having an author of color win a RITA was long overdue.
Ryan’s novels gained increasing recognition for her willingness to tackle subjects that have typically fallen outside the romance sphere. For example, The Kingmaker features an Indigenous climate change activist who challenges, and falls in love with, the heir to an oil conglomerate. Long Shot tackles domestic abuse by professional athletes, and the Grip series confronts racism and bias against interracial marriages. Reel, the first novel in the Hollywood Renaissance series, is about an actor with a chronic illness who falls for the director who casts her in a biopic set during the Harlem Renaissance.
Ryan is also an advocate for autism awareness, inspired by her son, who is on the spectrum. She draws on her experiences to portray Adam and Aaron in This Could Be Us. Kennedy began the annual Lift 4 Autism Auction, a book sale that funds efforts to educate people about autism.
Literary Context: The Skyland Series
The Skyland trilogy takes place in Skyland, a well-to-do suburb of Atlanta, spotlighting a trio of girlfriends who see each other through thick and thin. The first book, Before I Let Go (2022), features Yasmen Wade, who is a supporting character in This Could Be Us, which is the second in the series. Before I Let Go is a second-chance romance about Yasmen and Josiah Wade, who are divorced when the novel opens. They married young and had a relationship full of joy and passion. However, after their third child was stillborn, Yasmen developed depression and grew alienated and distant from Josiah. After their divorce, they have remained on cordial terms as they co-parent their children and run a successful restaurant called Grits. Thanks to therapy and the support of her friends, Soledad and Hendrix, Yasmen feels a renewed determination to rebuild a healthy life. Her jealousy when Josiah gets involved with a cook at the restaurant signals that she’s still interested in him. As they reconnect through sex, Yasmen and Josiah feel their deep love drawing them back together, and they eventually make a new commitment to one another.
In This Could Be Us, Soledad sees Yasmen and Josiah as a fairytale couple who are meant to be together. The plot of This Could Be Us follows up on Soledad’s comment in Before I Let Go that she suspects Edward was not being faithful to her. The third novel in the Skyland series, featuring Hendrix, will release in 2025.
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