Complimentary review copy provided by publisher.
This is the book everyone was most looking forward to from my March releases post . I just finished reading this morning and had to share my thoughts right away so you all know to prioritize this one!
After her husband detonates their life and marriage 41-year-old Soledad is blindsided, left to pick up the pieces and rebuild a life for herself and their 3 daughters. This Could Be Us is a story of healing, resilience, and love in many forms, including romance.
A satisfying story, Soledad is an admirable heroine to cheer for, but Kennedy Ryan adds a few meaty pieces that really add up to something great:
Complex family dynamics. Not only is Soledad navigating crisis with an eye toward helping her daughters stay whole and heal, she herself comes from not uncomplicated origins. Soledad’s love interest, Judah, has a beautiful, functional, blended family showing divorce doesn’t always mean the end of love and care for one another.
Autism representation. Judah is a parent to twin teen boys with Autism. It appears Ryan, herself a parent of a child with Autism per her Author’s Note, has provided an accurate and nuanced representation of a family navigating Autism.
Domestic labor. Soledad did not work outside the home, her family was her work, so when her husband upends their lives he left his family reeling with no income. Part of Soledad’s journey of self-discovery is learning to use her skills and expertise to earn an income to support her family. I thought this was well done and appreciated the focus on the typically overlooked value of domestic labor.
This Could Be Us is something of a slow burn if you’re expecting a traditional romance, though once that spark ignites the wait is well worth it, but there’s really so much to appreciate with Soledad’s journey.
Though this is the second book in the Skyland series (beginning with Before I Let Go) both books can be enjoyed as stand alone novels with overlapping characters. I’ve read both and Kennedy Ryan is now an official auto-read author!
That Bookish Life 
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