{"id":64663,"date":"2022-05-13T09:00:59","date_gmt":"2022-05-13T13:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=64663"},"modified":"2022-11-15T09:17:19","modified_gmt":"2022-11-15T14:17:19","slug":"first-look-before-i-let-go-by-kennedy-ryan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=64663","title":{"rendered":"First Look: Before I Let Go (Skyland, #1) by Kennedy Ryan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before I Let Go, an all-new poignant second chance romance and the first book in the new Skyland Series from USA Today<\/em> bestselling and RITA\u00ae Award-winning author Kennedy Ryan is coming November 15th, and we have your first look inside!<\/strong><\/h4>\n

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“Award-winning and bestselling “powerhouse” author Kennedy Ryan is at her absolute best in this compelling, scorching novel about hope and healing, and what it truly means to love for a lifetime.”\u2013USA Today<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n

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Reserve your copy today!<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Amazon<\/a> \u00a0| \u00a0Amazon Worldwide<\/a> \u00a0| \u00a0iBooks<\/a> \u00a0| \u00a0Kobo<\/a> \u00a0| \u00a0Google Play<\/a>\u00a0 | \u00a0Nook<\/a><\/strong>
\nAmazon Paperback<\/a> \u00a0| \u00a0Nook Paperback<\/a>\u00a0 | \u00a0Nook Hardback<\/a>\u00a0 | \u00a0<\/strong>Nook Audio<\/strong><\/a><\/h4>\n

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Cover Art and Design by Natasha Cunningham<\/strong><\/h4>\n

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Blurb<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Their love was supposed to last forever. But when life delivered blow after devastating blow, Yasmen and Josiah Wade found that love alone couldn\u2019t solve or save everything.<\/p>\n

It couldn\u2019t save their marriage.<\/p>\n

Yasmen wasn\u2019t prepared for how her life fell apart, but she’s 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\u2019re always drawn back to each other, and now they\u2019re beginning to wonder if they\u2019re truly ready to let go of everything they once had.<\/p>\n

Soon, one stolen kiss leads to another . . . and then more. It’s hot. It’s illicit. It’s all good\u2014until old wounds reopen. Is it too late for them to find forever? Or could they even be better, the second time around?<\/p>\n

Add to GOODREADS<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Keep reading for your first look inside Before I Let Go<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The dress\u2019s zipper stubbornly stays put at the middle of my back.<\/p>\n

Screw it.<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019ll ask the hostess to zip me up.<\/p>\n

I grab my stuff and leave the bathroom just as the outer office door opens and Josiah walks in. His glance skitters over me, starting with my hair and sliding to my bare toes.<\/p>\n

\u201cSorry. I didn\u2019t realize you were in here,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Josiah\u2019s face is interesting enough to make handsome look mundane, though the man is undeniably fine. The kind of fine that makes you lose your train of thought mid sentence and bite your lip. Gorgeous dark skin gleams, pulled taut over the high sculpted bones of his face. To be so controlled, nearly austere, there is something boundless about his presence. Standing here with him, that energy, an amalgamation of ambition and audacity and swagger, swirls around us in the office. It\u2019s like being corked into a bottle with a typhoon.<\/p>\n

His brows lift, querying. I\u2019m staring.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh.\u201d I turn my back to him, as much to recover my composure as to get my zipper up. \u201cIt\u2019s stuck. Can ya help?\u201d<\/p>\n

He doesn\u2019t answer, and his steps are so quiet I barely hear him cross the room, so the heat of his body warming my exposed skin startles me. The backs of his fingers brush over my spine as he pulls the zipper. It doesn\u2019t budge at first, so he has to tug. Even just that whisper of a touch reminds my skin how to goose-bump. I glance over my shoulder and up, my breath hitching when our eyes collide. The air around us practically crackles, charged with a familiar current I\u2019d forgotten was even possible.<\/p>\n

He clears his throat and slides the zipper to the top. \u201cThere you go.\u201d<\/p>\n

I turn to face him and am unprepared for how close he stands. I\u2019m barefoot and my view narrows to the broad chest and shoulders of the man in front of me. We\u2019re not alone like this often anymore, leading separate lives that only intersect at our kids and our business. Kassim and Deja are usually around, or staff, friends, coaches, teachers. It\u2019s rarely just us. We used to know each other better than anyone. Now I\u2019m not even sure what he watches in the little free time he has away from this place, or if he even watches TV at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cHave you seen Ozark<\/em>?\u201d I ask.<\/p>\n

The thick line of his brows dips. \u201cNah. Should I?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one of the best shows I\u2019ve seen in a really long time. The acting, directing. The writing is stellar.\u201d I\u2019m rambling. I want to shove a sock in my mouth to make it stop running.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll have to, uh . . . check it out.\u201d He glances at the door. \u201cI need to get back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah.\u201d I reach into the bottom of my suit bag to grab my green heels, bending to slip them on. \u201cI gotta go too.\u201d<\/p>\n

He runs a thorough glance from my head to my shoes. \u201cYou look . . . nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNice?\u201d I scoop up the suit bag, now stuffed with my clothes, and speed to the door, grinning over my shoulder. \u201cPfftt. I look amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

He shakes his head, allowing a small smile. \u201cYou look amazing. Have a good time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll try not to be out too late. And don\u2019t let the kids stay up all night, Si. They have school tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLike I\u2019m the pushover parent.\u201d<\/p>\n

We both know he is, so I just stare at him until his smile broadens to that startling brightness that will snatch your breath if you let it. \u201cGet outta here. I\u2019ll see you at the house.\u201d<\/p>\n

The house.<\/em><\/p>\n

Not home. Not the dream home we worked for and fantasized about for years. Now it\u2019s just the house where the kids and I live. Josiah\u2019s in the same neighborhood, but a few streets over. I\u2019m not sure why my thoughts keep revisiting the past tonight when my reflection, my mindset, everything<\/em> has \u201cfuture\u201d written all over it.<\/p>\n

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Check out Kennedy\u2019s interview with Entertainment Weekly<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n

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Skyland<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"\" \u00a0\"\" \u00a0\"\"<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Before I Let Go (#1) <\/strong>(Josiah & Yasmen)
\n<\/strong>Review<\/a>
\nBuy: Amazon<\/a> \u00a0| \u00a0Paperback<\/a><\/p>\n

This Could Be Us (#2)<\/strong> (Judah & Soledad)
\nBuy:\u00a0 Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n

Can’t Get Enough (#3)<\/strong> (Maverick & Hendrix)
\nBuy:\u00a0 Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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About Kennedy Ryan<\/b><\/h4>\n

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A RITA\u00ae and Audie\u00ae Award winner, USA Today<\/em> bestselling author Kennedy Ryan<\/strong> writes for women from all walks of life, empowering them and placing them firmly at the center of each story and in charge of their own destinies. Her heroes respect, cherish, and lose their minds for the women who capture their hearts. Kennedy and her writings have been featured in Chicken Soup for the Soul, USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, TIME, O<\/em>magazine, and many others. She is a wife to her lifetime lover and mother to an extraordinary son.<\/p>\n

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Join Kennedy Ryan’s MAILING LIST<\/a><\/strong>
\nSign up for TEXT ALERTS<\/a><\/strong>
\nConnect with\u00a0BLUE BOX PRESS<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Instagram<\/strong><\/a> \u00a0| \u00a0<\/strong><\/span>Facebook<\/a> \u00a0| \u00a0FB Reader Group<\/a> \u00a0| \u00a0Amazon<\/a>
\nPinterest<\/a> \u00a0| \u00a0Book+Main<\/a> \u00a0| \u00a0Website<\/a>\u00a0 | \u00a0BookBub<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before I Let Go, an all-new poignant second chance romance and the first book in the new Skyland Series from USA Today bestselling and RITA\u00ae Award-winning author Kennedy Ryan is coming November 15th, and we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":64667,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[290],"tags":[1391,762,1394],"class_list":["post-64663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-news","tag-first-look","tag-kennedy-ryan","tag-skyland"],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Before-I-Let-Go-Cover-1.jpg?fit=200%2C304&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7gaNL-gOX","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=64663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64663\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/64667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=64663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=64663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=64663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}