Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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Second chance romance, Harlem Renaissance History and Mental Health

Score by Kennedy Ryan

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Kennedy Ryan mentioned in her acknowledgments that she considers this series to be “an entire series that focused on the Harlem Renaissance, or that set women fighting for their significance and their own wellness at the center,” and Score follows in Reel’s footsteps, switching from physical health (lupus) to mental health through a FMC with bipolar disorder. Overall, I enjoyed it and thought it was very well developed but it’s heavy. This m is not the novel to pick up if in the mood for […]

Contemporary romance round up – summer reads

Can’t Get Enough by Kennedy Ryan

Along Came Amor by Alexis Daria

When Javi Dumped Mari by Mia Sosa

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Both Kennedy Ryan and Alexis Daria released the final novels in their latest romance trilogies in May of this year. I enjoyed both but they focused on very different types of characters (oddly enough, it was a flip between the characters they focused on in the second novel – so for Primas of Power, we get the cousin that always did the right thing and played by the rules in book 3 while Skyland explored that character in book 2, and Skyland focuses on the […]

When You Are Mine by Kennedy Ryan

When You Are Mine by Kennedy Ryan

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“When You Are Mine” is the first book in a series I have zero intention of finishing. It starts with a wedding and the best man, Walsh, is doing a wedding toast for his best friend Cam. One problem, Walsh is in love with his best friend’s wife, Kerris. Child no. I got recommended this book again (by someone at the only romance book store in NoVa) and I swear to God those people hate me. WHY???? This book had me mad from the word […]

not all romances should get a second chance

Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan

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I go into all romance novels with an open mind, but this second-chance romance between divorced co-parents who just might rekindle their love left me disappointed. While the premise of revisiting a past relationship is one of my favorite tropes, this one is not it. The biggest frustration? NO ONE in this book EVER talks to each other. Seriously, every misunderstanding feels like it could’ve been solved with one honest conversation. Instead, we get page after page of assumptions, misinterpretations, and characters jumping to the […]

“You signed up for me … And I signed up for you, whatever that means, wherever that takes us”

The Kingmaker by Kennedy Ryan

The Rebel King by Kennedy Ryan

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Kennedy Ryan’s All the Kings Men Duet, as she calls it, spans more than a decade and contains a lot of passion, danger, and drama. I’m reviewing both at the same time since they don’t really stand alone. The Kingmaker ends on one heck of a cliffhanger, and The Rebel King would not be a satisfying place to start the series. Maxim Cade is still just in college when he travels with his father to the location of one of their planned oil pipelines, which […]

Is this a romance? I’m saying yes.

This Could be Us by Kennedy Ryan

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“So tell us what happened between Oh, my gosh, my inmate husband has a secret baby and I smashed the man who put him in prison,” Yasmen says, resting her chin on her folded hands. “This is some Days of Our Lives shit.” Kennedy Ryan’s Before I Let Go was one of the best books I read in 2022. I can still call up the big emotions between a divorced couple who are trying to co-parent and run a business together while also trying to […]



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