This Could Be Us by Kennedy Ryan

Soledad Barnes is facing a devastating betrayal that shatters the life she built with her husband. As she struggles to provide for her daughters, Soledad begins a journey of self-discovery and resilience. Alongside her rebuilding, a new romance challenges her to trust again.

When I requested this I didn’t realize it was a sequel, and I’m not sure how that impacted my experience. Yasmen, the protagonist in the first book, Before I Let Go, is here, but with the new center focusing on Soledad, I don’t know that it made any true difference that I hadn't read the first book.

When This Could Be Us opens, we see Tremaine and Judah working through some final stages of their divorce — and the supportive way they decided to break up was really refreshing. Plus, there was a fantastic autism representation throughout that I loved — that’s hard to find these days, especially when it’s not just some “quirky, on the spectrum” protagonist bumbling through their social awkwardness. The spectrum is broad, and I loved this level having a place on the page.

Ryan writes more of a capital-R Romance than I realized, and that’s generally not my cup of tea. The predictability of the plot was obvious from the outset, so with that it’s up to the characters and the narrative voice to do most of the work. However, I never quite warmed to the voice of the book, and with that being paired with present tense — the pacing was awkward, leaving an impression of stutter-steps and bulleted dialogue. The tone and style actually reminded me of a Primetime network drama that might attract a devoted audience, but unfortunately, I’m not among them. While the book was undeniably steamy, the writing style lacked the stronger framework that I prefer, and with a very slim plot and light character development, it just didn’t land for me.

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This affected neither my opinion of the book nor the content of my review.