A Deep Dive into the Skyland Series by Kennedy Ryan

Whether you’re a reader or not, it’s hard to say that you haven’t been hearing the name Kennedy Ryan floating around. Kennedy Ryan is such a beautiful and talented Black woman who recently published the final installation of the Skyland Series on May 13, 2025. The three books — Before I Let Go, This Could Be Us, and Can’t Let Go — follow three hilarious best friends in their 30’s who are navigating life, love, and loss while also learning the importance of strong sisterhood.

I read these three books not expecting much because I know how the internet can exaggerate when it comes to talking about popular media, but I have to admit that I was throughly impressed. In the following article, I will be discussing my personal opinion about the books in the Skyland Series. I will be discussing plot points that may serve as spoilers for anyone who has not read these books before, please read at your own risk.

Book One: Before I Let Go

Pages: 391

Started: April 4, 2025

Finished: April 5, 2025

Rating 5/5

In this book, we are introduced to Yasmen. Yasmen is a mother, a business owner, and a woman who has recently divorced her husband, Josiah. Josiah and Yasmen are rebuilding their lives separately after the loss of not only Josiah’s Aunt Byrd, but the loss of their unborn child. Throughout this book, we see the effects of a strong sisterhood through the presence of Soledad and Hendrix, Yasmen’s best friends who show up in any way they can. Whether that’s taking a yoga class with her, or hanging out with her daughter, those girls were THERE for her.

Now, when I finished reading this book, a few things stuck out to me.

1. Kennedy Ryan is seriously talented. The way she used Yasmen’s character to navigate the complexity of loss was moving. There was so much that could have torn Yas down, but she was able to find her strength and continue to push on despite the ever present press of grief. And in the end, she was able to learn how to love through hard losses.

2. Sisterhood (but very specifically in black communities) is SO important. Those women showered Yasmen in love. Love that extended to her kids in ways that illustrated why they call your support system a village. She was loved back to whole and supported in all of her endeavors. No matter what was on their agenda, if they could make time for Yas and her family, they did. I loved that.

Book Two: This Could Be Us

Pages: 384

Started: May 7, 2025

Finished: May 11, 2025

Rating: 5/5

The second installment of this series focuses on Soledad. Soledad is a Puerto Rican homemaker who has three daughters (Lottie, Inez, and Lupe) with her husband Edward. She is happy, her finances are taken care of by her husband, and her daughters are thriving… That is until Judah Cross enters the picture. Edward can’t stand Judah, and it turns out that’s because Judah is on to him. Edward is stealing from this job and Judah just caught him, sending him to jail and leaving Soledad and her daughters with nothing.  Now, Soledad has to do whatever she can to make enough money to maintain the status quo for her daughters and keep her family afloat. 

For anyone, this situation would be dire. Heck, I don’t even know what I would do, but luckily, Soledad has Yasmen and Hendrix. Together, they point Sol in the right direction to take back her life and find a way out. It just so happens that on her journey, she falls for Judah as well.

Okay, I didn’t want to give away too much, but this book made me cry. As a woman who was raised by my mom, it was a very real experience for me to see the fervor with which Soledad was able to pivot when it seemed like her entire life was going awry. Plus, we see the very real side of what it’s like to date as a woman with kids pursuing a man with kids.

This book was raw. It was real. And it solidified me as a Kennedy Ryan fan.

Book Three: Can’t Get Enough

Pages: 419

Stared: June 9, 2025

Finished: June 11, 2025

Rating: 5/5

Finally, we get to my girl, Hendrix. From the first two books, we know Hendrix as the rich auntie. She doesn’t have any kids, she doesn’t want any kids, and she will be coming to pick the kids up for a day with Auntie Hen. Her focus is her career and her mom, which means that a relationship is one of the farthest things from her mind. And now, in Can’t Get Enough, Hendrix is on the cusp of something big. The catch? Her mother is suffering with Alzheimer’s and can no longer live alone. 

While her aunt takes up the role of caretaker, Hendrix splits her time between landing her client a dream project and keeping tabs on everything with her mom. One day, Hendrix crosses paths with Maverick at a party and she immediately piques his interest. The book follows their “forbidden” relationship, as they fall deeper into each other once they realize that their circles aren’t the only thing that connects them.

I love a good romance story, but I love a romance story with a good dose of yearning even more. I was happy to see that Hendrix was a plus sized black woman who never backed down from what she knew that she deserved. 

The most important aspect of this story, for me, though was the pivotal choice that Hendrix had to make between her career and love. This could have very easily become a story where the strong lead “puts love first” without considering the gravity of her actions, but that wasn’t what happens here. Hendrix chooses Mav, but she does so understanding that she was capable of achieving her goal with or without Zere — Maverick’s ex girlfriend.

Final Thoughts:

I said all of that, above, to say that the Skyland series was a beautiful contemporary romance trio that truly was 5 stars across the board. My girl Kennedy Ryan can WRITE! And she writes so beautifully that I can’t wait to have more books from her in my collection.

You can follow my more recent reads on my Goodreads and if you’d like to see my bookish content more regularly, don’t forget to follow me on Tiktok.

Happy reading.