“Reel is alive and pulsing like a beating heart.
This romance is a triumph of art and emotion.”
–Talia Hibbert, New York Times bestselling author

Reel, an all new epic CONTEMPORARY STANDALONE love story from Wall Street Journal bestselling author Kennedy Ryan, is available now!

One moment in the spotlight.

For months I stood by, an understudy waiting in the wings, preparing for my time to shine.
I never imagined he would watch in the audience that night.
Canon Holt.
Famous film director.
Fascinating. Talented. Fine.
Before I could catch my breath, everything changed.
I went from backstage Broadway to center stage Hollywood.
From being unknown, to my name, Neevah Saint, on everyone’s lips.
Canon casts me in a star-studded Harlem Renaissance biopic, catapulting me into another stratosphere.

But stars shine brightest in the dead of night.
Forbidden attraction, scandal and circumstances beyond my control jeopardize my dream.
Could this one shot—the role of a lifetime, the love of a lifetime—cost me everything?

GRAB YOUR COPY TODAY!
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ALSO AVAILABLE IN AUDIO NOW!

“Bravo . . .A true literary audio experience!”
— Alexandria House, Amazon & Audible bestselling author

Narrated by Eboni Flowers and Jakobi Diem
Featuring Nicole Small
Vocal Performance by April Christina

➜ Audible: http://mybook.to/ReelAudio

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About Kennedy Ryan
USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, Kennedy Ryan and her writings have been featured in Chicken Soup for the Soul, USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, Glamour, Cosmo, TIME, O Mag and many others. A RITA® Award winner, Kennedy writes empowered women from all walks of life and centers those who have found themselves perennially on the margins of traditional storytelling.

Her Hoops Series (Long Shot, Block Shot and Hook Shot) and All the King’s Men Series (The Kingmaker, The Rebel King and Queen Move) have been optioned for television.

An autism mom, Kennedy co-founded LIFT 4 Autism, an annual charitable initiative, and has appeared on Headline News, Montel Williams, NPR and other media outlets as an advocate for autism families. She is a wife to her lifetime lover and mother to an extraordinary son.

Connect with Kennedy
Text KennedyRyan to 797979 for release alerts!
Subscribe to Mailing List: subscribepage.com/kennedyryan
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TikTok: @kennedyryanauthor
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Facebook: http://bit.ly/2GUq0uF
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2Fvhqiz
BookBub: bookbub.com/authors/kennedy-ryan
Website: http://kennedyryanwrites.com

Review:

There was a little hesitancy in the back of my mind, going into Reel. A director/actress relationship has the potential for being extremely problematic in terms of power balance. However, I know that, as witnessed in previous books, that Kennedy Ryan handles tough issues with sensitivity and delicacy. And she does so in Reel. The relationship between Neevah as the breakthrough actress and Canon, the director who has been burned by mixing work and personal together before, is handled with such care. The dual perspectives of Neevah and Canon show that both are equally attracted to each other and try to fight it throughout the filming. The timeline helps too as the book spans over a year from their first meeting. Once they do give in to their passion, consent is talked about and a vibrant part of their relationship. Actually reading the story, there was nothing about their power balance that made me uncomfortable. The only time Canon wielded his power as director was in defense of Neevah’s medical needs and it was always in support of her.

There are a lot serious issues addressed in Reel from Neevah’s family to chronic illness (lupus for Neevah, off the page death and MS for Canon’s mom). Kennedy Ryan weaves each into this story and they only add to the beauty of the love story that is Canon and Neevah.

Damn it, Kennedy, how dare you write a book that threatens to overturn Queen Move as my favorite Kennedy Ryan book but Reel just might do that. The intersection of Dessi Blue’s story, the role Neevah plays, adds so much depth and additional heartache and beauty to an already beautiful story. Just the story of Canon and Neevah alone is phenomenal but Dessi Blue takes it a step further into greatness. The unsung story of Black musicians and their influence is one that desperately needs to be told and there is a sadness in my heart that the Dessi Blue movie isn’t actually real. The richness of Kennedy Ryan’s writing is one that is unmatched in literature today, in my opinion. Her words, so carefully chosen, reveal depth of her understanding of her characters and her ability to pull the reader in the intense world she crafted. Reel is truly a masterpiece of romance.

*Received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Favorite Quotes:

But I think I love him. And how two such opposite moments- realizing I have a life-threatening illness and realizing I’m in love – can exist in the same hour, in the same room, is beyond me. Or maybe it was always supposed to be this way. Maybe my love and this threat have been on a collision course since the beginning. Since the day a woman in a wheelchair on a rotting pier in the last rays of a dying sun stared the camera down, asking if we would live, or just wait to die.

Reel by Kennedy Ryan, Chapter 56

Hope lures you from safety, makes you dream again of things you thought impossible. It coaxes you out of your fears. Forget mercury or arsenic. Hope is the most dangerous element in the world.

Reel by Kennedy Ryan, Chapter 57

I let go. For the space of a few heartbeats, I let go. The sound of his humor vibrates through his chest and reaches all the parts of me hungry for hope, for joy

Reel by Kennedy Ryan, Chapter 58

Sometimes attraction is the body’s way of keeping a secret from your heart until you’re ready to hear it. Maybe my heart recognized who Neevah was to me immediately – my light, the part that would fit with me like we were crafted for one another – but disguised it as admiration, lust, desire, need. Emotions I could accept, giving me time to fall in love. Inevitably. Irrevocably.

Reel by Kennedy Ryan, Chapter 65

You look at me the way your mom looked at sunsets.

Reel by Kennedy Ryan, Chapter 69

As a young woman when I left Harlem, I wanted to see the world, but it was when I came home that I changed it.

Reel by Kennedy Ryan, Epilogue- Dessi Blue

Published by SomewhereLostInBooks

I’m Melisa! I’m an avid reader. I love romance novels and decided, hey, why not write about what I love and hate about the genre. And my favorite books. And when I get to meet authors. And all round why romance novels are awesome. Expect a lot of fan-girling, laughter, and some tears. View all posts by SomewhereLostInBooks