Looking for Kennedy Ryan books in order? This guide breaks down Kennedy Ryan’s books by series, including The Bennetts, Soul, Grip, Hoops, All the King’s Men, Hollywood Renaissance, Skyland, and her standalone books.
Kennedy Ryan doesn’t write the same romance over and over. Some of her books live in basketball and celebrity, some move through politics or Hollywood, and some are about grown people trying to love each other after life has already done its worst. That’s why the easiest way to read her books isn’t by chasing one giant master list. It’s by picking the series that fits your mood and reading that set in order.
Jump to:
- Where to Start?
- Kennedy Ryan Books by Series
- Do You Need to Read Kennedy Ryan Books in Order?
- Kennedy Ryan Bonus Stories
Where to Start?
Before I Let Go is the best place to start for most readers. It’s one of the books that brought a lot of newer readers to Kennedy Ryan, and it shows exactly what makes her stand out: huge emotion, real-life pressure, complicated adults, and a love story that feels earned every step of the way.
Long Shot is a strong pick if you want something more intense and don’t mind a heavier ride, and Reel is a great entry if you like Hollywood, music, and creative ambition. Still, Before I Let Go is the safest recommendation because it gives you the fullest feel for what Kennedy Ryan does so well.
Kennedy Ryan Books by Series
The easiest way to read Kennedy Ryan is by series. They’re laid out here from her earliest series to her newest, which makes it easier to find what you’re looking for and see how her books have changed over time.
The Bennetts Books
The Bennett books are part of Kennedy Ryan’s earlier work, and they lean into family drama, tangled relationships, and long-running emotional fallout. These are connected books, not random standalones, so they read best one after another.
- When You Were Mine (2014)
- Loving You Always (2014)
- Be Mine Forever (2015)
- Until I’m Yours (2016)
Soul Books
Soul is one of Kennedy Ryan’s earlier series, and it leans hard into music, fame, and relationships carrying a lot of history on their backs. These books follow the same central relationship, so they’re best read straight through instead of sampled out of order.
- My Soul to Keep (2015)
- Down to My Soul (2016)
- Refrain (2016)
Grip Books
Grip isn’t a loose standalones series. It’s one love story told across multiple books, starting with the prequel and then following Grip and Bristol through the bigger, harder, messier parts of loving each other. This is one of the clearest cases where reading in order really matters.
Hoops Books
Hoops is the series for readers who want Kennedy Ryan at her most intense and high-voltage. These books revolve around pro basketball, but the real pull is the emotion, the chemistry, and the fact that even the so-called standalones can hit like a wrecking ball.
One thing worth knowing up front: Long Shot, Block Shot, and Hook Shot are the main full-length novels. Hoops Holiday is a holiday collection, and Hoops Shorts gathers novella material, so those work best after the core books instead of before them.
- Long Shot (2018)
- Block Shot (2018)
- Hoops Holiday (2018) (Collection)
- Hook Shot (2019)
- Hoops Shorts (2022) (Novella Collection)
All the King’s Men Books
All the King’s Men mixes romance with politics, power, old money, activism, and ambition. The Kingmaker and The Rebel King are a duet, while Queen Move stays in the same world but shifts to a different couple and a different kind of emotional pull.
- The Kingmaker (2019)
- The Rebel King (2019)
- Queen Move (2020)
Hollywood Renaissance Books
Hollywood Renaissance leans into film, music, art, and the people trying to build something beautiful without losing themselves in the process. Reel starts the series, The Close-Up works as a novella bridge, and Score keeps that same creative world going with a new couple.
- Reel (2021)
- The Close-Up (2022) (Novella)
- Score (2026)
Skyland Books
Skyland is probably the easiest Kennedy Ryan series to hand to a new reader. These books stay rooted in the same Atlanta community and follow women whose lives are already full of family, work, grief, friendship, caregiving, and hard choices before the romance even kicks into gear.
- Before I Let Go (2022)
- This Could Be Us (2024)
- Can’t Get Enough (2025)
Standalone Books
Coming Home is a short second-chance romance set during HBCU homecoming weekend. It started as an audio-first novella, but it now has print and ebook availability too, which makes it worth including alongside Kennedy Ryan’s other books instead of leaving it buried off to the side.
- Coming Home (2023) (Novella)
Do You Need to Read Kennedy Ryan Books in Order?
Not every book she’s ever written in one giant line, no. What matters is reading each series in order once you start it.
Grip, Soul, and The Bennetts are the clearest examples where order really matters because those books stay locked on the same couple or same connected group. Skyland and Hollywood Renaissance also work better in order, while Hoops is more flexible because the main novels are standalones. Even there, though, the extras make more sense after the core books.
If you only want one quick answer, here it is: pick a series, then read that series in order. That’s the easiest way to avoid confusion and get the best emotional payoff.
Kennedy Ryan Bonus Stories
Kennedy Ryan has more extra material than a lot of authors do, and it’s actually worth knowing about once you fall hard for one of her series. The bonus content isn’t something you need before the main books, but it’s great once you’ve finished a story and want a little more time with those characters.
The Hoops world has the biggest pile of extras, including bonus epilogues for Long Shot, Block Shot, and Hook Shot, plus Hoops Christmas Shorts, which originally appeared in Hoops Holiday. The Grip books also have a short story bundle, so that series doesn’t really end the second you finish Still.
There’s bonus material for other corners of her books too. All the King’s Men has a bonus epilogue and a separate Queen Move epilogue, Reel has a bonus epilogue, and there are also extras like The Rule of Always and Free to Love if you want to keep digging once you’ve made it through the main books.
Looking for more books in order?
If you want more romance authors and reading-order guides like this one, start with my Romance Books in Order index.