MY SOUL TO KEEP
It seems the things worth keeping are often the hardest to hold... KAI I had two things in life that mattered. My mother and my music. Mama was taken from me too soon, and now music is all I have left. It’s the thing that’s pushed me right out of backwoods Georgia into Los Angeles, where the line between fantasy and reality shimmers and blurs. I’m finally making my way, making my mark. I can’t afford to fall for one of music's brightest stars. Not now. Music is all I have left, and I’m holding on tight with both hands. I won’t let go, not even for Rhyson Gray. RHYSON I had one thing in my life that mattered – music. The only constant, it’s taken me to heights most people only dream about; a gift dropped in my lap at birth. I thought it was enough. I thought it was everything until I met Kai. Now she’s all I think about, like a song I can't get out of my head. If I have to chase her, if I have to give up everything - I will. And once she's mine, I won't let go.
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DOWN TO MY SOUL
RHYSON
She doesn't wear my ring. We never stood before a preacher. The only vows exchanged were between our bodies; between our souls. But she was mine and I was hers until I ruined it. I have to believe that every day, every step, every breath brings me closer to making things right. To making her mine again.
KAI
I've seen promises broken. I know love makes no guarantees. But things were different for Rhys and me, until he lied, and I walked away. Only there's a chain between our hearts that I can't break. Even if I forgive him, a shadow from my past hangs over us; over this love that reaches all the way down to my soul.
MELISSA'S REVIEW: FIVE STARS
I can't even review this. How do I review this? I've come across books like these before. Books that are overwhelmingly romantic, the pages full of emotion and chemistry that is dazzling and electric. Books like My Soul to Keep and Down to My Soul give me everything that I love and hope to find when I read romance books. They're pret-ty much *why* I read romance - I love love, and mostly I love reading about people falling in love and fighting for that love. These books are both of those things. They're about a soul deep connection between two people who, despite all the bullshit baggage from their past they carry on into the future or the self preservation tactics they use in the present, they're just meant to be. They're meant to love and to heal each other. Meant to fight for each other and fight for their love. And because books like My Soul to Keep and Down to My Soul are so affective, I'm feeling pretty greedy right now. These feelings? They're mine. I don't want to share. I want to hold in my heart forever and keep them safe and happy. Those tears I had? Those are mine too. I've heard of Kennedy Ryan before, of her work with autism awareness, but I've never read her books before. She is lit up like a Christmas tree on my radar now, no doubt. The writing in these stories was absolutely fantastic. Written in a first person, sort of alternating POV, you get to experience the thoughts and behaviors from both Rhyson and Kai first hand but Kennedy masterfully feeds you little bits of them to you at a time. There are lots of chapters within each installment but they're not long and drawn out, which helps keep the story feeling fresh and the pace generous but not excessive. The imagery is vivid and the characterization of the characters, both main and supporting, are convincing, consistent and well voiced. And they're hella romantic. It's been a minute since I've been introduced to a male lead as intelligent and sincere as Rhys. He is relentless and possessive in all the best ways, and just seems to have this urgency to give all of himself to Kai. His friendship, his talent, his mind, his humor, his body and most of all his love. He proves himself to be patient and understanding and displays a willingness to love and keep the connection he shares with Kai despite even himself. I thought Kai was just as complex and enchanting as Rhyson. I admired her independent disposition but delighted in the simple ways she became dependent upon Rhys with her love and adoration for him. Slowly she gave herself over to him, allowing all the best parts of their connection to propel her towards living and achieving her dreams and to healing her heart of the devastating losses she's endured. It's hard to choose which of the two is my favorite. I loved watching Kai and Rhys build a friendship and fall in love with each other in My Soul to Keep. Their movie line battles were adorable and friends to lovers stories are always my favorite. Down to My Soul, however, truly captured the physically passionate and emotionally intense connection Rhys and Kai share. It was heartfelt and emotive; one minute I was smiling and grinning like a fool and the next my heart was racing and tears were threatening to fall. It was damn beautiful, and one I won't soon forget. You absolutely must read these books. If you are any kind of romance reader, you will fall in love with them.
EXCERPT: DOWN TO MY SOUL
“Rhys?”
His name rushes from my mouth on a breath, and I’m off the bed, hurling myself at him top speed. Somehow my legs wrap around his waist and my arms tangle behind his neck. I couldn’t hold back and play this cool if I wanted to. Every part of me that’s been fighting to stay focused, to keep working, to be on, collapses against him. Surrenders to the feel of him in my arms and the smell of him. My fingers lace through his hair. I scatter kisses across his face, the sharp angles and taut skin warm beneath my lips.
“So I take it you’re happy to see me?” He chuckles, pressing his forehead to mine, hands squeezing my thighs.
“Happy?” I release something that’s half a sob, half a laugh, pulling back a few centimeters to let him breathe. “What gave you that idea?”
We stop grinning at the same time, laughter dissolving, our bodies exchanging sensual information. My breasts flattened to his chest. His erection growing and hardening against my core. Our breaths mingling and hearts tattooing beats through our clothes and into the other’s skin.
I move first, leaning in to capture his bottom lip between mine, sucking and pulling between my teeth. Licking into his mouth like there’s honey hidden inside. He groans into the kiss, walking backward until we reach the bed and dropping me so I bounce a little, his eyes roving over me head to toe.
“Pep, what the hell are you wearing?” Humor and desire tussle in his eyes.
I look down, laughing when I see the young Jackson brothers emblazoned across my chest, my legs ending in the footed bottoms.
“If I’d known you were coming, I could have made sexier arrangements.”
“Arrangements?” He quirks a dark brow, placing a knee on either side of my legs, hovering over me like a promise. “Lingerie would have been nice. Other rock stars have girlfriends who wear lingerie.”
“Oh, are you referring to yourself as a rock star now?” I grin up at him, feeling whole for the first time since he kissed me goodbye a week ago. “That’s not egomaniacal at all. Is there a club? You guys have rock star meetings? Does one of you take rock star minutes?”
“You are sitting in here listening to my music in the dark.” He leans forward to tug at the zipper beneath my chin. “Maybe you’re actually one of my crazed fans. Or a groupie. I might even find a Mrs. Rhyson Gray t-shirt around here somewhere. My girlfriend doesn’t like those.”
“No, she doesn’t.” I shake my head, eyes never straying from his.
A small frown jerks his brows together. He tugs again at the zipper, but it doesn’t budge.
“Pep, it’s stuck,” he says.
“Sometimes it does that,” I answer easily, enjoying the frustration spreading over his expression as he keeps pulling and it keeps staying.
He places my hand over his cock, hard and poking through his jeans.
“Well, it’s not exactly a good time for it to do that.”
I laugh, grasping my zipper and tugging. Wow, it really is stuck. These are vintage PJs, older than I am and threadbare in places. I’m surprised the zipper hasn’t rusted before now. I sit up, bringing our bodies closer as I jiggle the little hook a few times. Nothing.
“Just how attached are you to this Jackson Five onesie?” His glance burns hot across my subtle curves visible through the thin flannel, telegraphing his intentions.
“Well this is Michael’s original nose.” I release a fake exasperated sigh. “But I do have my sewing kit.”
“All I needed to hear.”
Sorry, boys.
He grabs the two ends of the collar separated by the zip line and pulls until there’s a ripping sound, the panels falling back to reveal my naked breasts and my panties. A wicked grin spreads across lips.
“You naughty girl.” He runs a finger over the writing on the front of my calendar panties, carrying a current that simultaneously hitches my breath and gets me wet. “Wearing Monday panties on a Thursday. My little rebel.”
ABOUT KENNEDY RYAN
I just can't write about myself in third person for one more bio! I'm a wife, a mom, a writer, an advocate for families living with autism. That's me in a nutshell. Crack the nut, and you'll find a Southern girl gone Southern California who loves pizza and Diet Coke, and wishes she got to watch a lot more television. You can usually catch me up too late, on social media too much, or FINALLY putting a dent in my ever-growing To Be Read list! I love to hear from readers at kennedyryanwrites@gmail.com.
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