Kennedy Ryan

Kennedy Ryan is an American writer of contemporary romance. She began with the Soul series in 2015 and reached a wide readership with Hoops, whose first volume, “Long Shot” (2018), won the RITA Award for contemporary romance in 2019 — she was the first Black author to win it. Her later books include the All the King's Men novels and the Skyland series, opened by “Before I Let Go” (2022) and continued with “This Could Be Us” (2024); several of her audiobooks have won Audie Awards. Her novels put Black women at the centre and take on grief, illness and motherhood alongside the love story. She also runs a nonprofit for autism awareness, founded after her son's diagnosis.