REVIEW: Long Shot by Kennedy Ryan

In Long Shot by Kennedy Ryan, They say timing is everything. And that’s something Iris DuPree knows all too well. What she couldn’t have known was that the chance encounter she had with an up-and-coming college basketball star one night would have ripple effects in her life for years to come. Because Iris knew from that hours-long conversation with August West that he was someone special. A guy with whom she could see a future. But at the time, she was already dating someone. So, instead of breaking it off with her guy to pursue August, she goes with the status quo and sticks with her current relationship–not knowing that it would shortly turn her life into a living hell. One from which she couldn’t escape without putting her life and her loved one’s lives in danger.

‘I’ll never take this for granted. Not his kindness, when I’ve known cruelty all too well. Not his tenderness, when I’ve been handled roughly in the past. Not his love, when I’ve been possessed and owned and mistreated.’

August has had his eyes on the NBA since he first stood on a court as a young kid. He’s fought tooth and nail to make his dream come true–and knows his family has given up a lot over the years to help him as well. That’s why when he encounters Iris for the first time and knows she’s also going to be a part of his future, August will have to play things smart. He’s seen successful ball players who’ve had it all and those who’ve squandered their chances. He aims to be one of the few lucky ones to have the career *and* get the woman. But timing between August and Iris to take their chance always seems to be off, somehow. He knows she is hiding something from him about her current relationship. So, August plans to be there for Iris whenever she needs him–and whenever she’s ready to go the distance with him.

“Your dreams and ambitions got swallowed up when you had to follow him,” I say, holding her eyes with mine. “I want you to know there’s someone who will follow *you*.”

An emotional book filled with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, depicting violence on a level that’s hard to grasp at times, Long Shot was INTENSE. But it was also a story of hope and enduring love.

‘I couldn’t have known that the first hit, that baptism into violence, doesn’t just sting the flesh. It startles the soul.’

CW: View Spoiler »Domestic abuse (very explicit), gaslighting, blackmail, rape, postpartum depression, cheating, murder (self-defense), love triangle. « Hide Spoiler

As bone-chilling as the horrific abuse our heroine Iris suffered through and the hardships she experienced after, Long Shot remained a book about persevering and rising above violence. About one woman surviving and then *thriving*. I will caution ALL readers that the scenes with Iris and her abuser were extremely graphic and will likely be too heart rending to get through. It was honestly too much for me at times. I had to either skim through the passages or put it aside for a short while. But I do think that author Kennedy Ryan accomplished what she set out to do–to paint a true picture of what some women go through in real life at the hands of someone who supposedly loves them, and of how others around them potentially cover up the abuse, failing the victim in the process.

Ryan also embedded a spark of hope, though. And I think it was important that she didn’t just show the harshness of Iris’s life as it spiraled out of control over time, she included the points when Iris stood up for herself, for her loved ones, and had the courage to ‘change her course’. Yes, Iris’s cousin Lo, her great grandmother MiMi, and NBA star August played a part in her recovery later on. But it was Iris who did the hard work of healing physically, emotionally, and mentally.

One thing I loved was that August was down for whatever Iris needed from him without (mostly) trying to take control of the situation, negating her hard-won independence. He was truly the best man Iris could have had in her world. And the lovely draw they had together–the one that created so much mayhem for them both at times–turned out to be an everlasting connection. The thing that kept them both going during the darkest moments. And something that was on full display in the super sweet, sentimental finale Ryan created.

QOTD: Have you read any of Kennedy Ryan’s books? Have a favorite one?

Book Info:

Publication: Published: August 8th, 2023 (First published March 20, 2018) | Bloom Books | Hoops #1

From award-winning author Kennedy Ryan comes the soul-gripping, unforgettable first installment of the Hoops trilogy. Iris DuPree meets August West in a sports bar during her last semester of college. It’s the conversation of a lifetime and sends sparks flying in every direction. The connection is undeniable…but the timing is all wrong. August is poised for the NBA draft, and Iris belongs to another man―basketball’s “golden boy” and August’s long-time rival. The two go their separate ways, but they often recall that electric night and what could have been. While August has embarked on his all-star life, studded with wealth and fame, Iris’s perfect public relationship has become a nightmare behind closed doors. A tarnished dream of fool’s gold. When August re-enters her life, the world seems briefly bright again, but Iris’s darkest nights are not over yet. To survive, she must build her own strength and trust that her bond with August can endure after all this time. Even when her fraudulent prince has vowed never to let her go.