‘Before I Let You Go’ by Kennedy Ryan: You have me

If you ask me, one thing women are doing right is building community—a sisterhood of friends who create spaces where they feel seen, understood, and, most importantly, safe enough to heal. There is no judgement, just pure encouragement.

I’ve lost count of the times my female friends have helped me through challenges I never thought I’d face alone. That’s exactly the kind of support Yasmine finds in Before I Let You Go by Kennedy Ryan.

This second-chance romance follows Yasmine and Josiah, whose love was meant to last forever, strong enough to move mountains. But the thing about love—no matter how true—is that it’s never enough on its own. Yes, it’s powerful, but love alone doesn’t sustain a relationship.

One fateful day, a heart-wrenching event changes their lives forever. One thing about grief is that everyone experiences it differently. Josiah chooses to push past it, carrying on with life as if nothing has happened. And he expects Yasmine to do the same. Their family—including their two children, Deja and Kassim—also assumes she’ll fall back in line with life’s programme.

But grief doesn’t work that way. It clings to people without warning, staying as long as it pleases, indifferent to what they might be missing while it lingers. Yasmine can’t understand how Josiah has managed to move on so quickly—how he can act as if he doesn’t care about what they lost.

"Grief is a grind. It is a work of breathing and waking and rising and moving through a world that feels emptier. A gaping hole has been torn into your existence, and everyone around you just walks right past it like it’s not even there."

Marriage is a beautiful thing when it’s right. And theirs was beautiful. But when grief clouds your vision, it’s hard to see the joy you once had. Yasmine felt like she was losing herself, and the only way to save herself was to leave her marriage—not because she didn’t love Josiah, but because love alone wasn’t enough.

But their children could sense what was happening in their constant, hushed arguments. Her daughter, Deja, blamed her for breaking their family apart. In Deja’s mind, her mother was the problem—the reason they couldn’t stay together as a family. That belief left a deep crack in their relationship.

After the divorce, life gets tough. Yasmine seeks help and therapy to navigate her grief and pull herself out of the darkness she has been buried in for longer than she had hoped. She forms a community of women, each carrying her own burdens. Together, they create a safe space for one another.

“I am grateful for friends who feel like sisters. And I think I’m most grateful for time, which doesn’t always heal all wounds but teaches us how to be happy again, even with our scars.”

Co-parenting their two children while still being business partners inevitably draws Yasmine and Josiah back to each other like magnets pulled by an invisible force. Yasmine is certain about how she feels, but Josiah remains hesitant—rightfully so, given all they have been through.

“I am not oblivious. I know the attraction is mutual, that she still wants me, too, on some level. But she doesn’t want me for the rest of her life, and that is the promise we made to each other. That is not completely fair. I know what she was going through, but understanding how you got hurt never makes it hurt less.”

Kennedy Ryan masterfully highlights that relationships don’t come with a manual—there is no one-size-fits-all formula. Love is about knowing yourself and your partner—the good, the in-between, and the ugly. It’s about creating space for vulnerability, embracing open communication, and choosing an arrangement that works for both of you rather than conforming to expectations. This is reflected in Ken and Merry, an older couple Yasmine and Josiah meet during a business deal.

“Thirty years we’ve been together. One successful business and two successful children, but no rings. We chose each other, and our minds have never changed.”

Before I Let You Go is an emotional story of love, grief, forgiveness, and second chances. It will leave you reflecting on what it truly means to love and be loved. It will make you laugh, ache, and connect deeply with its characters as they navigate their emotions. Intensely character-driven, it brings its characters to life with such raw depth that you can’t help but root for them.

But the question remains: Is a second chance worth it, even when you know the pain that awaits if things don’t work out? Is love worth the heartbreak and grief of having and losing it?

Perhaps, if nothing else, love is the one thing that is always worth the risk.

Jane Shussa is passionate about books, coffee, nature, and travel. She serves as a Senior Digital Communications Officer for Twaweza East Africa.