Kennedy Ryan

Monday, March 6, 2017

BLOG TOUR: Grip by Kennedy Ryan

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Flow, the prequel to GRIP, by Kennedy Ryan is now live and TOTALLY FREE! And GRIP, the riveting full-length conclusion, is LIVE! FLOW: http://amzn.to/2lAhSSC GRIP: http://amzn.to/2lKfZVt

Check out the Teespring Campaign! www.teespring.com/GetAGrip
ENTER THE GIVEAWAY on Kennedy's Page! 

"The story reads like a movie . . powerful and intoxicating ... and sinfully sexy. GRIP has everything—dynamic characters, soulful plot, and a lesson at the end that will change the way you look at life. One of my favorite reads this year. Maybe ever. 5 massive, gripping stars from me!" 
– Adriana Locke, USA Today Bestselling Author



grip-ebook
EXCERPT:
Grip leans into me, pushing back my hair and rolling his still-icy beer bottle over my neck. I swallow, but don’t dare look at him, hoping he’ll drop it, but he doesn’t.

“When you grow up on the streets, you don’t just develop a sixth sense.” He captures a lock of my hair and tests it between his fingers. “You have six, seven, eight, nine of ’em, because those instincts could be the difference between death or life. My mom and Jade have so many senses they almost know what you’re thinking before you think it. And even though I’ve never told her, Jade only had to be in the room with us for a hot minute to know I want you.”

I clench my eyes closed and pull in a stuttering breath, trapping my bottom lip between my teeth.

“Don’t do this, Grip.”

“Jade’s right,” he continues as if I hadn’t spoken, hadn’t asked him to stop. “My mom would flip if I brought a white girl home. If I brought you home. Maybe it is bigoted and ancient, but that’s just her. You know better than most that we don’t get to choose our family, but we still gotta love them.”

I don’t respond to that. He knows how contentious things have been between my brother and my parents. Beyond the headlines everyone else has seen, he knows how hard I’ve worked to reconcile them. I moved to LA to help Rhyson with his career, yes, but also to bridge the country-wide chasm between the two factions of my family.

“Like you, I’d do anything for my family.” He comes in an inch closer, caressing under my chin and tilting it up with his index finger. “But if you’d ever give me a shot, I wouldn’t give a fuck what anyone thought. I’d take you home to my mama.”

I’m a little too high and a lot too horny for this conversation, for the stone-hard thigh pressing against me, for the heat coming off his body and smothering my resistance. I try to sit up, hoping it will clear my head so I can make my escape, but his hand presses gently into my chest, just above the swell of my breasts, compelling me back into the cushion. His lips hover over mine, and I will him to kiss me because I’ll make the first move if he doesn’t. After years of not moving, I have no idea how I’ll explain that once the smoke clears.

Sometimes at night after the chaos dies, I think about our first kiss at the top of a Ferris wheel. Just like then, his lips start soft, brushing mine like wings in sweet sweeps, coaxing me open and delving into me. Sampling me, he groans into my mouth and chases my tongue. The rough palm of his hand cups my face, angling me so he can dive deeper. He doesn’t come up for air, but keeps kissing me so deeply I can’t breathe. He tastes so good, I’ll choose him over air as long as I can. Why is it never like this with anyone else? I want it to be so bad, but it never is.

He releases my lips to scatter kisses down my neck. My back arches, and my nipples go tight. He knows that’s my spot. After all this time, he still knows. My neck is so incredibly sensitive, a gateway to the rest of my body.

“You taste exactly the same.” His words come on a labored breath in my ear. “Do you know how long it’s been since I kissed you?”

Eight years.

“Eight years.” He shakes his head, eyes riveting mine in light lent by candles and the moon. “And you taste exactly the same.”
grip_teaser5


NOW LIVE!
Amazon Universal: myBook.to/GetAGrip
Check out the playlist on iTunes: http://apple.co/2lWI9ur 
Check out the playlist on Spotify: http://bit.ly/2lWrHdS
JOIN THE SPOILER ROOM AFTER YOU FINISH! http://bit.ly/2m8xEqf


grip_teaser1


S Y N O P S I S

Resisting an irresistible force wears you down and turns you out.
I know.
I’ve been doing it for years.
I may not have a musical gift of my own, but I’ve got a nose for talent and an eye for the extraordinary.
And Marlon James – Grip to his fans – is nothing short of extraordinary.
Years ago, we strung together a few magical nights, but I keep those memories in a locked drawer and I’ve thrown away the key.
All that’s left is friendship and work.
He’s on the verge of unimaginable fame, all his dreams poised to come true.
I manage his career, but I can’t seem to manage my heart.
It’s wild, reckless, disobedient.
And it remembers all the things I want to forget.


flow-ebook

GRAB IT NOW FOR FREE!

Available on WATTPAD: http://w.tt/2kUo8Yk


"Ryan continues her streak of amazingly accessible and authentic romantic fiction. Grip is a bold and unapologetic look at interracial romance and does not shy away from any of the ideals and prejudices that most of us are too polite to acknowledge - head on- amidst one of the sexiest, and most provocative true love romances Ryan has penned to date. Break out the fans folks, Grip is aptly titled and sure to make you need a grip!" 
– Sheena, Smexy Books

g-quote1

S Y N O P S I S

In 8 years, Marlon James will be one of the brightest rising stars in the music industry.
Bristol Gray will be his tough, no-nonsense manager.
But when they first meet, she’s a college student finding her way in the world,
and he’s an artist determined to make his way in it.
From completely different worlds,
all the things that should separate them only draw them closer.
It’s a beautiful beginning, but where will the story end?

* * * * * * * 
FLOW is the prequel chronicling the week of magical days and nights
that will haunt Grip & Bristol for years to come.
GRIP is the full-length conclusion of their story available NOW here: http://kennedyryanwrites.com/grip/




About the Author:

Kennedy loves to write about herself in third person. She loves Diet Coke…though she’s always trying to quit. She adores her husband…who she’ll never quit. She loves her son, who is the most special boy on the planet. And she’s devoted to supporting and serving families living with Autism. And she writes love stories! For updates, new releases, giveaways and other adventures, subscribe to her newsletter: https://app.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/j9u8i3

Thursday, March 2, 2017

RELEASE BLITZ: Grip by Kennedy Ryan

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Flow, the prequel to GRIP, by Kennedy Ryan is now live and TOTALLY FREE!
And GRIP, the riveting full-length conclusion, is LIVE!
ENTER THE GIVEAWAY on Kennedy's Page! www.facebook.com/KennedyRyanAuthor
"The story reads like a movie . . powerful and intoxicating ... and sinfully sexy. GRIP has everything—dynamic characters, soulful plot, and a lesson at the end that will change the way you look at life. One of my favorite reads this year. Maybe ever. 5 massive, gripping stars from me!" -- Adriana Locke, USA Today Bestselling Author

grip-ebook
N O W   L I V E!
Amazon Universal: myBook.to/GetAGrip

Check out the playlist on iTunes: http://apple.co/2lWI9ur Check out the playlist on Spotify: http://bit.ly/2lWrHdS

JOIN THE SPOILER ROOM AFTER YOU FINISH! http://bit.ly/2m8xEqf

grip_teaser1

B L U R B

Resisting an irresistible force wears you down and turns you out. 
I know. 
I’ve been doing it for years. 
I may not have a musical gift of my own, but I’ve got a nose for talent and an eye for the extraordinary. 
And Marlon James – Grip to his fans – is nothing short of extraordinary. 
Years ago, we strung together a few magical nights, but I keep those memories in a locked drawer and I’ve thrown away the key. 
All that’s left is friendship and work. 
He’s on the verge of unimaginable fame, all his dreams poised to come true. 
I manage his career, but I can’t seem to manage my heart. 
It’s wild, reckless, disobedient. 
And it remembers all the things I want to forget.
flow-ebook

GRAB IT NOW FOR FREE!
Available on WATTPAD: http://w.tt/2kUo8Yk

"Ryan continues her streak of amazingly accessible and authentic romantic fiction. Grip is a bold and unapologetic look at interracial romance and does not shy away from any of the ideals and prejudices that most of us are too polite to acknowledge - head on- amidst one of the sexiest, and most provocative true love romances Ryan has penned to date. Break out the fans folks, Grip is aptly titled and sure to make you need a grip!
-- Sheena, Smexy Books


g-quote1

B L U R B

In 8 years, Marlon James will be one of the brightest rising stars in the music industry. 
Bristol Gray will be his tough, no-nonsense manager. 
But when they first meet, she’s a college student finding her way in the world, and he’s an artist determined to make his way in it. 
From completely different worlds, all the things that should separate them only draw them closer. 
It’s a beautiful beginning, but where will the story end?

* * * * * * * * * * 

FLOW is the prequel chronicling the week of magical days and nights
that will haunt Grip & Bristol for years to come.
GRIP is the full-length conclusion of their story available NOW here: http://kennedyryanwrites.com/grip/


About the Author:

Kennedy loves to write about herself in third person. She loves Diet Coke…though she’s always trying to quit. She adores her husband…who she’ll never quit. She loves her son, who is the most special boy on the planet. And she’s devoted to supporting and serving families living with Autism. And she writes love stories! For updates, new releases, giveaways and other adventures, subscribe to her newsletter: https://app.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/j9u8i3

You can learn more at: 

Monday, February 27, 2017

ARC REVIEW (TOP READS!!): FLOW and GRIP by Kennedy Ryan

S Y N O P S E S

FLOW
(the GRIP prequel)

In 8 years, Marlon James will be one of the brightest rising stars in the music industry. 

Bristol Gray will be his tough, no-nonsense manager. 

But when they first meet, she's a college student finding her way in the world, and he's an artist determined to make his way in it. 

From completely different worlds, all the things that should separate them only draw them closer. 

It's a beautiful beginning, but where will the story end?

FLOW is the prequel chronicling the week of magical days and nights that will haunt Grip & Bristol for years to come.

GRIP is the full-length conclusion of their story.

 * * * * * * * * * 

GRIP
Resisting an irresistible force wears you down and turns you out.
I know.
I’ve been doing it for years.
I may not have a musical gift of my own, 
but I’ve got a nose for talent and an eye for the extraordinary.
And Marlon James – Grip to his fans – is nothing short of extraordinary.
Years ago, we strung together a few magical nights, but I keep those memories in a locked drawer and I’ve thrown away the key.
All that’s left is friendship and work.
He’s on the verge of unimaginable fame, all his dreams poised to come true.
I manage his career, but I can’t seem to manage my heart.
It’s wild, reckless, disobedient.
And it remembers all the things I want to forget. 
______________________________________

(I read Flow and Grip consecutively so I'll just review them as one!)

"My heart broke loose on the wind." – Pablo Neruda

I. AM. SO. OBSESSED. Good Lord Almighty. Kennedy Ryan outdid herself a hundred times with FLOW and GRIP. THIS STORY IS PHENOMENAL!!! 

The threat of Grip breaking me weighs less than the possibility of never having him.

Grip never knew he’d reach a height quite like what he was in right now. It came quite close to the high he experienced eight years ago, and it was a peak he will keep trying to reach. I've never read about a hero like Marlon (Grip). His depth, his passion, his story...Grip is his own kind of art and he loves like a masterpiece. This man is a living, breathing fire of passion that is sure to set flames on every reader’s feelings. Heart, Soul, Time, Panties, this man will steal it all from you and you'll voluntarily give it to him. 

My love is Pandora’s Box. Grip snapped my hinges, pried me open. He let this love out. My love has a wild streak. Good luck trying to tame it.

If there was something Bristol knew well, it was the feeling of inadequacy. She wasn’t as talented as her brother, wasn’t as fancy as her mother, always wasn’t brilliant enough. All her life, she was trying to fill that gaping hole with determination and strong will. Until she met a man who did not only fill her emptiness but allowed her to overflow. I DID NOT expect to love Bristol this much. Granted, I knew I will be taken by the badass goddess that she was but I never expected this depth from her. Beneath her cold, sure, and confident aura was a seat of immense love and compassion. She is definitely one of my favorite heroines ever! 

If she’s running from me, I’ll have to disappoint her.

I CAN’T EVEN WITH THIS STORY. Grip just totally owned me. There’s such a unique soul in Flow and Grip that I’ve never ever felt before. I’ve been craving to know how Grip and Bristol will finally give in to each other since My Soul to Keep but I did not expect their story to blow me away this much. Most of the characters I’ve read had a ‘chemistry’ or a ‘spark’ but Marlon and Bristol had a magma of emotions brewing, waiting to explode. And man, did they set my book world on fire. There’s just a rare kind of connection between them that had me trying to hold my heart in place. Like it’s so strong that the emotions jump right out of the pages each time there’s a scene where they’re breathing the same air. It’s absolutely addicting and I can read it again and again. 

What I love about a Kennedy Ryan book is that it’s a vessel for a deeper message. Beneath the soul-stirring romance in Grip lies significant issues that sparked and continue to spark controversies. For me, though, it was thought-provoking, moving, and inspirational. The stories, situations, and people embedded in this story were real and inspired empathy in so many ways. I think that’s the reason why my obsession with Grip reached new heights. It did not just give me goosebumps or tripling-heartbeats. Not just a depth that singed my heart nor a bone-deep romance that made me dream. It challenged my mind, altered my perspective, and inspired me to become a better person. 

For me, Kennedy Ryan’s prose is perfection. Her words flow like perfectly versed poems and you’d just want to highlight every line and have it tattooed on your body. I loved ALL of the books she’s ever written but in FLOW and GRIP, she was at her best..so far. The depths in these books were insurmountable, each page reeking with a story that will compel you to read non-stop. If there’s a story that I will highly recommend to people, this would be it. There are not enough stars in the sky I could borrow to help me rate this experience. Because Grip can’t be rated with stars. It’s worth at least two galaxies. 

Thursday, February 16, 2017

EXCERPT REVEAL: Grip by Kennedy Ryan

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"I can't stop thinking about this book...One of my favorite reads this year. Maybe ever. Kennedy Ryan took some of the most complex issues of our time and made them poetic, insightful, and deliciously sexy...5 massive, gripping stars!" - USA TODAY Bestselling Author, Adriana Locke

Keep reading for an EXCERPT of Grip by Kennedy Ryan FLOW releases on February 25 and will be totally FREE! GRIP releases on March 2nd straight to #KindleUnlimited!

➡Add GRIP on GR: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31207572-grip ➡Get #GRIPPED (Be notified by email about cover reveal & release): 

grip-ebook1

S y n o p s i s:

Resisting an irresistible force wears you down and turns you out. 
I know. 
I’ve been doing it for years. 
I may not have a musical gift of my own, but I’ve got a nose for talent and an eye for the extraordinary. 
And Marlon James – Grip to his fans – is nothing short of extraordinary. 
Years ago, we strung together a few magical nights, but I keep those memories in a locked drawer and I’ve thrown away the key. 
All that’s left is friendship and work. 
He’s on the verge of unimaginable fame, all his dreams poised to come true. 
I manage his career, but I can’t seem to manage my heart. 
It’s wild, reckless, disobedient. 
And it remembers all the things I want to forget.

grip_teaser5
************************************************************
flow-ebook1

FLOW (The GRIP Prequel) 
Releasing FREE a few days before GRIP!

In 8 years, Marlon James will be one of the brightest rising stars in the music industry. 
Bristol Gray will be his tough, no-nonsense manager. 
But when they first meet, she's a college student finding her way in the world, and he's an artist determined to make his way in it. 
From completely different worlds, all the things that should separate them only draw them closer. 
It's a beautiful beginning, but where will the story end? 

FLOW is the prequel chronicling the week of magical days and nights that will haunt Grip & Bristol for years to come. GRIP is the full-length conclusion of their story.

grip_teaser1

EXCERPT:

I wanted to keep this pain locked away, private. Until now. Until Grip. His eyes rest on my face. I feel his compassion, and it weighs so much I want out from under it. I turn my head to escape the honesty between us for a few seconds. Just for a reprieve. As soon as I look over the side, I realize my mistake.

“Oh, God. We’re so high.”

Breath charges up my throat, panic pushing out the last few minutes of peace. My heart jackhammers. Blood rushes to my head, and the world spins. I grip my head to make it stop.

“Hey, hey.” Grip scoots closer, eliminating the distance between us. 
“Put your head down as far as you can.”

The safety bar keeps me from putting my head between my knees, but I don’t think it would help anyway. Nothing helps. It’s irrational. I know I’m safe, but fear mocks me and makes me its bitch. I hate it, but I can’t stop it.

“My mom used to tell me to recite things,” Grip says from above me. “Like to distract myself when I was scared. To give me something else to focus on.”

It only makes me more anxious that I have nothing I can recite. Fear jumbles all my thoughts together, so discombobulated that I can’t even assemble the digits of my phone number.

“I can’t think of anything.”

“Okay. Hold up.” He rubs my back in soothing strokes that don’t soothe. “I’ll do it. Just listen to my voice. Focus on what I’m saying.”

I can’t focus. I can’t stop the encroaching darkness, blurring my edges and knotting my interior. It’s never been this bad, and it would happen right in front of Grip.

“I’ll recite “Poetry” by Pablo Neruda. My favorite actually.” Grip’s voice is warm but disembodied as I press my eyes closed. “It feels like he was writing my life story. Like he knew there would be this kid who needed something bigger than himself, and he wrote this to guide that kid to a different path. This has always felt like more than a poem. It’s personal. It feels like my prophecy.”

The emotion, the honesty in his voice compels me to hazard a glance at him. In the faint light of the moon and the bright lights of the carnival, I see his face. Beautiful and bronzed, a sculpture of bold bones and full lips. His eyes are intent, never looking away from mine as he begins.

His deep voice caresses Neruda’s sentiments of how poetry called him from the street and away from violence. Of how writing saved him from a certain fate and opened up a world he’d never imagined. And Grip’s right. The poem could have been written for him . . . could have foretold the story of a boy called, not from the streets of a Chilean city, but from the streets of Compton.

Passion weaves between his words and conviction laces every line. He means these words. He loves these words. Amazingly, as he’s reciting a poem I’ve never heard before, someone else’s words illuminate Grip to me. I see him clearly. A man deeply committed to his craft and who views his gift as a miracle of circumstance. As cocky as he is, I see him humbled by the means to escape a path so many others never leave. And if the poem tells his story, his eyes are a confession, never straying from mine, holding mine in the moonlight, his voice liquid poured over something sweet. As he approaches the end, my fears are forgotten, but I’m still stuck on a Ferris wheel under a darkened sky, and nothing has ever been more fitting than the final words, in which the poet says he wheeled with the stars and his heart broke loose on the wind.

There are too few perfect moments in this life. Far too few of us get them, but I am privileged to have this one with this man. When he empties his chest of his heart and empties his body of his soul for me under a starry sky on a Ferris wheel. And I know. In this moment, I know that I’m lost to him. It has been a matter of days. It has been a string of moments. It has not been long enough to tell him, but in my heart, I know I am lost.

“Did that help?” he asks.

He searches through the dim light for my fear or my panic, but they aren’t there anymore. He leans closer, so close his breath whispers over my face. I don’t know when he realizes that fear has gone and that something else has come, but I see the change in his eyes.

I think he might be lost in me, too.

The inches between our lips disappear. At the first brush of his mouth on mine, I know this kiss will never end. It will live on in my memory for the rest of my life. His lips beg entry, a tentative touch that blazes through my defenses and hastens the rhythm of my heart. I clutch his arm, skin and muscle, satin over steel. A thousand textures collide. The hot silk of his mouth. The sharp, straight edge of his teeth. The firm curve of his lips. The taste of him. God, the taste of him makes me moan. He cups my face, fingers spearing into my hair. I press so close the heat of his body burns through the thin fabric of our shirts.

“Bris.” He says it against my lips before trailing kisses down my chin. His mouth opens over my neck, hot and wet, and I arch into him, the pleasure like a train in my veins. Rushing. Vaulting. Exploding.

“Oh, God.” I’m a panting mess. My hands venture under his shirt, desperate, nails scraping at his back. “Keep kissing me.”

He’s back at my lips, devouring, our tongues dueling, dancing. This kiss has a cadence, his head moving to the left and then right, on beat, a syncopation, a simultaneity of lips and tongues. His mouth slants over mine, hot and zealous, and I link my fingers behind his head, clinging, afraid this will end. Afraid to lose the enormity of this moment. At the top of the world, so close we could almost touch the sky and with only the stars watching, I found out what a kiss should be.





 grip-mailer-front

A b o u t   t h e   A u t h o r:
Kennedy loves to write about herself in third person. She loves Diet Coke...though she's always trying to quit. She adores her husband...who she'll never quit. She loves her son, who is the most special boy on the planet. And she's devoted to supporting and serving families living with Autism.
And she writes love stories! For updates, new releases, giveaways and other adventures, subscribe to her newsletter: https://app.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/j9u8i3

You can learn more at:

Thursday, February 2, 2017

DOUBLE COVER REVEAL: FLOW and GRIP by Kennedy Ryan

doublecoverreveal_banner 

We are so excited to share with you covers for GRIP and FLOW, the prequel, by Kennedy Ryan! FLOW releases on February 25 and will be totally FREE! GRIP releases on March 2nd straight to #KindleUnlimited!

Celebrate the reveals with a $25 Gift Card GIVEAWAY (Winner’s Choice)!


➡Add GRIP on GR: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31207572-grip ➡Get #GRIPPED (Be notified by email about cover reveal & release): 


grip-ebook
S Y N O P S I S: 

Resisting an irresistible force wears you down and turns you out. 

I know. 

I’ve been doing it for years. I may not have a musical gift of my own, but I’ve got a nose for talent and an eye for the extraordinary. 

And Marlon James – Grip to his fans – is nothing short of extraordinary. 

Years ago, we strung together a few magical nights, but I keep those memories in a locked drawer and I’ve thrown away the key. 

All that’s left is friendship and work. 

He’s on the verge of unimaginable fame, all his dreams poised to come true. 

I manage his career, but I can’t seem to manage my heart. 

It’s wild, reckless, disobedient. 

And it remembers all the things I want to forget.
grip_promo3
************************************************************
Flow-eBook.png
FLOW 
S Y N O P S I S:
 (The GRIP Prequel) – Releasing FREE a few days before GRIP!

If I could undo your kisses.

If I could un-feel your touch.

If I could unhook this heart from yours.

I would But I’m trapped in the memory of what we were.

Stuck with the reality of what we are.

Tempted by the promise of a future.

Afraid of possibility.

I don’t know how our story ends, but this – this is where it started.

flow_promo2
A b o u t   t h e   A u t h o r:

Kennedy loves to write about herself in third person. She loves Diet Coke...though she's always trying to quit. She adores her husband...who she'll never quit. She loves her son, who is the most special boy on the planet. And she's devoted to supporting and serving families living with Autism.
And she writes love stories! For updates, new releases, giveaways and other adventures, subscribe to her newsletter: https://app.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/j9u8i3

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