“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 change the way you look at life. One of my favorite reads this year. Maybe ever. 5 massive, gripping stars from me!” — Adriana Lock, USA Today Bestselling AuthorResisting an irresistible force wears you down and turns you out.I know. 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.
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I was looking for a “rocker romance” and came across a deal on this first book, so I thought I would give it a try. I am sooo glad I did. Grip was an amazing book, and the series just got better as it went on, which is hard to do. The relationship between Grip and Bristol is so authentic, such a slow burn. There is the instant attraction, but theirs is not an easy road. The patience Grip has in pursuing his soul mate is astounding, but when you have such a connection, there is no other optio. I love how she made them real, with flaws and insecurities. Please read this series. You will be getting so much more than just a romance (although the romance part is hot and wonderful!)
Stunning…..
This is so much more than a love story. Yes, it’s a story of love but also acceptance. To truly except everyone the same no matter who or what color you are. With everything going on in the world around us this was refreshing to read.
Grip and Bristol are wonderful characters. I did spend half the Book yelling at Bristol to get out of her head and love this man. And Grip. Oh gosh, I’m totally in love with him. He is an fantastic character, one of those who you will remember long after you’ve finished his book.
This is a wonderful story with a great story line and fantastic writing. It seems like I ve been waiting on this story forever but seriously it was so worth the wait. It’s really a terrific read
*Review by Michelle
I can’t stop thinking about this book! The story reads like a movie…GRIP has everything I want in a story–dynamic characters, soulful plot, and a lesson at the end that will change the way you look at life. 5 massive, gripping stars from me…One of my favorite reads this year. Maybe ever
I STILL—see what I did there?—have a hangover from this series, and I devoured it months ago. I love the bond between Bristol and Grip, how they talk about things most people can’t. I love the push and pull between them—especially since Bristol is doing the pushing. I have a weakness for when the heroine is the distancer. The third book in the series made me cry and cry. I still tear up when I think of everything Bristol and Grip went through. I’ve never, ever felt this way about a book.
FYI, the series is available everywhere for the first time! So don’t wait. Seriously. This book will stay in your heart forever.
5 amazing stars! This is not a cliffhanger, although this is a follow up book for this couple – Still that extends their story. This book will make you think, make you feel, make you hope. It’s a wonderful love story. And Grip is Now an all-time favorite book hero. I can not recommend these books enough.
I have started and deleted this review more times than I can tell you. Kennedy Ryan is a brilliant writer! I loved the Soul Series, but Grip is so so incredible! However, I am struggling with finding the right words to do this book justice!
Kennedy gives us two people who are from two completely different worlds. Bristol grew up with money and privilege and Marlon (Grip) grew up in Compton and did all he could to survive the streets. When these two people met, they saw more of each other than anyone ever has. Their connection was undeniable.
I’m not a fan of books that get too deep on hot bed topics, such as race. However, the way Kennedy handles such a delicate topic (especially this day and age) was so profound. At times, I was like no no no, but as I kept reading, I wanted to scream and shout to the world that this is how it should be! Race is such a sensitive issue, but Kennedy did a phenomenal job of addressing both sides of the race issue. I wish everyone would read this and get the message that was so beautifully done within these pages.
I felt so many things reading this book! At times, I felt myself wanting to cry. Other times, I wanted to scream at Bristol and Grip’s stubbornness. I felt extreme anxiety and pure joy! That’s how you know you’ve read magic!
**I highly recommend reading Flow before Grip as it gives you a preview of how their relationship started.**
I’m just going to leave my review that I wrote for Still here as well because it’s all the same damn book as far as I’m concerned, just broken up in to three physical entities.
Just finished this one. Damn. Just. Damn. I think I need to take stock out in Kleen-Ex. I started the series a little more than 24 hours ago and finished just a bit ago. Somewhere in there I sort of slept, thought it was hard because I couldn’t stop thinking about Grip and Bristol. I also think I worked today but again, I just wanted to read.
Between the social commentary and the sheer volume of feelings evoked by the author, I am pretty sure this series will be with me for a long long time. I don’t really have the words to say anything more. Bravo Kennedy Ryan, bravo.
Of nearly 100 books this was my favorite read so far this year. It touched my soul. Kennedy Ryan is an incredible author who weaves beautiful words into an amazing love story that is so relative in today’s social climate. It not only made me feel, but made me think. Bristol and Grip met in Flow, the must read prequel to this book. When their lives intersect again Bristol denies and refuses to act on her feelings for Grip and Grip refuses to give up on Bristol. This continues for years.
If you’ve already read Kennedy’s Soul Series (My Soul to Keep, Down to My Soul and Refrain) which is Bristol’s brother Rhyson’s story, you have seen Grip’s relentless pursuit of Bristol. If you haven’t already read that series I highly recommend it, although you don’t need to read it to enjoy Grip.
Bristol and Grip’s love story may have begun on a Ferris wheel but it becomes a roller coaster ride of ups and downs and twists and turns that you don’t want to miss.
I’m so mad at myself for not having read this before because I’ve been seriously missing out! If you guys haven’t read this, y’all need to do it! Bristol and Grip have seriously become one of my favorite couples of the year, if not of all time, that’s how much I loved these two and their story.
I never thought before picking up this gem or ‘Flow’ (the prequel) that I’d ever be this invested in a relationship and hoping to God at every chapter I read that they would get together and everything would work out for them! I fell in love with these two right from the very first chapter of the prequel and that never once wavered, no matter what stupid thing each of them did.. I ship them, so hard! My review of ‘Flow’ is also up on the blog, go check it out here if you haven’t yet and see what I mean.
This book was full of sexual tension, and romance even though the relationship was very very very very very slow burn but their love was undeniable beginning through end. Their story is beautiful and I cannot wait to see what happens with these two on ‘Still’. If I’m frank with you, I am way scared because I bet they’re gonna have to go through a lot of hardships, and taking what they already went through in ‘Grip’.. yeah, my anxiety about it is real!
I also loved to read the growth of Bristol’s relationship with her family, specially with Rhyson, I loved him too and I can’t wait to read his and Kai’s story in the ‘Soul’ series! Hoping to get to that soonish.
I don’t know what else to say other than this book is a MUST read and that everyone needs Grip in their lives!!
I apologize in advance to the author of the next book I read. Their book may be wonderful, but there’s no way right now that it can live up to the way Grip touched me. The feels! Oh my goodness, the feels! I’ve lost the ability to even. My book hangover is a living, breathing, horrible/wonderful thing. I read the free prequel, Flow, yesterday morning because I’d heard good things about it, and hey… free. I loved it and immediately 1-clicked this full-length conclusion. Thankfully, I had the day off, so I stayed in my PJs and dived straight into Grip. This story sunk its claws into me and would not let me go. I didn’t come up for air until I finished.
Grip is a fabulous mosaic of passion, sacrifice, angst, understanding, and hope. It’s a love letter to the dreamers, the disillusioned, and the oppressed. It’s a song underscored by multi-faceted characters and an addictive plot.
On the surface, Bristol and Grip seem all wrong for each other. They come from completely opposite cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. Grip is a gifted poet and rap artist; Bristol is his no nonsense manager. Bristol’s huge heart is well guarded; Grip loves fearlessly. Bristol is obstinate; Grip is patient. Her sharp mind and tough edges spar with his smooth, charismatic personality and equally bright intelligence. The way they challenge and inspire each other creates a lasting connection that is soul deep. To say there are bumps along the road in their eight-year friendship, though, would be a gross understatement.
The story touches on some sensitive and thought-provoking social issues that you would not typically associate with a romance novel. The topics are handled with reverence, though, and enhance the true focus of the story, which is love and acceptance. Love between a parent and child; brother and sister; best friends; soul mates; understanding between adversaries.
“He hasn’t met a love like mine. My love is Pandora’s Box. Grip snapped my hinges and pried me open. He let this love out. My love has a wild streak. Good luck trying to tame it.”
That’s not to say I didn’t experience frustration and indignation while reading the book. I had to curb the urge to toss my beloved Kindle across the room a time or two. However, that only served to make the ending all the sweeter.
I could sing Kennedy Ryan’s praises for days. There’s an intensity and authenticity to her writing that is incredibly touching. Her words vibrate on the page with phenomenal prose.
“I want so much more than her body. She has thieved my soul, and I need to feel the reciprocity, the exchange. To know I’ve pilfered her and taken everything that she would offer and anything she meant to hold. Because that’s what she’s done to me.”
Grip is easily one of my favorite books of 2017, and I know it will linger with me for quite some time. Open your mind. Open your heart. Experience the love.
4.5 Stars!
I couldn’t wait for Grip & Bristol’s story and Kennedy did not let me down! The “Mom Alliance” in the end got me…..and everyone got what they deserved ~ LOVED it 🙂
Holy cow!! Kennedy Ryan brings us a couple that truly brings to light many of today’s issues! Her words are pure poetry and this couple is amazing in their undeniable love for each other. This story should make you think about everything you learned while growing up as well as delivering a love story that will stick for years to come. Grip’s love for Bristol leaps off the pages and Bristol’s willingness to do what needs to be done for those she loves can be felt right down to the bones. Can’t wait for more from Kennedy Ryan.
This book was amazing. I just love GRIP. He’s my fav even over rhyson lol. Can’t wait to read STILL!!
This book…. while FLOW isn’t necessarily needed it is highly recommended to be read. Plus that is a great short story. Now GRIP. Oh the feels. The feels the feels the feels. Just what my soul needed. At one point I thought it was going to go in one direction only to be completely different. Though I would like to know what would have happened had it gone “my way”. Just READ THE BOOK.
This epic love story is exactly why I read! It was so passionate, romantic, emotional and raw. This story picked up years later after the end of Flow. Bristol finished college and moved out to LA to reconnect with her twin brother, Rhyson, and to help him with his career. She is also Grip’s manager and his biggest supporter. Grip has wanted Bristol to give him a second chance but she refuses to give in. She loves so fiercely that she is afraid she is like her mother and will not be able to survive if he breaks her heart. She was never good enough for her parents growing up and she is just looking for that someone who will show her she is important to them. Everyone thinks she is cold, but she really just loves too much and will fight fiercely to protect them. That is why she is afraid to give that power to Grip. I loved Grip so much! He and Bristol were from totally different worlds but he recognized how perfect she was for him. They fought to understand each other and where they came from and connected down to their souls. But being an interracial couple has so many challenges especially in the public eye, will they be able to fight them all to be together?
Ms. Kennedy expertly weaved a multifaceted story about love and sacrifice, loyalty and betrayal, passion and heartache so beautifully. I love how poetic her writing style is. It is so alluring and seductive that when the twists and turns happen, you definitely feel every emotion. I wasn’t ready for it to end. This is a beautiful, emotional, and sexy romance that is a must read!
I’m completely speechless. Maybe because I read Flow and immediately started Grip when I was done and it’s 845AM and I haven’t gone to bed yet. I literally could not put this set of books down. I have goose bumps and tears in my eyes. I never thought Rhys and Kai’s books could be topped, but these books are one to make that charge. Unbelievably beautiful in every sense of these word.
You’ve always known Grip and Bristol were a force to be reckoned with. It’s been 8 years since they met, and their lives went on, but not for the strength of GRIP trying to beat that door down. Bristol was just too strong to let him in, even though it broke her everyday they weren’t together. Their love was unsurmountable, beautiful, raw, and heartbreaking. I think I read through this book so quickly just to see how it could possibly end, because there was no way that it would suffice me. Let me tell you…I was very wrong.
Grip handled Bristol’s 8 years of rejections by continuing to live his life like a normal man… With relationships that were supposed to be normal. Even though while doing this Bristol was breaking a little more everyday, but that was her own fault. Their separation was all her doing (although GRIP didn’t help much), because she had issues she just couldn’t deal with. Watching her family fall apart while she was younger, having Rhys taken away from her, and being so isolated by her parents just kept her away. However, her ability to love with everything in her never changed, which made this story even more heart wrenching.
Not only did this book cover their lives together and apart, it also had an extremely powerful message about duty, love and racial stereotypes. It was astounding to read. I cannot begin to know what it’s like to be a black woman, or have to deal with race as an issue to overcome, but this book touched on a lot of these issues. I’ve always believed that it is the people you love from within and not the color of their skin that makes you who you are. I believe that with every cell of my being, but I’m not going to pretend to know what it is like for other ethnicities that are different than mine. I just care about everyone and give everybody the ability to trust from the beginning. I think this is the message that I got from this book. I graciously volunteered to review the ARC of both of these books. I’m so grateful to be able to read these together. This book is a high 5*****stars. Amazing and so worth the read
Loved Flow and Grip! I loved how Kennedy broke down the different dynamics of Bristol and Grips past and formed it into something worth waiting for. It was built up into something so monumental. Loved them both so much.
Woah! This couple really could rule the world!!! Grip and Bristol are what most couples aspire to be! They define patience and perseverance! The issues they battle are tough! And they both handle it with such class! I’m very excited to get into the next book.
I could not get enough of Grip and Bristol’s story. Bristol has such a big heart and is fiercely protective in ways that remind me of myself. Grip is strong and sexy and the man has a special way with words that should probably be illegal because he could easily drive a woman to do some crazy things. Together Grip and Bristol are a force to be reckoned with.
Not only is Grip a spectacular story, but it is an important one as well. This book discusses so many uncomfortable and highly debated topics that are affecting our nation right now. Kennedy Ryan doesn’t shy away from the hard topics. The topics most of us are hesitant to discuss and I think that is what makes this book so unique and important
Grip by Kennedy Ryan is second book in Grip Series and for sure Your life “after” won’t never be the same…
When Flow was really good prologue, Grip is full length heart crashing story…. For the most of the time I wanted to throw this book away, but as always, page by page Kennedy made me fall deep and deeper in this story.
I love that Bristol is proud and hard working young woman… that she knows exactly what she wants from life.
I love that Grip have so much gentleness in his soul… that he always have heart for people, which he love…
I love how Kennedy write about Grip and Bristol…. even if for most of the time I coudln’t understand Bristol behavior when it comes to Grip….
I love how their love and passion could fulfil reader’s heart…. but does it have HEA in THE END ? You must find out by yourself …