Queen Move

Kennedy Ryan Need I say more? A second chance romance of epic proportions. Another don’t miss by the queen.

REVIEW: 4 STARS
“I don’t think it will be easy. I just know it will be worth it.”

I read the All The Kings Men Duet earlier this year and really enjoyed it, so when Kennedy Ryan announced that she would be giving Kimba her own story, I about passed out from excitement! Kimba was a force to be reckoned with in that duet, so I just knew Ryan was going to give an emotional and empowered read that was going to leave me breathless. Ezra was THE BEST and Kimba shined. Together they had a love worth reading and I’m so glad she gave me their story! To note: this is a standalone spinoff, and there is nothing you will spoil by reading this before the duet.

I do know that when I sit down with one of Kennedy’s books, I am in for a lesson. She’s going to educate me not on something trivial, but something that is plaguing a culture, a belief, a way of life. She brings light to a situation that doesn’t get enough attention, and she works it into an amazing love story that I can settle into. She has an impassioned voice designed to effect change. It’s full of knowledge and pride, an intensity required to deliver this type of story. I love settling into one of her books. And I mean settling in – as in, she has a lot of depth and truth to her words, and it always goes beyond the surface level with her stories. There is more to learn, to read between the lines, to delve into and that’s what I enjoy most about her books.

These characters though? The strength Kimba possessed was admirable – definitely a good mix of stubborn and street smarts added in there. It was at times championable, and at others, heartbreaking, but wise. I read this entire book with an eerie sense of confidence that she would do what was right for her, because I knew the minute that Ezra looked at me with those eyes, touched me with those hands, I’d have been a goner and given in. She’s a lot stronger than I could ever be. I loved her tenacity!

But, shockingly enough – the same can be said about Ezra. His strength and responsibility shined through. Doing the right thing and standing up for yourself aren’t always one in the same, and he showed his determination throughout, but it especially shined at the end. I cannot tell you how many times the “visual” of him was running through my mind while reading this story. He was delicious. Absolutely, hands down, sexy and swoony. Every bit of who he was and what he stood for worked in the big picture of his makeup.

“I see the armor you have to put on to make it in your world. I just want you to know here, with me, you can take the armor off.”

There is something about being able to be true to who you are in the company of the one that possesses your soul. I love that Ezra was her safe space and she felt that security with him. Watching them navigate some pretty tough situations, ones that I know for a solid fact that I would not make it through in one piece, was tough – no lie. Some parts brought me to my knees, others made me feel like I was on top of the world, flying high.

When Ryan tells her stories in vivid detail, she makes me feel the emotion and the tug on my heartstrings. It’s the intimacy in the way Ezra holds her face and rubs her lips with his thumbs. It’s the way the goosebumps rise as he drags his finger down her arms or up her spine. You SEE it all happening while Kimba FEELS it all happening, and that is one of the most amazing things about her writing. SO good. So descriptive. It always works for me.

“Sometimes what we think is a fluke is really fate.”

When I get down to the little nitpicky, nitty-gritty things I didn’t like – it’s all whatever. It’s a basis for some great discussion and it didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment of the book – at all. The ex. The drama. The hypocrisy. It all lends more emotion to an already tense situation, but it heightens that discussion, which is my favorite part.

Kennedy Ryan is not only passionate in her storytelling, she’s very giving with the emotions and the depth of her characters. Their development and the background of a love story I get to enjoy are huge highlights with her stories. I was deep in my feels with this one. It’s not just the emotions of a second chance, it’s the truth behind the pull your soul has with the one who speaks to it. The one that holds your heart’s fate in their hands. She just dances with her words, and I love the journey each and every time.

I am so glad she gave me Ezra and Kimba’s love story.

“Now. Forever. Always. Never end.”
~BEE

*There is a giveaway up on my blog page

If Kennedy Ryan writes it, I want to read it, and Queen Move is certainly no exception! I adore a single dad story, and add in a childhood friendship and I’m completely on board. This book is not to be missed!

“The boy who always felt like mine is now the man I can’t have.”

Hello book hangover, haven’t seen you in awhile. My mind is still trying to process this wonderful book. It was so much more than a romance. It was empowering with clear cut messages. Kennedy Ryan is revolutionary! She writes about topics that are important and need to be addressed in today’s society. Topics about race, education, women’s health, women’s rights, and politics. Kennedy is without question changing the writing game.

Queen Move is one of those books that will put you through the ringer. There is so much that happens for Ezra and Kimba to finally be together and when they do reconnect again… Its EPIC!!! Their love endured and truly transcended time.

“We were born on the same day. I’m not overly religious, and I’m not sure what I believe about other lives, other worlds, and other dimensions. I do know if soul mates are real, Kimba is mine. I believe that if people are “created,” we were made together.”

Together their passion was undeniable. As individuals they’ve both paved their own paths in the world. Kimba is a fierce queen who knows what she wants and will stop at nothing until she gets it. Ezra is an ambitious, confident, and strong man whose overcome obstacles in his youth. I love his devotion to shaping young minds and making a change in their lives.

Queen Move will have you thinking days after finishing. It was different from the All the King’s Men duet but equally empowering and important, both tackling real life issues. I loved the blended families and mixing of cultures. This book will stick with you!

I’m hoping Mona gets her book!! Thank you so much, Kennedy.

“I don’t just want you when you’re strong. I want you when you’re vulnerable, when you’re lost, when you’re not sure. I see the armor you have to put on to make it in your world. I just want you to know here, with me, you can take the armor off.”

” ‘ , . .”

We met Kimba Allen in All The King’s Men Duet, right then and there I already like her and this is her story. Kimba Allen is a successful political analyst. She’s stunning, smart and emotionally she’s strong but not afraid to show her vulnerability at times.

Ezra Stern is one gorgeous hunk of a man. He’s a single dad, passionate, responsible, and swoon-worthy. A character that you’ll fall in love immediately.

Ezra and Kimba have known each other since they were young, they’re best friends. But things change one day when their parents had a fallout and Ezra’s family move to another state. Decades have past and life happens. Ezra is now a single dad while Kimba is now one of the most sought after political strategists. But now that they met again, will it rekindle something between these two?

I devoured this book and once again Kennedy Ryan does not disappoint. Her ability to captivate you into her characters is there and a plot that keeps you from putting the book down. The romance was perfectly weaved in this delightful book. The pace is perfect and romance, not cliché, I immersed myself in this book and didn’t want it to end! The characters will stay in your mind even long after you close the book. I enjoyed Kimba and Ezra’s story thoroughly. What a treat reading this book and I will highly recommend it.

Note: I reviewed an advance reader copy of this book and gave my honest opinion.

Is there another author who can make your heart pound like Kennedy Ryan? I don’t think so. With a mellifluous voice and high-stakes plot (and high heat, nearly poetic loves scenes), Queen Move is the story of Kimba, a strong, ambitious woman and the man she’s always loved, Ezra. Childhood friends to lovers, this book is beautifully written, bold and important. Kennedy is a force to be reckoned with. If you want an emotional powerhouse of a novel, this book is for you.

Most of you already know that I love Kennedy Ryan’s books, and also love Kennedy Ryan in general. She is all-round fantastic, as a writer and a person. This is known!!!

BUT. I would be doing you all a disservice if I didn’t take some time to lose my crap specifically about her next release. Queen Move honestly blew… my… mind.

As in, my mother is now sick of me interrupting her mid-conversation to say things like, “But seriously, how does Kennedy do the thing with the symbols and the physical manifestations of each emotion and then time it perfectly to the beats of -”

Mum: Child, if you don’t shut up and answer my question about the dishwasher.

I JUST CAN’T STOP THINKING ABOUT THIS BOOK. I was lucky enough to get an early copy, which I started on Friday night and finished on Saturday morning. I then spent the rest of the weekend trying to gather my thoughts, but they are still SCATTERED. I am INCOHERENT. This review is going to be a chaotic, rambling flood of hero-worship because I just CANNOT. So! Here we go!!!

I would describe Queen Move as a contemporary romance with high heat, even higher emotional stakes, and thoroughly modern sensibilities. In this day and age, there is nothing I love better than to see explicit, freedom-fighting politics on the page, and Kennedy always delivers. She writes these huge characters – a political powerhouse heroine, a hero who is a pillar of his community – in such fine, minute detail. She layers the major issues of our world with the achingly personal issues of each individual’s life. The result is a story that feels so cozy and personal yet so glamorous and impactful all at once.

But I’m off on a tangent again.

Queen Move is a childhood friends to lovers, second chance, single dad romance. Kimba and Ezra were born on the same day and have been inseparable since their mothers met when they were babies. In their early teens, their soul mate bond becomes adorably romantic – but disaster quickly strikes and they are separated by forces beyond their control.

The next time they meet, years later, Ezra is with the mother of his child.

But the next time they meet… well. Things are different and the same all at once.

This romance was an epic love story. I was so heavily invested and so anxious for Ezra and Kimba, and for all the other characters involved. I cared deeply about every friend and family member, not only because their stories were wound into the main couple’s HEA, but because they were all so real and therefore loveable.

I will say that if this story was written by an author I didn’t ‘know’ (and also know), I would’ve been nervous AF. But because I can trust Kennedy to keep my soft little romance reader heart safe, I was able to handle all the high stakes, twist-and-turn-y, emotional bomb moments of this story. I want to reassure you guys, if you haven’t read Kennedy Ryan, that you can do the same! Which makes this the perfect cathartic comfort read that will take you on a rollercoaster but leave you feeling all glow-y and triumphant by the end.

As always, I wasn’t just bowled away by the incredible characters and emotional plot, but by the writing itself. Kennedy is a poet. She can do the word stuff like no other. I highlight her books so much because every other sentence is just pure ART. She works such wonders with literary symbolism, twining specific words into her overall theme until they make one beautiful tapestry.

This story was about faith – faith in the world, faith in your loved ones, faith in yourself. It was about belonging, and about being different, and about carving a space for yourself and what you need. It was about making empowering choices even when they don’t fit the mould. And all of those wider concepts were reflected in every word, every phrase, every sentence.

In particular, Kennedy has this incredible talent for highlighting the inherent emotional beauty of religious language and using it to elevate her romances. She finds the similarities between spirituality and the feeling of a soulmate bond, and illustrates it perfectly and respectfully. That’s one of my favourite things about her style and it is wonderfully present in Queen Move.

Finally, I want to say how much I enjoyed reading a 37-year-old heroine who unashamedly puts her career first and takes things at her own pace, even when pressured, one way or another, toward motherhood. (There was another woman in the story who also grappled with her career and motherhood, and I thought that was beautifully done as well. In fact, there were countless examples of women in this story who are balancing all the expectations of womanhood in their own way, and every last one of them was respected and loved, and I just adored that.)

In short, YOU NEED THIS BOOK.

I’m now going to list content notes for the story, for those who prefer to go in with some awareness. I want to emphasise that the medical things on this list are handled carefully and with a light hand, but they are still there, and I know they can hit some people hard so I’m gonna list them in fine detail: perimenopause, related discussion of weight change, infertility, IVF, infidelity, pregnancy, loss of pregnancy.

When I found out KR was writing this book I had so many theories going around in my head about how Kimbas story would play out. This NEVER crossed my mind. I don’t really know what I was expecting but this wasn’t it. I was thinking this was gonna be as politically charged as the Kings Men duet, I was thinking that we could possibly have a triangle of some sort, the one thing I did know was that we were getting a second chance so to speak. I honestly am blown away by what I got in place of what I thought I was getting.

Can I say firstly that Kennedy Ryan wrote the most relevant books in our day and age with The King duet and now with this book. I asked myself several times while reading all three books “how does she do it? How can she write something so freakin hot and romantic while making it so relevant and fresh?” Then I answer myself (I don’t do that a lot so don’t be alarmed) “It’s because when you get down to the nut cuttin it’s about love and love doesn’t see a color, a religion or which side of the isle you’re on”! YEP! That’s exactly how it’s done and I would gladly read anything and everything I could from her!

Kimba, what a woman. I could have a crush on her myself Even as a little girl she was so headstrong. She was raised in a loving, southern home in Atlanta GA where you went to church on Sunday and stayed all day in a too scratchy dresses and then you came home and had big meal with your family, where time was spent cleaning house, playing with siblings, listening to music and dancing with her mama and daddy. Her daddy was her everything, until Ezra Stern moves in across the street.

Ezra, as a boy you couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. No, not because he was a biracial Jew, but because he had no idea where his place was in this world. Ezra was raised in a home the complete opposite as Kimba. His father was a black self proclaimed atheist and his mother a white Jewish woman from New York. The family dynamics were completely different yet the amount of love they both got from their parents was equally as character building.

Ezra and Kimba meet when they are 9moths old in the bathtub. They were born on the same day and they were truly soulmates. This book takes us on an unexpected journey that moved my heart. They were the best of friends for 13 years of their lives and then things happen and they lost touch for two decades. The elemental bond between them was an invisible thread that kept them connected through space and time. The Epilogue made me have soooo many tears! It summed up what the book was about.

Kennedy Ryan wrote a book about racism, oppression, politics, a woman being betrayed by her body, women finding their place in what’s deemed “a mans world”, what it’s like to have a “messy love” and making big waves. She also wrote about what a diverse world we live in but how it can be done with peace and harmony beyond our differences. How we should come together because of what binds us…that thread that holds us together which is LOVE!

I absolutely ADORED all the “Southernisms” in this book! So many things that I say myself that you don’t hear many folks utter I loved the collard greens and fried chicken and bbq that makes us southernit was fun and refreshing to read about things that happen in my own family!

As a woman from the South myself, Mississippi, actually, I see racism everyday, what it’s like to be on one side of the isle while your friends are on the other, how religious beliefs cause problems within families and relationships. I have always prided myself in seeing more than what is on the outside or what church you attend or who you voted for. I always try to look at someone’s heart. The bottom line is we are different but we should all be treated the same, it shouldn’t matter how we wear our hair, if we are man or woman, if we are Catholic or Jewish! I believe that KR did a beautiful job in getting this across in the pages of this book.
This was about diversity and finding the common bond, it was about soulmates and love and blended families and sacrifices.

I urge everyone to read the Kings Men Duet as well as this book. They are truly some of the best books I’ve ever read. And if you’re looking for some steamy sexy times…you will find it here!! So much more than romance man….so much more!

Angst
Cheating not really READ THE BOOK!
Sexy Time
Epilogue
Plot

ARC kindly provided by the author for an honest review

Queen Move is one of the most heartfelt journeys I have taken in a long time. Kennedy’s words are some of the most distinctive and thought-provoking in the romance genre. All the stars! You need this book in your life.

The first time Ezra and Kimba met was in a bathtub- as babies. Even then they clicked.

Growing up as neighbors, the kids formed an alliance. They played together, their families often ate together, and they attended school together. But with Ezra’s mixed heritage background, he was often bullied.

Kimba hated that her friend was tormented and it fostered a need to change the rights of minorities.

For Ezra’s part, he kept his head down and worked hard on his grades while learning about his Jewish faith.

At thirteen, the best friends develop new attractions for each other and a wonderfully portrayed first kiss is later ruined by a horrible fight between Ezra and Kimba’s parents. One that will separate the two of them for three decades.

When they meet up again, Kimba has just lost her father and Ezra’s relationship with his son’s mother is on its last legs.

While I loved the first half of the book, I found the second part to be sex, sex, sex. It ruined the storyline for me. These are supposed to be two almost forty-year-olds and they make out like teenagers in a car in her mother’s driveway- in broad daylight! I’m not buying it. Maybe I’m jaded, but I’d sooner read about their very real issues, than how they can’t keep their hands off each other.

It’s too bad, because this had the makings of a truly great story.