Kennedy Ryan’s This Could Be Us: My Review (Spoilers)

I love, love, love this book…

This book started out way better than Before I Let Go. I’ll be honest. I almost DNF’d Before I Let Go, but once I gave it another chance, I loved it!

But this second installment in the Skyland Series starts off with a bang (minus the introduction to Judah Cross in the prologue — that made me scratch my head, wondering why it started with a complete stranger).

Anyway, we’re reintroduced to Soledad Barnes and her family, who we met briefly in book one of the Skyland Series, Before I Let Go.

She’s married to Edward Barnes, but it’s clear their marriage has problems from the very beginning of the book (and even in the first book in the series, we get a glimpse of how terrible a husband he is).

We can see that Edward doesn’t treat her right and she’s just beginning to notice that the warmth between them has eluded her for months.

They’re on their way to a Christmas party at Edward’s job, Calpot, and in the midst of their discussion while getting ready, he proceeds to tell her that she needs vaginal reconstruction after three kids.

It’s a crushing blow and shakes her confidence. What shakes it even more is the fact that he’s always working late with his assistant, Amber, and the minute he gets to the party, they run off together to finish a “project.”

It’s a little obvious that they’re sleeping together, so when it comes up later in the book, it’s no surprise.

What is a surprise is the initial reaction Soledad has to Judah Cross, the man her husband claims has been on his case since he arrived at the company (we quickly learn it’s because Judah’s a forensic accountant and it’s his job to find and discrepancies in the company’s finances, which he does).

There’s instant chemistry when they meet — it’s obvious they’re both attracted to each other. But when Judah finds out she’s married to Edward, his whole demeanor changes — disappointment courses through him.

And Soledad feels guilty for being attracted to another man while she’s still married to Edward, despite the tumultuous nature of their marriage.

Edward even goes as far as bad-mouthing Judah Cross in front of his daughter’s, casually mentioning that he was staring at Soledad’s ass at the Christmas party, which shocks all three of her daughters and makes the rest of the dinner highly uncomfortable and racked with tension.

Soon after, the FBI come knocking on the door and arrest Edward for embezzling company funds (though this isn’t immediately revealed).

Soledad and her girls are crushed and confused, wondering what’s going on and why this is happening. As the sole provider, Edward was responsible for all of the bills, while Soledad took care of the house and the kids.

With Edward behind bars, Soledad has to scramble to figure out a way to pay for groceries once the FBI freezes her bank accounts and credit cards while they try to trace the money Edward stole.

Judah feels bad and shows up at Soledad’s house to warn her that things could get worse and to see if she has any information that could lead to a paper trail or something that could push the investigation further.

When she reveals she can’t even buy groceries, Judah sends her some. She’s thankful, but doesn’t act on her feelings for him. Nor does he act on his.

They both seem to realize it’s not the right time, especially with her girls believing Judah is the bad guy that put their dad in jail.

One day when Soledad needs to get her anger out, she takes it out on Edward’s man cave (a shed he transformed). And that’s when she finds the flash drive that contains the paper trail — the smoking gun — that the FBI and CalPot are looking for.

Soledad makes a deal with Judah and Calpot to turn the device over to the FBI and Calpot with some conditions — she needs access to her money or some kind of assistance (since she has no source of income).

Once Edward is convicted and sent to prison, the book fast forwards eight months into the future.

The story line seems to drag a little bit at this point because we’re not really sure where it’s going.

Now that Soledad’s ex-husband is in prison, she has to find ways to make money so she and her three daughters, Lupe, Inez, and Lottie, can stay in their home.

This is when Soledad decides to go on a self-partnering journey and focus on herself, her healing, and her mental health. She’s trying to recover from years of Edward’s mistreatment, which is understandable. And even admirable.

But…why? In a romance novel, why?

I wanna see more romance, more wooing. More dates. More kissing.

The first kiss doesn’t come until more than half of the book is over. (**eye roll**)

I’m starting to hate the whole slow burn thing, especially since I’ve been reading a lot of those lately.

I want some action in the beginning, middle, and end.

I don’t wanna hold my breath till the last few pages, only to have a few pages of the actual full-blown romance.

Is it just me?

Anyway, I’m writing this review as I read it, so right now, I’m at the part where they just had their second kiss.

And things really start to heat up. 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Soledad, at first, tells him she’s self-partnering. Then, she tells him not to stop pursuing her, which is a bit of a mixed message if you ask me, but I’ll go with it for the sake of this story.

Anyway, during the holidays (and after Judah buys one of her baskets and also purchases a ticket for her dinner at the Harvest Fest), she finally reaches out to him for the first time to bring him some pasteles and coquito, a dish similar to tamales and a drink made of rum and coconut.

The longer they deny their attraction to each other, the harder it becomes for them to resist each other.

After a brief talk with Hendrix (her friend) and her sister, Lola, she’s made the decision to “make [her] own rules” and “get a little something for [herself].”

I guess that thing is Judah because she goes over to his house to drop off those treats and ends up getting not only a second kiss, but a taste of what Judah can do.

Let’s just say he’s good with his hands and his tongue.

Go read the scene for yourself. It doesn’t disappoint.

But Soledad has to get back to her family because it’s Christmas Eve and she wants to spend some time with her daughters, so Judah makes sure she doesn’t stay too long.

Parts of the book are a little repetitive when it comes to mentioning Edward and how Inez (Daddy’s little girl) feels about what Soledad was forced to do because of the position Edward put her in. And how Inez feels about Judah, which complicates things for the love story between Soledad and Judah in a slightly predictable way.

I loved the autism representation and how it gave us a peek into the lives of people living with autism and parents of kids with autism.

As someone with people in my family on the autism spectrum, it made me smile to read about Adam and Aaron and all of their “quirks.”

And it helped build Judah’s character and explain why he is the way he is (he mentions possibly being on the spectrum himself…undiagnosed).

The sex scene is good. Not as good as the ones in Before I Let Go, only because Josiah and Yasmen had more of a connection, more chemistry than Judah and Soledad.

I didn’t like how orchestrated it all felt. They had to go upstairs to the bedroom? Even though the house was empty.

If neither of them could resist the other, you’d think it could happen pretty much anywhere.

Once upstairs, Soledad is so nervous, she’s worried about her chapped lips and tries to go back down and get her purse for the lip balm in there (but Judah stops her).

She also makes comments about how she reviewed a cheaper version of the comforter he has for social media.

It’s just a little weird and unneeded.

There’s no banter between them, which could’ve helped with the lack of chemistry between them.

It seems more like raw lust than genuine attraction, but I’m here for both.

Side note: I would’ve liked to see Soledad do something that involves books. She mentions that her parents were both librarians and that she loves books.

She did start a book club, but I thought she’d do something book-wise to make money, like her sister, Lola, who plans to move to Texas to open a bookstore.

The end of the book wasn’t bad at all. I don’t know what I expected, but they ride off into the night on his motorcycle (the one he’s been building).

I’m not sure it was the best ending, but I enjoyed most of the scenes between Soledad and Judah.

But this is not a romance story. It’s more of a self-love journey for Soledad with romance as the secondary story, which isn’t horrible.

There’s a lot about her family (both the one she grew up with and the one she created), so I feel like it’s more about family than anything. Then, her love of herself. And then her love for Judah.

Overall, I give it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.