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My Soul to Keep
Soul #1
Kennedy Ryan
Genre: New Adult
Release Date: November 16, 2015

It seems the things worth keeping are often the hardest to hold…

KAI

I had two things in life that mattered. My mother and my music.
Mama was taken from me too soon, and now music is all I have left. It’s the thing that’s pushed me right out of backwoods Georgia into Los Angeles, where the line between fantasy and reality shimmers and blurs. I’m finally making my way, making my mark. I can’t afford to fall for one of music’s brightest stars. Not now. Music is all I have left, and I’m holding on tight with both hands. I won’t let go, not even for Rhyson Gray.

RHYSON

I had one thing in my life that mattered – music. The only constant, it’s taken me to heights most people only dream about; a gift dropped in my lap at birth. I thought it was enough. I thought it was everything until I met Kai. Now she’s all I think about, like a song I can’t get out of my head. If I have to chase her, if I have to give up everything – I will. And once she’s mine, I won’t let go.

You can purchase your copy today on Amazon! There is a special release day sale price happening right now! This new release will be only 99 cents until November 17. Make sure to grab your copy today!

THIS BOOK! I don’t even know where to begin. When I first heard about it, it was immediately put on the TBR list and I could not wait to see what Kennedy Ryan was cooking up with this baby. My Soul to Keep exceeded every expectation I had and had a flair that was refreshing among the sea of New Adult romances. It was fun, heartfelt, heartbreaking, and sweet. There were ups and downs filled with emotion and depth. This book is a brilliant story of friendship, love, and the art that feeds the soul.

First let’s talk characters. Kai, the lovely leading lady, is beautiful. She is a fighter. Her desire to be something and someone is a driving factor in everything she does. She is kind, open hearted, and smart. I loved watching her wade through the life she choose and her determination to fight the masses and make her mark. I admire her tenacity and feisty personality. Her looks are deceiving. She does not take anything lying down but instead barrels headfirst into what she wants. Rhyson is an epic book boyfriend. He is cocky, stubborn. flawed, and above all perfect for Kai. This man posses a magnetism that can not be ignored and when they come together, sparks fly. Rhyson is sweet, loving, and devoted, with a hint of bad boy mentality. I loved how the reader is able to see multiple sides to who he is and the connection he shared with Kai. There is a cast of characters surrounding these two that adds depth to the story. Each person we meet shines a light on who Kai and Rhyson are. These secondary characters allow us to learn more about who these two are and where they came from.

This book is full of creativity. You cannot read this story and not be affected. It made me want to sing, dance, and express myself. Watching two such talented people immerse themselves in what they love most is something I loved to read. Kennedy does an incredible job of soaking this story in artistic expression. There is music, dance, performance, and an outlet that is so natural for these two. This theme brings life to this story. It dominates what is happening by leading the main characters toward their end goals. I loved how this story was about two people who find each other but it is also about their paths to self discovery, especially for Kai. Seeing the ins and outs of someone attempting to break into the industry and the realities of someone who already has allows the reader a unique focal point in this book.

The romance and emotion written in this book was perfect! Watching the constant push and pull between Kai and Rhyson was at times frustrating but so real. You understand Kai’s hesitation and you feel Rhyson’s longing. These two have the chance to make it but they need to learn to let go. I loved how they had to constantly battle the media and their inner thoughts. They are both from such different sides of the spectrum. They connect at the base level of their mutual love but the ned to learn to respect their individual expression. These two are very explosive and when they get together, you know if can either be really good or really bad. I loved the angst and drama of the relationship, an angst that was realistic and frustrating at the same time.

When I got to the end, well let’s just say I didn’t realize this as the beginning of a series. Kennedy does an incredible job of making sure you want to come back for more. I am beyond excited for more of Kai and Ryhson. It seems to early to wish away the days till March of 2016, but that is what I wanted to do when I read the last sentence of this book (and the sneak peek into the next one). Do not miss this book! My Soul to Keep is a story that will captivate your heart and leave you breathless for more.

I shouldn’t have come. All the things I felt and fought, the things I suspected he felt too, he just spewed all over me. And as much as I want to be, I’m not sure I’m ready. I’ll never forget seeing my Mama in bed for days after Daddy left. And even though she got up, I suspect a part of her never left that bed, but just stayed there, waiting. We had to leave the house where she grew up and where I spent my first years, because Daddy left us with nowhere to go. Mama learned to stand on her two feet, and I’ve done the same. I just didn’t count on Rhyson sweeping me off of them.

“We’re obviously on different pages about this.” I pull my hands free and turn to leave, but he steps in front of me, blocking my grand exit. “Let’s talk later.”

“Enough talking.”

The heat of his body grabs me before his hands do. He traps my chin between two fingers, taking my mouth in a paradox of rough and tender. I want to move. To slide away from his body pressing me into the pool table. But I can’t. Not with his hand caressing my back. Not with his tongue in my mouth. Not with his erection pressing into my stomach. I can’t. I won’t. I have been denying myself this, and I’m so damn hungry. My mouth opens under his, ravenous and wet and hot. His groan vibrates against my lips.

“Yes. Good God, yes, Pep.” His words slip down my throat.

I strain up on tiptoes, clawing my fingers into his dark hair, forcing him closer. He lifts me onto the pool table, planting himself between my knees. His fingers skim my bare thigh, working up my leg until he reaches a damp patch of silk. He pushes my panties aside, rubbing his hand into the wet flesh there before sliding one long finger and then another inside of me. I rock into these fingers which have awed millions with their skill. They own me. I’m the instrument in his hands. He’s playing me. Plucking at me. Strumming me.

He tugs at the wide neck of my sweater until it falls away from my shoulder, slipping his hand in and cupping my naked breast. He brushes his fingers over my nipple, and I lose my mind and every inhibition. My head flops back and I stretch my legs wider, offering him anything he wants.

“Are you kidding me?” His question burns the vulnerable curve of my neck as he drags his lips to my shoulder. “You come here wearing no bra and think I won’t…”

He abandons the words, his dark, untidy head disappearing under my sweater, and before I have time to regain even millimeters of sanity, my nipple is in his mouth and he’s suckling me. Not gentle. Not soft. My breasts are so small, he almost eats me whole. Every draw, every suck, every bite sends a power surge to my core until my knees hold his hips in a desperate grip, and my nails rake across the flat surface of the pool table behind me.

His mouth at my breast. His fingers inside me. His clean scent surrounding me. I have nowhere to hide anymore. I am exposed. I want to spread myself wide open for him. That voice that has been telling me I can’t rely on him. I can’t trust him. I can’t need him—that voice is stunned into silence by his thorough possession of my body, by the inferno between my legs, blazing a hole right through my soul and scorching my heart.

 To celebrate this awesome new release, Kennedy is hosting a fun giveaway! Enter this Rafflecopter giveaway for your chance to win a $25 Amazon GiftCard or a signed paperback of My Soul to Keep! Simply follow the instructions listed and you will be entered for your chance to win. Don’t miss out. Good luck!

I just can’t write about myself in third person for one more bio! I’m a wife, a mom, a writer, an advocate for families living with autism. That’s me in a nutshell. Crack the nut, and you’ll find a Southern girl gone Southern California who loves pizza and Diet Coke, and wishes she got to watch a lot more television. You can usually catch me up too late, on social media too much, or FINALLY putting a dent in my ever-growing To Be Read list!

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