Long Shot

by Kennedy Ryan

Overview

Some connections can't be silenced. Some women refuse to be broken.

From New York Times bestseller Kennedy Ryan comes a RITA award-winning romance that has captivated readers with its emotionally charged slow burn and unflinching honesty. Long Shot is a visceral journey through love, power, and survival, set against the high-stakes backdrop of professional basketball.

When Iris DuPree crosses paths with future NBA star August West, their chemistry is undeniable. But timing is cruel, and Iris's life is already entwined with another—the league's most beloved player, who hides his dark side well. As Iris's world spins into shadows, her one night with August becomes a lifeline she carries for years…until they meet again.

Told with stunning emotional clarity and layered with heartbreak, hope, and healing, Long Shot is perfect for readers drawn to romance that cuts deep and redeems fiercely—and love that never gives up.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781728284965
Publisher:	Sourcebooks
Publication date:	08/08/2023
Series:	Hoops Series , #1
Pages:	480
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

A RITA® and Audie® Award winner, USA Today bestselling author Kennedy Ryan writes for women from all walks of life, empowering them and placing them firmly at the center of each story and in charge of their own destinies. Her heroes respect, cherish, and lose their minds for the women who capture their hearts. Kennedy and her writings have been featured in Chicken Soup for the Soul, USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, TIME, O magazine, and many others. She is a wife to her lifetime lover and mother to an extraordinary son.

Editorial Reviews

★ 2023-06-08
A triumphant story of a domestic violence survivor creating her happy-ever-after.

Ambitious college graduate Iris DuPree stays with Caleb Bradley, her basketball-player boyfriend, because of an unexpected pregnancy, though she has her own career goals and feels an electric connection with his rival, August West. When Caleb slowly separates her from all her emotional and financial resources and turns violent, Iris is trapped in a nightmare of sexual and physical abuse, terrified of his threats of hurting her baby and her family members. Occasional interactions between Iris and August only ratchet up Caleb’s terrorizing behavior until, after one night of extreme beatings and rapes, Iris leaves with her daughter thanks to a cousin’s help. Ryan’s heartbreaking story intersperses Iris’ point of view with that of August as they meet, fall in love, and suffer a separation that is extraordinarily brutal for her in more ways than one. Only in the second half of the novel is Iris able to take back control over herself and her story and eventually embrace love and sexual autonomy with August. Written with unflinching honesty, the novel contains on-page scenes of intimate partner violence that are difficult to read but not gratuitous. Iris’ and August’s inner worlds are consistently at the center of the story, and their romantic and sexual attractions for each other survive her harrowing situation. The author makes it clear that societal structures facilitate women’s subjugation, and all the characters, including Iris’ and her abuser’s family members and acquaintances, are well sketched to show their complicity or allyship as bystanders.

A sports romance that should be read by everyone who cares about women’s safety.

Kirkus Reviews