Queen Move (All the King's Men Series)

When you read a Kennedy Ryan book be prepared to work for it. Be prepared to learn and be schooled on different issues and ethnicities. Be prepared to have a woman that is an independent queen and knows her worth. Be prepared to have a man that knows his place and will sweep you right off your feet. Be prepared for a writer that takes risks and succeeds. When you read Kennedy Ryan, YOU will feel it all and the journey will be worth it in the end.

Queen Move is a real and messy romance that I absolutely loved and devoured. Part One really focuses on the history of our two main characters, Kimba and Ezra. These two characters came from different backgrounds, but they were as much a part of each other as a limb. They grew up next door from each other and their lives were so intertwined by their parents and simply by their ages. They were the best of friends that always supported one another through everything during the awkward childhood years. They had a love for one another that no one could ever explain. So when 20 years pass since they last see each other and they are in seemingly different places in their lives, it's no surprise their childhood connection is still there, strong as ever.

It feels like we were this one thing that was severed in half, and our parts want to be rejoined.

I want to go on and on and tell you about everything in the story. The journey Kimba takes from getting out from under her family's name to being one of the most powerful women in politics. To making hard choices for her as a woman and for her family. She is what you want to write about when you want to write a strong and powerful, yet beautiful woman that isn't perfect. I want to tell you about Ezra and his quiet dominance he had even as a child. How that changed and prepared him for the man he became. These two are people of their word. They don't make rash decisions and they don't just throw themselves into battle without a plan. But plans and rules are made to be broken. And someone surely will get hurt.

"Love is not a tidy thing, Kimba. It can't ever be perfect because none of us are. Someone at some point will make a mess. The test of that love is how you clean it up."

This story is raw perfection. It's well told and the pacing is just right. We get the history of Ezra and Kimba and we see them as they are now and how they are dealing with what life has thrown at them. Is it always pretty? No. Are the choices always black and white? No. But their chemistry scorches the pages. Even when they aren't in the same room, you could feel their thoughts and emotions jump off the page. Their inner monologue really affected me. It buried itself deep in my head and really grasped on. I think I would've been able to feel their connection even if they hadn't even spoken one word to one another. That's how palatable their thoughts were. They are beautiful, raw and inspiring and I absolutely Loved their journey, even during the messes and the tears.

With Queen Move you not only get a well written romance book with strong characters, but you'll get a book that will enlighten and inspire you. The strength and determination of the characters are at the forefront and I couldn't have asked for more. Even the supporting characters were perfectly placed and a good transition into the storyline. Family, love, complications....it's all there and it all makes for a book that will definitely stick with you. Go experience it for yourself. You won't be disappointed.

"We are made of choices and losses and triumphs and, yes, some happenstance. Ezra and I were made for this moment, made for each other exactly as we are now."

Oh my... I feel as if I always write the same thing when I review a Kennedy Ryan book: Character driven with multi-layers, strong storyline, excellent research, strong women, driven men, sexy, lyrical and poetic. Queen Move is no different. I have almost started taking her for granted in that I know I will have a book hangover for days after finishing. I love getting drunk on her words. We met Kimba in All The Kings Men duet and I have anxiously awaited her story. I was not disappointed but I was surprised. This is not just Kimba's story, it is also Ezra's. In true Kennedy Ryan fashion, Kimba was definitely a "queen". She was strong, confident, driven, a sexual being who did not suffer fools. Her story begins after the successful Presidential campaign that she and Lennix had achieved in The Rebel King with a flashback to her childhood. It shows who and where she came from. Ezra was an awkward, quiet boy born to a white Jewish mother and a black father. As so many children with different cultures, ethnicities and religions, Ezra was trying to find where he "fit." He lived his young life with a quiet strength and a moral compass with Kimba as his anchor, as he was also hers. Kimba (Tru) and Ezra (Ez) were born on the same day, in the same month, in the same year. They were woven together with quiet innocence, empathy and silent strength. Two halves of a whole. As is the norm, one moment in time can change everything. That moment in Queen Move was written so eloquently near the end of the book. As usual, Kennedy Ryan addresses modern topics as only she can, with compassion and empathy. After many, many years, Kimba and Ezra meet again at her fathers funeral. This is where the "adult" part of the book begins. It is heartbreaking, enlightening and so very, very real. As we had met Kimba before, we know how determined and dogged she is in her job and her life. She is fierce. I was so invested in Ezra. I loved that the awkward boy had grown into a moral, honorable, educated man who loved so damn hard. Life threw him punches, but he stood strong in his sense of self. He was a good man. Queen Move is more than a romance. It's the evolution and growth of two people who had left pieces of their hearts with each other in childhood. "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. She was there for my scaffolding - there where my flesh was knit over my bones. And if love is not just an emotion, but a type of eternity, an infinity that lives in our hearts, then we have always been in love. It's an ageless thing that isn't about puberty or chronology, or even if we get to live our lives together. But when we are apart, I ache." Beautiful eloquence. Lyrically pure. Kennedy Ryan is a gift we should all treasure.

Kennedy's words are pure magic, they wrap around you like a warm blanket covering you in the complexity and prose that is singularly her, making you fall in love with every word she writes. Queen Move is beyond anything I could have expected, she blew the writing world apart with this beautifully written masterpiece.

“𝙒𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙞𝙜𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙩𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙤𝙪𝙩—𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙜𝙪𝙣.”—𝙉𝙚𝙞𝙡 𝙙𝙚𝙂𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙚 𝙏𝙮𝙨𝙤𝙣

I’m been dying for Kimba’s story ever since first meeting her in the All The Kings Men Duet. Kennedy always writes her heroines with this ferocity that makes you want to be more. They are strength personified and they always leave me with a sense that we can do and be anything we want! Kimba is without a doubt Queen, Kennedy wrote her with such realism that you feel as if you know her and you want to be apart of her life. She is so smart and determined nothing can stand in her way. But what I loved the most was when you saw her soft side, the parts that she kept hidden away so that she wouldn’t get hurt. It was those moments when I fell irrevocably in love with this character and everything she represents.

𝙃𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙠𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙧𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚.

Ezra is legit PERFECTION. This man with his violet eyes and wicked tongue will have you forgetting your own name. He is without a doubt a flawless match for Kimba. From the time they are children until the meet again, they have always been with each other even if it was just in memory. And it’s that connection that begs to break free when they come face to face again. The passion and intensity between them are palpable, every time they’re together you can feel it. It fills every room they are in growing and burning just waiting to burst free and incinerate everything in their path with the strength of it. I’m honestly surprised by Kindle didn’t burst into flames.

𝙃𝙚 𝙩𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙁𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙝 𝙩𝙤𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄’𝙢 𝙧𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙨..

This story has you remembering the innocence of firsts, of childhood promises made with reckless abandon and the belief that things will always be this way. I loved watching Kimba and Ezra grow up together and the journey they took to become the people they are today. Kennedy made me believe in soulmates, everyone wants that soul deep all consuming once in a lifetime kind of love. The kind that makes your heart race and your soul ache. The kind that gives you not just butterfly’s but whole tidal waves that turn you inside out. That’s what Kimba and Ezra have, that kind of connection that makes you feel as if you were made just to love this person. Their story brought tears to my eyes and a deep ache to my soul, these two are absolute perfection and I am obsessed with their love!

𝙄𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩. 𝘼 𝙨𝙣𝙤𝙬-𝙜𝙡𝙤𝙗𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙢𝙮 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙛𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙, 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣.

Kennedy is always meticulous with her research and brings forth important issues that are relevant today and that wholeheartedly need to be addressed. I love that every time you get swept away into one of her stories it opens your eyes to prevalent matters in the world. Kennedy’s stories will hit you on a visceral level, you can’t help but have a physical reaction while reading. Her words are so poetic and intricate that you easily get lost to her words, so much so that you won’t want to come back. Kimba and Ezra are FLAWLESS, everything about them is real and natural, consuming the pages and leaving a permanent mark on your soul. Their journey wasn’t easy but it was them, and it was worth every second.

In romance, fated mates is a label conferred on couples whose pairing is written in the stars or nature or somewhere in the supernatural. It exists outside of logic and rationality. It’s a pairing that was simply meant to be. They complete each other and no one else will do. Traditionally, fated mates are something that only happens in paranormal romance or fantasy (see Romance 101: Fated Mates by Amanda Diehl on Book Riot). But in Kennedy Ryan’s Queen Move, a story about childhood best friends turned lovers, I believed that true love was this couple's destiny from the start.

Queen Move is contemporary romance, and technically there’s nothing supernatural about it— there’s nary a witch, vamp, or shapeshifter in sight. But the connection between the two main characters is its own kind of magic. Kimba and Ezra were born on the same day. They're neighbors and their mothers are close friends, so it makes sense that they’re be practically inseparable. As babies they bathe together and play together when they’re young and at the ripe old age of six, when Ezra learns about what marriage is, they marry each other in a back yard ceremony.

Their connection is the sweetest thing ever. No one else in the world really exists when these two are together. But that all crashes down and the connection is severed at age 13 when their families are torn apart by a mysterious fight no one will explain. Ezra’s family moves away and they both eventually get on with their lives and lose touch.

Two decades later, Ezra is living in Atlanta when Kimba returns home for a family event, and they reunite. It’s immediately clear that the connection that was severed so abruptly when they were teens never quite went away. But their lives are no longer simple. Ezra has been in a long term, (albeit troubled and on the cusp of separation), relationship for a decade and is raising a wonderful son with his partner. Kimba has an incredible career as a political consultant based in D.C. and a health issue that’s causing her to reevaluate some choices.

It’s a great setup. Ezra and Kimba are fated mates kept apart by circumstances out of their control long ago and now again. Both are public people under a fair amount of scrutiny. They have people relying on them, and their situation is messy. There are about a million ways that scenario could go very wrong, but Kennedy Ryan is the mistress of swoonily romantic, angsty, socially conscious romance with high heat. And Queen Move sets yet another high water mark for that type of romance.

What I love most about Kimba and Ezra is that their connection is multifaceted. There’s the magic— they’re the kids born on the same day who imprinted on each other like cubs before they even knew what love was. Kimba feels that keenly: “I can’t help but think when we were born on the same day, when we were made together our path was set…” And Ezra feels very much the same. And it’s lovely. But there are also concrete tangible reasons that these two people work well together as adults. I never doubted it that they fit and would make each others’ lives better. For one thing, they share values— they’ve both dedicated their lives to fighting for social justice in different ways— and they have an intellection connection and mutual respect.

There’s a lot of angst here, but none of it is about whether their love is true. They are soul mates. That’s a given. And yet, somehow, the stakes and the tension remain high. Ryan is afraid to make hard choices and she gives this couple some real hurdles to overcome. It’s never forced. It just feels real.

Beyond that, what pulls it all together is Kennedy Ryan's writing. She writes gorgeous, sometimes poetic, sentences bursting with passion. Kimba: “Daddy used to say don’t waste time on things that don’t set you on fire inside, and I haven’t. Every campaign, every election, each candidate—I’ve believed in. I believed that putting that person in power advanced one of my convictions.” She bites her bottom lip. “I felt the same about people. I didn’t want to waste time on anyone who didn’t set me on fire inside. And there have been people I liked, people I enjoyed sex with, but no one I wanted to build a life with. That’s why I never committed. No one ever set me on fire inside.” She looks over at me, her eyes telling me before her words do. “Until now. You set me on fire inside, Ezra Stern.”

“You set me on fire inside, Ezra Stern.” It’s a simple sentence but wow it’s just beautiful in that context. And also lovely that Kimba makes the connection between the people and the causes that set her on fire. This is the essence of what makes Ryan’s novels, Queen Move in particular, so special. She weaves the personal and the political together seamlessly and beautifully.