Reel by Kennedy Ryan

Reviewer: Wena
Series: Hollywood Renaissance #1
Main Leads: Cannon Holt, Neevah Saint
Setting: United States, New York, New York City
Genres: Romance, Contemporary
Tags: Workplace Romance, Actress Female Lead, Director Male Lead
Published On: June 8, 2021
Publisher: Scribechick Media, LLC
Format: Audio
Source: Purchased
Pages: 434
Purchase It: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Award-Winning Wall Street Journal bestselling author Kennedy Ryan launches a brand-new series with a Hollywood tale of wild ambition, artistic obsession, and unrelenting love.

One moment in the spotlight…

For months I stood by, an understudy waiting in the wings, preparing for my time to shine.

I never imagined he would watch in the audience that night.

Canon Holt.

Famous film director. Fascinating. Talented. Fine.

Before I could catch my breath, everything changed. I went from backstage Broadway to center stage Hollywood.

From being unknown, to my name, Neevah Saint, on everyone’s lips.

Canon casts me in a star-studded Harlem Renaissance biopic, catapulting me into another stratosphere.

But stars shine brightest in the dead of night.

Forbidden attraction, scandal and circumstances beyond my control jeopardize my dream.

Could this one shot — the role of a lifetime, the love of a lifetime — cost me everything?

Kennedy Ryan is one of those authors that never fails to write the kind of books that I can’t put down. This book pulled me out of a reading slump and I was hooked right from the very beginning. This is another author that I wanted to introduce to Brenna and she read this book along with me and she enjoyed it as well and that makes me so happy. I knew that she would enjoy this one because Kennedy Ryan writes compelling stories about complex characters that really pull at your heartstrings and draws you so deeply into the story that the stories, along with the characters stay with you long after you’ve finished reading. Ryan also tends to write really heavy stories and so they’re not books that you can easily jump into but I’m happy to say that though the characters are put through the wringer in this one, I didn’t find this story to be quite as heavy as all of the others though it didn’t shy away from packing on the emotions.

Cannon and Neevah’s romance was a slow burn that came together so wonderfully and I very much enjoyed it. It was a moving story about two people that connected on a level that was hard to fight against and when they both stop fighting their feelings, their love for each other was too good. I thought that they were such great characters on their own but I really loved their dynamic together. Their stories weren’t easy but seeing them come to love and support each other was everything.

Neevah and Cannon meet when Neevah finally gets her break, an understudy stepping up when the lead actress goes down. It had taken so long for Neevah to finally get her break and when she nails the role, just as we all knew she would, she catches the eye of Cannon Holt, a film director. Meeting Cannon on that particular night really changed her life in more ways than one. When he casts her to be the lead in her first film, Neevah couldn’t predict that she’d find a role that was meant for her or that she’d fall in love with the man that cast her in the role.

Neevah was an interesting female lead and it was so easy to connect with her and with her story because a lot of her struggles, a lot of her worries, were all things that I struggled with at one point in time. It wasn’t hard to root for her and for her happiness because she was such a likable character. I rejoiced through her ups and I was sad through her downs. She had such a good head on her shoulders that I really enjoyed getting to know her. As good as she was, she wasn’t perfect and seeing her struggle with prioritizing her health and her work made her story all the more interesting. I loved seeing her learn to lean on Cannon and trust that he loved her the way that she deserved, even when she was embarrassed to show herself to him.

The romance between Cannon and Neevah was such a good one. Seeing them fall into their feelings and all the drama that comes with falling in love on set made for an interesting read. It definitely wasn’t boring. There was so much going on and so much to love that reading this book took no time at all. Kennedy Ryan did such a great job of putting words to paper that moved the hell out of me. I thought she did a great job of pulling string after string until the strings came together to tell a complete story of two complex but interesting characters and I’m so glad that I read this one. Cannon was fine as hell and seeing his grumpy ass fall for Neevah and then strive to support her and prove to her that he’s all in was such a good time. I loved all of him and loved the way that he loved Neevah.

This book was so good and I’m so glad that I read it. I definitely recommend.

Final Rating

4.5 out of 5

Hollywood Renaissance Series