Long Shot

Long Shot is the first title in Kennedy Ryan’s Hoops series. The 2018 novel is followed by the titles Block Shot, Hoop Shot, and Hoops Shorts. While each of the four titles in the series can function as a standalone novel, the series features recurring characters and storylines. Long Shot introduces the series’ overarching narrative world and its key characters, setting, and cultural backdrops.

Long Shot centers on Iris and August’s forbidden friends-to-lovers romance. August is an NBA star, and Iris is an aspiring sports marketing agent. Although the two share an instant connection, they can’t be together because Iris is in a fraught relationship with August’s basketball rival and long-time nemesis, Caleb. The longer she stays with Caleb, the more doomed her and August’s soulmate connection appears. Although time and circumstances threaten to keep them apart, Iris and August’s love doesn’t fade.

Block Shot is also set against the backdrop of the NBA. However, this second installment in the series depicts Jared Foster and Banner Morale’s enemies-to-lovers romance. In Long Shot, Jared is a secondary character—August’s stepbrother who later becomes Iris’s boss at Elevation. Block Shot covers his and Banner’s attempts to reconcile their differences and establish a loving dynamic.