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.

In Hoop Shot, Ryan traces Kenan Ross and Lotus DuPree’s romance. Both Kenan and Lotus appear in Long Shot, where they meet and develop an interest in each other. Kenan is one of August’s teammates on the San Diego Waves, and Lotus is Iris’s cousin and best friend. In Hoop Shot, Kenan is still “picking up the pieces” of his life after his ex cheated on him (“Hook Shot.” Kennedy Ryan). Because of his heartbreak, Kenan has promised himself that he will never “trust a woman again” (“Hook Shot”). However, he changes his mind when he meets and becomes infatuated with the enigmatic fashion student, Lotus. The two pursue love and understanding amid the interconnected worlds of both professional sports and high fashion.

In the Hoops series’ final title, Hoops Shorts, Ryan delivers two novellas. In the first, Full-Court Press, Ryan traces Mackenzie Decker’s romance with a woman named Avery. Mackenzie is Deck, one of August’s friends and mentors in Long Shot. In the second novella, Fast Break, Ryan traces Quinn and Ean’s love affair. These stories are shorter, more contained romances but similarly draw inspiration from the high-action world of competitive basketball.