Kennedy Ryan
About the Book
Score follows award-winning screenwriter Verity Hill and world-renowned musician Wright "Monk" Bellamy as they reunite while working together on a film about the Harlem Renaissance. Forced back into each other's orbit years after a life-changing first love, the two must confront old wounds, unfinished business, and feelings that never fully disappeared.
At once romantic and deeply introspective, Score explores creativity, ambition, identity, sexuality, mental health, and the enduring impact of first love. Kennedy Ryan delivers a story that is both emotionally sweeping and profoundly human.
Genre: Contemporary Romance 🎬
Spice Level: 🌶🌶🌶🌶
About the Writer
Kennedy Ryan needs little introduction. A New York Times, USA Today, and internationally bestselling author, she is celebrated for crafting emotionally rich love stories that center complex characters, authentic representation, and real-life issues with remarkable care and depth.
Known for beloved series such as Skyland—which includes Before I Let Go, This Could Be Us, and Can't Get Enough—Kennedy has become one of the most influential voices in contemporary romance. Score, the second installment in her Hollywood Renaissance series and sequel to Reel, continues her tradition of pairing unforgettable love stories with thoughtful explorations of identity, artistry, mental health, and healing.
Our Thoughts on Score
There's something about the way Kennedy Ryan writes love that makes you believe in its possibilities. Not just the butterflies, chemistry, and grand romantic gestures (although there's plenty of that!), but the kind of love that asks us to confront ourselves, embrace our imperfections, and allow someone to see us fully.
It's no secret that we're Kennedy Ryan fans here at Toni's Nook, and Score reminded us exactly why! As our very first book club pick, I couldn't have imagined a better story to kick things off. Through Verity Hill and Wright "Monk" Bellamy's second chance at love, Kennedy gives us so much more than a romance. She delivers a captivating, honest, and deeply relatable story that had us turning pages because we genuinely cared about what happened next.
What I especially loved was the way Kennedy explored the intersectionality of Verity's experience as a Black woman navigating bipolar disorder, bisexuality, her career, and love. None of these parts of her identity exist in isolation, and Kennedy doesn't ask us to separate them. Instead, she allows Verity to be a fully realized woman who is ambitious, complicated, vulnerable, desired, and, most importantly, worthy of being loved in her entirety. There's something incredibly beautiful about that.
I also appreciated how much this book taught me about mental health. As a community, we don't always have the language, resources, or understanding to recognize what certain mental health experiences look like. Because of that, they can sometimes be overlooked, dismissed, or misunderstood. But we deserve care, consideration, and the space to be understood. I thought Kennedy handled this so beautifully, offering insight without making Verity's diagnosis the entirety of her story. It was a reminder that understanding someone's experience is an important part of loving them well.
And then there's Monk! Their relationship had me thinking about the difference between the love we fantasize about and the love we're actually willing to show up for. Because being loved fully sounds beautiful, but allowing someone to see the parts of ourselves we've spent years protecting? That's another story entirely.
I also loved how deeply art is woven into this book. From music and screenwriting to the history of the Harlem Renaissance, creativity becomes its own language for understanding love, identity, and healing. It's a beautiful reminder of how art can reflect our experiences while also challenging us to imagine something beyond them.
For our first in-person Toni's Nook gathering, we brought that connection to life with an art exhibition experience at Art + Practice, followed by an intimate conversation with Dr. Shena Young at Harun Coffee. Together, we explored the intersections of love, mental health, sexuality, and self-acceptance, and what it means to create space for every version of ourselves.
Ultimately, Score was simply a beautiful reading experience. It was romantic, thoughtful, educational, and a genuine page-turner. Kennedy gave us characters we wanted to root for and a story that entertained us while expanding our understanding of what love and care can look like.
More than anything, it reminded me that we deserve love that makes room for all of who we are. Not just the easy, shiny parts, but the complicated ones too. And what a beautiful way to begin our journey here in the Nook!
📌 Discussion Prompts
Prompt 1
Love Me as I Am, Not as You Imagine Me
Verity's journey challenges the idea that we have to become a more polished or palatable version of ourselves to be worthy of love. What does it really mean to be fully seen and accepted by a partner? And do you think we're always ready to receive the kind of love we say we want?
Prompt 2
Finding God in Unexpected Places
Growing up as a preacher's kid, Monk's experiences within the church pushed him away from his faith. Yet through his relationship with Verity, he begins to rediscover the very love and grace he struggled to find in religion. Can our relationships with others become a reflection of our relationship with God? And have you ever experienced a person or relationship that challenged, restored, or completely reshaped your understanding of faith?
Prompt 3
Making Room for Every Part of Ourselves
Through Verity, Kennedy explores sexuality, mental health, and the pressure to navigate multiple identities in a world that loves putting people in boxes. How do societal expectations influence which parts of ourselves we feel comfortable sharing? And what does genuine acceptance look like when someone's identity or mental health challenges our understanding of love?
Prompt 4
Art Imitates Life… Or Is It the Other Way Around?
Art plays a central role in Score, shaping how Verity and Monk express themselves, connect, and make sense of their experiences. Have you ever encountered a book, song, film, or piece of art that changed how you understood yourself or a relationship? Can creativity help us heal parts of ourselves that conversation alone sometimes can't reach?
