Trying Not to Love You by Kaylee Ryan
Moran Sisters #1
Contemporary Small Town Romance
July 14, 2026
🩷Second Chance
✨High School Sweetheart
🩷Ex-Military Hero
✨First Love
🩷Emotional Healing
✨Small Town
🩷Blue Collar
NYT and USA Today Bestselling author Kaylee Ryan brings you a new standalone series set in a small town, surrounding four sisters. Trying Not to Love You is a small-town, second-chance, first-love, ex-military romance.
Ellison
Copeland James was my first love, my first heartbreak, my first everything.
Then he left without explanation, and never came back.
My sisters and our closest friends helped me pick up the pieces, but my heart hasn’t been whole since the day he walked out of Magnolia Ridge.
I’ve learned to live with what could have been… until his mother’s illness brings him back to our small town. He’s older, harder, and more magnetic than I remember.
He’s a man now. The man I learned to live without. And yet, he’s back, stirring everything I thought I’d buried, making my world feel unsteady.
Because loving him nearly destroyed me… and now, I’m still trying not to love him.
Copeland
I left Magnolia Ridge with nothing but a duffel bag and a decision.
I told myself joining the Marines was the right choice. That loving her meant protecting her, and this was the way to do it.
I was wrong.
Now I’m back, years later, and she’s just as breathtaking as the day I left. All these years, I imagined she’d have moved on, married someone else, but she’s still single, and in my heart, she’s still mine.
But Ellison doesn’t see me the way I see her, not anymore. All I find in her eyes is the wound I left behind. The one that never healed.
I didn’t fight for us back then, but I’ve learned. Now I’m ready for battle, fighting for what we could be while she tries not to love me.
Grab it today in your favorite format or read with Kindle Unlimited: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GDVXP1J8
Trying Not to Love You by Kaylee Ryan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
ARC/ALC REVIEW
Trying Not to Love You is one of those stories that washes over you like sunshine on a coolish day. It just warms you from the inside out and it’s one of those stories filled with heart and hope from beginning to end.
I had the advantage of reading and listening to an early copy of this story and I actually did both, kind of. LOL So, the ALC landed first and of course I am jumping on a duet narration from Savannah Peachwood & Connor Crais, as one does if they are in their audiobook era! After a while I realized there were passages I wanted to remember, so I jumped on my ARC to do just that and ended up reading thru the last 25 to 30%! That is all to tell you that no matter which format (eyeballs or eras lol) you decide on, this story is going to be epic for you! Well, it was for me!
What I loved most about the story is that even when there was room for twitchy shenanigans, Kaylee didn’t really do that (👏👏👏👏) and instead made sure adults adulted properly! The story also unfolded and the relationship between Ellison & Copeland grew positively and dare I say, easily. I don’t mean easy as in no tension or conflict, I mean easy because it was relatable and realistic. It wasn’t overly dramatic, but it was definitely a gut-punch at times. It was more heartwarming than anything else and that’s the vibe I love with my second chance stories. I’m not going to give a play-by-play but you might want to grab tissues. LOL
I want to thank Team Kaylee Ryan for the opportunity to join the team for this release! I am very much looking forward to what Kaylee has in store for the rest of the Moran sisters!
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Kaylee Ryan has been crowned the Queen of Swoon by her readers. With nearly fifty romance books under her belt, she’s known for penning happily ever afters with heart. When she’s not writing, you can find her with a book in her hand or hanging out with her family where she resides in her home state of Ohio.
Website: http://kayleeryan.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KayleeRyanAuthor
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Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7060310.Kaylee_Ryan
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