Kennedy Ryan on why ‘Score’ was ‘one of the hardest books [she’s] ever written’

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‘Score’ by Kennedy Ryan (Hachette/Forever)

Hollywood is calling to Kennedy Ryan, in more ways than one.

In addition to a TV show in the works at Peacock and a first-look deal with Universal, the romance author has released the latest book in her Hollywood Renaissance series, Score.

The story, a follow-up to 2021’s Reel, centers on the second chance romance between screenwriter Verity Hill, who’s living with bipolar disorder, and musician Bellamy “Monk” Wright — former college lovers who reunite on the set of a period film called Dessi Blue.

“I think I related to Verity as a writer. And I really related to her desire specifically around the Black community, around Black art and Black history,” Ryan says. “Really that’s the soul of what this whole series is.”

Ryan also took great care to make sure Verity’s bipolar disorder was represented accurately. She says it was “one of the hardest books I’ve ever written” for that reason.

“In media, we have seen bipolar disorder sensationalized, misrepresented, harmful representation,” Ryan says. “And I really didn’t want to perpetuate that, which meant really digging in with people who have the diagnosis, their family, their partners, their psychiatrist, their therapist. And that’s really the foundation for the representation in this book. And I’m very, very proud of it.”

While her books cover some heavier topics, Ryan promises her readers that by nature of the romance genre, they’ll never get “hurt without healing.”

“There is someone who will walk with you through hurt to healing,” she says. “It is also to encourage people who have actually lived those experiences that joy is a possibility for us in life.”