See the Cover of Kennedy Ryan’s New Book ‘Score’ (Exclusive)

Kennedy Ryan has a new book on the way, and it celebrates several things that are near and dear to the author’s heart.

Dothe second stand-alone book in her Hollywood Renaissance series, highlights two characters that readers have met in Roll but have not yet been fully informed. In Score, we follow “a screenwriter and musician who went from intensely in love to intensely broken up and, 10 years later, reunite on the set of this lively film, a biopic of the Harlem Renaissance,” the publisher teases. Verity Hill and Wright “Monk” Bellamy separated in college, but memories of Monk have always haunted Verity. And for his part, Monk was devastated when they split.

And now they have to work together. With Monk, “a world-class musician, creating the score, and Verity, an award-winning screenwriter, penning the script, there’s an Oscar feel before shooting even begins,” adds a synopsis. “This once-in-a-lifetime project could catapult them both to new heights, but can they put the past behind them for the sake of the movie … for something more?”

In line with the author’s own passion for mental health and LGBTQ+ representation, Do features a main character who is bisexual and bipolar through the lens of a black woman.

Because Ryan cares deeply about the value of black stories told by black people, it also includes historical figures such as Gladys Bentley, “a pioneer in the queer community, who is often overlooked as the first black person in the United States to have her own television show,” notes the publisher. And there’s more history to love: Dessi Blue, a fictional character at the center of the biopic, who was in a secret relationship with a woman and inspired by Billie Holiday and Dorothy Dandridge.

“Verity sees herself in Dessi Blue,” a synopsis teases. “Being part of this film is liberating for Verity and allows her to be more herself.”

“The Hollywood renaissance series means so much to me because celebrating and enhancing black art is one of the driving intentions. We saw that in book one, Rolland it will continue Dothe second book about a different couple in this series,” Ryan tells PEOPLE exclusively.

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“Especially for DoI am excited about several things. The connection between these two characters around their shared passion for the arts and an undeniable attraction to each other is at the center of the story, but it also reminds us of black history and achievements threatened by erasure and revision.”

And of course, the book is also full of the life-affirming romance Ryan’s longtime readers love.

“Another theme that is common in my work and exciting within Do is mental health representation. I want people who don’t often see their identities depicted in fiction to find resonance and joy in this story; to see hope on the side as something they deserve in real life,” continues Ryan. “It’s a romance! So I certainly hope that readers will fall in love with these characters as much as Monk and Verity are with each other!”

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Do hits shelves on May 19, 2026 and is available now for pre-order wherever books are sold.