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When You're Ready

A Love Story

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About The Book

“This moving memoir explores how life and love rarely pan out the way we plan it...Beautifully written, [When You’re Ready] is a tribute to love in all its manifestations.” —The Seattle Times

An unforgettable and heartrending love story that will break your heart and piece it back together.

Kareem Rosser and Lee Lee Jones were young, beautiful, and deeply in love. Their love was a real-world romance that felt like a fairy tale: Kareem was raised in the Bottom—one of the most impoverished neighborhoods in Philadelphia—while Lee Lee was raised in the wealth of the Pennsylvania suburbs. They met and fell in love in the world of horses: Kareem, a nationally ranked polo player and Lee Lee, a legacy equestrian. The world was at their feet, a lifetime of joy and adventure ahead of them. But their love story is interrupted by a devastating accident, which almost costs Lee Lee her life, and destroys every plan and dream that Lee Lee and Kareem had made together.

In the months and years that follow, while Lee Lee struggles to heal, Kareem is crippled by ambiguous grief, for the woman that he loves and for the future he imagined for them both. He feels buried alive. In the space between debilitating grief and bursts of anxiety, he’s forced to finally face his demons: his tumultuous childhood, his latent mental health issues, the murders of his older brother and his best friend, and a life constantly lived in the grip of panic and fear.

Honest and captivating, When You’re Ready is a narrative that honors love in all its forms: first love, parental love, renewed love, and, most importantly, self-love. With notes on unresolved loss and second chances, it’s a story that will grab you by the heartstrings and uplift your soul.

About The Author

Sally from Two Tiny Pictures

Kareem Rosser is from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He received a BA in economics from Colorado State University (CSU). While at CSU, he led his collegiate polo team to a national polo championship. At the same time, he was honored as the intercollegiate polo player of the year. Kareem returned to Work to Ride, where he was originally introduced to polo, and now serves as the Executive Vice President. He lives with his family in Philadelphia.

Product Details

  • Publisher: S&S/Simon Element (February 11, 2025)
  • Length: 352 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781668030738

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Raves and Reviews

“This book slayed me… I’m obsessed!” Zibby Owens, host of Totally Booked with Zibby

“[an] exemplary work of creative non-fiction… Rosser’s writing is relatable, powerful, and transformative.” -Booklist, starred review

"This moving memoir explores how life and love rarely pan out the way we plan it... Beautifully written, [WHEN YOU'RE READY] is a tribute to love in all its manifestations."—The Seattle Times

"Rosser is a great American storyteller. He bears witness with a soft soulful eye and an ethical heart, both mighty and humble all at once." -Quiara Hudes, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and author

"An unpretentious page-turner, Rosser's story of loss and metamorphosis illuminates new facets of the meaning of love — and what can happen if we push through our fears of loss to grab it." -Diana Helmuth, author of The Witching Year

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