When You're Ready

A Love Story

De: Kareem Rosser

Narrado por: Kareem Rosser

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.

©2025 Kareem Rosser (P)2025 Simon & Schuster Audio

A true life love story touching on every aspect of human emotion

Grab your issue box and be prepared to be ah inspired. The writing is beautiful, raw, relatable and leaves you feeling hopeful. I think everyone can find parts of this story relatable whether it’s your first love, heartbreak, loss, or hope; I know people will find strength from the writing. The author reads the story making it all more meaningful. Thank your for sharing your beautiful story Kareem.

Excellent story of people I know!!

Such a heartwarming story of people finding true love and learning how to keep it.

Beautiful, raw, and real

Kareem tells the story of his love in such a honest, transparent, and engaging way. It is a beautiful tribute to the girl he loves while sharing how he coped, grieved, adapted, and healed when she suffered a life changing accident. I would give it more stars if I could. Kareem is an incredibly gifted author. This is the second book of his that I have listened to and both are exceptional!

emotional sweet

a beautiful love story that shares and normalizes trauma and how to get help.

awesome love story

real, emotional, at times raw, I know a bit about the characters and I could not turn this off

heartbreaking and heartlifting

So well written with easy flow and just enough description to paint a whole movie in my head. Needs more horses, lol!

What’s not to love?

I’ve been wanting to read this since I saw the preview on Facebook. I finished this in 24 hours; great storytelling I was totally engrossed.

Page turner, nothing left off the pages.

I’ve read Crossing the Line as well, and while it stands strong on its own, it also beautifully complements Rosser’s journey through life, love, loss, and heartbreak. This book was a true page-turner—I found myself eagerly waiting for any free moment to dive back in and see what would happen next. It’s raw, real, and deeply moving. As a rehab nurse, I especially appreciated how it sheds light on the profound struggles faced by the families and loved ones of those with TBIs and while it’s important to care for the individual but that one’s own health needs to be a core focus as well. The last line of the book is such a great touch to bring his story full circle. Well done Kareem Rosser.

So good, but have tissues ready

This was such a beautiful story of tragedy and love. While i definitely cried, the ending was perfect. Highly recommend this memoir.