Book Review: Things We Never Got Over
Things We Never Got Over had been living on my Kindle for quite a while. I hit the download button via Kindle Unlimited on a whim after seeing the book everywhere and promptly forgot about it. Nine months later and in search of something light to read as a distraction while on the treadmill (I loathe cardio…) I found it again while scrolling my Kindle library for options. I hit “go” on the treadmill and started reading.
Lucy Score’s Knockemout series now lives rent-free in my mind.
I was sucked right into Knockemout, Virginia, the rough-around-the-edges small town outside of D.C., where a colorful cast of characters ranging from surly, reluctant lottery winners to quirky, sassy librarians worm their way into your heart and set up shop there, right along with a runaway bride, her fabulous best friend (everyone should have a Stef), and a whole pack of dogs.
Naomi has always done the right thing. She’s had to. Her twin sister, Tina, was too busy making all the wrong choices and someone had to make up for it. When Tina calls the resident family people pleaser help, it’s the out Naomi has been looking for to run away from her wedding and right to Knockemout where she immediately finds herself mistaken for her twin who is not a beloved town member. Tina hasn’t changed and Naomi finds herself with no car, no money, and no place to stay – and in charge of the eleven-year-old niece she didn’t know she had.
Knox is the town grump who looks more like a Viking and less like the lottery-winning, business-owning millionaire he actually is. He doesn’t do relationships or complications and Naomi is definitely a complication, and not just because her twin sister is on his sh*t list. The pair square off in the local coffee shop with Knox believing she’s Tina and once she proves otherwise, he feels, well, maybe not bad, per se, but like he owes her one. He quickly becomes entangled in not just in her life, but in the life of her niece Waylay. He is not going to fall in love. He’s just – helping out.
Of course, they fall for one another, but it is not without complications including, but not limited to, Knox’s brother Nash who also has a thing for Naomi (and a strong dislike for Knox), a small town that likes to gossip, and the mess Tina left behind. When Tina’s mess turns from an annoyance to real danger, Knox finds himself desperate to protect not just Naomi, but Waylay, too.
Let’s be clear here. Things We Left Behind isn’t literary gold. There were times that I cringed at phrasing and I certainly side-eyed how unbelievable it was at times. Down on her luck Naomi just happened to win $22,000 in an illicit poker game even though she had never played poker before? Knox, this guy who hates her, took her and Waylay on a shopping spree just because? What? And yet… I kept reading. I was invested in not just Naomi, Waylay, and Knox, but in Nash, Lucian, Sloane, Liza J, Stef, Jeremiah…
It’s a good thing books don’t have to be “literary gold” to be good.
*Insert pearl-clucking literary critic here*
The real beauty of Things We Never Got Over is the characters and the world Lucy Score creates within the pages of book one of her Knockemount series. I laughed out loud several times and even shed a few tears. The heart is there. The emotional investment is there. Naomi and Knox aren’t just the good girl and the bad guy. Score does a beautiful job of giving them each their own messy history – don’t we all have one when you think about it? – to wade through. She creates a space where characters learn to be vulnerable and realize that allowing one’s self to love isn’t a weakness but a strength. Things We Never Got Over is the first book in a while that I wanted to re-read the moment I finished it.
Except I didn’t. I downloaded the next book in the series, Things We Hide From The Light, and headed right back to Knockemount to pick up the few loose ends (hint hint) Score left in book one. Look for my postcard (book review) coming soon. And that tapping sound you here? It’s me, impatiently tapping my fingers as I wait for the September 5th release of the final book Things We Left Behind.
