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Blurb
Bearded, bad-boy barber Knox prefers to live his life the way he takes his coffee: Alone. Unless you count his basset hound, Waylon.
Knox doesn’t tolerate drama, even when it comes in the form of a stranded runaway bride.
Naomi wasn’t just running away from her wedding. She was riding to the rescue of her estranged twin to Knockemout, Virginia, a rough-around-the-edges town where disputes are settled the old-fashioned way…with fists and beer. Usually in that order.
Too bad for Naomi her evil twin hasn’t changed at all. After helping herself to Naomi’s car and cash, Tina leaves her with something unexpected. The niece Naomi didn’t know she had. Now she’s stuck in town with no car, no job, no plan, and no home with an 11-year-old going on thirty to take care of.
There’s a reason Knox doesn’t do complications or high-maintenance women, especially not the romantic ones. But since Naomi’s life imploded right in front of him, the least he can do is help her out of her jam. And just as soon as she stops getting into new trouble he can leave her alone and get back to his peaceful, solitary life.
At least, that’s the plan until the trouble turns to real danger.
Triggers
There are no sensitive content warnings from Lucy Score for this book. Here are some of the potentially sensitive content that I observed while reading:
- Abusive Relationship (not between Main Characters)
- Alcohol
- Blood
- Child Neglect (not by Main Characters)
- Financial Anxiety
- Kidnapping
- Profanity
- Sexually Explicit Scenes
- Violence
Ratings
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There are possible **SPOILERS** beyond this point!
Overall Rating
3.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
The beginning of the book, like the first 20%, was really slow for me and I struggled to get into the story. The name choices in this book really threw me for a loop. It seemed that everyone who was not from Knockemout had common names, whereas everyone who was had these aggressively characterized southern ones. It took me out of the story because it felt ridiculous. I felt like I was reading a story about a southern story, very campy. The name choices really bothered me and honestly continued to take me out of the story as I read.
Things We Never Got Over really picked up for me at around 25% and I could not stop reading. I loved Knox’s grumpiness and how resourceful Naomi was. Though their love is quick (the entire story only takes place over 5 weeks), their connection is undeniable and HOT! The banter was my favorite part. They butt heads but it’s always for the good of the other person. They support each other and find comfort in a way that we see they never had before.
There is some growth on both Naomi’s and Knox’s part as they learn to love one another. It’s not a personality change, which I greatly appreciated. They’re still the same people, just better together. Naomi is sweet, kind, and considerate which softens some of Knox’s brash and callous tendencies. It is a grumpy/sunshine romance in the truest sense. My main issue with this book was Naomi since she was the leading character here. Her doormat tendencies and her obsession with coffee just made her really unrelatable for me. She was codependent and struggled to stand up for what she wanted from beginning to end. Knox was emotionally stunted by some childhood trauma that he never resolved. It was endearing but also at age 40, why are you just now addressing it?
Waylay, Naomi’s niece was a spitfire and I couldn’t be happier that Tina, Waylay’s mom, left! The supporting characters like Nash, Stef, All the Honky Tonk girls, their families and Lucian kept me interested. I want to know more about the people who supported Naomi in addition to Knox. So many things happen in this small town when Naomi arrives in such a short period of time. I enjoyed how much community surrounded the MCs. Found family is one of my favorite tropes. It was done really well in this story. The supporting cast was rather diverse and I liked how much detail she gave to them.
The last 20% of the book before the epilogues were spent with Knox and Naomi not even being together. The third act breakup seemed to go on forever and it was very slow reading for me. I found the pacing to be all over the place as you can see but with a book this long, there was so much that I felt could have been eliminated since it was instalove. I am not a fan of a third act breakup and especially not if it makes up 1/5 of the romance story. I wanted more from these characters together and I was irritated by how much time they weren’t together.
Did I enjoy this read? Yes. I really did! It was funny at times and sad at others and sometimes I caught myself mid-kindle/book throw at Naomi and Knox’s stubbornness. I was invested to see how these two total opposites could make it work. I can absolutely see why people rave about this story and I know that the qualms I had with this story would not necessarily upset others as much as it upset me. I gave this one 4 stars originally because I did enjoy this story though after further consideration I give it 3.5 stars. I liked this book and would recommend it because it’s not a bad story. I’ve read many small town romances and this one did not blow me away but it was a pleasant read that I found entertaining until I didn’t. I was satisfied with the HEA and really loved both epilogues.
This is the first book I have read from Lucy Score and I have been debating whether I would continue reading more from her. I really enjoyed the Knockemout found family, so I’m actually excited to see what Nash’s story will be like. After reading the blurb, I think the dynamics of the couple in Things We Hide From The Light really suit my preferences more.
Spice Rating
3/5 🌶🌶🌶
This a slow burn romance where the character don’t truly come together (pun intended?) until maybe halfway through the book. There are several open door scenes and innuendo throughout the book.
Genre & Tropes
Genre
Contemporary Romance
Tropes
- Grumpy/Sunshine Relationship
- Fake Dating
- Age Gap relationship
- Slow Burn Romance
- Small Town Romance
Favorite Quotes
“You’re telling me he’s a grumpy, overprotective hottie next-door and you’re not going to sleep with him? How wasteful.”
“Do not come to your senses yet,” he ordered. “No sense here. Promise.”
“There’s a difference between taking care of someone because you love them and taking care of someone because you want them to love you,”
Intrigued?
Check out Things We Never Got Over on Amazon here.
