Things We Never Got Over (Knockemout, #1) (2024)

Be warned, if you love this book, do not read this review.

I am not showing it any mercy.

To say I had massive expectations is an understatement. I jumped into this knowing I was getting into a romcom. I was waiting for people we meet on vacation feels or Wall of Winnipeg swoons and I got a big pile of the most obnoxious, insufferable writing and plot devices I've seen in a looooong time.

This author managed to write the same book twice... inside of the same book. Does that make sense? Let's start with the fact that this was nearly 700 pages long and every time the main character POUTED because she needed caffeine, I wanted to live a little less.

I need to be fair... Some of the sex scenes were sweet, and this couple could have been cute. This book just had to be AT LEAST 300 pages shorter and the characters had to have a personality and the maturity of a normal human being and not sound like they were all 12. I don't think that is too much to ask, honestly.

This book managed to include every single thing I hate in romcoms, every-single-thing.

Leaving the EXTREMELY obnoxious, forced and stereotypical gay representation in this aside... Let's start with the fact that some authors just go overboard with their "sunshine" characters. Why does every sunshine woman need to be co-dependent? Why can't you write a NORMAL bubbly woman, who knows how to be a functional adult?

Nooooooo, but that's not stereotypical enough. A sunshine character is quirky!!! She loves coffee! She can't remember where she parked her car! She is so entertaining!! Did I mention she LOOOOOOOOOOVES coffee? Oh I didn't? Don't worry, the author will make her groan and pout 22 times while she's thinking about coffee before chapter 10, and that is just soooooooooo sexy.

We need to be done with the idea that bubbly women are stupid and helpless women. I can't relate to female characters like that. Have you ever met a woman? In what world would a woman not know what to do in a crisis situation?!

She cries to a complete stranger and asks him: please, help me, what should I do? 5 times in the first two chapters. The fact that a 40 year old man finds a broken shell of a woman attractive is a red flag of its own.

There are so many things that annoyed the f*ck out of me in this book, none of this plot made sense. None of this was down-to-earth, realistic, everything felt forced, all the jokes and the stereotyping were taken to a MAXIMUM.

Oh Julia, but it's fiction. Give it a rest. I have a list of romantic comedies with sunshine and grumpy characters that were written like a damn masterpiece. This one is just bad, I am sorry.

How do you expect me to find their childish bickering from chapter 1 attractive and sexy? The most mature character in this entire book was an 11 year old.

Honorable mentions to: "I knew you'd have a "f*ck me body" sentence that came out of our hero's mouth at some point during their first time.

She filled 700 pages with the same back and forth, multiple times, and I think 300 of those pages were inner dialogues of Knox being the most pathetic 40 year old I have ever met and our female lead thinking about coffee, org*sms or having chats with her gay best friend who knows everythinggggg about hair!! Spare me.

This could have been an ok, sweet story if she just had dialed it down a notch, had not repeated herself 300 times and written normal, down-to-earth characters.

I am honestly annoyed at the misrepresentation of gay characters. I am sick of bubbly women being portrayed as stupid and helpless, I am sick of men's lack of emotional responsibility and maturity being down-played, forgiven easily and used as a plot device. (And I am a dark romance reader so that’s saying something)

This was a bad, boring, over-the-top stupid, over-hyped book.

Sorry, that is my brutally honest review.

It's ok if you liked this book. On a good day I can kind of see why, I feel bad for it, honestly. It just compiled every single thing I hate in romcoms and threw it at me and I am pissed at it lol, so yeah, two PITY stars.

I did also hate it happened one summer , another popular and loved book that people compare to this one a lot. Keep that in mind and take it with a grain a salt, this book might be for you! It’s just definitely not for me!

➸ 1 star

i’m FREE, worst experience of my f*cking life. lucy score, never do that again!! this may possibly be the worst book i’ve picked up this year, i hated it right from the beginning to the very end. i was waiting for this book to get better, it didn’t.

— knox has to be the worst mmc ever written like who doesn’t love a grown ass toxic and deluded 43 year old alpha-male with a fragile masculinity man who pees in the fkn backyard, talks ab his dick in third person, sexist, emotionally abusive, misogynistic, hot tempered, foul-mouthed jerk who constantly talks ab naomi’s boobs AND HER FKN DENIM SKIRTS, sees naomi as “needy” and “annoying” BUT HE WAS THE ONE WHO NEVER LEFT HER ALONE, threw a tantrum bc she got a job at his bar and told her to “quit”, would insert himself into naomi’s business when it had nothing to do w him, seeing her cry was inconvenient to him, has SEX with naomi then breaks up with her then proceeds to refer to her as his “leftovers”, treats his female employees like sh*t —
example: his female employees all have the same cycle, so he avoids the bar during that time bc he deems them too emotional during their periods. oh wow shocker, how stereotypical 🤪
and is just a GIANT WALKING RED FLAG 🚩
— knox is fr the reminder on why i hate men!! if you think he couldn’t get any worse he does-
“is it the bisexual part of you that wants to talk about f*cking feelings all the time?” THIS WAS TO HIS MALE EMPLOYEE BTW. he could fr drop dead and i would not care.
”i was still inside her as i plotted how i was going to end it all.” nope, absolutely not. die die die 😀🔪

also naomi do you like being manhandled by toxic and emotionally abusive men or some sh*t?? there’s nothing i hate more than a doormat and stupid fmc that has no fkn backbone and lets dumbass men treat them like sh*t then proceeds to forgive them, absolutely not!! STAND TF UP.
also we got it the first time, naomi is caffeine addicted, you didn’t need to make that her entire personality. oh look she pouts and whines when she doesn’t have her coffee, literally f*ck off 💀 and the nickname for knox?? viking.. seriously, viking??? im sorry but are we going back to the middle ages lmaoo.
— the only good thing about this book was waylay and luciansloane. i can’t believe an 11 year old was the only mature person in this book.

NOW don’t get me started on the sex scenes, absolutely NOT! 🤮
if i had to suffer through these sh*tty and cringy spicy scenes, then so should you sorry not sorry
”my tight, wet wonderland”
”long, thick weapon of mass destruction inside me.”
”a thick, purple-headed leader in the world of erect penises.”
”magical wand that cast org*sm spells”
ALSO THE AMOUNT OF “MILKING” MENTIONED WAS SO UNCALLED FOR!!

this book is an abomination and deserves to be burned, so embarrassed i wasted my time reading this

#1 Things We Never Got Over — 1 star
#2 Things We Hide From The Light — 2.25 stars
#3 Things We Left Behind — 3 stars

I GENUINELY CANNOT EXPRESS HOW MUCH I LOVED THIS BOOK?!?!?!!?

Nearly two weeks after reading the book am I now writing the review and it’s safe to say I haven’t stopped thinking about it. I’M NOT EVEN KIDDING. I’m itching to pick up the book and flip through my tabbed pages and there’s A LOTTTTT. My guess would be over 150 tabs?!? Idk, give or take 🤷‍♀️

This book came at a time where I was waiting for the next book to WOWWWW me, and mannnnn, did this not disappoint. I was hooked from the START!!!

It’s always a struggle for me to start a book because there’s always that lull at the beginning when you’re getting to know the characters before you get invested, but I was into this from the START. And that’s how I usually know I’ll love the book, is when I’m invested by the end of the first chapter or the first few.

IT IS SO f*ckING GOOD!! It’s grumpy sunshine, small romance, she finds out she has a niece she never knew while she has to waltz in and clean up her twin sister’s mess. FROM THE BEGINNING, YOU GET TO SEE HOW GRUMPY KNOX MORGAN IS. This man is soooooooo f*cking hot oh my god, I can’t even write this sentence without feeling giddy and wanting to squeal!!

I’m so in love with him, I fell in love with every single one of the characters, LITERALLY EVERY ONE (except a big f*ck you to Tina), and the story just grips you from beginning to end.

There is one particular character I instantly knew I needed a book from and that’s my baby Lucian!! The small snippets you see of him in this book is going to make you fall and fall hard. I hadn’t even finished the book at the time when I decided that he was gonna be my next obsession. (Ofc he’s gonna come second to Mr. Bearded Badboy Grumpy Knox Morgan because that man is everythiiiing)
^ here’s how I picture Knox… you know that guy on TikTok with the axe who breaks apart those tree trunks??? THAT MAN???? In my head, that’s him 🤪 (If you don’t like fan casting, then just forget I said anything ���)

I thought I was deluding myself when I finished this book?! I thought to myself, “did I really love this??? Or was this just the first book I got excited for in what feels like a while??”

NOPEEEEE. Two things can be true. It was the first book that left me feeling so excited AND I really loved it.

There is a happily ever after, and not only do we get one epilogue, BUT ALSO A BONUS EPILOGUE. Seriously, in that bonus epilogue?!?!? With Way and Knox and the way they spoke to each other?! OH MY GOD MY HEART EXPLODED!!

When I finish a book, I’m usually at a loss for how to review it especially when it’s been a while since I finished it, but I think this is one of my fastest written reviews lmaooooo. I just really loved this book and highly highly recommend it.

It’s a pretty long book, about 500-600 pages (can’t remember) but it didn’t read that long to me at all. I got through it so quickly. I couldn’t put it down.

There are just so many good parts in this book that I genuinely head-over-heels enjoyed. How grumpy this man is, the support he gives Naomi, the love and encouragement and pep talks he gave Way. UGH!!! ❤️‍🔥 I wanna read it again byeeee

Stupid. The way I lost all of my braincells with this book.

These people are apparently 36 and 43 but they talk and act like children.....everything was soo cartoonish— from the way they interacted with each other and other people, like what??! Goes to show you when the youngest character in the book, who is ELEVEN YEARS OLD BTW, is by far the most mature character here, I—

Hated it!!!!!!

Probably will never get over how bad this was or the time I spent with this sad sad book….

Watch our thoughts and review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCtGL...

1 STARS BC OF GR, BUT REALLY ZERO STARS
Twitter | Bookstagram | Youtube |

it’s been a while since someone has left a comment “do you even like books” but i can feel those stirrings every time i hate a popular book.

and so i say: i want to like popular books. i derive no pleasure from being a contrarian. it’s not fun to slog through 600 pages of nonsense with no reward.

at this point i’m just tired so i’m gonna take a nap, regroup, and rant for my next video.

You know a 36 year old woman did not call a dick a ‘magical wand that cast org*sm spells’ and a ‘weapon of mass destruction’ 😭😭

Makes sense her beau is a 43 year old man that acts like an 3 year old having a temper tantrum 🤡

Update: I finished and I hate men 😙

i wish romance novelists would just say the word penis instead of "magical wand that cast org*sm spells" and "weapon of mass destruction"

You are in your 40s and decided to PEE IN YOUR BACKYARD

wish i had the power to go back in time to steal the manuscript for this book and burn it

This is a story about a nice woman who gets into an abusive relationship, and the author calls it romance.

I've read a lot of rom-coms, and this book is neither rom nor com. I don't understand how a man who ignores your wishes and opinions, belittles you, dismisses you, takes away your agency, physically grabs you and drags you around, intervenes in your business when he's not wanted, is controlling, is financially and emotionally abusive, snarls, growls, and uses his physicality to intimidate you is in ANY way a romantic lead. The number of strong reviews for this book and positive views of the main male character is truly disturbing. I mean, he even renames her! Her name isn't even good enough.

I fully expected Naomi to be buried in a ditch by the end of the book. But I couldn't stand it, so DNF.

i surprisingly liked this a lot more than i thought i would!

i mean, dont get me wrong. there are some flaws. the writing is basic, the characters dont act their age (which is in their 30-40s!) and the book is longer than it needs to be, but i was wholly invested in the story regardless.

and its probably im a sucker for tropes. i enjoyed the sunshine x grumpy character dynamics, the small town setting was perfect for gossip and forced proximity, and the sudden/new parenthood also surprisingly worked for me (probably because way was an awesome kid)!

overall, this is exactly the kind of entertainment i wanted.

↠ 4 stars

Men who say "baby" give me ick, sorry

2/5

"My tight, wet wonderland."

Your what bro? I’m convinced nothing will surprise me anymore in today's romance novels. I wanted to give Lucy Score one last chance, so I think I have the answer.

– 3.5 stars

Me reading approx. 17% of this book: *looks at the ratings* Oh well, another one bites the dust. With an avg. rating of 4.72 it seems like I’m going to be the odd one again who can’t rate this more than 2.5 stars max

Me right after finishing Things We Never Got Over: 🤡 I think I’m going to rate this 3.5 stars and round it up to 4 stars 🤡, cause the book was cute after all and had a tons of tropes done well such as

☀️ sunshine runaway bride & grumpy bad boy barber/business owner
🐶 a cute dog
👵 a cool grandma
👩‍👧 a newly single - mum who had guardianship of her 11 year old niece temporary, cause her twin sister stole her car, left town and left her daughter with her
🧠 smart & funny kid
🏡 small town vibes a.k.a tons of gossip & meddling folks
🏠 forced proximity (mcs are neighbors)
🍹 boss / employee
💑 very supportive and loving parents from the heroine’s side
💖 heroine has the best gay best friend (1. why are the male best friends in romance always gay if they are not the love interest? 2. he is in the mafia or what are those mysterious business calls he always has to take??? 3. where is Stef’s book??!)
🔥 Hero has great hot friends too and a hot younger brother who is a cop (Lucian-sir spare me a hand in marriage?? Nash-daddy handcuff me to your bed???)

all of this combined feels like a lovechild between Mariana Zapata and Kristen Ashley and makes for a great comfort book = happy Phuong.

Me writing this review: Sooo this book is about Daisy (h) and Knox (H). *looks at the cover* well okay, Daisy just left her fiancée at the altar ...
*accidentally clicks on the blurb* “Naomi wasn’t just running away from her wedding.” WHO THE f*ck IS NAOMI?
*opens the book in panic to check the heroine’s chapter heading* “Chapter 1 Naomi” Oh... OHHH.. okay THAT’S her name, Knox calling her Daisy all the time was only an endearment I see, and it was because Dai-Naomi had flowers in her hair when he met her..oh now I get it.

The fact that I only realized now that I had the heroine’s name wrong this whole time, it’s embarrassing ahahahaha. Just for that alone, I’m sorry I can’t give this book 4 stars with good conscious, even tho I had mostly a good time reading it, but if I can’t even recall the first name of the main character, I don’t know what else my fragile mind blocked out. 🕳️🏃🏻‍♀️

“Why are you whispering?”
“Because he lives right there,” I said, pointing my glass in the direction of Knox’s cabin.
“Oooh. Grumpy next-door neighbor. That’s one of my favorite tropes.”
“The first time he met me, he called me trash.”
“That bitch.”
“Well, technically he thought I was Tina [the twin sister] when he was yelling at me in front of an entire cafe full of strangers.”
“That vision-impaired bitch.”
“God, I love you.” I sighed.

Conclusion:

Very cute book and I don’t have much to complain about beside that the first 20% didn’t rlly catch me as much as I hoped it would, but then the people of Knockemount grew on me. The heroine was too much of a goody two shoe for me sometimes, but not too bad that it would annoy me. Things We Never Got Over is not a story that will stay forever with me ahem🤡, but I honestly have a lot of good things to say about it, first and foremost all the side characters that carried this book like champs! Can’t wait to read Lucian and Sloane’s book!

P.S. Not Lucy Score referencing her own book Rock Bottom Girl when Naomi needed to research about soccer 😭🤚I don't know if I find it endearing or lowkey embarrassing..the jury's still out, but most of all I wish I had that self-confidence lmao.

6 stars!! I LOVED THIS BOOK. This book is a long one but every page is worth it. I fell in love with the town and all of the characters. This book has a big cast but Lucy Score did such a great job of making every character unique so I fell in love with each and every one of them. Plus freaking Knox Morgan is *chef's kiss* incredible. I really appreciated how he's got his own demons that weren't instantly solved but took time for him to really change. Plus Naomi and her relationship with Waylay made my heart melt. Please read this book

the way I forgot to write a review for this… embarrassing. anyway. I adored this book so fcking much! i’ve been on a small town kick lately & this just did it for me. Knox y’all 🥵😮‍💨 there’s honestly just something about a small town man named knox!!!! BUUUT Naomi was the star of the show for me, she was so hilarious and such a good person??? way better than i’d be in her situation that’s for sure. she was also obsessed w coffee.. that’s my kind of gal! this book was funny, emotional, and had some spice so of course I had a lovely time.

“You make broken things whole again. Me. You made me whole. And every time you smile at me, I feel like I hit the lottery again.”

“Naomi, this isn’t what I wanted.”

Character development is one of the most important aspects of a novel; the characters create and push the plot forward. I felt that this book's flawed character development sadly pulls the story backward.

It looks like the author was totally confused about the mannerisms given to her characters. So she vacillates between polar opposite behaviors with a lot of unnecessary smut in unexpected, strange circ*mstances.

There is a big difference between some banter and being toxic. To make things even worse this book has more than 500 pages. The blurb of this book looked promising, and many of my friends gave high ratings for it. So I read it cover to cover, hoping the author would revive it at some stage. But nothing happened even after the epilogue and the bonus epilogue. At last, it turned out to be a big disappointment.

it's me, hi, i'm finally not the problem:

“well, daisy. it means my dick doesn’t care that you’re not my type. it’s still standing up, trying to get your attention.”

ohh my prince charming! *swoons*

my new 2024 resolution is to now stay FAR AWAY from booktok recommendations (and this time actually stick to my word)*cough* it's going greaat

okay so there's this

and here is an non-exhaustive list of complaints that i have with this book.

- this book is 572 pages and 572 pages too long
- it's 572 pages and still manages to be an ultra-insta-lust
- this is an insult to enemies-to-lovers
- the love interest peed in his garden
- what's not to adore in this book when you have the most misogynistic love interests?
- no chemistry, no banter - just a bunch of stupidity and trauma-dumping
- wtf did i read with the twin sister HELPPP! i would have enjoyed it more if the sister plotted to take over the world and killed knox which she unfortunately didn't get around to doing
- the love interest peed in his garden
- our oh so amazing love interest refers to her AS HIS LEFTOVERS - toxic alpha masculinity WHERE
- a note to all romance book authors: it didn't work in love on the brain and it didn't work here, so don't write marvel-esque action scenes in a romance novel
- the love interest peed in his garden
- naomi's "dialogue" consisted of three main things:
"i'm-going-to-die-without-coffee"
"i'll-act-like-a-two-year-old-having-a-temper-tantrum-without-coffee"
"i'm-not-like-other-girls-because-I-look-after-my-family-and-like-coffee"
did you guys know she likes coffee?
- the town is called knockemout? knock.em.out. i don't think score knocked it out of the park with this one
- did you guys know the love interest pees in his garden…AND NAOMI WATCHES HIM
- waylay and waylon. one is a dog. the other a human girl.
- naomi proposes to 300 people in the span of 30 pages and honestly, they're still better than Knox.
- the sex scenes made me want to wax off my eyelashes.
- the constant objectification of Naomi

*however* i did like the third act break up...

i don't think i've ever been that happy about one.

so knox is all “i liked my women the way i liked my relationships—fast, dirty, and casual.”,
and is this misogynistic ass who's ego somehow manages to be bigger than his magical wand that casts org*sm spells" (description courtesy of our wonderful naomi - who is by the way *36*)

he's won the lottery - his defining personality trait - and pees in his garden (yk like normal people who own a fully-functioning toilet because sometimes you just *have* to give in to your inner neanderthalic caveman)

naomi... she likes coffee. i think. might have to double check.

_

11 days.

it took me *11 days* to escape the hellhole that was this book.

i should have ran when i had the chance:

1. "Bearded, bad-boy barber Knox" - what are the chances that he's tall and has a dick that is a "long, thick weapon of mass destruction". and "bad-boy" wtf

2. he " prefers to live his life the way he takes his coffee: alone." - already mentioning the coffee

3. "a rough-around-the-edges town where disputes are settled the old-fashioned way…with fists and beer. Usually in that order." - i'm dying, who says this💀

4. "too bad for naomi her evil twin hasn’t changed at all. - no. just no. wait.

5. "at least, that’s the plan until the trouble turns to real danger." - what real danger are we talking about here? her evil twin sister? did she snitch on naomi to mummy???

_

and the first chapter (or thirty - who's to say?) goes something like this:

1. she has an identical twin sister.
2. she goes and tries to get coffee from a café (yes the coffee obsession is evident here).
3. she is stopped by a tall guy™ (no way!).
4. the guy has no contacts on and thinks that this girl is the sister (oh no!) and who is a big meanie.
5. she is immediately attracted to him and calls him a "viking". (oh ffs not again)
6. she says something soo intelligent yet demeaning to him that i just had to roll my eyes and remember it for all of eternity and gets the coffee.
7. she asks if she can marry the guy who made her the coffee. (mature people things)
8. she points a finger at him and touches hard muscle (saur hawt)
9. she gets turned on and he asks if she's cold (are we seriously falling for this guy - he's known her for 5 minutes and he's staring at her breasts)
10. he saves her from living in a motel and she adopts her niece on the way (yay!)

bored yet? yeah so was i.

and plus, this was a mishmash of every popular trope. you have enemies to lovers, small town, alpha male (he's the alpha, he's the leader, but he's not the one to trust), grumpy x sunshine, rich guy, slow burn but insta-lust, found family (quite literally), touch her you die (the only one dying is me - from second-hand embarrassment), fake dating, workplace ceo(?) romance, random villain, evil twin sister THE LIST GOES ON!!

_

anyway, here are some

"i knew you'd have a "f*ck me body"

"a thick, purple-headed leader in the world of erect penises."

"my tight, wet wonderland”

"milking" x10927498174931

AN EDITOR! AN EDITOR! MY KINGDOM FOR A f*ckING EDITOR!!

_

what a waste of trees...

“Barf,” Waylay complained.

Naomi Witt is a runaway bride who left her would-be husband at the altar and, for some reason, decided to run straight to her Very Evil twin sister in the podunk town of Knockemout (Knock 'Em Out), Virginia. Evil Twin Sister then steals Naomi's car and money leaving poor Naomi stuck in Knockemout. Evil Twin Sister has apparently managed to piss off the entirety of Knockemout, despite only living there for a year, and so everyone hates Naomi at first sight. But Naomi is beautiful and perfect and friendly and amazing, so she quickly wins everyone over, except for Grumpy Bad Boy Knox Morgan.

This is a TropeTastic book–mistaken identity, enemies to lovers, forced proximity, fake dating, good girl/bad boy, and grumpy x sunshine are all of the tropes that I can think of off the top of my head. And the book suffered for it. The only reason this book needed to be almost 600 pages was so the author could squeeze in every possible romance trope that she could think of. And despite all of these great tropes–they might be cliches but they're so popular because they work–this book sucked. I'm sorry but I'm not sorry. Usually I save one star ratings for books that offend me with some form of racism or internalized misogyny or romanticizations of abusive relationships. This book teetered on the latter two issues but never fully delved into them, but I still couldn't bring myself to give this book two stars.

🌼 I couldn't stand the hero or the heroine. Naomi is a perfect goody-two shoes, so beautiful that every single guy has a hard-on for her, so nice that any person who talks to her instantly wants to be her friend. Her fatal flaw is that she cares too much and no one ever cares about her in return. Yawn.
🌼 Knox is The Worst. This book tries to be a grumpy x sunshine book, but Knox isn't just grumpy. He's an angry, controlling, manipulative hypocrite with daddy issues. He constantly pushes Naomi around, literally, even though it's supposed to be romantic because he's a big, sexy man? I can't believe the author had the audacity to write a hero so physically controlling for her heroine who just ran away from an abusive relationship. And when Knox broke things off with Naomi for literally no reason, he had the audacity to tell her, "Can't we be f*cking adults about this?" Look in the goddamn mirror, Knox.
🌼 This book just didn't know what it wanted to be. There was the main romance plotline, full of all the tropes mentioned above, but there were so many subplots. Again, this book really didn't need to be 600 pages and it desperately needed an editor.
🌼 The characters were so one-dimensional and every issue/inconvenience felt extremely contrived. For instance, the ongoing subplot of Naomi trying to impress the CPS lady. In the end, it turned out to be a non-issue and only existed so the CPS lady could give Naomi advice about Knox.
🌼 This book descends into Life Lesson territory so fast. I don't read books to feel lectured, and I didn't need every single character to have a drawn-out heart-to-heart with each other to grasp the main meanings behind this book. I'm starting to think that subtlety in writing is a lost art.
🌼 I almost forgot that one of Knox's main character traits is that he won the lottery. And when it's first mentioned, they talk about how Knox was smart with his money and didn't blow it all on random things, so he's still a millionaire today. But throughout the entire book, Knox is so stupid with money. He quite literally throws his money at people to buy their affection. He likes to use his money to try and control people and resorts to bribery to get his way. And I'm supposed to believe this is a guy who is smart and benevolent with his money? Nope.
🌼 Despite everything happening in this book, the characters were so flat that I couldn't find it in myself to ever care about them. The only two characters that intrigued me were Waylay and Evil Twin Sister. By the way, Evil Twin Sister is apparently a scourge on the earth because she couldn't handle having a perfect twin sister. She's the most black-and-white villain ever. I wanted more depth to her; I like having complicated villains. But nope, that would require a subtlety and nuance that this author apparently is allergic to.
🌼 I really didn't understand Knox's reasons for being so anti-relationship and I honestly didn't really care. The man is supposed to be in his mid-forties but he had the emotional maturity of a nineteen-year-old frat boy. Build a bridge and get over your issues because you're making yourself and everyone around you miserable.

I am writing this review with a heavy heart, because as fiercely as I loved the author’s other work, especially the Benevolence series, Bootleg Springs series, By a Thread, the Christmas Fix, the Worst Best Man, Rock Bottom Girl, etc., I felt the complete opposite after reading Things We Never Got Over. I generally do not include spoilers in my review, but am citing a few examples from the story to explain my low rating. If you don’t like spoilers, read no further.

Knox Morgan our “hero” was anything but in my opinion. While I love an alpha and a growly grump with a squishy marshmallow center, I felt Knox was a condescending, self-righteous, steamrolling jerk.

The story takes place in the small town of Knockemout, Virginia, where Knox lives in a cabin on the same property that he shares with his widowed grandmother. He’s 43 and won $11 million in the lottery a few years back which caused a rift between him and his only brother, Nash, the town’s chief of police, whom I adored. It wasn’t an argument over money, as Knox did offer him a generous share, it was how Knox reacted when Nash refused. Knox was arrogant and demeaning, and treated Nash horribly from beginning to end in my opinion. While not estranged, Knox obviously held resentments and needed professional help. Nash was a good man, level headed and honorable, and did not deserve it.

We meet our heroine, Naomi, the day after she leaves her fiancé (for good reason) at the altar and blows into town in a whirlwind to help her evil twin sister, Tina. With a hopeful heart and generous spirit, Naomi once again falls into her trap and is blindsided by her wickedness as she stole her car and ransacked her hotel room. But her frown turned upside down when she was introduced to her adorable 11-year-old niece, Waylay, and agrees to become her guardian, even though she’s not sure how she will manage.

When Knox meets Naomi at a local coffee shop, he believes she is her identical twin, causes a scene, and is anything but pleasant. I loved the sass she volleyed back to Knox and how easily she could read him and was not intimidated. Upon learning she is “not Tina” (her nickname did make me laugh), Knox offers to help her by belting out directives and taking her to an adorable cottage on his grandmother’s property. Naomi was ever so grateful and humble, and things were looking up as she was able to work out a deal with Liza J.

Knox showed no respect to his brother when he officially came to investigate the break-in and car theft. The tension was so thick between the brothers that Knox egged Nash on and challenged him to a fight saying, “I saw her first.” Nash may have thrown the first punch, but after Knox punched his brother in the face, he internalized that “messing up Nash was always gratifying.” It was the first of several fistfights that Knox got into, which is a really big turn off for me.

Naomi scored a job and didn’t realize it was at the local bar Knox owned. She was tired and nervous, as she never worked in the restaurant industry before, and instead of welcoming her, Knox humiliated her and demanded she “get out,” and that he “didn’t want her around.” He said, “I’m not working with some uppity, needy pain in the a$$.”

This is the same woman who just had her whole life upended–and he knew this! She left her fiancé, quite her job, left her home, was missing her wallet, phone and car, taken responsibility for her niece, and was trying to start over, and he was such a crass a-hole. Even though she was a bit naive, Naomi was so sweet and had so much character. She tried her best to keep her composure, worked all night against his wishes to earn a few bucks, and then Knox had a change of heart asking her to stay. He was so hot and cold that it gave me whiplash.

I feel Knox suffers from borderline personality disorder (fear of abandonment, unstable relationships, shifting self-image, impulsive, self-destructive, extreme emotional mood swings, chronic feelings of emptiness, and explosive anger.) He also possesses a narcissist’s grandiose sense of self-importance, which leads him to feel a sense of entitlement, and expects everyone to comply with his expectations without question.

He was Jekyll and Hyde, gaslighting and mistreating her over and over and yet she still fell in love. Then breaks her heart and leaves...just like he said he would, and has the nerve to sulk! Out of concern Nash asked his brother as to why he broke things off, and Knox replied with, “Problem...with you helping yourself to my leftovers? Nah. Better she didn’t go to waste.”

There wasn’t any romance unless you consider the time he offered to take her on a lunch date, then tossed a bagged PBJ onto her lap in his truck, convincing her to partake in an afternoon delight. Sadly, she was starry-eyed and lacked the confidence to kick him to the curb. Her life was constantly filled with drama and stress with her sister’s illegal activities, yet she remained cheerful, tried to do right by her niece planning activities to support her emotional health, all while working two jobs to become financially secure.

Watching Waylay feel safe and loved for the first time in her life was really emotional. I was totally invested in their relationship and enjoyed how they got to know one another, were both hopeful for a brighter future, and dealt with Tina’s betrayal. They were victims and survivors, and I admired their strength, perseverance, and positive attitude. Naomi selflessly sold her wedding dress and used it to by her niece clothes, sold her home so she could buy a car, and agreed to clean and organize his grandmother’s house in exchange for rent. She was hardworking, resilient, and a go-getter, earning my total respect.

And after Knox tossed Naomi and Waylay “like a discarded receipt he no longer needed,” she held her head high and repeatedly asked him to stop contacting her, but he didn’t respect her wishes and continued to stalk her. Then an incident happened with her sister, and he TOLD her they were getting back together. He never asked her, nor did he apologize, and to my great disappointment, she succumbed. I wish I could jump in the story and tell her that she doesn’t need Knox's scraps of affection and that she deserves better.

This story does end with a HEA for the couple, and Knox did make an effort to change towards the end, but it was a little too late for me. We all have hang-ups, but it doesn’t mean we go through life as a jerk. I felt he was emotionally abusive, controlling, and passive-aggressive.

Lucy Score is one of my favorite authors, and even though I did not care for the hero of this story, I will be continuing with the series and look forward to seeing who falls in love next in Knockemout. I really liked her friend Stef from home, Simone the local librarian, Nash, her parents, his grandmom, and the local townsfolk.

***4.5 STARS***

This is my first book by Lucy Score but it will definitely not be my last.

Naomi comes to the small town of Knockemout after leaving her fiancée at the alter and to come help her twin sister Tina. When she gets to town she realizes her sister had caused all kinds of hell in town and has a bad reputation. In fact she is thought to be her sister when she goes to the local cafe and Knox Morgan shows up to “escort” her out of town. The couple are thrown together and Naomi realizes that she has an eleven year old niece that she knew nothing about which ties her to the small town.

Very well written. Excellent storytelling, pacing, banter and dialogue. I loved Knox. He is the grumpy gorgeous hunk that has sworn off relationships and it is fun watching him fall. The only drawback I had was the length. It was a long book. But it kept my attention.

I highly recommend it.

2.5 stars

I’m gonna bullet point this review for brevity’s sake, because at this point, the general consensus is that everyone loved this book and made it a bestseller so they must have seen something in it that I didn’t. If you loved the book, don’t read this, because I honestly I hated it.

• too long for what it actually contained. (spoiler alert, it was mostly sexy scenes which added nothing to the plot)If I read a 600 pages book I’m expecting it to tie all the issues nicely by the end of the book. To provide answers to all the questions and most importantly to show me true character growth. This book - did not.

• I keep hearing this described as a grumpy/sunshine pairing when it comes to the hero and heroine and unless I forgot what that means I’m pretty sure (actually, I would bet my life on it) that the hero Knox, was not grumpy, he was an absolute a$$hole, nothing less, nothing more. When someone acts rude, and downright verbally abusive to someone else for no reason whatsoever and keeps going back and forth with this attitude- again - for no reason whatsoever, that’s not a grumpy person - to me grumpy is maybe someone a little surly, a little rude, a little, blunt and a little impatient when it comes to general human interaction - and their attitude is not restricted to any one person in particular but rather everyone they encounter. The hero in this book had no reason to behave the way he did and I was just put off by him for most of the book. Also considering his age (I don’t like to say that someone should act a certain way according to their age - because God knows I’m the poster child for do Not act your age, but for a 40 something man to be so…. immature and irrational, it majorly put me off, no, thank you)

• The heroine, I liked her, but I would have loved to see her more settled into her own and knowing exactly who she is and what she wants by the end of the book. She does make some decisions but I still feel like she lets the events that happened to her and the people in her life derail most of her individual and personal decisions.

• the last point I’m gonna make but not necessarily the last thing that troubled me in this book, is that the heroine’s niece wasn’t given the proper story act that she needed. That was a child that was abandoned and she definitely had issues because of it - it’s just not possible otherwise and yet it felt like that whole situation was just used to give us an intro into the story but it wasn’t explored with the respect and dedication it needed to be. I actually would have loved to see that part play out, and I thought it was going to after reading the synopsis- but instead this veered into completely different grounds.

So why did I give it 3 stars? Because I think it’s well written and it could be an overall a good time for most people, objectively, this wasn’t an awful book, it definitely wasn’t what I would consider a good story but the elements were there.

In conclusion, I didn’t buy into the hype of this book. Do I get it? Yes, it does have a small town vibe, a hero who acts like an a$$ and a heroine who is trying her best and is a genuinely nice person. But is this worth the praises I’ve heard? Absolutely not. There are loads of books with this trope which have done it better and in less pages but are unfortunately not as popular.

— 3.5 stars ★

“You make broken things whole again. Me. You made me whole. And every time you smile at me, I feel like I hit the lottery again.”

Things We Never Got Over was better than my expectations only because I went in with no expectations. I read it only for the fun and giggles and there were moments I was cringing so hard because how can you not when the characters in this book don't behave like adults?!

This book was never in my 2024 book lists and it was a spontaneous decision to start this book and mostly it was because I wanted to see what all the hype is about. I jumped head first into the story and even loved the beginning and how the runaway bride Naomi Witt ended up being a guardian to an 11 year old kid. It was all trouble and chaos and I was really enjoying the banter and verbal sparring between Knox and Naomi. But this book did not needed 550+ pages! Everything was slow and there were too many useless small town moments with people's meddling. The whole thing could've been wrapped up in 400 pages max.

The plot was interesting enough to keep me continue reading it. The story started off as an easy read with a few cringy and funny moments here and there. The story also went from hilarious to emotional and chaotic drama to criminal plot and everything was just too much for a normal small town romance story.

Naomi and Waylay are the only main characters I actually liked. It was the bond between these two and how it grew stronger and stronger with each chapter. How Naomi did everything she could to help her niece and it was admirable because Naomi took her in without second guessing anything.

➸ Naomi Witt: I liked her and her sarcasm was funny but not when she used it during sex. Naomi is the girl who hides behind the “I'm the good twin” façade and her life will go up in flames if she didn't had atleast a bucket full of coffee and if things didn't go according to her check-list.

“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.”

➸ Knox Morgan: Don't get me started on “Knox Morgan The Caveman” I am usually a sucker for grumpy x sunshine trope but Knox was an asshole type of grumpy and I get it was just who he was but the things he said to Naomi just because she wasn't his type of girl really annoyed me. His actions though are the literal opposites of what his words. He is protective of Waylay and Naomi and I liked it when he stepped up to help them with everything.

“He was unfairly gorgeous. Too bad about the whole terrible personality thing.”

➸ Waylay: She was the most mature and the smartest character in this book and that's saying something because most of the characters in this book are in their late 30s or early 40s!

The romance was cute and endearing at times and I liked the enemies to fake dating to lovers trope. I liked the contrasts between their personalities and their lives. I liked the back and forth between them as they fight their feelings and the foreshadowing about why that was. But they are also the most idiotic characters and especially Knox who broke up with Naomi for no reason. The third-act break up was so useless and it was just thrown in the book just for the sake of extra drama and to increase the length of this book. Also, I liked that he called her “Daisy” and the reason behind it was so sweet, but he also called her “Daze” which I guess is short for Daisy but that should be “Dais” right? I don't know why but that bothered me a lot in this book 😂

“Why don’t you ever f*cking listen?” he grumbled, lips moving against my hair.
“Because sometimes people don’t know how to ask for what they really need. You needed a hug.”
“No. I didn’t,” he rasped. He was quiet for a long moment, and I listened to his heartbeat. “I needed you.”

➙ Things I liked:

🌼 Found family trope
🌼 Sunshine runaway bride and grumpy bad boy barber and the enemies to lovers trope
🌼 Waylay the smartest kid and Waylon the cutest dog
🌼 The horrible and catastrophic first meet-cute
🌼 All Naomi and Waylay bonding moments
🌼 The small town setting and it's gossips
🌼 Naomi's supportive and loving parents
🌼 Liza J the coolest granny
🌼 The friendships where they will always have your back
🌼 All the Luciane and Sloane crumbs! I am already obsessed with these two 🤭
🌼 Epilogue and the bonus epilogue

➙ Things I did not like:

➾ The first spicy scene because Lucy ruined it with her fancy vocabulary like
- “Professional ruiner of vagin*s”
- “magical wand that cast org*sm spells”
- “A thick, purple-headed leader in the. world of erect penises”
- “My tight, wet wonderland.”

➾ Knox peeing in his backyard with his dog 😭 someone needs to tell Lucy and Knox that it's NOT normal for a man in his 40s!!
➾ Knox's over the top territorial and caveman sh*t. I like that in quality in MMCs but Knox was just too much for me.
➾ The useless love triangle between Naomi and Morgan brothers in the first half of the book
➾ Pacing and the length of this book
➾ The third-act breakup and the drama in the end

I am invested in Knockemout and the other couple's stories especially Luciane and Sloane's story! Hopefully, they are better than this one.

————————

I'm starting this book with very low expectations bcs i have only read bad reviews for this book but the average rating tells another story 👀 so here goes nothing 🤞🏻

reaading vlog pronto en yt

2,5/5
Ta książka byłaby dużo lepsza bez perspektywy Knoxa, albo przynajmniej bez jego mizogińskich wtrąceń.
Mam też ogromny zarzut do stylu autorki/tłumaczenia. "To co zostaje w nas na zawsze" jest napisane jakby autorką była piętnastolatka. Ludzie nie rozmawiają w ten sposób i nie zachowują się tak jak bohaterowie powieści.

I saw a video saying this book was copaganda and suddenly everything makes more sense 💀

Okay, so I really need to stop taking book recs from certain people.

I don't even really want to talk about this book a lot, so I'm just going to list what I didn't like:
-How the days worked? She would wake up, have a giant ass cup of coffee, do one activity, be exhausted, go to sleep, and then it was the next day, BUT she would pick up the kid from the bus from the day before. I don't know if that made sense, but that's the thing, IT DIDN'T MAKE SENSE. So basically, my explanation is perfect.
-Coffee was this girl's ENTIRE personality for most of the book. I don't mind characters having an obsession with a food or drink, but when it's ALL they talk about, think about, or go get, it's ANNOYING.
-This eleven-year-old was acting like a seventeen-year-old which I understand to a certain point since she kinda raised herself and was on her own, BUT the way she talked is what annoyed me the most. Kids can be more mature, but it should still show that they are a child through their speech mannerisms.
-I didn't really like Knox. I don't really have anything to say about him. He didn't stand out, was bland, was an idiot (LIKE FRL), and pissed me off.
-The "climax" with the sister and her boyfriend was so unrealistic I was dying laughing. And not in a good way 💀
-The pacing was not for me. It was very insta-lovey just without them admitting it. I didn't feel the tension the characters were apparently experiencing and that really just turns me off the book. IF I DON'T FEEL THE TENSION, I DON'T WANT IT :)
-Finally, the repetition. Oh my god, the amount of times I read that this girl always took care of others and didn't take the time to see what she wanted or needed, was the most infuriating thing EVER.

Honestly, I should have DNFed because even the scenes I was looking forward to in the book (the ones promoting it on TikTok, you guys know what I mean) were a letdown.

2.5 stars for some of the spice scenes and the two scenes that made me smile.

WHEN A POPULAR BOOK ACTUALLY LIVES UP TO THE HYPE. 4.5 STARS.

5 stars

“You get to decide how you show up in this world. No one else gets to dictate to you who you are,”

Naomi and Knox have an interesting meet cute. When Naomi rolls into town with daisies in her hair she doesn’t expect the welcome she gets. See, her twin sister who is basically a menace to the town, asks for her help. When Naomi shows, she is, of course, mistaken for the twin. That lasts for a bit but ultimately she carves her own place out in town, along with her niece who she’s taking care of.

Naomi was fantastic and warmed up to everyone fast, aside from Knox. I loved their banter and even when they were back and forth you could tell they both had it bad for one another. I loved seeing them fall for one another. Knox was fantastic as well.

This was one of those books I didn’t want to stop listening to. It was 16 hours long and I listened to it in a day and a half! If you’re a fan of Kristen Ashley’s older books (think the CM series) this book gave off those same vibes. The story was different, but it gave me the same kind of feelings, as well as having epic secondary characters. I highly recommend this one and really hope Score gives us some more books, specifically Nash’s!

Did I read the same book as everyone else? How this has even remotely close to a five star review is horrifying. The dialogue in this book made me want to scratch my eyeballs out - it was so nauseating. The only reason I didn’t quit on this is because I’m too competitive and wanted to check another book off the 2022 list. Do yourself a favor and skip this book and any sort of sequel that comes after it.

Welcome to today’s episode of criminally overrated Books.
Here we have runaway homeless bride appears in small town and conveniently gets everything handed to her by hero man child Knox & is told she is the best thing that ever happened to him ,even though she constantly gets herself in to trouble and needs things.

Featuring:
•the most pointless breakup i have literally ever read
•a nosey town full of people way too invested in this couples business and literally turn against him when he breaks up with her
•soap opera Evil Twin with no redeeming qualities
•overly mature 11 year old child who has basically the same name as the Dog Waylay/waylan(tf?)
•a laughable villain
•unrealistic dialogue from the male friends of hero who literally stage an intervention trying to convince H that shes the best thing that ever happened to him
•guilt tripping for not “wanting Waylay”
•unnecessary number of pages. Why is this book so long????

The first 40% was fine but after that the book goes downhill & i hated it .
U know what things ILL never get over? How stupid this book was .