8 min read
4.5
· 241,307 Amazon ratings, as of Oct 2026Share This Review
Our review
Things We Never Got Over
Things We Never Got Over (Knockemout) by Lucy Score Review: A Runaway Bride Finds Small-Town Trouble
Things We Never Got Over (Knockemout) is a contemporary romance by Lucy Score in which Naomi flees her own wedding and arrives in the rough Virginia town of Knockemout to rescue her estranged twin sister Tina — only to clash with brooding, bad-boy barber Knox. Published by Bloom Books, it launched Score into the ranks of instant #1 New York Times bestselling authors and has since been translated into thirty languages.
LuvemBooks Verdict
Best for
Readers who love grumpy-sunshine enemies-to-lovers romance set in a close-knit small town and want a series opener with a found-family ensemble cast and emotionally resonant themes of trauma and self-worth.
Worth it if
Worth reading if you enjoy slow-burn romance with emotional depth and can embrace a generous page count — some reviewers note the beginning is slow, but most find the payoff worthwhile once the story picks up.
Skip if
Skip it if you find the gruff-alphahole hero and evil-twin plot device overly familiar, since some reviewers feel the novel leans heavily on well-worn genre conventions without meaningfully subverting them.
Where reviewers agree and split
Readers rate it 4.5 on Amazon. The reviews we read that discuss it in depth agree:
All 3 reviews we read that discuss its humour praise the laughs and witty tone.
Humour
3 praise the laughs and witty tone
Originality
3 call it trope-heavy and familiar
Emotional impact
3 call it heart-warming and moving
Pacing
2 note a slow beginning or excessive length
Who says what
Humour
“There were parts I loved (the family aspects, the small town vibes, the humour)”
— Pretty Little Memoirs · Book blog“Readers appreciate the humor and heart woven throughout the narrative”
— New Book Recommendation · Book blogOriginality
“A slow-burn read that had so many tropes I had a hard time keeping count.”
— Pretty Little Memoirs · Book blog“If you are a Kristen Ashley fan, Things We Never Got Over will feel very familiar to you.”
— Ana's Attic · Book blogEmotional impact
“Things We Never Got Over is an emotional book (the ending nearly had me in tears as well), heart-warming, swoon-worthy, spicy, and just overall fab.”
— Write Watch Work · Book blog“Heavy emotional beats that pack a punch, ensuring that the reader remains invested in Naomi's growth and transformation.”
— Henry Kisor · Book blogPacing
“Yes, the beginning was just a bit slow, but once it picks up—it really picks up.”
— mugofreality.com · Book blog“Less suited for readers who prioritize tight plotting, brisk pacing, or high-concept twists”
— Canecto · Book blogWhat readers & critics say
Reader blogs are broadly positive: writewatchwork.com calls it "emotional, heart-warming, swoon-worthy, spicy, and just overall fab," while prettylittlememoirs.com offers a more mixed take, praising the humour and family elements but finding the length excessive and many of its tropes difficult to count.
Sources: Write Watch Work, Pretty Little MemoirsAsk LuvemBooks
Was this helpful?
- Is it worth reading?
- For readers already at home in small-town enemies-to-lovers romance, the payoff is real: reviewers describe it as emotionally resonant, swoon-worthy, and frequently funny, with Knox and his basset hound Waylon proving particularly memorable. The caveat is pace — some reviewers flag a slow opening, and at 570 pages the novel asks for patience before it fully ignites. Originality is where reviewers agree least: the humour and emotional warmth land consistently, but the trope-heavy premise divides opinion on whether those conventions feel comforting or simply familiar.
- Similar books
- Readers who enjoy Things We Never Got Over often gravitate toward other small-town romances built on witty banter and familiar tropes. Sarah Adams' When in Rome and Christina Lauren's The Unhoneymooners share the fish-out-of-water comic premise and the slow-burn romantic tension. For a cozier, community-centred small-town feel, Laurie Gilmore's The Pumpkin Spice Café is a close neighbour in tone and setting.
- Who should read this?
- The novel is made for readers who love grumpy-sunshine enemies-to-lovers dynamics and want a series opener anchored by a vivid sense of place and a warm ensemble cast. Readers who enjoy found-family story structures — where the town and its recurring characters feel as important as the central couple — will find Knockemout especially satisfying. It is less suited to readers who prioritise originality or brisk plotting over emotional warmth and genre comfort.
- Tell me about the adaptation
- Things We Never Got Over entered development as a television series with Amazon MGM Studios — a milestone the announcement described with considerable excitement. The Knockemout world's strong sense of place, recurring ensemble cast, and episodic character dynamics make it a natural fit for serialised TV storytelling. No release date or casting details appear in the verified record at the time of publication.
- What makes Knox stand out as a hero?
- Knox is characterised as a bearded, bad-boy barber who structures his life around deliberate solitude — in the review's framing, he likes his life the way he takes his coffee: alone, save for his basset hound Waylon. That specific detail — the gruff man with the basset hound — has proven one of the most durable and discussed images in reader conversations about the book. The tension between his preference for isolation and Naomi's arrival as maximum, unavoidable drama is what drives the enemies-to-lovers dynamic.
- Is it too trope-heavy?
- Reviewers are notably divided here. The humour, warmth, and emotional impact draw consistent praise, but on originality the consensus is clear: multiple reviewers describe the novel as saturated with genre tropes — the gruff-hero archetype, the evil-twin device, the slow-burn enemies-to-lovers structure — without meaningfully subverting them. One reviewer compares it closely to Kristen Ashley's work as a frame of reference. Whether that density of convention feels cozy or exhausting depends almost entirely on the individual reader's appetite for familiar romance idioms.
Summarize this book
Follow up
Synthesized from verified book data & published reviews · How we review
What would you like to know about Things We Never Got Over?
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Our Review
What the Story Is
Place in Lucy Score's Career and the Series
Strengths Noted by Readers
Criticisms and Who May Struggle With It
Adaptation and Who It's For
Sources & Further Reading
The key facts and claims in this review are grounded in the retrieved, verified sources listed below.
- Cited in this review
- 1
mmbbookblog.com
- 2
shereadsromancebooks.com
- 3
- 4
- Further reading
- 5
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- 7
- 8
laurieisreading.com
- 9
supermomshuffle.com
- 10
biyaigarricks.com
- 11
mugofreality.com
- 12
tropicalgirlreadsbooks.com
- 13
- 14
theliterarylifestyle.com
Age & Reading Level
Recommended age
Adult
Heat level
Explicit · rated 4/5 spice (explicit) by most readers
From how readers and romance sites describe it, not our own reading.
3 content notes · who it suits
Content to know about
Skip if you find the gruff alphahole hero and evil-twin plot device overly familiar and want a romance that subverts rather than embraces those conventions.
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