Things We Never Got Over

I liked this book -- but I also had issues with it. It's a hulking 550-page contemporary romance that has a lot going on within its pages. A lot! I enjoyed reading it - found it funny in parts, spicy in others - but the more I thought about it and its themes and how one character was portrayed, my enjoyment dropped a bit. It was an easy read, but it was also trying to be too many things and should have been scaled down considerably.

Things I liked:

- it's an entertaining, cuddle up in cold weather kind of read

- the banter!

- it included a few of my favourite romance tropes

- the small-town setting of Knockemout

- the secondary characters shone! I liked them more than the main characters actually - from 11-year-old Waylay who had more maturity than a few of the adults, to Naomi's BFF Stef and her sassy mom, and the fierce women who worked at the local bar, they were a colourful bunch who added much to the story.

What I didn't love: 

Knox - I liked parts of Knox's character - the big, burly guy who loves his small town and has a heart somewhere underneath all those muscles, tattoos and bad attitude ..

BUT 

I hated the other side of him - the demanding, emotionally manipulating, and obnoxious bully. He manhandled Naomi and verbally bullies her, but somehow these behaviours are portrayed as caring and romantic when they were, in fact, toxic.

Some things just didn't work for me - The reason for the break-up and the inclusion and conclusion of Naomi's sister's subplot was lackluster. I wish more time was spent on that story arc instead of subplots that didn't propel the story.

Trying to do too much - the story has almost every known romance trope (grumpy vs sunshine, forced proximity, enemies to lovers, fake dating, mistaken identity, insta-parent ..) plus family dysfunction, small town drama and even the takedown of some baddies. Simpler is sometimes better.

Conclusion: This was an enjoyable, zone out of life for a bit kind of read. The small town enables the forced proximity trope (one of my favs) between a grumpy bad boy (with asshole tendencies) and 'help everyone but herself' naïve, but sweet ray of sunshine good girl. Add in some family dysfunction, a gaggle of great secondary characters and you've got a fun read with a side of spice. If it would have included a more progressive male lead and a few less subplots it would have been amazing. 

Will I read the next book in the series that comes out next month? Probably. Lucian has intrigued me. 

My Rating: 3.5 stars

Author: Lucy Score

Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Romance

Series: #1 in the Knockemout series

Type and Source: Trade Paperback from public library

Publisher: Bloom Books

First Published: January 12, 2022

Book Description from GoodReads: 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.