Things We Never Got Over

Naomi arrives in Knockemout, Virginia, intending to save her twin sister — and leaves with a niece she never knew existed, an empty bank account, and no way home. What follows is a slow-burn romance between a woman who has spent her whole life rescuing everyone else and a gruff, guarded barber who has perfected the art of keeping people at arm's length. The emotional stakes here run deeper than the central love story: this is a book about what happens when the person who always shows up for others finally has to figure out who shows up for her.

Lucy Score writes with a sharp wit and genuine warmth, balancing laugh-out-loud banter against moments that quietly hit harder than expected. The pacing is generous — this is a long book and earns its length — giving the relationship room to develop through friction, humor, and accumulated small moments rather than manufactured conflict. The small-town ensemble cast feels lived-in rather than decorative, and Knox's grumpy-but-secretly-decent characterization is executed with enough specificity to feel fresh. Readers who want a romance that takes its time and actually delivers on the slow burn will find this deeply satisfying.