Things We Never Got Over

October 25th, 2023

 

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

- Lucy Score "Things We Never Got Over"

Lucy Score has won my heart over in this gripping, funny, heartwarming, romance novel. Things We Never Got Over, is a book I can relate to on a personal level. From our first introduction to Naomi Witt, I was instantly enthralled. Naomi is a runaway bride, trying to figure out her next step when she gets a call from her twin sister Tina, that she is in trouble and needs help, and to bring cash. (First red flag, on the play right there.) Naomi drives to Knockemout, a small town, where everyone knows everyone's business, and everyone hates Naomi's twin sister Tina. Fresh into town, still in her wedding dress and daisies in her hair she goes to a local cafe, where she sees a mug shot of her twin sister behind the counter and immediately goes into "Clean Up Mode." Right off the bat she tells the owner that she is not Tina but in fact Naomi and that Tina is her twin. Thankfully the owner can tell the difference between them, but not everyone can. 

 Enter Knox Morgan. The Viking of Knockemout. He's absolutely gorgeous, but he's also an asshole, moody and mean. Not even seven in the morning and he's called to play bouncer at the cafe because the town scammer, entered where she was not welcome. But as soon as he starts laying into her, he gets a wakeup call real quick. No, this woman is definitely not Tina, because Tina doesn't have the vocabulary that this woman does. And according to Knox, Tina looks like old leather in the face. (I died laughing at that analogy.) 

 Naomi leaves the Cafe but stops in her tracks when she realizes that her car is gone. Irritated and annoyed, Knox drives Naomi, back to the motel she's staying in, preparing to drop her off and never see her again, when Knox realizes that her room has been broken into. The place is trashed. The cash that Naomi was going to give her sister is gone and written on the mirror in her favorite lipstick is a parting message from her twin. "SUCKER." But the biggest shock of them all is what Tina left in her hotel room. Sitting on her bed is Naomi's 11-year-old niece, Waylay. (I swear to God I wanted, to reach into my book and choke Tina, for naming her daughter that.) And just like that, Naomi's whole life will never be the same.

 Saved by both the Morgan brother's and their grandmother, Naomi and Waylay are given a place to stay, Naomi has a job, and now Naomi, must decide whether or not to be Way's guardian.

The Things We Never Got Over, explores life from the viewpoint of those who over analyze and over think and have next steps, but you also get to see from the eyes of those who have been broken by loss, abandonment and always having to step in and clean up messes.

 The story is simply amazing, the characters are fantastic, and compliment the ongoing plot and story, and let's not forget the adorable dogs. The Things We Never Got Over, shows us that through loss and tragedy, abandonment, and pain, the constant over-thinking, the worry, and everything else that life can throw at you, that you are enough, and deserve to be loved.