That idea sits at the heart of Lucy Score’s Things We Never Got Over. The novel follows Naomi Witt, a runaway bride who arrives in the rough-edged small town of Knockemout, Virginia, intending to help her troubled twin sister. Instead, she loses her car, her money, and almost every bit of control she thought she had.
What she gains is much more unexpected: an 11-year-old niece, a new community, and Knox Morgan, a grumpy man who wants absolutely nothing to do with complicated relationships.
The publisher describes the book as a contemporary grumpy/sunshine romance filled with small-town drama, attraction, humor, and family complications. It was published in 2022 and is the first book in Lucy Score’s Knockemout series.
If you are looking for a complete Things We Never Got Over summary, here is the story, including major spoilers and the ending.
What Is Things We Never Got Over About?
Naomi Witt has spent much of her life trying to be responsible.
Then she runs away from her wedding.
Instead of beginning married life with her fiancé, Warner, Naomi heads to Knockemout after receiving a call from her estranged twin sister, Tina.
Naomi believes Tina needs help. That is enough for her to drop everything and go.
Unfortunately, Tina has not suddenly become a responsible sister.
Soon after Naomi arrives, Tina takes Naomi’s car and money and disappears. Even more shocking, she leaves behind her 11-year-old daughter, Waylay, a niece Naomi never knew existed.
Naomi suddenly has no car, little money, no permanent home, and a child depending on her.
It is the opposite of the fresh start she imagined.
And then Knox Morgan enters the picture.
Naomi Meets Knox Morgan
Knox is exactly the kind of person Naomi probably does not need at that moment.
He is blunt, stubborn, private, and determined to avoid emotional complications. Lucy Score’s official description introduces him as a bearded, bad-boy barber who prefers being alone and has little patience for drama.
Naomi brings plenty of drama, although very little of it is actually her fault.
Their first interactions are not especially romantic. Knox initially associates Naomi with Tina because the twins look alike, and Tina has already created plenty of trouble around Knockemout.
But Knox gradually realizes Naomi is very different from her sister.
She is caring, organized, generous, and almost painfully determined to take responsibility for everyone around her.
Despite claiming that he does not want complications, Knox begins helping Naomi.
He makes sure she and Waylay have somewhere to live. He becomes involved in their problems. And little by little, he becomes part of their lives.
The publisher describes their relationship as having grumpy/sunshine and enemies-to-lovers elements, along with forced proximity and found-family themes.
Waylay Changes Naomi’s Life
The emotional center of the novel is not only the romance.
It is also Naomi’s relationship with Waylay.
Waylay has grown up with an unreliable mother. She has learned to be tougher and more independent than an 11-year-old should need to be.
Naomi could have walked away.
Instead, she stays.
She works, builds a home, deals with child-care authorities, gets involved with Waylay’s school life, and begins trying to secure permanent guardianship. Naomi’s parents eventually learn that they have a granddaughter and come to Knockemout to support Naomi and meet Waylay.
Waylay gives Naomi something she did not expect after leaving her wedding: a reason to stop living according to everyone else’s expectations.
She starts creating a life rather than simply maintaining the one she had planned.
Naomi and Knox Fall for Each Other
Knox keeps telling himself that helping Naomi is temporary.
That does not last.
Their attraction grows as they spend more time together. Naomi sees beyond Knox’s rough personality, while Knox recognizes that Naomi’s cheerful, capable exterior hides someone who has spent years putting other people first.
Eventually, their relationship becomes physical.
And yes, Things We Never Got Over is definitely an adult romance.
The sexual relationship between Naomi and Knox is described openly rather than fading to black. The novel also contains strong language and mature situations.
But their relationship is not only physical.
Knox becomes attached to Naomi and Waylay even while fighting the idea that they might become a family.
That fear becomes one of his biggest problems.
Trouble Comes Back Into Naomi’s Life
Just when Naomi appears to be building something stable, her old life catches up with her.
Her former fiancé, Warner, arrives in Knockemout and expects Naomi to return with him.
She refuses.
When Warner becomes physically aggressive toward her, Knox steps in. The confrontation makes the difference between Knox and Warner even clearer. Naomi is no longer willing to return to a relationship simply because it fits the life everyone expected her to have.
At the same time, something more dangerous is happening around Knockemout.
Knox’s brother Nash, who works in law enforcement, is shot during a traffic stop.
Tina is still missing.
And there are signs that whatever trouble she has become involved in is far more serious than Naomi first realized.
Why Knox and Naomi Break Up
For all his protectiveness, Knox struggles badly with commitment.
He wants Naomi.
He cares about Waylay.
But wanting a real family frightens him.
Knox has his own history of painful family relationships, particularly involving his father and his difficult relationship with Nash. Instead of admitting how much Naomi means to him, he eventually pushes her away.
For Naomi, the breakup hurts because she has finally begun allowing herself to want something.
She has spent years being the dependable daughter, sister, partner, and problem solver.
Knox seems to offer a life she chose for herself.
Then he backs away from it.
But their romantic problems soon become secondary because Tina returns with much more dangerous trouble behind her.
Things We Never Got Over Ending Explained
Major ending spoilers begin here.
Tina eventually resurfaces and Waylay becomes caught in the middle of a criminal situation involving Tina and her boyfriend, Duncan Hugo.
A flash drive becomes central to the danger. It contains information connected to criminal activity, and Waylay has hidden important evidence.
Tina and Duncan take Waylay, and Naomi is drawn into the confrontation because she will do almost anything to protect her niece.
During the final dangerous encounter, Naomi puts herself between Waylay and the people threatening her.
Knox, Nash, and their allies eventually reach them. Duncan attacks Naomi and nearly strangles her unconscious before help arrives and Knox intervenes.
The crisis changes Knox.
For most of the book, he has treated love like something dangerous that should be controlled or avoided.
Nearly losing Naomi forces him to understand what avoidance has actually cost him.
He no longer wants a temporary relationship.
He wants a life with her.
Knox asks Naomi to marry him, and their relationship finally becomes the commitment he spent much of the story resisting. Tina ultimately gives up custody of Waylay, allowing Naomi and Knox to build the family that has already been forming emotionally throughout the novel.
Do Naomi and Knox End Up Together?
Yes.
Naomi and Knox get their happy ending.
They marry, and Waylay becomes part of their permanent family.
The story later jumps forward several years.
Waylay is preparing to leave for college on a soccer scholarship. Naomi and Knox have faced another painful challenge together: they were unable to have biological children.
Instead, they expand their family through adoption.
By the later epilogue, they have adopted two young girls in addition to raising Waylay. Knox has also made progress in repairing his relationship with his father.
It is not presented as a perfect life where every difficulty magically disappears.
It is something warmer.
A messy family built by people who decided to keep choosing each other.
Are Things We Never Got Over Spicy?
Yes.
Things We Never Got Over contains explicit sexual scenes between adult characters, so this is not a closed-door romance.
Lucy Score herself describes her work as steamy romance, and the publisher describes the book as funny, steamy, and emotionally satisfying.
Readers mainly interested in sweet romance without explicit sexual content should know this before starting.
The book also includes strong language, violence, child endangerment, kidnapping, and references to unhealthy or abusive relationships.
Is Things We Never Got Over a Sad Book?
Not exactly.
There are definitely sad and serious moments.
Waylay has experienced neglect and instability. Naomi realizes that the life she thought she wanted was making her unhappy. Knox carries unresolved family wounds. The later kidnapping and violence add genuine danger.
But the overall emotional direction is hopeful.
This is ultimately a romance about rebuilding.
Naomi loses the future she had planned, only to discover a life that fits her better. Knox has to learn that protecting yourself from love can also prevent you from experiencing it.
Waylay finally gains something she has needed for years: adults who stay.
So while parts of the novel can be emotional and dark, Things We Never Got Over is not a tragedy. Its main romantic and family storylines lead toward a happy ending.
Is Things We Never Got Over a Romance Novel?
Yes. It is firmly a contemporary romance novel.
Bloom Books identifies it as a small-town grumpy/sunshine romance, and its major romance elements include enemies-to-lovers tension, forced proximity, found family, and a heroine starting her life over.
There is also suspense and family drama, especially toward the end, but the relationship between Naomi and Knox remains one of the main threads holding the story together.
What the Story Is Really About
The title Things We Never Got Over works on several levels.
Almost everyone in the story is carrying something unfinished.
Naomi carries years of trying to please other people.
Knox carries anger and family pain.
Waylay carries the effects of growing up without dependable care.
Even Tina’s destructive behavior hangs over the family like an old wound nobody has properly healed.
The book does not suggest that people simply forget painful experiences.
Instead, its more interesting idea is that life can grow around them.
Naomi does not erase her failed engagement. Knox does not erase his family problems. Waylay does not suddenly receive a perfect childhood.
They build something new anyway.
And that is why the ending feels satisfying. The real victory is bigger than Naomi getting the man she loves.
She finally stops living the life she thinks she is supposed to want.
Knox stops pretending that being alone makes him safer.
And Waylay discovers that family can mean the people who choose to stay.
That makes Things We Never Got Over more than a spicy small-town romance. Beneath the banter, attraction, and chaos, it is a story about second chances, chosen family, and finding home in a place you never expected to stay.
Katie Couric, MA in Arts & Journalism. Crafting compelling narratives at istruestory.com. Passionate about bringing untold stories to light.