Lucy Score
Small-town chaos, protective grumps, and guaranteed happy endings
Key elements
- Grumpy heroes with unexpected soft spots
- Small-town settings full of meddling neighbors and loyal friends
- Heroines who bring chaos to ordered lives
- High heat integrated naturally into the story
- Humor that balances emotional weight
Lucy Score writes the kind of romance where the hero would die for the heroine but can't admit he likes her yet. Her grumpy heroes are a breed: tough exterior, rigid routines, zero patience for nonsense. And then a woman lands in their life who is nothing but nonsense, and they can't look away.
Things We Never Got Over made her a phenomenon because it nailed the formula perfectly. Knox Morgan is the grumpy bar owner who doesn't want to care about the stranger who shows up in Knockemout with a toddler and a crisis. Naomi is the chaos agent who disrupts everything he's built. The tension between his resistance and his growing investment in her life is the book's engine, and Score times every beat.
Her small towns feel lived-in rather than quaint. Knockemout has a bar, a library, nosy neighbors, and a local dynamic that shapes how everyone behaves. The community isn't just backdrop. It's part of the romantic tension because nothing stays private in a town where everyone talks.
Score writes fast-paced, dialogue-heavy romance that's easy to binge. Her chapters are short. Her pacing is relentless. She uses humor to keep the tone light even when the emotional stakes are high. This accessibility is a strength, not a weakness. She respects her readers' time and delivers maximum entertainment per page.
Lucy Score is a self-published contemporary romance author known for the Knockemout series (Things We Never Got Over, Things We Hide from the Light, Things We Left Behind). She writes grumpy-sunshine small-town romance with high heat, sharp humor, and protective heroes who resist their feelings. Her BookTok-driven success made her one of the bestselling indie romance authors.
Small-town chaos, protective grumps, and guaranteed happy endings
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Why Lucy Score's grumps are irresistible
The grumpy-sunshine trope works for Score because she writes the grump as someone who chose emotional distance for good reasons. Knox isn't just cranky. He's been burned. Nash isn't standoffish. He's protecting himself. The heroine doesn't fix the hero. She gives him a reason to choose vulnerability, which is a different and more respectful dynamic.
Her self-publishing success is worth noting. Score built a massive readership without traditional publishing, which gives her complete control over her release schedule, covers, and marketing. This independence shows in her writing: she doesn't have to sand down her edges for a publisher's comfort.
The Knockemout series established her signature, but her backlist is deep. The Blue Moon series, the Bootleg Springs series, and standalone titles all carry the same DNA: small town, big feelings, sharp humor, and heroes who'd move mountains while pretending they don't care.
The reader take
Things We Never Got Over is the starting point, full stop. Knox Morgan set the standard for grumpy romance heroes, and every book after builds on that community. Score writes books that are impossible to put down once you start, so clear your schedule.
Book recommendations
Things We Never Got Over
by Lucy Score
A woman on the run from a con artist twin sister ends up in a tiny Virginia town with a toddler and no plan. The grumpy bar owner who helps her despite himself is one of the best heroes in modern romance. Where most readers start with Score.
Things We Hide from the Light
by Lucy Score
The Knockemout sequel follows the police chief recovering from being shot and the woman who moves in next door to help him whether he wants it or not. Darker than the first book, with a hero dealing with PTSD alongside the romance.
Things We Left Behind
by Lucy Score
The third Knockemout book follows the villain of the series and gives him a love story. Enemies-to-lovers with genuine history and hurt between the characters. Score's most emotionally complex book.
Flawless
by Elsie Silver
If you love Score's small-town protective heroes, Silver's cowboy romance series hits the same notes with a Western setting. The grumpy hero who softens is a shared trademark.
The Hating Game
by Sally Thorne
If it's the banter and the enemies-to-lovers tension you love about Score, Thorne's workplace rivals romance is pure verbal sparring that turns into something more.
Common questions
What order should I read Lucy Score books?
Knockemout series: Things We Never Got Over, Things We Hide from the Light, Things We Left Behind (in order). Blue Moon series and Bootleg Springs are separate trilogies. Her standalones (Rock Bottom Girl, By a Thread, Undercover Love) can be read in any order. Start with Things We Never Got Over for the full experience.
Are Lucy Score books spicy?
Very. Score writes frequent, explicit intimate scenes that are integrated into the emotional arc. The heat level is consistently high across her books. If you want the same small-town grumpy-sunshine dynamic with lower heat, try Sarah Adams or Jenny Colgan.
Is Lucy Score self-published?
Yes. Score is one of the most successful self-published romance authors, maintaining complete control over her books, covers, and release schedule. Things We Never Got Over became a number one bestseller through BookTok and reader word-of-mouth without traditional publishing support. Her self-publishing model has become a case study in indie romance success.
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Ready for your story? Imagine living it.
Score readers want the hero who fights his feelings and loses. They want to be the person who breaks through the wall, who earns the soft side nobody else gets to see. Ember can build that exact dynamic into your story: the grump who melts for you, the town that watches it happen, the love story that feels inevitable from the first argument.
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