Lucy Score has dazzled romance fans with her Things We Left Behind series and the third and final book, Things We Left Behind, is finally out! I couldn’t wait for Sloane and Lucian’s story and I’m sharing all my thoughts in my Things We Left Behind review below.
If you’re interested in enemies to lovers stories or small-town romance, then see if I think this is a book worth reading!
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Things We Left Behind
by Lucy Score
Category: Contemporary Romance
Tags: Small Town, Enemies to Lovers, Librarian, Mystery, Suspense
Series: Things We Never Got Over/Knockemout
Published September 2023
Amazon | Goodreads
Rating: ★★★
Book Boyfriend: ★★★★
Things We Left Behind Summary:
Lucian Rollins is a lean, mean vengeance-seeking mogul. On a quest to erase his father’s mark on the family name, he spends every waking minute pulling strings and building an indestructible empire.
The more money and power he amasses, the safer he is from threats. Except when it comes to the feisty small-town librarian that keeps him up at night…
Sloane Walton is a spitfire determined to carry on her father’s quest for justice. She’ll do that just as soon as she figures out exactly what the man she hates did to—or for—her family.
Bonded by an old, dark secret from the past and the dislike they now share for each other, Sloane trusts Lucian about as far as she can throw his designer-suited body.
When bickering accidentally turns to foreplay, these two find themselves not quite regretting their steamy one-night stand. Once those flames are fanned, it seems impossible to put them out again.
But with Sloane ready to start a family and Lucian refusing to even consider the idea of marriage and kids, these enemies-to-lovers are stuck at an impasse.
Broken men break women. It’s what Lucian believes, what he’s witnessed, and he’s not going to take that chance with Sloane.
He’d rather live a life of solitude than put her in danger. But he learns the hard way that leaving her means leaving her unprotected from other threats.
It’s the second time he’s ruthlessly cut her out of his life. There’s no way she’s going to give him a third chance. He’s just going to have to make one for himself.
Things We Left Behind: My Review
We finally have Lucian and Sloane’s story! I’ve been chomping at the bit for this book and I have to say that Lucy Score’s writing just keeps getting better and better.
What I Loved:
-Lucy Score can write. This story just flowed effortlessly with the best banter, one liners and quips between Sloand and Lucian. Her stories just suck you in!
-This was a great conclusion to a fabulous series. It brought to light the love of friendship and how found families are more than just blood. This book was a satisfying ending to all three couples and had two amazing epilogues.
Why not a 5-star rating?
I didn’t rate this book as high as the first books in the Things We Never Got Over series because certain aspects of the story just didn’t jive with me. So maybe it’s a “me, not you thing.”
While I did enjoy reading it, this book didn’t knock my socks off like books one and two which were 5-star reads and this is why:
-I love long books when the writing and story are stellar but by 50% when Sloane and Lucian were still trading barbs I felt like it was long past time to move things along.
-I’m happy for Sloane that Lucian was packing something huge but their bedroom scenes together started to all sound the same. He was big, waited for her to take him, etc. etc.
-I think the aspect that really kept me from rating it higher is the ultimate reason for Sloane and Lucian to be at odds with one another for OVER TWENTY YEARS. I mean, these are smart individuals with self-awareness, and yes, the incident that happened was very important but they couldn’t have a conversation about it or work it through in twenty years?
Her friend group may let her get away with it since the ladies were recent additions to the group, but her parents? I would have thought they would have intervened a bit more than they did.
Maybe I was building up their relationship and feelings for one another in the past as more than they actually were but I can’t believe they let things fester for so long.
So again, these are just things that stood out to me reading it but I love Lucy’s writing and cannot wait to see what she comes out with next!
More Lucy Score Books:
- Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score
- Things We Hide From the Light by Lucy Score
- Rock Bottom Girl by Lucy Score
Related Book Lists:
- Things We Never Got Over Series: The Complete Guide
- Best Enemies to Lovers Books
- Most Anticipated September 2023 New Romance Books
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