Isabella Prewitt

The Knockemout series is cool.

Small-town romance novels entrance readers with their close-knit communities and the strangers who stumble upon them. However, best-selling author Lucy Score takes the small-town trope to new heights with her feisty and strong female leads, and their grumpy yet adoring love interests, in her newly finished hit “Knockemout” series.

In the first book, “Things We Never Got Over”, Score introduces Naomi, a flustered runaway bride who comes into town with daisy-covered hair. Naomi arrives to save her niece Waylay, from her twin sister Tina’s bad decisions. Accompanying her is Knox Morgan, a brooding barber millionaire who lives in the tiny town of “Knockemout”.

The story unveils a fun and suspenseful adventure as the two try to hunt down Tina to get her to take responsibility for Waylay. As Naomi figures out how to support herself and her newly abandoned niece, Knox takes it upon himself to be Naomi’s dark knight under the fluorescent lights of the town’s only coffee shop. They find themselves instantly enamored with each other, and things get more intense when they agree to fake date. Knox hopes to get her out of his head after the relationship becomes a little too real. While attempting to help Naomi ease into her new life, they end up stuck in each other’s.

Her second book, “Things We Hide From the Light” plunges into the life of the younger, and seemingly more charming, Morgan brother Nash: chief of police and town favorite. After the events of the first book, Nash gets injured. So when an old friend of Knox, Lina Solevita, rolls into town Nash struggles to understand and accept his mixture of PTSD and the butterflies she gives him. Lina is a strong and independent woman who doesn’t need Nash to tell her how to do her job, even if it is a bit dangerous. While following their journey, Score also includes bits of Knox and Naomi’s relationship to feed the readers’ love of interconnection in the stories.

Finally, in her third book “Things We Left Behind” readers get the fiery love story between Sloan and Lucian, otherwise known as Lucifer, which can be considered the most steamy and scorching book of the series. Who knew a book written about a small-town librarian and an emotionally damaged and vicious entrepreneur could lead to some of the most heartfelt and unhinged moments readers have read in this series yet? Sloan and Lucian hold a special place within the previous couples as Lucian has been Nash and Knox’s best friend for years and Sloan finally built her community with Naomi and Lina.

Throughout the first two books, readers are left with breadcrumbs of what happened between Lucain and Sloan in their past as the stereotypical bad boy and girl next door. When bickering turns to something more, both Sloan and Lucian are forced to navigate the new facets of their relationship. The reflections of their pasts have built a wall between them and, as they say, death brings about rebirth. Readers were rabid for this final chapter in the “Knockemout” world for months and it’s safe to say it was worth the wait.

As someone who reads quickly, these books are a fresh and much-needed palate cleanser. The characters are fun and quirky, which puts a whole new lens on small-town romances. Score also tries to discuss the different mental and social issues that can be built into small communities, through her characters and storylines.

Readers can enjoy the rollercoaster of the whispers and rumors around “Knockemout”, but we also get to see the relationships and peculiarities of all the local grandmas conquering the town’s only gym. Score creates a world of her own that keeps the emotional side of the story intact and explores the complexities of what the characters are going through.

The series as a whole was entertaining, and a nice balance between sweet and spicy. As a personal favorite, series that are interconnected stand-alones have a way of pulling readers into the next story before it’s even written, which can be both beautiful and infuriating.

All the couples showed growth even though controversial parts of the story. Score writes with elegance and grace that parallels well with the chaos and intensity of her characters. Finishing this series was a great way to wrap up summer and readers can’t wait to see what Score has in store for us next.