Books Like Things We Never Got Over — 10 Small-Town Grumpy/Sunshine Reads (2026)

Things We Never Got Over is the book that turned Knockemout, Virginia into a place readers genuinely want to move to. Naomi runs into town to bail out her chaos-agent twin and instead inherits a niece, a wrecked wedding, and Knox Morgan — a grumpy, tattooed, monosyllabic bar owner who has built his entire personality around not caring about anything, right up until he cares about her. Lucy Score does grumpy/sunshine better than almost anyone: a hero whose walls are a foot thick, a heroine sunny enough to be underestimated, and a whole town of nosy, loyal side characters you’ll follow across three books.

The craving it leaves is specific and cozy: a small town you can sink into, a grump who falls first and hard, a found-family cast, and a slow burn with real heat at the end of it. Below are five trad-pub picks in exactly that register, then five from our own catalog — including a whole cozy Vermont town of our own. A note up front on ours: heat and availability vary, so I’ve flagged each one. Most are free with Kindle Unlimited.

5 Trad-Pub Books Like Things We Never Got Over

1. Things We Never Got Over — Lucy Score

The anchor. Knox and Naomi are the grumpy/sunshine standard — a man determined to stay uninvolved and the woman who arrives with a toddler and a disaster and dismantles that plan one exasperated favor at a time. It’s long, it’s warm, it’s got a mystery subplot and a dog named Waylon, and it’s the front door to the whole Knockemout series. Start here if you somehow haven’t. Get Things We Never Got Over on Amazon →

2. Things We Hide From the Light — Lucy Score

The sequel, and the obvious next stop — because you will not be ready to leave Knockemout. This one gives the town’s golden-boy police chief Nash his book, opposite a guarded new neighbor with secrets of her own. It flips the formula (this time he’s the sunshine and she’s the wall), keeps the whole beloved cast, and reads best right after book one. Get Things We Hide From the Light on Amazon →

3. It Happened One Summer — Tessa Bailey

The closest tonal cousin outside Lucy Score. A Hollywood party girl gets cut off and exiled to her late father’s small Washington fishing town, where she clashes with Brendan, a gruff, widowed sea captain who thinks she’ll last a week. It’s Schitt’s Creek meets a grumpy-falls-first fisherman, with a warm found-family town and a heat level a notch above Score. Perfect if Knox’s grumpiness was the draw. Get It Happened One Summer on Amazon →

4. Done & Dusted — Lyla Sage

For readers who want the small-town warmth with a cowboy hat on it. A rancher’s little sister comes home to Meadowlark, Wyoming and collides with her brother’s best friend, the brooding cowboy who once broke her heart. It’s shorter and steamier than Score, with the same close-knit-town-and-nosy-family texture and a grump who’s soft exactly once, for exactly one person. First of the Rebel Blue Ranch series. Get Done & Dusted on Amazon →

5. Part of Your World — Abby Jimenez

The one for readers who loved the small-town-outsider dynamic and want more of the feelings. A big-city ER doctor breaks down in a tiny Minnesota town and falls for its much-younger handyman mayor, across a class-and-life gap neither can quite ignore. Jimenez writes the warmth and the ache in equal measure — a cozy town, a grumpy-adjacent heroine, and a golden-retriever hero who adores her. Get Part of Your World on Amazon →

5 Indie Picks: A Cowboy, a Cozy Vermont Town, and a Getaway

Straight talk about our shelf: we don’t have a single Knockemout-sized MF small-town series. What we do have splits into three flavors that each hit part of the Lucy Score feeling — one cowboy grumpy/sunshine, a whole cozy town up in Vermont, and a warm vacation-town escape. Heat runs from cozy 2-out-of-5 to full inferno, flagged per book, and most are free with Kindle Unlimited.

6. Save a Horse, Ride the Grump — Isla Wilde (Cowboy Grumpy/Sunshine)

The single closest match to Knox and Naomi we publish. Cade is a monosyllabic Hill Country rancher who wants to be left alone with his cattle; Piper is the bright, chaotic force who moves in next door and refuses to let him brood in peace. It’s the grumpy-falls-first, sunshine-won’t-quit dynamic at full strength, with a lot more heat than Score puts on the page. (Note: this one’s wide, so it’s available everywhere rather than KU-exclusive.) Read the first chapter free →

7. Maple & Moth — Ames Willow (Cozy Small-Town Vermont, MM)

The front door to Willowbend, Vermont — our answer to a town you want to move to. Aiden opens a little coffee-and-goods shop and immediately runs afoul of the grumpy guy who runs the hardware store next door. It’s the grumpy-neighbor dynamic in a snowy New England town, with the same nosy-community warmth as Knockemout at a gentle, cozy 2-out-of-5 heat. If the town was your favorite character in Score, start here. Read the first chapter free →

8. Cedar & Ink — Ames Willow (Small-Town Second Chance, MM)

More Willowbend, this time a second-chance snowed-in story — Julian comes back to town and gets stuck, literally and emotionally, with the man he left behind. Same cozy Vermont warmth as Maple & Moth, same low-heat comfort, with the specific ache of a romance getting a do-over it didn’t expect. Read it after Maple & Moth to stay in the town a little longer. Read the first chapter free →

9. Storm’s End — Ames Willow (Small-Town Age-Gap, MM — Higher Heat)

The Willowbend book for readers who want the cozy town but not the closed door. Same Vermont setting, same tight-knit community, but this one is an age-gap romance that runs at full inferno rather than the gentle heat of the other two. If you loved the small-town backdrop of Score but always wished the spice went further, this is the pick that keeps the town and turns everything else up. Read the first chapter free →

10. Getting Lei’d — Aurora North (Vacation-Town Escape, FF)

The change-up, for readers who came to Score for the cozy-escape feeling more than the small town specifically. Harper and Riley get thrown together in Hawaii with one bed and a fake-dating arrangement, somewhere sunny enough to lower everyone’s defenses. It’s not small-town — it’s the vacation cousin of that feeling — and it’s the one sapphic pick here, with its own book page and the heat wide open. Read the first chapter free →

FAQ

What order do the Knockemout books go in?

Things We Never Got Over (Knox & Naomi), then Things We Hide From the Light (Nash & Lina), then Things We Left Behind (Lucian & Sloane). Read them in order — the town and its cast carry across all three, and the later books lightly spoil the earlier romances.

Is Things We Never Got Over on Kindle Unlimited?

Availability shifts, so check the current listing. Of our five picks, the four Kindle Unlimited titles (Maple & Moth, Cedar & Ink, Storm’s End, Getting Lei’d) are the cheapest way to binge small-town romance; Save a Horse, Ride the Grump is wide, so you can grab it on any store.

How spicy is Things We Never Got Over?

Moderate to high — around a 3 to 4 out of 5, with real on-page heat but plenty of slow burn first. On our list, the Willowbend cozies (Maple & Moth, Cedar & Ink) sit lower at a gentle 2; Save a Horse, Storm’s End, and Getting Lei’d run hotter if that’s what you’re after.

What’s the best grumpy/sunshine book after this?

Trad-pub: It Happened One Summer for the grumpy-fisherman version, Done & Dusted for the cowboy one. On Kindle Unlimited: Save a Horse, Ride the Grump is the closest match to Knox’s exact energy, and the Ames Willow Willowbend books if the cozy town was the real draw.

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