Forever Never

Having a re read of all Lucy’s titles and just finished this again. I adore her stand alone books, and doing my duty to leave a review. As much as l loved Brick, l found his marriage (however short) hard to come to terms with. His pushing away of Remi, of breaking her heart? Still maybe this made their eventual joining more the sweeter. Remi was a character to love from the get go, her honesty in living life was a joy to read. Also, a great big book to enjoy, makes me so happy when a story is rich enough for more than 500 pages, whoop whoop!

After reading ARC comments for this book, I couldn’t wait to read it. I have read all of Lucy Score’s books and a couple are definitely in my favourites list. I was definitely not disappointed. This book does start out slow-burn, but when it does ignite WOW! Brick is hot, strong, respected by everyone, but still thinks he’s not good enough. Remi is beautiful, independent and a bright light in people’s lives, but thinks others see her as helpless. Together Brick and Remi show each other how perfect they are, just as they are. Throw in some drama from Remi’s life in Chicago and you have my favorite type of story.

I’m on a Lucy score binge read, and this, I absolutely loved. Remi is a fantastic character who I fell in love with immediately. She’s a no holes barred girl who’s got plenty to say if you get in her way. Brick is so swoon-worthy. He’s the strong silent type, until he’s really got something to say. Which Remi comes on the receiving end of. He’s tortured himself for years not allowing himself to be with Remi, unfortunately he’s tortured Remi too. Fireworks are the result of their coming together 🥴 Looking forward to more of Lucy’s books.

It pains me to give Lucy Score less than 5 stars because I love her books. I have seen raging reviews about this one too, which is why I picked it up. Unfortunately I got stuck on 12%, just couldn’t manage to get into it. So I set it aside, thinking I’d get back to it….… weeks passed… Then several days ago I decided to give it a go. Started from where I left off but again it did not stick. So I skimmed to 30%… read until 65% and generally enjoyed it, then started skimming. Gave up before the big “show down” some where at 88%… skimmed to the epilogue and that’s it! So for the PRO’s: 1) HOT smexy times… seriously hot 🥵…. Brick seems to know what to do, and oh my… 2) The plot was potentially solid - h in danger, goes back home to her tiny town where she meets the H whom she loved since she was 16 and he messed it up… H loved her and never acted on it and now it’s his 2nd chance…. 3) small town, 2nd chance who doesn’t like that trope , right? CONS 1) couldn’t like the h… sorry, for a grown up woman who lived alone as a successful artist, she gave me the “fresh out of college” vibes and the “out of character” attitude was frustrating. The grownup- adolescent reactions gave me whiplash… 2) The H seems delicious but again, the first part of the book he was stiff, and a control freak to a point that I wanted to throttle him… rules why he can’t be with the h, which later turned out to be sooooo stupid. For a grown man, I mean come on! So if instead of 2 grown up people Score would have portrayed them as 17-20 year old, their characters would have been perfect. But here it was grown ups acting like teenagers with the ability to drive and drink… 3) the plot - potentially good but again, too far fetched and I just couldn’t keep up. Didn’t hold any interest. I think I enjoyed the middle part because that’s when they got together and the actual “running away from the monster” took a back seat. So sorry!!! Score has much better books in my opinion…

I have to preface this review by saying I knew I would love this book. I’ve read (and love) Lucy Score and Claire Kingsley’s Bootleg series so I knew I loved her writing style already (if you haven’t read that series you are MISSING out - go devour it). So, I was totally smitten and in love with my first stand alone if you will, Lucy Score book. Brick is every girls fantasy dream come true. Any gal who tells you different is lying LOL. He is everything you could want in a partner. He is dark, mysterious and quite moody… and there really isn’t a better combination when it’s paired with an incredibly sense of loyalty, a steadfast history of right vs. wrong and always putting your loved ones first. Enter in the object of his 14 year obsession, Remi. Her character is that of a wild child for sure. But, she like Brick, will do anything for the people she cares about and I think that’s what makes her so special as well. They grew up as friends, constantly tip-toeing around the idea that they could be more but, it doesn’t really happen until Remi comes home for help. Brick is the type of guy who can’t help himself if someone he cares about needs help and he will do anything to help Remi. I don’t want to give it away but, the plot of this story really is suspenseful and hooks you in right along with the slow build, tension filled romance! If you love a darker romance filled with a long time, we’re talking years of a build up HEA then this book is for you. It’s got everything you could want… a mystery of a plot (why Remi comes home), a small knit community who will go above and beyond to take care of neighbors and friends, and a slow burn coming together of our hero and heroine! This book definitely leaves you wanting more Lucy Score and I can’t wait to read more! Don’t sleep on this book.