“You were never too much. They just weren’t enough.”― Lucy Score, Mistakes Were Made

Lucy Score is back with another feel-good love story, filled with humor and leading, as always, to her signature happily ever after. Mistakes Were Made is the second installment in the Story Lake series, set in a charming fictional small town in Pennsylvania.

This book centers on Zooey, the best friend of Hazel (the female protagonist from the first book). Zooey finds herself torn between maintaining her glamorous life in New York City and embracing the idyllic pace of Story Lake. Along the way, she becomes enamored with Gage, Hazel’s fiancé’s brother. The two navigate their growing connection while working through their own personal baggage and trauma, exploring what a relationship between them could realistically look like.

The story is a quick and engaging read. In typical Lucy Score fashion, it’s easy to dive into, and the characters feel relatable. Even though the happily ever after is expected, you still find yourself rooting for them and hoping they get there.

One particularly interesting addition to this story is Zooey’s ADHD diagnosis. While Lucy Score has previously explored heavier topics like PTSD and grief, it was refreshing to see neurodivergence represented in a meaningful way. It added depth to Zooey’s character, moving beyond the trope of simply labeling her as “quirky.”

My biggest disappointment, however, is that the story feels overly familiar, and not in a comforting way. Instead, it has a “I’ve read this before and forgot I read it” quality. It closely mirrors elements from her Blue Moon series, from the eccentric small-town dynamics to the quirky traditions. In this story, town meetings are held in a funeral home, and a matchmaking bald eagle replaces the usual committee. Even the character dynamics feel recycled. The rigid, black-and-white-thinking lawyer paired with the quirky, curly-haired, curvy redhead is a combination that appears repeatedly in her work. Rather than feeling familiar in a comforting way, it comes across as a lack of creativity.

That said, the writing is undeniably funny and easy to read, which keeps the story moving at a strong pace. One element that stood out, though, was the amount of cursing and swearing, especially at the beginning of the book. I do not typically shy away from swearing, and I tend to swear myself, but when it appeared in the dialogue of nearly every character early on, it felt jarring. Instead of adding color to the characters, it seemed to take away from the strength and credibility of the writing.

Overall, Mistakes Were Made is a fun, fast read that brings you back into Lucy Score’s world, but it is not her strongest work. If you are looking for her best storytelling, the Blue Moon and/or Knockemout series are the better place to start.