This book was so good. I love the then and now chapter back and forth because we really get to see their full relationship. Also Liam is the sweetest MMC ever, he pushes Paige when she needs it and knows when he takes it too far and apologizes. I was unsure how I was going to feel about this book for the first 40% because the concept of going back to your college boyfriend asking him to make you fall in love to break up was odd to me, but I will say it was all just a way for her to find a way back to him. Also that epilogue was perfect. It truly is the butterfly effect of what music can do for everyone in the world.

Let me start by saying that this book was everything. It took me a minute to get into because at first I didn’t like the scenes from the past. However, I realized that is because it is hard to look at someone’s pain from their perspective. It is necessary to the story and just like in life it is necessary to understand. I loved this story but the epilogue had me fighting back tears because music does truly have a profound impact on people and can change someone’s life or save it and this book was just… wow!

I didn’t need the whole date me to break my heart fake but real dating. I would have been fine for them just reconnecting then falling back in love.
I did enjoy the epilogue greatly

In Clare Gilmore’s swoony second chance romance, songwriter Paige receives the big break she has been working towards, connecting with a label who wants to back her music- with a catch: the melodies are great, but she needs to add more emotional depth and vulnerability to her lyrics. Desperate, Paige reaches out to her ex Liam in hopes that he can help draw out the emotions she needs to take her songwriting to the next level. With a summer romance on tour, not quite fake but arranged dating, the absolute best nicknames, a dual timeline and the dreamiest “its always been you” MMC, Never Over was an absolutely dreamy and fun read. Some songwriting plots can feel disjointed, with cheesy/unrealistic content, but Paige’s lyrics and musical process made me wish I could hear these songs in real time as I read (second career in songwriting Clare Gilmore?) Thank you Net Galley and St Martin’s Press for the ARC! We can’t wait for the rest of the world to join us in falling head over heels for Paige and Liam’s story on October 28, 2025.

Wow, this book was absolutely stunning and Clare Gilmore continues to be one to watch! Lyrical in prose, the relationship between Liam and Paige leapt out of the book and into the heart of this reader. I cannot say enough about how devastatingly lovely this book was - Gilmore gets better and better with each addition to her roster and this is no exception. Highly, highly recommended!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher!!!!

I think this is Clare's best book. The epilogue was quite possibly my favorite one ever? I usually don't love books about musicians, but this was different. I loved Paige immediately and really rooted for her success. And Liam was the perfect MMC. And again THAT EPILOGUE!

This is a lovely romance, with a believable connection between the two main characters and an intriguing view inside the world of touring musicians. I really enjoyed reading this and rooting for the characters. The flashbacks were handled well, enriching the main plotline. The dialogue and banter was natural and delightful to read.

My only challenge was that the initial premise (the pretext for Paige to come with Liam on tour) is pretty hard to imagine occurring in real life. If you can move beyond that, the story has a good deal of depth and emotion.

Clare Gilmore retains a spot on my "must-read ASAP" author list.

There was a little something that I didn't love about the plot so I knocked it down to 4 (.25 if Goodreads would let me do partial stars!), but overall, I loved the character development throughout the novel. Gilmore takes you concurrently through the present time and the downfall of what happened the first time around for Liam and Paige. This was a sweet second chance romance, and I was rooting for them the whole time.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have never met a Clare Gilmore book I didn’t love!

I loved Never Over. It was such an honest book with good character development, a fun plot, and such sweet relationships. I loved the way sisterhood was betrayed, the way the characters were whole, and how beautiful the writing was.

I absolutely loved Never Over—this second-chance romance had me swooning from start to finish. The premise of facing the one who broke your heart in order to make your dreams come true is so beautifully executed. The emotional depth between Paige and Liam felt raw, real, and incredibly heartfelt.

Paige Lancaster is a 25-year-old songwriter on the brink of making it big in the music industry, but she’s struggling with her lyrics. A chance comment from a music professional makes her question if her songs truly capture the emotions she’s been holding back, particularly when it comes to the heartbreak she’s never fully processed. Enter Liam Bishop—her first love, the one who left her heartbroken four years ago.

In a bold, impulsive decision, Paige asks Liam to pretend to date her again, so she can experience the heartbreak that will fuel her songwriting. What follows is a delightful and complex dance between the two of them, full of tension, humor, and unresolved feelings. Forced to travel together, share hotel rooms, and rehash the past, the chemistry between Paige and Liam simmers and builds in such a satisfying way.

The character development is spot on—both Paige and Liam are well-crafted, with their own personal growth and vulnerabilities. The tension and emotional pull between them are electric, and I found myself rooting for them to figure out whether love or their art would win out in the end. It’s a perfect mix of heart, humor, and that perfect "will they, won’t they?" that kept me hooked.

If you're a fan of second-chance romance, with the added bonus of music and heartfelt emotion, this book is a must-read. The way the author weaves music and emotion into the plot is nothing short of brilliant, and the ending left me with a satisfied heart. Definitely a 5-star read!

I think Clare Gilmore has amazing prose. I’ve always been sucked into each of her books from her writing style alone. But I struggle with her story lines and plots. While the summaries always catch my interest something just falls flat for me in the romance department. Though she does a fantastic job character building and setting the scene I just don’t feel the chemistry between the characters.

If character building and story setting is a must for you I think you’d love this book! Thanks netgalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book! I couldn't put it down. I was hooked by the writing from the start and now need to go back and read all of Clare Gilmore's books. This book had such a tender, pure love story that had me rooting for Paige and Liam from the start. It was so worth it to see how far they'd both come and see them work things out to be together in the end. They felt like the definition of "meant to be".

Four years after Paige and Liam’s relationship ends in heartbreak, Paige is so close to a dream of becoming a signed songwriter that the thought of spending one summer with the ex who broke said heart, no problem. Hotel room to hotel room, these two travel the country while Liam manages a tour.

Now my thoughts, OBSESSED. Liam is a golden retriever to the max, he is so head over heels for Paige. The flashbacks to their relationship four years prior had me kicking my feet. In the present Liam has no reservations letting Paige know he missed her and wants them to fall back in love. This was a twist on “fake dating” because there was no fake to it. I also enjoyed the communication Liam and Paige stuck to, there is nothing I hate more than a miscommunication trope. The only “knocks” I could give the story was it became a bit cringy towards the end and overall the love story could be seen as unrealistic. BUT I am a hopeless romantic so I ate it up. Also, any story with songwriting is cringy to me so there was that too. all in all, I recommend and would absolutely read another story by this author!

Clare Gilmore is officially an auto-buy author for me. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this incredible book. I loved the depth to the characters and the duel timeline. Their evolution was beautiful and the tension was amazing!

Dual Timelines, Second Chance Romance. Not my most favorite tropes but this was overall super cute. The initial premise. Date an Ex to have them break your heart for better song lyrics,.. idk about that. But it worked.

This epilogue is the best epilogue of epilogues! I want to give that infinite stars!!

Thank you NetGalley and St Martins press for the gifted copy!

“That’s it, Paige. That’s the final dot I had to connect. Neither of us needs to be seen to know we’ve helped other people feel seen. We can be the support system. We can be the backbone. A singular, invisible cog on some greater wheel, and it wouldn’t be a small life if you’re in it. It would be everything. It already is.”

A second chance romance of my dreams? hell yes.

this book was so heartfelt and sincere in its writing that I couldn't help but soak in every little thing. I started and finished it in under 24 hours because I couldn't put it down. And it was an experience I want to re-live again.

Paige is a songwriter who is struggling with finding inspiration for her lyrics - on the surface, and Liam is her ex- boyfriend who she believes can help her feel the emotions again - on the surface. Because under that exterior, Paige and Liam are two people who are writing each other's story since the first time they have ever met and that hasn't changed in the four years they are apart.

My favourite thing about this book and the characters in general is they are messy and flawed right from the prologue to the epilogue. Their story doesn't change them at their core, it just helps them accept who they are, what they mean, what they are meant for in the larger plot of life. Small things impact them in ways they never gave another thought to, and the writing is delicious when you keep getting this subtle undertone of angst hitting you front and center throughout.

i also LOVE that when they re-connect, they don't jump into sex. physical attraction no matter how rampant isn't the basis of their feelings at all, infact their yearning simmers as they rediscover each other and accept their feelings and then fall into bed. it adds so much meaning to them.

their individual arcs are just as well written as their love story is - I felt like I found pieces of myself scattered throughout in Paige's dilemmas and her lyrics and Liam's view of the world. their story is extraordinary to me in the ways that it is not extraordinary at all.

and the epilogue might be the thing that made me rate this book 5⭐ from the earlier 4.5⭐. it made me sob - that one chapter. I have probably never read a more beautiful epilogue!

the book comes out in October 25. Thank you netgalley for the arc.

tropes -

- second chance romance
- dual pov
- one bed/forced proximity
- song writer × ex baseball pitcher/current tour cordinater
- female friendships
- yearning
- open door romance

I think this will be a forever favorite. This is my first Clare Gilmore and I will be a lifetime reader of hers.

This story follows Paige, a songwriter at the very beginning of her career, as she tries to find more depth in her songwriting. She reconnects with a lost love with a proposition: have him make her fall in love again, then break her heart. Liam, her former someone, agrees but with stipulations of his own. They begin a summer's long journey together to see if they can put more emotion into her lyrics, all while seeing if they might be able to rewrite their own ending.

This story is a single POV told from Paige's side, with a somewhat alternating timeline of Paige and Liam from 4 years ago, and Paige and Liam of now. I felt like this was done so well. The chapters in the past were all very relevant, they weren't long-winded, and reflected on how things are/might be different now but still shows their foundation. This story was a perfect telling of a right person, wrong time situation. Paige had a lot of her own things she needed to work out and so did Liam. I really love how well Liam loved her.

Another thing I really loved was how things were resolved in the end with their family and friends in various situations. It would have been a little unreal if every situation was perfectly tied with a bow, so I loved that resolved didn't always mean perfect.

That epilogue was an absolute killer. What an incredible way to end their story. Clare Gilmore you have a forever fan in me.

Thank you so much to St. Martin's Griffin for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Desperately NEED Clare Gilmore to be getting Emily Henry levels of hype. Perfect Fit was one of my favorites last year and now this book?? INSANE.

I knew I'd love it right off the bat (second chance romance with strong plot points of both baseball and country music, like come on that's so me) but somehow it STILL exceeded my expectations. The way Clare Gilmore writes relationships where it's so emphasized how much the two protagonists have an impact on each other's life is so god damn special to me. No spoilers ofc, but that really resonated with Josie & Will and now here as well both with Liam & Paige and the story in itself (that epilogue??)

"All of this, and so much more, because on a warm, rainy day, on a sidewalk in downtown Knoxville, the college pitcher saw a girl out of the corner of his eye."

Seriously though, read this when it's out in October!!! And for my country music fans, this book is "Springsteen" meets "I Remember Everything" in the best possible way.

<i>Thank you NetGalley & St. Martin's Press for an arc in exchange for an honest review <3</i>

This novel is a sharp, heartfelt romance that perfectly captures the messy magic of second chances. The characters feel so real it’s like eavesdropping on your smartest, funniest friends figuring life out. The FMC, with her ambition and vulnerability, is a standout; she’s complex, relatable, and impossible not to root for. Gilmore’s writing balances witty banter with deep emotional beats that sneak up and wreck you (in a good way). It’s a love story that’s also about growth, forgiveness, and knowing when to let go or hold on tighter. If you’re into modern love with depth and charm, this one’s for you.

This dual timeline second chance captured my interest immediately and it never let me go. I loved falling in love with Paige and Liam as they rekindled their relationship. It was so fast paced and kept the plot fresh. It genuinely made sense as to why their relationship ended in college and was a real case of right person, wrong time. I loved how Liam was so happy to reconnect with Paige but still guarded himself to help her find what she needed. they both felt like they had well rounded backstories and actually matured as people. I loved seeing them trust each other and take it one day at a time. This was such a beautiful story!