It has felt like the longest winter imaginable. The kind where it’s perpetually grey, aggressively cold, and somehow darker at 4 p.m. than feels reasonable. For whatever reason, this stretch has also put me in a bit of a reading slump—which is unusual for me, but here we are.

Clare Gilmore’s Never Over felt like the right book to pick up in the middle of all that. A second-chance romance set against the backdrop of songwriting and life on tour, it promised emotion, history and a little creative chaos. After loving her previous novels, I was curious to see where this one would land.

Twenty-five-year-old Paige Lancaster is one contract away from earning a living doing her favourite thing in the world: writing songs. But when a music industry professional suggests she might be holding back with her lyrics to lessen the heartbreak of an old flame, Paige doubts if her music is ready to be heard.

In a rare, impulsive move, Paige contacts Liam Bishop after four years of no contact to ask him for a small favour: date her, and then re-break her heart, all so she can remember what those big, songworthy emotions felt like. And since Liam is the one who first set Paige on this career path, he hesitantly agrees.

Across three months of Liam’s summer work travel, the exes are forced to share hotel beds, rehash the past, and date in the present, all while navigating the building attraction between them they both swore was the one line of their agreement they wouldn’t cross.

But when it becomes near impossible not to act on their rippling chemistry, and as ever intensifying feelings blur the lines of what’s actually real and what’s driven by the music, Paige and Liam will both have to decide what’s more important: art for the sake of it, or love over everything.

Clare Gilmore has quietly become one of those authors I pay attention to. After loving Perfect Fit and Love Interest (both 4.5-star reads for me), I went into Never Over with high expectations. This one leans into second-chance romance, dual timelines, and a music-industry backdrop—which, on paper, feels like it should absolutely work.

What I liked

The dual timeline: This was easily the strongest element of the book. Instead of relying on vague references to “what happened before,” Gilmore shows us. Watching Paige and Liam fall in love the first time alongside their present-day reconnection added weight to their history and made their shared past feel tangible. It gave the story more depth than if we’d just been told about their former relationship through scattered memories.

The tour dynamic: I loved the scenes where Paige was writing songs with the other musicians on tour. Her creative process and her relationships with the band members were genuinely engaging—arguably more so than parts of the central romance. I actually wish there had been more of this. The collaborative energy felt fresh and grounded in a way that the main premise sometimes didn’t.

The sisters: Paige’s big, chaotic group of sisters brought warmth to the story. Even if I occasionally had to pause and remember who was who, their bond felt real and affectionate. The family dynamics added texture.

The epilogue: Genuinely excellent. It tied up loose ends not just for Paige and Liam, but for several supporting characters as well. It bordered on convenient, but in a way that felt emotionally satisfying rather than eye-roll-inducing. It was one of the strongest endings I’ve read in a while.

What didn’t work for me

The premise: This is where I struggled. Paige being told her lyrics weren’t good and deciding she needs to get her heart broken again to access real emotion felt forced. It’s hard to believe someone could complete a college songwriting program without being able to tap into emotional depth unless they are actively in heartbreak. The setup made her seem oddly incompetent at something she’s supposedly passionate—and later shown to be good—at. I kept thinking the story would have been just as strong if she’d simply reconnected with Liam organically and joined the tour for the experience, without the artificial “I need you to break my heart” framework.

The breakup: There’s a lot of buildup around whatever Liam did that caused their original split—so much tension and mystery surrounding it. When it’s finally revealed, it just… doesn’t feel big enough. I can understand why Paige would have been hurt, but it never struck me as something fundamentally unforgivable. The fact that they reconcile fairly quickly once reunited only reinforces that. The emotional weight the story assigns to that moment didn’t quite match the reality of it.

The convenience factor: Liam’s trajectory—from aspiring pro baseball player sidelined by injury to conveniently working on a major tour crew—felt contrived. It didn’t completely derail the story, but it added to the sense that the plot was being maneuvered into place.

The main characters themselves: This is harder to articulate, but Paige and Liam felt somewhat forgettable. When I put the book down for a few days, I had to actively recall their names. Their personalities often felt defined by their families or by each other rather than fully standing on their own.

Final thoughts

Never Over has strong structural elements—the dual timeline, the family dynamics, the epilogue—that really shine. But the central premise felt overly engineered, and that made it harder to fully invest. That said, Clare Gilmore remains an auto-read for me. Two near-perfect books before this one means I’m not going anywhere—and I’m honestly surprised she doesn’t get more attention.

3.5 STARS

“He molded me, and I shaped him, and this love story isn’t over yet… which also means…we’re never, ever over.” —Clare Gilmore, Never Over

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced book copy in exchange for my honest review.