This review was first published March 15, 2026 in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Best-selling author Lucy Score’s “Mistake Were Made” might give some readers situational, secondhand anxiety for its protagonist, Zoey Moody, but it will rescue them with laugh-out-loud humor all the way through.

Score has burst back onto the scene with a quirky, small-town, second book in the Story Lake series that will speak to those with a heart for small-town romances. Perfect for readers who love the heart, humor and hope in her earlier novels, “Mistakes Were Made” is a steamy small‑town romance with slow‑burn tension, filled with Score’s signature charm.

Literary agent Zoey Moody begrudgingly moves to the small Pennsylvania town of Story Lake, after uprooting from Manhattan, to work remotely with her only client, Hazel Hart (the protagonist from the first book in this series) and chase her next big client, a famous author.

Due to Zoey’s less-than-healthy bank account, she needs Hazel’s next novel to be commercially successful so that she can return to New York. But after meeting Gage Bishop, things get a little more complicated, even though on paper the two don’t work together. Score uses the opposites-attract trope to further the story as the tension between the two grows. They are destined to clash. 

“Mistake Were Made” is bright, clever, and entertaining, and packed with snappy dialogue and truly hilarious moments. Score’s books have always been filled with reliable, feel-good stories readers can count on, and this one is no exception. 

Chock full of fast-paced banter, Score also reminds readers how the ordinary moments of life can be funny and tense all at once. She balances humor, which there is plenty of here, with more serious issues. It’s difficult to write realistic banter between the two protagonists that does not seem manufactured, but Score consistently excels at that difficult skill.

Present in “Mistakes Were Made,” as in most of Score’s books, are the quirky, small town characters, so fully formed that they feel familiar to readers. That’s probably because, for Story Lake enthusiasts, they are, as many characters from the first book make appearances. 

In the past, some readers have compared Score’s books to Hallmark movies, which can be a compliment or said in disdain, depending on the person. Yet either would oversimplify Score’s impact. While the smart, small-town appeal and charisma are there, Score’s characters have rich backstories with complex and nuanced lives. No Hallmark movie is this deep.

Perhaps the two are often compared because “Mistakes Were Made,” like many of Score’s other books, evokes a cozy, feel-good aesthetic – and no one is better at world building than Score. Her towns feel like places you could actually visit and readers will long for Story Lake to be a real place they could visit.

The animals alone could draw in tourists. In the first few chapters readers meet a dog named Meetcute and another named Nana, in addition to a cat named DeWalt and a semi-domesticated raccoon named Bertha. (Fans of this series will be thrilled that Goose the prey-dropping bald eagle is back and up to his old antics, though no spoilers here about what he’s dropping now.)

Zoey’s landlord, the super-tall, witty Gage is charming, and readers will see why she is ultimately and begrudgingly drawn to him. When Gage’s world collapses due to a devastating family secret, he turns to Zoey for comfort. That night is pivotal to the plot. 

The book is slow in some places, and the slowdown contributes to the book’s heft, but Score can be forgiven because, even in those moments, the dialog and humor move the story forward.

“Mistakes Were Made” is ultimately about human, universal emotions such as love, joy, a sense of family and being there for friends as they change. If Score could write us all into such a kind and supportive world then, make no mistake, what a wonderful world it would be.