Mistakes Were Made Summary: A Captivating Small-Town Romance by Lucy Score
Introduction
Picture a bald eagle stealing your favorite bra right off a clothesline.
That’s the kind of welcome Zoey Moody receives when she limps into Story Lake, Pennsylvania, with a broken-down car and a career in shambles.
Zoey is a brilliant literary agent whose Manhattan life is crumbling.
Gage Bishop is the town’s most dependable man: attorney, contractor, and self-appointed fixer of broken things.
He just never expected to meet someone as magnificently un-fixable as Zoey.
What follows is a story set in a town where citizens pelt wrongdoers with baked potatoes and name their snowplows “Plowy McFuckYou.”
Beneath the humor, the book holds space for grief, late ADHD diagnosis, and the quiet terror of letting someone see you as you truly are.
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TL;DR: Chaos Meets Control in Story Lake
- Zoey Moody, a literary agent with undiagnosed ADHD, relocates from Manhattan to quirky Story Lake, Pennsylvania, after her life implodes.
- She clashes immediately with Gage Bishop, a meticulous attorney and contractor who finds her both infuriating and irresistible.
- A “monogamous casual sex” arrangement with a truth-telling safe wordā”disco”āforces both characters to confront their deepest wounds.
- Zoey receives a life-altering ADHD diagnosis that reframes her entire history of feeling “too much.”
- Gage must choose between his rigid need for justice and his sister’s plea for mercy toward the woman who caused her husband’s death.
- The story delivers a hard-won happy ending built on forgiveness, found family, and the radical acceptance of imperfection.
Mistakes Were Made Summary
ā SPOILERS AHEAD
Read the FullĀ Mistakes Were Made Book Summary by Chapters
Zoey Moody’s life in New York is unraveling. Her apartment is converting to a condo she cannot afford, and her career as a literary agent hangs by a thread.
With only one loyal clientābestselling romance author Hazel HartāZoey flees to Story Lake, Pennsylvania. Her arrival is immediately disastrous.
A bald eagle named Goose dive-bombs her. A snake finds its way onto her face. Then she collides with Gage Bishop’s truck, cementing her reputation as a walking natural disaster.
Gage is the town’s golden boy. He spends mornings on construction sites with his family’s business and afternoons practicing law. He craves order, predictability, and controlāeverything Zoey disrupts.
To earn money, Zoey becomes Story Lake’s publicist. Gage, meanwhile, begins renovating an apartment for her above his law office. Forced proximity ignites a physical relationship neither expected.
They establish ground rules: monogamous, casual, no feelings. But they also create a safe wordā”disco”āthat demands absolute honesty whenever spoken. Under disco, walls crumble fast.
Gage’s sister Laura, a widow in a wheelchair, blackmails him into representing Valerie Hillportāthe woman whose car struck Laura and killed her husband, Miller. For Gage, justice has always been black and white. This case turns everything gray.
Meanwhile, retired psychologist Opal Mallory diagnoses Zoey with ADHD. The diagnosis lands like a revelation. Decades of “shame spirals,” forgotten deadlines, and the ache of being “too much” suddenly have a name.
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Zoey’s narcissistic parents visit for her birthday and publicly humiliate her at a town restaurant. Gage defends her fiercely, declaring his love in front of everyone. The moment feels triumphantāuntil that same night, everything shatters.
At a town bonfire, an armed attacker targets Zoey’s friend Audrey. Zoey intervenes without hesitation, risking her own life to stop a kidnapping. She saves Audrey, but Gage unravels. Paralyzed by the fear of losing her, he lashes out, calling her “stupid” and “selfish.” Then he walks away.
The breakup confirms Zoey’s oldest fear: she is too chaotic, too impulsive, too much to be loved.
Gage eventually confronts the truth his anger was masking. His obsession with control is a trauma response. He cannot “perfect” his way into keeping everyone safe. He secures a plea deal for Valerieāgranting his sister’s wish for mercyāand begins the harder work of forgiving himself.
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To win Zoey back, Gage does not simply apologize. He fixes her car. He transforms a closet in his home into a glittering disco-ball sanctuary where her entire wardrobe hangs meticulously organized.
He returns her favorite bra, which Goose the eagle had stolen and, inexplicably, “blessed” by bringing it back.
Zoey chooses to stay in Story Lake.
She accepts that she is worthy of loveānot despite being a disaster, but exactly as she is. The book closes on a farm wedding, a new dog, a miniature donkey, and the quiet possibility of adoption.
Characters in This Book
| Character | Role |
|---|---|
| Zoey Moody | Literary agent with undiagnosed ADHD who relocates to Story Lake after her New York life collapses. |
| Gage Bishop | Attorney and contractor who values control and order; co-protagonist and Zoey’s love interest. |
| Hazel Hart | Zoey’s best friend and bestselling romance author whose comeback anchors Zoey’s career. |
| Campbell (Cam) Bishop | Gage’s grumpy older brother, a contractor engaged to Hazel. |
| Levi Bishop | Gage’s broody older brother, the reluctant Chief of Police and an aspiring writer. |
| Laura Upcraft (nĆ©e Bishop) | Gage’s sister, a widow and mother who uses a wheelchair after a tragic accident. |
| Opal Mallory | Retired psychologist who diagnoses Zoey with ADHD and becomes her second client. |
| Pep & Frank Bishop | Gage’s adoptive parents who fostered and reunited the three Bishop brothers. |
| Darius Oglethorpe | The teenage mayor of Story Lake, a cross-country star and self-described boy genius. |
| Valerie Hillport | The woman responsible for the accident that killed Laura’s husband; becomes Gage’s client and Laura’s friend. |
| Audrey | Gage’s client fleeing an abusive marriage; Zoey saves her during a violent confrontation. |
| Nina Vampic | The antagonistic mayor of neighboring Dominion who tries to sabotage Story Lake’s tourism. |
| Goose | A local bald eagle with a mischievous personality; Zoey’s self-declared animal nemesis. |
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Lucy Score: Prolific Voice in Small-Town Romance
Lucy Score is a #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author known for crafting emotionally rich contemporary romances set in vividly drawn small towns.
She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and a rotating cast of rescue animals. Her Knockemout series catapulted her to international fame, with Things We Never Got Over becoming a BookTok phenomenon.
The Story Lake series continues her signature blend of humor, heat, and heartfelt storytelling.
Find more of Lucy Score’s book summaries at URSummary’s Lucy Score collection.
The Big Ideas
| Theme | How It Appears in the Story |
|---|---|
| Neurodiversity & Late ADHD Diagnosis | Zoey receives an ADHD diagnosis in adulthood, which reframes her lifelong struggles with executive function, shame, and feeling “too much” for others. |
| Forgiveness vs. Justice | Gage is forced to represent Valerie, the woman who killed his brother-in-law, challenging his rigid belief that justice must be punitive. |
| Found Family | The Bishop siblingsāfostered and reunited by Pep and Frankādemonstrate that family is built through loyalty and choice, not just blood. |
| Acceptance of Imperfection | Both Zoey and Gage must stop trying to earn love by being “fixed” and instead accept themselves and each other as works in progress. |
| Grief & the “New Normal” | Laura’s journey after losing her husband and becoming a wheelchair user shows grief not as something to overcome but as something to integrate into a changed life. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Mistakes Were Made have a happy ending?
Yes, Mistakes Were Made concludes with Zoey and Gage reconciled, planning a farm wedding, and building a future together that includes a dog, a miniature donkey, and adoption plans.
What is the “disco” safe word rule between Zoey and Gage?
“Disco” is a safe word Zoey and Gage establish that requires complete and immediate honestyāwhen either says it, the other must tell the absolute truth with no deflection or humor.
Is Mistakes Were Made a standalone or part of a series?
Mistakes Were Made is the second book in Lucy Score’s Story Lake series, but it can be read as a standalone since it focuses on Zoey and Gage’s complete romance arc.
What happens with Zoey’s ADHD diagnosis in the book?
Retired psychologist Opal Mallory diagnoses Zoey with ADHD during the story, providing a medical framework that helps Zoey understand her lifelong challenges with organization, impulsivity, and self-worth.
Who is Goose and what role does the eagle play?
Goose is a bald eagle living in Story Lake who develops a peculiar fixation on Zoeyāstealing her belongings (including her bra), causing chaos, and eventually becoming an unlikely symbol in Gage’s grand romantic gesture.
What does “potatoing” mean in Story Lake?
“Potatoing” is Story Lake’s informal justice system where residents who commit “crimes against the town”āsuch as betrayal or breaking someone’s heartāare pelted with baked potatoes as punishment.
Does Gage forgive Valerie Hillport for the accident that killed his brother-in-law?
Yes, Gage ultimately represents Valerie and secures her a plea deal, honoring his sister Laura’s wish for mercy and learning that forgiveness does not mean betraying the memory of those lost.
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