Pretend You're Mine was my first Lucy Score novel and will not be my last! I am so excited her backlist is being re-released!
This novel follows Harper as she drifts into small town Benevolence and finds herself in a forced proximity, only one bed, fake dating mess with the super broody and mysterious home-town hero Luke Garrison. He is about to redeploy in a month and to get his intervening family off his back he convinces Harper to stay with him until he leaves the country. Harper and Luke fight their strong physical connection while learning about each other's traumatic pasts that still haunt them. Harper finds purpose in assisting with Luke's business and Luke finds his desire to protect Harper unthawing his heart in a way he thought impossible. Can a relationship rooted in falsehood and secrecy blossom into something more permanent? Can they both move past their demons to claim a HEA?

I really enjoyed the tension, banter, and found family tropes in this book. It is also my first military hero novel and I found it incredibly moving. Lucy Score can right some spice that would make anyone's heart race and I can't wait to return to Benevolence for Aldo and Gloria's story in Finally Mine. My only complaint with this read was the third act breakup; I really though the second one was overly traumatic for both Luke/Harper but I understand the author needed this to fully help Luke move on from his losses.

Thank you to NetGalley and BloomBooks for my advanced arc in exchange for my honest review. I will post on my social page when I finish Finally Mine!

👌🏻what i liked:
I’m a sucker for a small town romance, so this was an automatic like in that category. Our heroine in this book was super likable and strong, that can be hard to find at times. I really enjoyed all the interactions with the side characters.

🙃 what i didn’t like:
I honestly wasn’t that big of a fan of Luke… Judge me if you want, but he was kind of annoying. I did like him more once he adopted Max. I’m still not over the way he treated his girl at the end.

💬 quote:
“You can’t put your worth in someone else’s hands like that. Whether those hands are stroking you or hurting you. It doesn’t matter. Your value comes from inside. Whether you mean something to him or not has nothing to do with how inherently valuable you are.”

📖 recommend?
Yes! Please read the trigger warnings before reading though! This is not for everyone!

🥰 special thanks
Thank you to NetGalley, Lucy Score, and Sourcebooks Bloom Books for granting me this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review!

What happens when your worst day just keeps deteriorating? In the first book of the Benevolence series, the female main character loses her job and her relationship all in one fell swoop. Distraught and homeless, she drives in the wrong direction and ends up lost in a small town where she immediately ends up in a physical fight. Luke is one of the people swooping in to help her pick up the pieces, but he also has lots of his own previous losses that he is stuffing down and ignoring. What starts as a pretend dating relationship soon starts to become something more.

I enjoyed these characters for most of the book, although Luke had some jerk moments and Harper might have been too fluffy at times. Overall, I wanted to see what happened and enjoyed the whole book, not wanting to put it down at all after the 50% mark.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloom for my review copy.

Lucy Score can do no wrong. I think this could be a book of the summer! 4 stars from me - highly recommend.

Swoon!!! Lucy Score does it again - she creates such dynamic characters all around that you just fall in love with all of them (well all except the truly evil ones).

Harper is on her way to build a new life after catching her boyfriend (and boss) cheating. She runs out of gas in a small town only to find out she’s been going the wrong direction. But there she meets Luke, the hometown hero. He agrees to let her stay with him and the two strike a deal that she’ll pretend to be his girlfriend until he deploys. It’s all pretend until it isn’t! Thank you Netgalley and Bloom Books for the egalley in exchange for my honest review.

I am sorry but this just wasn’t my favorite read. I didn’t dislike it but also didn’t love it. The writing was okay. The cover was cute at least. Literally no other thoughts.

Lucy Score is the queen of broody romances with a tinge of action. A good book with good characters (who are at times cringey or get on your nerves, but you love them anyways- and maybe a bit more because of it) who always have intense chemistry that has you on the edge of your seat and wanting to skip pages left and right.

Thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy of pretend you're mine. This was my first Lucy score book and it was just as cute as everyone says. Such a fantastic romance author I need to read her other works

Holy moly! Perhaps the smuttiest Lucy Score book I've ever read. What a fun read. I actually really enjoyed the other elements of the book as well, specifically the last 25%. However, I feel as if the ending was totally rushed, which is odd considering this book is 400+ pages.

I really enjoyed this book, it felt like I could watch it on Hallmark, it just had that feel! Harper had a rough upbringing and didn't have anybody in her corner, but she never uses it as an excuse and in fact it fuels her fire to be there for others, stand up for what's right and to find the good in everything. Luke has had his own share of tragedies; that he keeps locked away from the world to see; but he's not great at it, it's clear he's hiding all sorts of secrets but he isn't one to share.
Harper in this small town is perfect, she fits right in and makes this place her home full of great friends. When Luke is deployed, did I mention he's in the military? Harper relies on those friendships to get her through his deployment and when Luke asks her to stay, she is so hopeful for the future.

PRETEND YOU'RE MINE - LUCY SCORE
4⭐
PLOT -
Harper Wilde is looking to start a new life when hse comes across a small town and lands literally in Luke Garrisons arms. Harper needs a place to stay and Luke needs a pretend girlfriend till he has to get back to his army duties. As they spend time together they are attracted to each other they know it's only time being untill Luke asks her to stay. Luke needs to get over his past to build his future and Harpers past is catching up on her will she run again or Luke will protect her forever.
MY THOUGHTS -
This was a good take relationship story. Harper is the perfect sunshine to Likes grumpiness . Lucy Score has done a great job in writing this small town Romance which also deals with deeper issues like grief, foster child and army families and their lives . The epilogue was just perfect for the story.
Thank you Netgalley and publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

No one does spicy romance quite like Lucy Score. This was another great read from her. I enjoyed the small town romance and couldn’t put it down.

I’ve read many of Lucy Score’s books and this is definitely one of my favourites.

1. No one writes spice like Lucy does. And if you are looking for spice, then I highly recommend.

2. She seamlessly incorporates all of her spicy scenes into a well-developed and thought out plot. This was no exception. From the beginning I was drawn to Harper and Luke and their stories.

There was one aspect that felt like it came out of nowhere, and I would have liked more subtle references in the lead up, but overall, I quite enjoyed this book.

An ARC was provided by NetGalley and Bloom Books in exchange for an honest review.

Lucy Score kills it when writing small town romance. Only reason so didn’t give this one 5 stars is because I enjoyed her novel The Things We Never Got Over more. I absolutely loved the chemistry between Luke and Harper and the relationship Harper had with Luke’s family. Below were some of my favorite quotes from the book:

“You made my house a home, you took away the chaos at work, and you gave me what I didn’t know I needed.”

“You can’t put your worth in someone else’s hands like that. Whether those hands are stroking you or hurting you. It doesn’t matter. Your value comes from inside. Whether you mean something to him or not has nothing to do with how inherently valuable you are.”

“An adult has reason and logic. They can understand the concept of never seeing someone again.” “There’s no logic behind death and loss,” Harper argued. “Trying to reason it out can take you to some pretty dark places. Guilt. Blame. Hiding from your pain by distracting yourself with work, booze, sex, shopping.”

Thank you NetGalley for the e-book in exchange for my honest review.

I was new to this author but I found this book to be really something! I enjoyed every moment of it and immediately read the next book!

This was a super cute small town romance that features the found family trope, fake dating, and some grumpy sunshine vibes too! The two main characters are falling fast and hard for each other but as expected things end up blowing up… I did think the resolution was a bit rushed and the heroine accepted the apology a bit too quick but overall really enjoyed this romance!

Review Posted to Storygraph and Goodreads on June 10, 2023

3⭐️

This book was a sweet small-town romance following Harper and Luke. Harper embodied the kind of heroine you yearned to have as your closest confidante. Her down-to-earth nature and undeniable charm made it impossible not to adore her, even when you couldn't help but feel a pang of envy for the person she shared her nights with. And then there was Luke, a military man burdened with guilt, sorrow, and an undeniable allure. Similar to Harper, it was effortless to become captivated by him and yearn to be the one who could heal his wounds. This book was just okay in my opinion, I am not always the biggest fan of military/police romances and this one didn't do it for me as much.

Favorite Quote:
"Love and pride flowed through her veins, feeding her heart. The was the man she had always dreamed of."

Special thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

3-4 Stars. Thank you to Bloom Books and Net Galley for the ARC of this book. This book looks like it was originally published years ago and is being released again. I hadn't read it before so Luke and Harper's story was new to me and both endeared me immediately. Harper jumped in between a guy and girl outside a bar when the guy was manhandling a woman. Meanwhile Luke jumped in when the guy swung at Harper. Immediately we know both of these characters are strong willed and also care about others. The bar is located in Luke's small hometown where Harper happened to stopped to make a call on her way to a friend's place a few hours away. She's actually kind of desperate in that she left her home quickly after catching her boyfriend(also her boss) with someone else so she ran out without her purse and phone.

Alot happens in the first few chapters and without giving details I'll share that Harper stays in town. There's definitely some instant attraction between Luke and Harper and we watch things develop between them but you sense an elephant in the room. We get dual POV's which I like so we can connect more to the characters. With that said though I felt like I was going a little through the motion and being told more of how these two felt versus feeling them. Harper is definitely as strong through the book as she was in the beginning but her confidence from how she grew up has taken some hits. I really liked her and so did most of everyone else in the story.

Luke meanwhile was also someone I liked and you can tell he has a heart of gold. Something is holding him back and from his family/friends reactions to Harper's entrance into his life, you feel like everyone is rooting for her except for him. Yet you can tell he likes her. He ends up deployed in the story which was kind of interesting to throw into the book. It didn't detract from anything and I won't share more on what happens.

I liked the author's writing and she's very descriptive so there's not much you miss out on as the reader. There's quite a few smexy moments and in those you do feel the connection between these two. My heart did go out to both because once you realize what's going on you wonder how it will end. You'll need to read the book to find out!

Lucy Score is one of my fave authors and this one was great! I love these characters, they feel like family. The bd tee and sizzle in here is amazing! Definitely 5 stars.. I am literally reading every single book by L.S.!!!!

Imagine you leave you house hastily without your purse, to crash at your out of town friend's house. You get lost, and are really low on gas. You pull off the road just as your car runs out of gas, into a bar parking lot and as you roll into it, you see a woman under attack from her boyfriend, and you intervene. You get knocked out, naturally. When you come to, you’re in heaven. Nope, it’s just the town of Benevolence and a strong, solid, army guy, who reluctantly asks you to be his fake girlfriend in order to get his mom off his back.

This story has so much going for it: fake dating, one bed, a little grumpy/sunshine, and a lot of funny. And definitely spicy. In true Lucy Score fashion, this story has really strong characters that drive the narrative and will keep you reading just to see what they do next.