Love a Lucy Score story! Harper grew up in foster care after losing her parents at a young age. While she could be feeling sorry for herself, she chooses to live in the present and be thankful. Luke is living a closed off life. They meet outside a local bar when Harper jumps in to protect a woman who is being assaulted in the bar's parking lot. I really liked this story. I did find Harper's finding the key to unlock a storage area in Luke's house to be out of bounds. I can't believe her friend Hannah didn't talk her down from doing that. Luke was so hot and cold to Harper at times. I'm glad he got his act together.

This review contains spoilers! I saw a lot of reviews saying they didn’t like this book because Luke was still in love with his dead wife. I think that’s what made this book so amazing and relatable. Losing someone is hard and it isn’t easy to get over and start a new life with someone else. Harper is everything Luke didn’t know he needed and they balance each other out so perfectly. Harper caught her boyfriend cheating and is trying to find her place in the world. Luckily she ends up sharing a room with Luke and she finds her place. Ends with an HEA!

- [x] Painful past
- [x] Small town vibes
- [x] A one bed trope
- [x] Military Officer MC
- [x] Don’t touch her vibes

I have read some of Lucy Score newer books and loved them. This is a re-release of an older book. I genuinely enjoyed it.

Harper is tough.. don’t let the hard days win type of girl. She knows her worth and won’t accept anything less.

She come flying into town like a whirlwind. She is instantly accepted into the small community. Luke is a man with a painful past. He likes order and plans and does not want to stray.

He does not expect Harper and all she brings with her. He tries to stay away but can’t escape the magnetism.

It’s great story of secrets and past. New beginnings , found family, and love. I highly recommend checking it out!!

Tw: Abuse, child and domestic, grief and loss.

I received an arc from NetGalley for an honest review of this book.

Although this book was entertaining, there were many lines that were just cringey to read. I felt like the characters acted immature and some scenes were unrealistic or even overexaggerated in comparison to real-life scenarios. I hope those gripes explain the star deductions. All in all, this was thoroughly entertaining and funny. It was an enjoyable read.

I really couldn't get behind this one. The story just wasn't for me and it just fell flat. The possession that the main character had other the other main character was too much. Overall, I just felt this book wasn't my thing. The writing was good other than that, I couldn't enjoy this.

Oh my gosh I loved this one! It’s the first book in the Benevolence series. Lucy is such a beautiful writer and she sure knows how to pull on your heart strings. I absolutely loved the the small town vibes and I enjoyed learning more about Harper and Luke. I can’t wait to read the rest of the books!

This book was so good, can't wait to read the next book. Love Lucy Score. Harper was so patient and loving, just a perfect match for Luke.

I read this book after a suggestion to buy Lucy Score's books. I really enjoyed it and can't wait to read the rest of the series. And yes I am purchasing these books for the Library. There were surprises in the story line and the whole story kept me reading.

I loved Harper & Luke. It had been a while sense I had read this and I love the new cover. I love the town of Benevolence and Harper is my all time favorite. I love her beautiful sunshine personality that just shines through any situation. I love how she just kinda goes with the flow on everything, breaking up with cheating boyfriend, check, getting knocked out saving someone from a crazy boyfriend, Check, moving in with a hot single men so she has a place to stay and then becoming his "fake" girlfriend, check. I love how she collects friends and family even if she didn't realize it sometime.

Luke was just a broken soul and I kinda of love that Harper just bulldozes him into everything. I love how he was so in love with her and didn't know it. (Boys are always the last to know). It was interesting reading this a 2nd time knowing what I knew about Luke's previous life and how it was hidden for as long as it was and the reveal. I think I cried a million times more reading it this time knowing what was coming.

This is a fast paced, super amazing love story with fake dating, small town with amazing side characters, little bit of suspense. So good.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bloom Books.

I love Lucy Score as an author, but this one just wasn’t her best. I loved the characters; Harper and Luke were both absolute spitfires. Harper came off as a little too perfect and Luke a little too surely, but overall, it balanced out. However, the pacing and flow just wasn’t up to my normal Lucy Score standard. The romance was full of passion, but felt overdone at times. I hate the moniker “baby” so the overuse of that probably didn’t help my overall opinion. The overall plot line went way too fast from the start. The pacing got better in the middle, but then worsened by the end. I am being more nitpicking because I know how great of an author Lucy Score is and wish this was more in line with her writing for other books. Still worth a read and I’m already reading the next book in the series. 3.75⭐️, 3.5🌶

This is fake dating with several twists along the way. Harper and Luke are made for each other, but they each carry a weight from their past. Will they be able to let go of the past to make it to their future?

I do think this book, while being a good read, is not one of my favorites. Harper insinuates herself into Luke’s life - with his agreement - but then keeps barreling through his boundaries without consideration or apology and everyone sides with her when he tries to address it. She’s acts entitled and it’s not her best quality. But she has plenty of better ones, and overall is a good character.

I like the side characters and their stories that we learn along the way, and I like Harper’s dedication to Luke and enhancing his life and happiness on the way. And on the flip side, I enjoy Luke’s immediate dedication to Harper’s safety and well-being. There’s a lot of stumbling blocks in this story but you can tell ultimately these two do have the best intentions at heart. A cute read from Lucy Score.

Thank you to the author and net galley for a free copy of this book. I'm a pretty big fan of Lucy Score books, but I have to stay this was not one of my favorites. It started off a bit rough for me, thankfully the ending had some redeeming qualities. I found the main characters a bit annoying and frustrating, to be honest. But what I always love about Lucy's books are the side characters. I think they are done so well!! I loved the small town feels and all the awesome side characters. I really enjoyed getting to know them as well. To me they were the redeeming quality of the book.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for the ARC of Lucy Score's Pretend You're Mine. This is my first Lucy Score book and I was excited because I had heard rave reviews. This book was fast paced and kept my attention throughout. It reminded me a bit of Gilmore Girls (without the daughter). It was also heavy and emotional at times. It was a little hard for me to read some of National Guard aspects only because I am familiar with the lifestyle and some of it was fairly unrealistic. However, overall I really enjoyed this one and I am looking forward to the sequel.

Man sometimes I thought maybe this could be a 4⭐ book, but 😬😬 absolutely not. I guess the happy ending helps, but. As much as I loved the Main Characters I also could not stand how immature Luke was, how much Harper was willing to let Luke be the worst. Grief and loss are valid trauma, but it's not a valid excuse to be as horrible as Luke was, especially the intentional hurtful things he did.

I have forever loved Lucy Score’s books. I was so excited to see this on NetGalley, as I’d never even heard of it! I thought the premise sounded so good. But I was fairly disappointed. I love a steamy book as much as the next person, but I found this to be just too much sex and not enough plot.

This book was all over the place with me. There were situations and actions by three main characters I felt were irredeemable and the writing was pretty cheesy at time. But it was also delightfully funny in parts to I’m going to let most of the cheesiness slide on this one.

The story took a different route than most romances and that was a nice change of pace. Mainly, it’s the specific story revolving around the couple’s troubles that really had me. I cant say more without it being a spoiler but trust me when I say it’s enough to make you cry.

Fans of “Things We Never Got Over” will definitely love this one and even those who weren’t huge fans of that (🙋🏻‍♀️) might be like me and like this one more.

This book had ALL the feels.
Luke went through something so heart wrenching and couldn't move on from his past until Harper showed up in his life in the craziest way. She's a strong main character (as is Luke). I loved their story and definitely recommend this series!

Thank you Lucy Score, SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books, and Netgalley for this ARC

Harper and Lukes story sound alot like another book I read about a year ago. Lots of drama, anuse, and verbal bantering. First Lucy Score book I have read... hope not all her writing is like this.

Harper is on her way from a break up and lost job when she finds herself stuck in the town of Benevolence and staying with Luke, who has some baggage of his own that he doesn’t want to share. Sparks fly but they both promise to keep it temporary since she will be leaving and he will be deploying soon. Things get complicated as feelings get stronger.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a lot spicier that I was expecting, but there were so many other elements in the story that made it worth reading. Luke’s family and friends were so supportive and it was amazing how they immediately took Harper in as one of their own. Luke frustrated me a lot, but he had a lot of inner struggling happening throughout the book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bloom Books for this ARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I loved some of Lucy Score's other books, but this was not a favorite for me. After doing some research, I discovered this was a re-release and I think her writing style is not quite as developed in this older novel. Small-town romance, which is her go-to trope, but I just wasn't as attached or invested in these characters. I would recommend it if you love Lucy Score and her genre, but overall I found it fell a little flat for me. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and write an honest review.