Not my most favorite LS novel but still well written! I’ve been reading a lot of romance novels lately and there was just nothing original that made my heart jump for glee

As always, Lucy Score knocks it out of the park with her romances. I loved this small-town romance, and it's been a while since I've read a great heart warming story. Harper is a strong, amazing main character that was easy to love. I was rooting for her from the get go. She was fun, outgoing, and I connected to her immediately. Luke, the hometown hero, was delicious and I love watching the growth he went through throughout the book, he was frustrating at times but it felt so real. The romance between Harper and Luke was intoxicating and I loved going through the ups and downs beside them. The ending was a bit cheesy but I also loved it, and this was a great contemporary romance from Lucy.

A Captivating Tale of Pretense and Passion - 4/5 Stars

Pretend Your Mine by Lucy Score is a delightful romance novel that takes readers on an emotional rollercoaster, combining the perfect blend of fake relationship tropes, heartwarming moments, and sizzling chemistry. With engaging characters, a charming small-town setting, and a storyline that keeps you hooked from beginning to end, this book is a captivating read.

Luke Garrison, the broody hometown hero, is a member of the National Guard preparing for another deployment. Determined to avoid any romantic entanglements, he concocts a plan to use Harper as a decoy—a fake girlfriend to appease his family. However, as their charade unfolds, Luke finds himself irresistibly drawn to Harper, discovering a connection that goes far beyond their pretense.

Harper, a woman seeking a fresh start, is instantly captivated by Luke's rugged allure. The author skillfully brings out her vulnerability and strength, making her a relatable and endearing character. As the chemistry between Luke and Harper intensifies, Score beautifully explores their emotional journey, taking the readers on a compelling exploration of trust, redemption, and the healing power of love.

The romance between Luke and Harper is electric, filled with passionate encounters that will leave readers breathless. Their connection develops naturally, as they share intimate moments and discover a sense of safety and belonging in each other's arms. Lucy Score masterfully crafts the building tension between them, keeping readers on the edge of their seats, eager to see if their pretend relationship will turn into something real.

One of the highlights of this book is the well-developed small-town setting. The sense of community and the vividly depicted supporting characters add depth and richness to the story. The author expertly weaves their lives into the narrative, creating a tapestry of relationships and connections that enhance the overall reading experience.

While the plot relies on some familiar romance tropes, Lucy Score infuses her own unique touch, injecting freshness into the story. The writing style is engaging, with a good balance between humor, heartache, and steamy romance. The pacing keeps the story moving at a satisfying pace, and the twists and turns along the way add excitement and unpredictability.

The only slight drawback is that some aspects of the characters' pasts and motivations could have been further explored and developed. However, this doesn't detract significantly from the overall enjoyment of the book.

In conclusion, Pretend Your Mine is a captivating romance novel that will leave readers swooning and sighing with contentment. With its engaging characters, well-crafted storyline, and undeniable chemistry, Lucy Score delivers a memorable and satisfying read. If you're a fan of small-town romances with fake relationship tropes, this book is an excellent choice that will keep you entertained until the very last page.

an emotional read, the first book in this series. Harper meets Luke when she has left her whole life behind. He is adamant that they can't have a relationship so will hearts be broken. Can't wait to read the next book.

I couldn't get behind this relationship. There is one thing to have a brooding MC, but it's another for him to be unlikeable and unlovable to a fault. Just wasn't feeling this fake couple.

Unplanned events land Harper in small-town, middle of nowhere Benevolence and immediately in a fist fight of drama with a local man who is abusing another woman in a parking lot. Not one to back down, she stands up for the woman and at the end of the altercation finds herself in the arms of local dreamboat, Luke. What started as a fun romp between two adults who are heavily attracted to each other, grows into something more serious - real. After just a month relationship, Luke’s National Guard unit gets called out for a 6-month tour, leaving Harper behind. While he’s gone she builds roots in the town and his family, but she also discovers a major event in his past that he neglected to disclose. Ultimately, each of them missed each other, but worry the relationship won’t be the same when he returns - and eventually it isn’t. Now Harper’s past is coming into play and both of them are having to sort out their feelings while dealing with ghosts of their past. Will they be able to move on with each other or will they be left to go separate ways?

This is only my second Lucy Score book but it definitely has a feel that is “her.” The spice level at the beginning is high but the last quarter of the book turns more romantic and “real” and it almost made me cry. I love Harper’s strength and mentality after all she’s been through. I really felt like she was a great role model for the other characters in the book and I enjoyed reading about her. The family relationships in this book were so loving and warm and I appreciated their presence in the story. I would recommend this read for someone who likes a strong female hero who doesn’t need a man, but has a heart big enough for one and his entire family.

Disclaimer: I received a gifted copy of this book via netgalley and in exchange I'm leaving my honest review. This is the ARC of the trad published version, and I was unable to find that on Goodreads. So pretend this is that one.
I'ma be real with y'all, I'm not a fan of the military. I have my reasons for it, but let's just say that. I half expected to be denied the ARC because I'm usually denied for her books, which is why this is the first one of hers I've read. 😅 That being said because this isn't really combat heavy like military fiction seems to be, I was sort of able to look past that. And ngl, Luke irritated me. But seeing the way he starts to heal from his past and melt the ice in his heart made me happy. I Lowkey almost cried a couple times. I also almost threw my ipad because I got irritated with his stubbornness but. 😅 I digress. I know I seem like I'm complaining but I think it's normal to get irritated with characters? Because them being fictional doesn't mean they have to be perfect.
I really liked the message about how Karen in a way sent Harper to Luke, even though I don't really believe in the afterlife. And I liked seeing that despite the pain in both of their pasts, they are able to heal upon finding each other. They're two halves of the same whole in a lot of ways. I appreciated the PTSD representation as well, as someone who has it. It's a reminder that it looks different on everyone, and that neither Luke nor Harper are exempt from that.

Pretend Your Mine follows the story of Luke and Harper. It starts with Harper finding her boyfriend cheating so she does what everyone does - packs up her stuff and heads to her friend's house; however, her car runs out of gas and she - predictably - ends up in the small town of Benevelonce.

She stays over at Luke's house and they begin to fake date - Harper stays with him, in exchange, his family will stop trying to set him up, before he's deployed.

3.5⭐️
3🌶️

Third person pov, small town, relationship of convenience.

Harper + Luke were a decent quick read. The story started off on the slower side and I didn’t really feel much of a buildup of tension between them. It just kind of got me feeling like “okay let’s get to the good part”. If you’re someone who needs a good grovel, this probably is not your man. While there is some, the parting words he shares with Harper I felt were a little too easily d forgiven and forgotten. Overall though it was a good heartbreaking story and if you tend to like these tropes then I recommend giving it a shot!

cute small town romance. somewhat predictable and the MMC was a little bit annoying, but I guess endearing in the end. a good smattering of humor and drama throughout that kept me engaged. Pacing was a little slow at times, but essentially easy enough to work through.

Big thanks to Bloom Books, Lucy Score and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions!

3.5⭐️s
4/5 spice 🌶

Writing: 3/5
Plot: 3/5
Ending: 4/5

Basic Plot: Woman in a bad spot ends up in small town and in a fake relationship with a man who is leaving shortly to be deployed. Real feelings emerge and they both have hidden secrets.

My Thoughts:

This book has a little bit of everything for romance readers - spice, fake dating, military man and a small town vibe. I'm a sucker for a fake dating relationship - but this one seemed to move a little too fast. This is also a pretty long read and could have had 150 less pages to get the same story across. I loved how it started, the middle got tedious but I loved how it ended.

The writing was good and did have me hooked along with the spice level that was included. I also LOVEEEE a small town vibe. I love everyone who knows everyone in a romance novel that can lead to a series of townspeople who fall in love. My biggest problem with this one was the characters themselves. There was just so much going on with Luke and it was annoying to see him move this woman in so quickly into his life (that she completely took over) and to see him just push her away out of nowhere. Honestly, it was weird to see Harper just fall into his life like that and quite literally push her way into every single aspect of his life - family, home, work and friends.

Ignoring all of that - I still did love the idea of how he was leaving and how he would react when it came time for him to leave. THEN all these secrets start pouring out and there was some suspense. But to be honest I would have been fine with the book ending the moment he got home and then a little epilogue that detailed their future. It seemed like there was WAY too much going on for one book.

Overall, it's a 3.5-star read rounded up to 4 stars. I don't think I will continue the series (more on this below in the spoilers) but am interested in reading more of Score's work. While I couldn't stop reading the book, the characters were just too much and there was too much going on in the plot. But I do think this is one romance readers will love and should give a chance to especially if they love a fake dating, military man, small town romance vibe.



SPOILERS BELOW - read at your own risk!!!









- I have no idea how Harper could just jump into this man's life literally HOURS after she met him. That was weird to me. I could have used some lead up. HOW DID NO ONE IN TOWN QUESTION THIS??? She beats some man up and then just jumps (literally) into his bed and life in one night. His family fell in love with her immediately instead of questioning any of this - WEIRD.
- Then Harper just starts redoing his entire life and bringing dogs into his house in less than a month of knowing him??? Meanwhile he will barely talk to her.
- The wife bomb was one I saw coming and I liked this aspect - but wish it was done differently. I didn't like how Harper inserted herself into the situation before even talking to Luke about it. The fact she stayed at Joni's house after Luke dumped her was SUPER WEIRD.
- Then the whole prison man thing was like the author needed one more twist and pulled this one out of her ass. It was a pointless thing to add into this book. Glenn was honestly enough.
- I love when a series continues with other people from the small town and I when I was done reading I couldn't wait to see who the next book would be about (JONI AND FRANK maybe???) but no we got Gloria and Aldo. Which would have been fine .... BUT WE GOT THEIR WHOLE RELATIONSHIP BASICALLY DETAILED OUT IN THIS ONE. Why would I read the second book when I already know they got engaged in this one???? If Score had just hinted they liked each other - perf setup for the next one. But now I know they are engaged I feel no need to continue this series.

PRETEND YOU'RE MINE A Small Town Love Story (Benevolence #1) by Lucy Score
This story is about Luke Garrison, who is the local home town hero as well as a National Guard Captain and the beautiful flightly Harper. They meet when she runs out of gas without her purse or cell phone when she takes off after catching her boyfriend with another woman. She is by a bar and happens to see a man abusing his girlfriend and she intervenes. Luke rescues her when the guy starts in on her. Luke lets her stay at his house as she ended up hurt.
I really liked Harper, but spent a portion of the time wanting her to smack Luke when he kept hurting her. This is a read with plenty of witty banter, chemistry, also a lot of Luke caused angst. This is 4 stars.

Pretend You're Mine is the first book I've read by Lucy Score, and I can honestly say that I was obsessed! I plan to read all of her books once I have the chance!

The story follows Luke and Harper. The story starts with Harper finding her boyfriend cheating, she packs up her stuff and starts driving to her friend's house. On the way, her car runs out of gas and she ends up in the small-town, Benevelonce. After a crazy arrival she stays the night at Luke's. Soon they start faking dating, so that Luke's family will stop trying to set him up and in exchange, Harper stays with him as she figures out what to do next with her life. Their relationship is supposed to last one month before Luke gets deployed. But of course plans change as romance blooms and secrets become revealed.

This was a great small town romance read with some popular tropes in the book being fake dating, one bed, unrequited love, and military romance. There's nothing I would change about the story! The tension and spice level was a 6 with some great chemistry between the characters and lots of descriptive sex. But be warned, this is also a sad story with past traumas that effect both Luke and Harper which will make you tear up.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloom Books for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

AH! i really loved luke and harpers story even though i wanted to bop luke over the head sometimes! harper was such a well written female lead and luke balanced out her optimism and big heart perfectly

Lucy Score loves writing witty, strong willed, and funny FMC and that is why I always find myself drawn to her books. Pretend You're Mine is no different. Harper finds herself turned around in Benevolence. Naturally, one her first unofficial night in the town, she finds herself outside of a bar jumping on the back of a drunk man. Honestly, Harper was wild for that but that's what I love about her. Luke comes to her rescue (in more than ways than one) and not only helps her in her altercation with the drunk man at the bar, but also helps her get away from a cheating ex, hires her as his secretary, offers her a place to stay until she is on her feet, and all Harper has to do is pretend to be his girlfriend. Harper is such a great FMC. This book and any book written by Lucy Score is a 5 star read for me.

Found on netgalley but knew of it from a friend and so happy I was approved to read this book
Abostly loved reading it. Couldn't put it down. 5 star book. Highly recommended this book. Already told a few people that they need to read this book. Might reread later on in the year

This is my third book I have ready by Lucy Score and she is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. I love a small town setting The character development made me feel very attached to Harper and Luke and their relationship. I felt their love, confusion, joy, pain, fear, that drove the plot forward. I could not put this book down. I am so excited to continue to read this series

You all know this person I books…who can do no wrong and gorgeous to boot!! They can be bit irritating…well that person is magically converted into adorable in capable Lucy score hands. This person happens to a small town and a grumpy small towner. He, a man, who had no interest in dating or marriage….she, a woman, looking for roots. What could go wrong?? A looot!! I am here for all that!

This is such an easy book to get lost in.
Harper and Luke are a great couple and watching them overcome their issues is great.
Harpers friendship in the books is so fun.
Your heart breaks for Luke when you learn his story.
The family dynamics in this book is also well written.
The banter between the characters is so funny.
I can’t wait to read the next book

2.5 stars

Unfortunately, as much as it pains me to write this, I was REALLY disappointed in this book. Why, you might ask? Well, because I really like Lucy Score as an author. Recently, she has come out with some seriously funny, funny, well written books.

This came to me as an ARC, but when I did a little bit of investigating, it looks like it is a re-release of some books from long ago. I truly hope that is what this is. Sometimes authors just re-release a book in its entirety and sometimes they update them and make changes. I honestly have no idea which this one was, I only know that it is the first book by Ms. Score that I really didn't like.

Okay, about the book. To me, the major problem with this book is the fact that the male MC Luke Garrison is EXTREMELY unlikeable. Truly, he is a complete jerk. Yes, we see that quite a bit in this genre. There is the journey of character development that a character makes to redemption and as readers, it is a great thing to read. But, that didn't happen here. He started off as a jerk and he stayed a jerk throughout the entire book. Heck, if I'm being honest, he got worse.

Then, to top it off, the female MC Harper was basically a doormat. Yep, same thing applies here. We generally can see a female character in this genre start as a character that maybe hasn't learned to stand up for herself, and we get to see what a loving relationship can do both for her self-esteem and for her confidence. This was the exact OPPOSITE. It was awful. I'm not sure there was anything that this guy could do to her that she wouldn't forgive....<i>because she just loved him soooo much.</i> Ugh. That's not love. That is giving up any feeling of self worth for a character.

Yes, you can love someone who doesn't love you back, this definitely happens. But you should NEVER allow that person to hurt you, to demean you, to throw you out, to say VILE, vile things to you and then the second he says, <i>"Oops, I'm sorry, I am willing to try now"</i> ....... all of the ugliness just gets swept under the rug. No. Just no.

Not only did that make me angry, it made me sad.

I also received the next book in this series as an ARC and now. I'm truly not sure if I want to read it....that is how much it bothered me. Well, we'll just see......

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. The opinions above are mine and mine alone