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

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

If there was ever a perfect premise for a Hallmark movie, this would be it. Pretend You're Mine is a small town romance with a sweet but spunky FMC, a military hunk with a heartbreaking past, and loveable side characters. There's tropes like grumpy/sunshine, fake dating, unrequited love, and one bed/forced proximity. You'll go through several emotions and just when you thought things were going good, BAM. Luke needs punched in the face. I understand why Luke said what he did, but I'm not sure if I totally forgive him after those words 👀. Harper definitely needed to make him grovel more in order to win back her affections. Overall though, I enjoyed this book and hope you do too!

Harper is the definition of a strong heroine. She has always had to look out for herself. She is also brave and takes care of those she doesn't even know.
Luke is recovering from grief. He has no idea how to handle/deal with Harper.
I enjoyed the progression of their friendship-relationship-the unknown. Although Luke is in denial he is the best guy out there.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this book! This book put me through all the feels. I loved Luke’s development and the relationship with Harper! The whole town stole my heart!

Luke Garrison is a hometown hero, a member of the National Guard ready to deploy again. He’s strong, sexy, broody. The last thing he’s looking for is a woman to ruin his solitude. When the wildly beautiful Harper stumbles into his life, though, he realizes that she’s the perfect decoy. A fake girlfriend to keep his family off his back until he’s deployed. Harper was on her way to starting a new life… again. But something about Luke makes her want to settle down in this small town and make his house a home. One night of sharing a bed turns into something much, much more… and soon Luke can’t keep his mind off Harper’s wide gray eyes or his hands off her luscious curves. He never thought he’d feel this way about a woman again. But he knows that he can’t tell her the truth about his dark past. And she can’t reveal what she’s running from. At least this isn’t a real relationship. It’s only for a month. It’s only pretend. Until it isn’t…

This book jumps right into it! I was a little thrown off at first on how the aggressive things happened so quickly, but very quickly got over it and instantly fell in love with both Luke and Harper. All the characters were absolutely perfect and blended wonderfully. Luke is your basic swoon worthy Alfa male that you can't get enough of. Harper is sweet, sassy and doesn't take shit from anyone. Every aspect of this book had me hooked. I did not want it to end. This book had me laughing, crying, frustrated and excited...and every other emotion possible.

I gave this a 4.5 star-rating! I really want to have a relationship like this. It's so amazing to read how much he loves her without him truly understanding it. Lucy Score really knows how to write a book. Had my heart all over the place.

Thank you NetGalley and Bloom Books for this ARC. So, I didn’t know this until after I read the book, but it was originally published in 2015 by another publishing house and is now being published again, just with Bloom Books. That feels dishonest to me!!

I wasn’t sure about this book, but somewhere I got hooked! The start goes from slightly cringey to full on smut without a real plot which had me confused because the only other book I’ve read by Lucy Score started more plot heavy then added smut. Once the story started progressing I fell in love with the characters. I cried quite a bit in the last half, which I was not expecting after reading the beginning! In the two books of hers I’ve read, I enjoy Lucy Score writing small towns. They come off vibrant and charming.

Harper was a firey main character and I thought she was so fun. My biggest caveat is Luke, I don’t like him! He’s a walking red flag and I think Harper shouldn’t have considered going back unless he promised therapy. A couple of apologies just wouldn’t do it for me.

A solid romance read. The main characters were likable, all of their family and friends were great and well developed. It was a dramatic touch to add in Harper’s ghost from her past.

Things were going so great and I was so sure we were in the clear of a third act break up…and then boom, it nearly broke me at the end. I like being duped like this, it keeps me guessing! I devoured the second half - stayed up late on a work night just to find out how it ended, and I love my sleep.

I will say one negative thing..for a book being republished in 2023 I was pretty shocked at one or two of the “handicapped” comments made between Arlo/Harper in regards to how he’d find a woman post-injury. Not a funny joke, and it would have been so so so easy to cut out or replace this banter. It was uncomfortable to say the least. This didn’t write off the entire book for me, but I feel like feedback and raising awareness to it is important!

Harper and Luke are both wonderful characters! I love their dynamic and how they overcome the ghosts of their past.

Thank you NetGalley and Bloom Books for giving me the chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I set myself up for failure on this one. I’m not a huge fan of overly large books that seem to drag on forever. Honestly, it seemed the FMC just needed to get in tough with her own needs and emotions better. She reminded me of my toddler. She pouts when she doesn’t get everything she wants too.

With that, I can see why some really enjoy this book. It just wasn’t for me.

Pretend you're mine is full of swoon, a lovable heroine, angst, and ton of depth!

You'll like this book if you like:
- witty banter
- funny and smart characters
- hometown heroes
- only one bed
- tragic pasts and kindred spirits

Definitely check the triggers on this one, but overall an incredible read!!

I really enjoyed this! This was my first Lucy Score book, and I'm so excited to read her other works. I'm always a sucker for a good small town romance, so this was right up my alley. It's easy for tropes like these to become repetitive, but Score writes them in a way that still seems fresh and new. All in all, this was a great read for me and I'm so excited for whatever work of hers I pick up next!

As a big fan of Lucy Score, her novels never fail to amaze me! Her characters are always lovable-- even when flawed. Pretend You're Mine is sweet and sassy with many layers. I loved it!

This wasn't it for me! Wanted to love it but didn't, unfortunately. Maybe next time will be better! Fingers crossed :)

Small Town
Fake Dating
Alpha/Protective/Possessive male
Heartfelt
Romantic
Spicy
Second chance at love

Pretend You're Mine pulled me in from the beginning, laugh out loud feel good rom-com. Harper is starting over and landed in Benevolence. Where Harper is spirited, sassy, and wants a home Luke is against all of it. He does agree to a fake relationship to hold off his family matchmaking.

She's escaped a traumatic life and a terribly dull relationship with nothing but the clothes on her back, she has found herself in the wrong direction from where she's supposed to be. A little lost she pulls into the parking lot of a bar just in time to rescue a young woman from being attacked by her boyfriend. She gets knocked down in the process only to come around staring into the beautiful, hypnotic eyes of town hunk and hero Luke Garrison. There's an immediate spark and tension between them but neither Luke nor Harper are ready for more than friendship.

There's so much hurt, pain and damage in both their lives that particularly for Luke, just the thought of allowing himself to love again is too much. Harper is just one of the most kindness person you have meet. She's sweet, caring, loyal.

Trouble seems to follow her, and Luke constantly feels like he needs to protect her but as more of Harper's past emerges, it appears that she needs protecting more than anyone realised. Sadly, Luke is still struggling to allow himself to love.
He's been there before and lost everything.

This is an enjoyable and heartwarming book that entertained me tremendously.

This was an enjoyable small-town romance. I really rooted for the characters, especially Harper, because of how down-to-earth and lovable she was. Sometimes I wanted to punch Luke in the face because of how dumb he could be but it became endearing. Overall, this one frustrated me at times but I loved it anyways.

Thanks to NetGalley and the published for this ARC!