Lucy Score always writes the best love stories and this one was no different. Every time I see a new book from her I grab it and am immediately sucked in.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book! The title and this beautiful cover drew me in and i was excited to read this book! I will be recommending this book to others for readers advisory.

Firstly let me apologize for being late to review. Life caught up with me and lost track of publish date, and I thought I downloaded the ARC but I apparently didn’t. I bought this book from Amazon to read to review… and it was worth it. Thank you (and apologies) to That’s What She Said Publiahing (😂) NetGalley and Lucy Score for the ARC opportunity I messed up
I’ve recently read a Lucy Score book (Riley Thorn) and enjoyed it. I love to hang with the crazy stubborn women like Riley and Harper that Lucy writes about!
As a veteran this book connected with me dealing with separation and deployments… although in my day we didn’t have email or cell phone and video chat. Luke was believable (and frustrating) dealing with grief and guilt. The last 1/3 of book really picks up, so much so I hate to stay up 2 hours lasts my bedtime to finish. Lucy Score has moved up my list of must reads and asap!

Overall Opinion: This was a good small town romance. I really liked our fmc. She is probably one of the strongest and likeable fmc I've read in a while. I did struggle with her accepting less than the best at times because she was so accustomed to getting the short end of the stick, but I still really liked her. I think the main reason for my lower rating was that I felt like I needed a little more from the mmc at the end to make up for some of the stupid things he did towards the end. I wasn't so easily forgiving as our saintly fmc was, and I never felt like he fully redeemed himself. Maybe I needed more time with the couple together and happy after all the drama before it just cut off into the time jump epilogue.

Storyline: This is Harper and Luke's story. Harper finds her live-in boyfriend/boss sleeping with another woman, and she gets in her car without her purse (so no phone with gps or money on her). She heads in the direction (she thinks) is towards the town her old college roommate lives, but then runs out of gas. She ends up in the parking lot at a bar in a small town which is a long way from where she was heading. After some drama goes down in the parking lot, she becomes a new town hero of sorts. She makes some new friends that offer to help her. She ends up accepting an odd proposal to act like a fake girlfriend, work as an office manager at his office, and live with Luke for a month until he is deployed for his national guard duty where they will then go their separate ways. Of course things don't run as smoothly as planned, and they end up developing feelings and act out on their strong attraction for each other. To avoid ruining it - I'll just say that there is some strong feelings developed, some strong friendships made, some big secrets being revealed, and two separations (1 valid and one drama filled)...but the couple get back together and find their HEA.

POV: This alternated between focusing on Harper and Luke in third person narrative.

Heat level: Moderate, the couple have some great chemistry when they heating things up.

This is an earlier Lucy Score book. About the first half of the book had writing that really wasn't anything special, but then Ms. Score seemed to hit her rhythm and the writing and the story got significantly better. Please don't read this and judge her books by the first half of this.

Thanks to NetGalley. All thoughts are my own.

Could not finish this book. The characters were irritating and the 'romance' didn't seem romantic to me at all. I read a lot of romance but I just didn't believe anything about either of these characters. I think this might be something that appeals to a younger audience or someone with more of a flair for the dramatic than I have. Thank you to NetGalley and Bloom Books for this ARC.

I liked the premise of this book, but at times I felt like I was dragging through mud to get to the heart of the book. And I felt like the last “plot twist” was thrown in there just for dramatics and it would have been fine without it.

I feel like the two books could have been interchangable. Lucy Score has become an author I am quickly auto reading but the two books didnt meet my expectations

Lucy Score never disappoints me! I love a good small town romance and this read was just that! Definitely recommend!

Lucy Score never disappoints. Luke and Harper are the best little couple. I loved the humor and the spice in this book!

“Pretend Your Mine” is book 1 in Lucy Score’s Benevolence series.

It will take readers on a roller coaster of emotions, from funny and engaging to downright aggravating at times. It is enough to keep you invested in the story of Harper and Luke.

Thank you NetGalley and Bloom Books for gifting me this ARC.

This was a cute and for me, quick read and it had some suspense. It must’ve been written quite a while ago

Pretend You're Mine is a sweet small town romance. Luke Garrison, member of the National guard and hometown hero runs into Harper one night. Could it be fate or could it be a good pretend relationship so Luke's family will quit pressuring him to start dating? These two are opposites in so many ways but together they can be amazing. Will their pretend relationship turn into something real? Luke can be stubborn, but Harper quickly holds a special place in his heart. I enjoyed the characters in this book and their storyline. Finding out more about Harper and Luke as the story unfolded really made me love them more. I enjoyed reading this book. Thank you Netgalley for a copy of this book, this is my honest opinion.

I loved several of Lucy Score's books, but this series just didn't end up being for me. I was not able to connect with the main characters. Fun plot line, but it just wasn't the right story for me.

I had recently just learned about this author, so I was excited to read this book. It was a fun read! I immediately was hooked. The banter between the main characters was great. This book really kept me entertained! I cant wait to read more books from this author!

This was a good small town romance.I liked the heroine a lot but she made crazy decisions at times. Hero is a mess, but he eventually grew on me. Add a small town full of nice, equally warm-hearted peeps to the mix.Heartbreaking and lovely and wonderful.

Thank you Netgalley and bloom books for my gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

Wow that was a long book. It almost seemed like 3 books in 1!! As with any Lucy Score book you will fall in love with this small town and all the characters. Just when you think all the secrets are out there are more to be found! I’m looking forward to reading Gloria and Aldo’s story.

This is a great romance read! I liked how this had the hometown hero, military main character. Lucy Score is an auto-buy author for me, and this book does not disappoint!

So I read the second book in this series first. Which seemed to be happening at the same time as this one. So i knew what would eventually happen.
I wanted to love the story of Harper and Luke but Luke...was on my last nerve.
LIKE OMG DUDE!
But the chemistry between our two characters was great and it was a quick read.

this started out so cringey, ridiculous and over the top that I just could not get into it. the writing felt juvenile. DNF