Another huge hit from Lucy Score! This was a fast, easy read, with characters to love all over again. Just the right amount of spice and plot. I will be recommending this to readers who need a light hearted beach read this summer.

Pretend You're Mine by Lucy Score, book one in the Benevolence series, is a heartbreaking, wonderful, sweet yet humorous story with the perfect mix of emotion and heart added; a story you will want to read over and over again.

Harper, formerly a foster child passed through the foster system until she aged out, physically abused, alone in this world and always ready for a challenge. Harper was a go getter, a rescuer, a helper, a friend, a listener, and all she wanted in return was for someone to be the same for her, to protect her, save her, love her. Hometown hero Luke Garrison is drawn to her strength, but not sure how to handle her. Luke is constantly the target of his family's matchmaking. Knowing Harper is down and out, needs money, a job and a place to stay, he asks her to be his fake girlfriend and stay at his house; after all, he’s deploying in a month. With a consensual agreement to share the only bed, Harper and Luke realize there might be more than just sharing a bed between them. Harper and Luke both have secrets from their tragic pasts, so it is no surprise that these two kindred spirits share a deep, passionate, connection that Luke is finding hard to fight. It’s no wonder that Luke, his family, the town, can’t help but fall for this amazing, generous woman with a heart of gold who has lived a life of ashes. I highly recommend The Way You Are to other readers and although this is my first book by Ms. Score, it won’t be my last as I’m anxious to read the next story in this series.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

When Luke and Harper agree to pretend to be a couple for a month, both think it is the perfect solution. However, neither of them figured on actual feelings developing before he deploys in that month. This is the first book I have ready by Lucy Score and I have to say it had a bit of everything in it. Small town romance meets pretend relationship turns real. I definitely will look for more from this author!

Thank you to SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books & NetGalley for allowing me to read this book

I should have DNF’d this book.

From about 30% on, I didn’t like it. The MMC is a doooooooouuuuuche nugget. He kicked her out of his house and basically told her that she’ll never be as good as his late wife. THEN when he finally tells her he loves her, she instantly forgive him? It’s a no from me. Also, he was just mean.

I also thought it was way too long. There was no reason for this book to be over 350 pages.

However, I did like Harper. Her personality was cute.

This was my first Lucy Score book. With how much y’all rave about her, I’m a bit disappointed

I truly enjoyed this book. The story was unique and was a true page turner.

Luke is impressed and surprised by his first meeting with Harper. Harper ends up an a small town with nothing to her name looking for a fresh start. After deciding to pretend to be dating for both of their benefits, they start to have feelings for each other. Together they encounter problems and struggles that they need to over if they are going to last. Although at times I felt there may have been too many problems they had to overcome, I loved the characters and the small town that was created in this story. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.


Thank you Net Galley and Bloom Books for letting me read and review this book.

Pretend You’re Mine, the first installment of Lucy Score’s Benevolence series, is set to be re-released next week, May 9th with this gorgeous new cover. Although it was originally published in 2015, I was given a digital copy in exchange for my review. Thanks Bloom Books and NetGalley!

As romance books go, this was delightful. The characters were darling and likable, the town of Benevolence was charming, and the plot moved at a decent pace despite the main characters being separated by a considerable distance for much of the story. This was a lighthearted, relatively low stakes, entertaining book.

I would recommend this book to contemporary romance readers who enjoy some spice! Although heavy on spicy content, there is still a plot, so I wouldn’t necessarily classify it as smut. But its close! This is a great book for escaping reality. Having read Things We Never Got Over earlier this year, I appreciate how Score’s writing has developed over time.

Pretend You're Mine" by Lucy Score is a captivating and heartwarming romance novel that had me hooked from beginning to end. The characters are wonderfully developed and incredibly relatable, with flaws and quirks that make them feel like real people.

The story itself is a delightful mix of humor, romance, and emotion, with just the right amount of tension and drama to keep me engaged throughout. The author's writing style is charming and witty, with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments that had me smiling from ear to ear.

But what truly sets this book apart is the relationship between the two main characters, which is both sweet and steamy. Their chemistry is electric, and their journey from friends to lovers is both heartwarming and satisfying.

Overall, "Pretend You're Mine" is a must-read for anyone who loves romance novels that are both funny and touching. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a lighthearted and enjoyable read. It's the perfect escape from the real world and a wonderful reminder that love is always worth the risk.

This was my first Lucy Score book and i LOOOOVED it.

I read somewhere that this was like “Ugly Love” by coho and I definitely see the similarities - broody men who are broody because they tragically lost someone and blamed themself for losing someone. Women who are in an unknown competition with someone who isn’t there anymore.

This book tugged my heart strings and it tugged them hard. It made me laugh, cry, feel all do the emotions - but through every messed up thing that happened, I really was rooting for Luke and Harper. Seeing them get their happy ending + their happy little family, while honoring what they lost was beautiful.

I loved Luke’s protectiveness of Harper at all costs. He also gave her space when she needed it, but he also sucked at showing his emotions. “Stay.”

Harper brought out all of the pieces in lule that he didn’t want to come out and it was amazing to read about them falling in love.

It’s been two days since I finished the book and I’m still thinking about them. That’s how you know it’s a good one 🫶🏼

3.5 ⭐️

I love everything Lucy Score writes, and this heart-wrenching, soul-healing story between Harper and Luke was no exception. Harper is fun, positive, and has a spine of steel despite all the ways she's been mistreated and let-down, and Luke, battling pesky feelings that he tries to deny, loves hard without even knowing it. Their story has equal parts fun, spice, and heartbreak with a HEA that will make you swoon. The only thing I didn't love was the third person POV, but even that provided some insight to the characters that can't be detailed in first person. Can't wait to read more of this series because, as usual, Lucy knocked it out of the park!

This was my first, but certainly won't be the last Lucy Score book!

This gem contains all my favorite tropes - single bed, forced proximity, fake dating, and grumpy x sunshine. The best! I can't wait to read the rest of the series!

I am a newbie when it comes to the Lucy Score fandom. I am gladly bowing down to the queen with the rest of them already at her feet. I haven’t read a lot of her books yet, but every book that I have read have been downright unputdownable.

I’m not sure how she does it every time, but she puts my heart through the wringer. I didn’t realize I was going to cry when I read this book. That is how good she is at with her writing. She flipped the cry switch in me, and I didn’t even see it coming. Lucy certainly knows how to write a girthy book as well. You won’t hear me complain when I love a book as much as Lucy’s books. The girthier, the better!

If you thought the book cover was going to hide you away from reading about a dirty talking military man, then the book cover did you good. This is one of those books that you can read in public without feeling like someone will judge you and still make you blush. One of my pet peeves is the nickname of baby which is Luke’s felony but if that’s all I must complain about, then you know it’s a good book! Also, the use of the term “heavy sack” is something that caught my eye but after the second time, it just made me laugh! LOL

The way Lucy Score will expand and constrict your heart with Pretend You’re Mine is amazing. My emotions were everywhere, and I loved all the characters. I loved the witty banter, that Lucy is so well versed at, the character growth, and the setting that was kind of a character. I admired Harper because she is so strong for such a crappy childhood. She is someone you want to be friends with, and Luke is someone who needs just the type of person that Harper is.

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Thanks so much to Netgalley, the publisher, and Lucy Score for this ARC of Pretend You’re Mine!! Lucy Score is such a comfort read for me, so I was super excited to get book 1 of her Benevolence Series!
 
Pretend You’re Mine follows Harper and Luke. Harper is new in town- after catching her now-ex cheating on her, she decides to leave town… with no wallet, phone, or gas money. When she stumbles into the town of Benevolence and helps break up a fight, she meets Luke, who reluctantly offers to let her stay with him as his fake-girlfriend to keep his family from commenting on when he’ll settle down. This book had the banter and spice Lucy Score always delivers on and kept me entertained throughout!! There’s a reason she’s a go-to author for me and I can’t wait to pick up the next book in the series!

Pretend You're Mine by Lucy Score, is the first book in her Benevolence series. Typically this author writes a fun witty romance, but this book is definitely more on the angsty side.

In Pretend You're Mine, we meet Harper and Luke. Their story alternates between dual POV's in third person narrative.
I did feel like the chemistry between Harper and Luke is a little too insta-love and too fast. I wanted more tender moments between them.

But, I do look forward to reading the second book, Finally Mine.

2.5 Stars
OK so, I've read a few Lucy Score books. Things We Never Got Over, By A Thread, and Maggie Moves On. So I feel like I have a pretty good grasp on her works. Granted, that's not always true, but I think I've done pretty good in reading a good sampling of her work.

Compared to her other works this fell really short for me. I couldn't connect with these characters, I felt like the pacing was really slow and was really hard to want to keep moving forward, and the fake dating POV had nothing new or interesting to offer in this case.

I will say though, the writing style is true to her. You could immediately tell this was a Lucy Score book, the writing was good, the humor, on point. I think this was just a perfect storm of some important elements just not really jiving together on this one.

Thank you NetGalley and BloomBooks for the ARC of this rerelease.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This is romantic comedy at its best. This book had all the feels, I cheered so hard for Harper and Luke and cried like a baby through all their trials. Zany friends and found family make this a must read.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own." eARC provided NetGalley and Bloom Books

2 Stars

This book was previously published by the author in 2015 and is now being reissued with a publisher, which is very exciting for Lucy Score! That being said, I don’t think I would have requested this series if I had known it wasn’t a new release.

I previously read Things We Never Got Over and it was just okay for me. Unfortunately, Pretend You’re Mine I liked even less and I think I’m realizing this author just isn’t for me. I would say if you loved Things We Never Got Over and can suspend belief and love a lot of drama then give it a shot… you might love it!

Personally, I didn’t particularly like either of the main characters, so when they kept making questionable choices & it was playing out like a soap opera, I just couldn’t find a connection or really root for them as a couple. The spice was nice & spicy and I did like the bones of the book so I know a lot of people may love it.

I did get an ARC for the next book in the series so I will be giving Lucy Score another shot! I did like the characters Aldo and Gloria in this book so I’m interested to see where their book goes. They had quite a bit of their relationship timeline in this book though so I’m curious how it will play out in Finally Mine.

Thank you to Net Galley & Bloom Books for the ARC of Pretend You’re Mine in exchange for an honest review.

Overall? I loved this story, that said, Luke hurt my feelings and I’m not quite over it yet. This novel was the kind where my gut was clenching in heartache, and I would have to put my kindle down and walk away for a few minutes, but in the end I think that goes in the “positives” column. The author really pulled the emotion out of me. Both characters had their own immense grief to deal with, the likes of which I am not familiar with and thus probably can’t judge on how they dealt with it, but Luke was definitely a little bit of a D at points.

I loved the found family aspects, I love Harper’s positive nature, the hero puppers, and the author’s signature “touch of suspense”. This is 3rd party pov so beware of that if that’s something that matters to you.

Thank you to @netgalley & @read_bloom for the ARC of this re-release title. All opinions are my own.

2.5 stars

I don’t know what to say. Fake romances are a dime a dozen right now and this one wasn’t anywhere near as heartwarming as I expected it to be. Harper is down on her luck and Luke gives her a job and a place to live. They’ve both got a backstory they’re keeping from each other. I gave this one the benefit of the doubt because I thought that it was going to be a soldier with PTSD, not ready to commit to love kind of story. Instead, Luke was a widower who verbally insulted and borderline physically abused her, while repeatedly telling her he’ll never love her. And she stayed. I guess there’s a romance by the end, but my stomach was still churning from events in the middle of the book so it never crawled out of that hole for me.
*Thanks to Bloom Books and NetGalley for this advance copy for review.

Pretend You’re Mine is the book that Lucy Score credits with allowing her to make writing her full-time gig. As with many of her books, it’s a cozy, small town romance that features conventionally sexy main characters and a good helping of spice (even a little butt stuff!).

This story is full of romance cliches and tropes – like a sunshine/grumpy romance, found family, a possessive heartthrob and a fake relationship – but for me, that’s part of its charm. It’s earnest and kind of cringe, but also absolutely delightful to read.

Sometimes it’s nice to read something kind of silly and heartwarming, and this is the perfect book for those times.

I’m not a big fan of the military but for some reason those types of romances hit different. (mixed feelings)

If you like the tortured grump and the sunshine heroine that brings him back to life then this book is for you.

Harper is fun and one of my favorite heroines. Luke is super protective and tortured which makes me want to give him a hug. The found family vibe and the small-town family are beyond adorable.