3.5/5

I have mixed feelings about this! While I LOVED Harper, I really couldn't stand Luke.

I know that he's been through a lot of trauma with his military experience and the loss of his late wife, but I wanted him to make up his mind. Either fully fall of Harper or leave the relationship be! The whole back and forth and constantly pushing her away just to bring her back again was so unhealthy and toxic for Harper.

Harper truly deserves everything in my mind and I hated how he still pushed her away EVEN after having sex with her!

I personally wished her groveled more because there was no reason to treat Harper that way just to immediately ask for forgiveness.

I love Lucy Score and her work, but this was a miss for me.

Thank you Bloom, Netgalley, and Lucy Score for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I loved Lucy Score's "Maggie Moves On" and was really excited to get this one to review. Overall, I enjoyed it but it didn't impress me as much as "Maggie Moves On" did. It's definitely a spicy romance - I would recommend it for readers who like adventurous interludes between the characters, but avoid recommending it for those that like "sweet" romance books!

I did discover that it's a reprint of a previously published book under the same name (2015) and there were a few references in the book that dated it.

Harper is used to running. So when she grabs her keys to her car and takes off after walking in on her boyfriend cheating on her, and she forgets all her belongings, it's kind of par for the course. She's kind of also into bearing it all for the underdog too, so when she saves a girl from her obviously drunk boyfriend by taking a punch by him, its no surprise as well. The actual surprise comes from the surly grump who came to her defense, Luke Garrison. After Luke comes to her defense, it's natural that they develop a relationship from there, especially in the small town of Benevolence, Maryland.

This was just a fun romance story involving some of my favorite romance troupes. Throughout the story we learn that Luke has many demons that he is hiding, but Harper does as well. Their chemistry is undeniable. The sexier scenes were entertaining, the banter between Harper and Luke was fun as well. I felt the pacing was fun, but did feel at times the story got a bit long and had a lot of plot points. I enjoyed the small town feeling of the book, it was described in such a way that I felt like I grew up in Benevolence with all the characters. It was a super fun and sexy read, and I look forward to reading the second book in this series.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy of the rerelease of this book. The new cover is AMAZING! All opinions within this review are my own.

Absolutely loved this book. Lucy drew me in and I didn’t want back out. The characters and their story was everything I was hoping it would be and more. So much so that I immediately went to the next book and devoured it too. Read it!

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this ebook. Unfortunately I could not get into this book and did not finish it.

Lucy Score books are always amazing, in my opinion. The only negative thing I have to say about them, they're a little too long. Though I didn't notice with this one. It flew by. The characters in this one were such a great combo. I don't normally go for military books, which is why I hadn't picked this up before, but this was great.

I think it's safe to say everyone knows that I love Lucy's writing and everything she puts into her books. She's one of those authors that I will read anything she publishes because at this point, I don't think she can write anything that I wouldn't love.

Harper and Luke. What started as a whole lotta chaos and bad luck for Harper (which is what she expects and feels she deserves) turned into a pretty lovely HEA at the end. Of course they had their ups and downs, but any couple will. I loved Harper and wished she would have thought better of herself but she was relatable and dealt with things that could happen to anyone.

Luke was okay. He said some awful things to Harper at times and I didn't like that. He sort of redeemed himself at the end, though. He's had his own fair share of heartbreak and loss so I tried keeping that in mind while reading this, although it doesn't excuse some of the stuff he did/said.

Overall, I would recommend this to everyone. It's a longer read, much like Lucy's other books, but very much worth it!

I am a fan of Lucy Score’s books, and this one was enjoyable as well. I really enjoy Score’s writing style, so I knew this book was going to be an enjoyable, fun read. The main characters and side characters were easy to get to know; everything about them was straightforward, which I really like. If you like Lucy Score’s books like By the Thread or the Knockemout series, you would enjoy this as well!

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for the opportunity.

Pretend You're Mine by Lucy Score is a romance novel with a National Guard Captain, Luke, and a woman, Harper, who arrives in Benevolence, Maryland, with no money, no gas, and nowhere to live.

She sees a man physically abusing a woman and attacks him. As a result of her brave action, the townspeople welcome her with open arms.

I found it difficult to remain engaged with the book because multiple scenes were unrealistic. There was a significant plot line that was alluded to for the first half of the book, but revealed in a manner that left me uncomfortable. (Any further description would involve major spoilers.) There are several explicit sexual interactions in the book.

While this is not great literature, it is entertaining and a good beach read.

This was such a delightful treat to read. I thoroughly enjoyed all the characters and I'm excited to know there are two more books in the series.

Harper is a spitfire and Luke is a brooding widow. Together they are fireworks and every holiday combined.

While this book followed some typical romance tropes it was still enjoyable. There were even a couple of dangerous moments to keep you on your toes.

I have problems with the endings in most books, they're too predictable and all that, but this book actually totally surprised me in the epilogue. I love that!!! It was the absolute perfect ending to the book and the start of Harper & Luke's life together.

I would definitely recommend this book!!

I didn’t vibe with this book at all. I felt neither of the main characters were sympathetic, and the book was way longer than it needed to be. This book obviously works for some people, but I’m not one of them. Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC. This is my honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

I love Lucy Score, she’s great at drawing emotions out and establishing connections between her characters. I don’t love the instalove trope but I like Lucy’s writing so much that it didn’t bother me too much here. Overall it was a good read!

Harper met Luke when she was jumping on a hulk of a man beating a small woman. That guy knocked her out and Luke knocked him out. She was without resources at the moment and he gave her a place to live and a job. They got close and then he got deployed for 6 months. When he got back, he pretty much decided he couldnt have a relationship with her. He had his reasons, but he was wrong, of course, It took awhile, but he finally got his head out of his but and they had their HEA

I got this book from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review

Overall, I liked this book. 3/5 stars. I wasn’t a fan of the insta-love at the beginning but after MMC was deployed, I enjoyed it more because the romance slowed down a bit. I enjoyed the emails during their long distance and the side characters a lot. I’m looking forward to the other books in this series

“She chased away the dark and brought him to the light.”

Pretend You’re Mine was an emotional, heartfelt story of finding love when you least expected it or even wanted it. Luke and Harper gave me all the feels and their journey was lighthearted and fun as well as heartbreaking. I couldn’t get enough of these characters.

“I want you to take all the dark, all the pain, and turn it into something beautiful.”

Harper had a difficult childhood, but she has preserved and in spite of it, she has a beautiful spirit that is full of positivity and light. I loved how she didn’t let anything get her down and was determined to make the best out of any situation.

“Baby, it would take more than all the time in the world for me to forget you.”

Luke was grumpy and possessive and full of pain. Loss had made him shy away from life and he was determined to protect his heart at all costs. Harper made him see what he was missing, but he had to open his mind and heart to let it in.

“No matter what words did or didn’t pass between them, this connection was undeniable.”

The chemistry and banter between these two was absolute fire. I loved watching them connect and how supportive they were of one another. Harper was pure sunshine to Luke’s darkness and they were just what each other needed.

“Something in me said ‘she’s finally her.’ You’re what I’ve been waiting for. You’re the light that got me through the dark, and I’m not willing to go back to a life without you.”

Full of spicy banter, heartwrenching emotion, a dash of suspense and so much love, Pretend You’re Mine was a beautiful story with strong, relatable characters that will have you rooting for their HEA. I loved Luke and Harper’s story and was absolutely captivated by their story.

3.5 stars out of 5

I really love Lucy Score as an author but this book was just ok for me. It had a lot of spicy romance scenes and a great plot but it was such a long book. I felt it was dragging on and on at some points.

This is a small town romance book centered around Luke and Harper. Harper leaves her cheating ex boyfriend and drives to stay with her friend. Her car runs out of gas in a small town called Benevolence where she mets Luke. This book explores their mutual attraction for each other but Luke can’t seem to let go of the past.

I am looking forward to reading Aldo and Gloria’s story next. Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Bloom books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

OH my gosh.... How does Lucy do it. Theses men in her books are phenomenal...

I loved this story. Some trigger warnings about abuse. But it was just so good and intense. Started the next one as soon as this one was done.

Thanks NetGalley for this Arc !

Pretend your mine explores the “fake dating” trope, which is not my favorite, but I did enjoy it in this instance. There is a LOT of back and forth, on and off between our main characters Luke and Harper. I really enjoyed the small town aspect and the “found family”. The emails were one of my favorite parts as well!

The story is enjoyable but was frustrating at certain times. Luke takes 1 step forward in a relationship and 5 steps backwards the next chapter.

With the steps back I think Harper should have made him earn her back. Instead of being a discarded toy waiting for him to be interested again. It would have been better if the story was a smidge longer to show Harper is a catch and worthy of being pursued and groveled to get her back.

The smut was hot and heavy. It added to the story line and overall is enjoyable.

The small town is so cute with everyone in each other’s business. But they can also see the catch Harper is and supply a wonderful sense of community.

The characters in this story are well written. The main characters have many traumas and add layers to the story. The side characters are amazing and add so much comedic relief.

This is the first story in the series, and I am excited to get more of this quirky, nosy town.

I actually read book 2 of this series first which runs on a parallel timeline with the MCs' best friends, so I pretty much knew the entire sequence of events as well as the third act breakup and final hea.. so I didn't expect things to pain this much, but it did. I spent the entire second half crying. Overall I did like the book, and I really liked the intermittent wholesome scenes (esp the dogs!!), but I guess ultimately this book was too painful/angsty for me. I mean, I love a good amount of angst, but this book was pretty much 90% unexplained angst and a lot of cruel words and pushing away and past trauma, and idk, it was too much. I understand the nature of the MMC's past which leads to this, but I would've appreciated more lighter moments in the book (atleast at the end, after everything was sorted??)

TWs - death of a pregnant spouse in a road accident (past), MC blaming himself for the aforementioned accident, mentions of injuries in war (secondary character), domestic assault of young children (past), stalking and harassment by aforementioned person years into the future, general violence and assault

-- ty to the author, published and Netgalley for an advanced copies!