Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of Pretend You're Mine by Lucy Score. I only recently read my first book(s) by Lucy Score and found that I loved her books. I was so excited to see that this book was in need of a review and that I was accepted to be the person to do it! I am finding mixed reviews as to if it was published in 2015 or will be in May of 2023 but I'm still happy to review it as I do all of the books I read.

I LOVED this book. I was sucked right in from the beginning, as I have been with all of her books that I have read. Harper was in need of a friend, family, and roots. She found them all when she ran out of gas in Benevolence. Luke was living in shadows and despair while shutting everyone out following the death of his first love. The two of them met and there was an instant connection. The first 1/3 of the book was them FINALLY getting together and being a couple before he leaves on tour. I knew something had to happen because there was so much more of the book to go but I couldn't figure out what would happen.

I was surprised that with all of the family that Luke had, no one had figured out what was going on with him and tried to help him with his depression/PTSD from the loss of his wife. They all knew something was up but didn't know how to help him. I wish there had been a little more conversation about Harper's past and also more about Luke's relationship with Karen. Overall, I really enjoyed the story.

#LucyScore #PretendYoureMine #NetGalley #Romance #Fiction #ContemporaryFiction #RealisticFiction #FakeDating #Reserves #NationalGuard #Construction #LoveAtFirstSight #SmallTown #Abuse #Death #Loss#FosterCare #Adoption #Family #FriendsLikeFamily #BestFriends #NewFriends #OldFriends #April #2023

Lucy Score has captured my heart with the quaint little town she's created called Benevolence, and all the fun loving, good hearted people who live there. When Harper gets lost and ends up stopping an assault in a bar parking lot; hometown hero, Luke is there for back up. The attraction between them is instant, and they both agree that this purely physical relationship has an end date, as Luke is scheduled for a deployment overseas in six weeks. As Harper spends time in the small town she never meant to find, she starts making friends, adopting dogs, and generally finding herself not wanting to leave, but they've both agreed that this isn't going anywhere after six weeks.

Not only is this little town full of fun, found family, and gossip but there are some secrets as well. Pretend You're Mine had steamy moments, laughter, and tears all doled out in equal measure. I loved this book, and am so glad that there are more books in my future about the town of Benevolence. Read this one is you like:

-pretend dating trope
-small town romance
-military deployment and long distance relationship
-super chemistry and steamy love scenes
-romance on the angsty side

Thanks so much to Lucy Score and Bloom Books for providing me with a copy of this book for review.

I’ve just read Finally Mine, so it was great reading this story from Luke and Harper’s perspective. I always loved Harper and Gloria’s friendship, and it is more solidified in this book— they are so sweet and good to each other it makes me cry (actually a lot made me cry in this book lol). Luke is a poor, sweet, traumatized soul who has seen more death and destruction than most people in his life. I feel for him realizing that he needs to become a healthier version of himself if he wants his happy ending with Harper. And Harper has her own battles to fight as well as she chooses to stick by his side. As with Finally Mine, there are some very dark moments in this story, as well as plenty of love and humor to counterbalance the tears.
This was a very sweet and tender story; thank you for the ARC!!!

Lucy Score is an automatic buy for me! This one was pretty good! I could take or leave it honestly. I loved other ones of hers much more than this one. If you enjoy her books I would still give it a go!

Thank you to Netgalley, Author and Publishers for the Egalley of this book.
I really have enjoyed Lucy score's other books so I was thrilled to pick this up. I was not disappointed. The romance--- On point as usual. Friends to lover 4 stars. Would def recommend you read this.

Harper is on her way to starting a new life when she finds herself stranded in the small town of Benevolence. There, she meets Luke, hometown hero, about to deploy for the National Guard in about a month. His family is getting antsy for him to settle down and get out of his shell, and she needs a job and a place to live. They strike an arrangement to start fake dating, but soon, he just can't get her off his mind...
I have to admit, I have read and did not like/finish a few books by Lucy Score before. And I don't know why, but I wanted to keep on trying, and when this popped up on NetGalley, the cover was so pretty, I just could not pass it up. And boy am I happy that I did! This was so good! A cute, adorable, sweet, small town, one bed, fake dating, grumpy sunshine romance with amazing banter that gave me all the feelings. I smiled, swooned most of the time, I also laughed and cried. I was only 20% in when I preordered this first book in the Benevolence series, and I was approved for book 2 and will dive right after I'm done writing this! I loved the characters (Harper is so bad ass!) and can't wait to read Gloria and Aldo's story. I almost knocked down half a star for all of Luke's red flags, but I loved this so much that I just couldn't!
I received an advance review copy and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is the small-town romance of Harper and Luke. The story alternates POV's between the two. I didn't find this romantic at all. Luke is downright mean to Harper, and she still stays with him. She is kind and a friend to all, but without giving away too much I could not be so forgiving. Luke has a very tumultuous past that he needs to work through. Their no-strings relationship has its steamy moments, but this book felt like it's trying to be CoHo, and it's just not.

Luke and Harper meet when stops in his hometown. Harper see's a woman being mistreated and steps into the fight. Luke helps Harper and ends up taking her home with him that night. Luke is leaving soon with the National Guard and ask Harper to pretend to be his girlfriend. Luke is carrying lots of secrets and doesn't want to share. After Harper goes to work at his construction business, they become closer. Harper is to leave town when Luke deploys; he asks her to stay while he's gone.
This is a well written book and really held my interest.

Pretend You're Mine by Lucy Score is a fantastic novel that will take you on an emotional roller coaster. I found myself laughing out loud in one chapter and then crying the next. The book is an absolute page-turner that I couldn't put down until the very end. I highly recommend it, and it's a solid 5 stars from me.

The story follows Luke Garrison, a National Guard member who's about to be deployed again. He's a broody and sexy hometown hero who's not interested in finding a woman to mess up his solitude. However, when he meets Harper, he realizes that she's the perfect decoy to keep his family off his back until he leaves.

Harper is a beautiful woman who's starting a new life and finds herself drawn to Luke. She feels safe and protected in his arms, and one night of sharing a bed turns into something more. However, Luke can't reveal the dark secrets of his past, and Harper has her own secrets to keep.

The book takes you on a journey of love, trust, and self-discovery. It's a fantastic read that will keep you hooked from the very beginning. The chemistry between the characters is undeniable, and their story is heartwarming. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a romantic, emotional, and entertaining read.

I can be a bit critical of romance genre. We have Harper and Luke. Harper has never truly felt she had a family or belonged and is running from something she has kept a secret from others. Luke is a soldier devastated and shut down by grief. I know some saw him as cold and unlikable, but I do think this showed how grief can eat someone alive and impact all their relationships.

There were some things missing I felt that are hard to mention without spoilers. The beginning I found jumped into the relationship. There was little building up to the relationship, they went from 0 to 100. I also felt that the book relied on “spicy” scenes at times instead of establishing relationship growth.

Still enjoyable and emotional at times; I enjoyed the ending and the wrap up. I know there are follow up books for the series, so I do think this one will be worth checking out

3.5 stars
I liked the book and the story line, but could have done without the graphic sex scenes - imo, the sheer volume of them was too much. I love the Harper character and how she finds herself and what she needs through the book. Luke could be very intense at times, but a good character as well. Through this small town story and starting off fake dating this story gets you hooked and keeps you holding on until the very end and leaves you wanting the happily ever after.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you NetGalley, Lucy Score and Source Books for hearing my honest review. Looking forward to reading more with you
#partner

First, I want to say that I don't love cop/military romances. I feel they get too patriotic for a country that doesn't deserve it. However, I feel like this was balanced enough that I didn't hate it.

The beginning of this book was so unrealistic! You're telling me that on the very day she meets this man, after literally getting beat in the parking lot, she goes home and sleeps in his bed? Not a chance.

Looking past that, the rest of this book was good. I think I would've liked if the ending conflict of the letters was better foreshadowed. I feel like we got maybe one mention of it, then it was just thrown in the end there. 🤔 I also would've liked more about the kids they ended up adopting. Like we never hear them talk about that, even though it's obvious they were going to adopt them. But it's just kinda thrown in there, too.

I'm excited to read Aldo and Gloria's book. I feel like they were just a little more interesting than our main couple. Harper and Luke just didn't seem to hit the spot for me.

I really enjoyed this grumpy meets sunshine, fake dating, small town romance. It had an unexpected depth and had me tearing up multiple times. I really enjoyed the side characters too, especially Aldo. Lucy Score writes small towns so well! I wanted to pack up and move to Benevolence myself after reading this one.

I’m a little disappointed that so much of Aldo & Gloria’s story was revealed since it’s the focus of the next book in the series, “Finally Mine.” I will still read the next one, but just wish I didn’t know as much about their story so I could enjoy it without feeling like I already read the book.

✨book review✨
Pretend You’re Mine made me feel all the feels — seriously, I think I cried 3 different times.
Harper is one of the strongest FMCs (she’s a true badass), Josh is so swoon-worthy, and I love, love, love Josh’s family and the whole town of Benevolence. This story was a wild ride and I’m here for it 👏🏻👏🏻

I’ve already added the other two books in this series to my TBR 😝

Special thanks to NetGalley and Bloom Publishing for this ARC of this soon-to-be-re-released title ♥️

Highly recommend if you like: one-bed, fake dating, workplace romance, small town romance, military romance, found family.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

I received a re-release from NetGalley of this book. I love Lucy Score books.

How did I not read this book before? This book was read in one and a half days. It’s sooo good. It’s fun, it’s sweet, it’s a bit dark at times, it’s happy, it’s sad, it’s just a great book to read when you want to curl up and just enjoy a good romance book. Yes there are so many tropes in here. Yes some may be unbelievable but it’s a small town with a big romance book that I loved. I will say that the end was a bit abrupt. Like it almost ended too quick - all was forgiven and never mentioned again. Would have loved a sequel just about these two.

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

I believe this book series is getting rereleased with new covers since it’s been out for a while. I really enjoyed the whole story! It felt like it was moving a little fast paced at first but then kinda dragged a bit in the middle. This is my first Lucy Score book and I have the second in the series to review next so I’m going to hop on that right away! She really does build a very detailed world that’s hard not to envision yourself there with the characters!

Fun read. Love small town romance stories.
Harper and Luke have chemistry and are good together. Both irritating at times but that’s the fun of life.

Format - E- ARC (Netgalley)

Rating- ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Spice- 🌶 🌶

Series- Benevolence #1

Troupes- Grumpy/Sunshine, fake dating, only one bed, found family, small town

CW- foster care, home fire, death of parents, Fatal car accident, child abuse, spouse death domestic abuse, spouse death, combat injury, home invasion, alcohol addiction.

So my understanding of this book is it’s a rerelease with a new cover. Which is beautiful. But the story is the same.

And what I story it was! It was a whole ass journey. In true Lucy Score style this is a hefty book both in pages and pure emotion. If you like to be ripped to pieces and them put back together then this book is for you.

These characters are dynamic and so damaged! Lucy’s writing style is easy to read despite tearing out your heart and her spice is always on point.

I liked this book. I liked the characters even it I wanted to knock their heads together and I loved the found family.

I will be reading the next in the series when I am again ready to have my heart strings yanked merciless on! So soon!

Thank you Netgalley for this advanced copy in exchange for a review.
I requested this book because of the cover but I stayed for the plot! I absolutely loved this book and can’t wait to read more by this author!

As always, Lucy Score knocked it out of the park with this book. I love a grumpy sunshine, one bed, small town trope book. I will say that this book did feel repetitive at some points, but that did not stop me from loving this small town romance. If you're looking for some spice, with a captivating plot, and character development then this book is definitely for you!