Lucy Score and Bloom Books are re-releasing Pretend Your Mine on May 9!

Luke is a member of the National Guard and home-town hero. When not deployed her runs a successful construction company in his small town. Everyone in town, including his mother, is always trying to set him up with someone, but he enjoys his solitude. Enter Harper. She finds herself in town after finding her boyfriend (who is also her boss) in bed with someone else. She takes off and starts driving the direction of her best friends home. The only problem, in her anger she forgot her keys and phone and ends up going the complete opposite direction. She runs out of gas in a small town. Stuck without money, or gas she becomes somewhat of a hero taking down an abusive boyfriend in the parking lot. Luke tries to help her by offering her a place to stay for the night. They get a long right away and strike up a deal. Luke can offer her a job and place to stay in the month before he deploys, and she will be his fake girlfriend. Both start to confuse themselves and maybe have feelings for each other, but is that something they can do?

I know this sounds like a really contrived set-up, and it is. That said, I really liked these two together. Luke is hiding things from Harper, and the thing he is hiding is one of those tropes I hate. If I were able to set that aside I think I could have rated this higher. I really liked Harper. I found her to be a good character that really loved the town she lived in. I loved watching her connect with all these people in the town, making friends, and even creating her family.

I really wasn't a fan of how Luke treated Harper at some parts. She knew she loved him, and I think we all knew he loved her, but he just hadn't dealt with his past trauma and stuff to say that he could love her. I did however like the Harper story line, the discussion of her being in foster care and her history coming completely to light. I also loved the ending and the HEA!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloom Books for a copy of this book. All opinions are 100% mine.

Thank you NetGalley and Bloom Books for the opportunity to read this book to give an honest review.

only wanted to protect you…

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.

So what if kissing her sends his mind to wicked places? He can control himself. Can’t he?

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. When she’s in his arms, she finally knows what it’s like to feel safe. Protected.

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…

Honestly, this is a re-read for me. I read it years ago when it first came out. I love the new covers, they’re beautiful.

I love the small town of Benevolence. The mystery/suspense story that’s going on along side the love story. I love the main characters and side characters. Each unique in their own ways.
It has so many tropes:
Military
One bed
Small town
Fake dating
Alpha/possessive

It’s heartfelt, heartbreaking and so so spicy. I’m so glad I got to re-read Harper and Luke’s story!

Thank you NetGalley and Lucy Score for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest opinion and review.

I LOVE Lucy Score's writing. It is no secret that the Benevolence series has been out for some time now, and was honestly my first exposure to Lucy Score. I love her spicy, heartfelt writing - and her storylines are amazing.

Harper and Luke both have a lot of pain and loss in their pasts. A chance encounter leads these two into a whirlwind arrangement that changes everything.

This book covers SO MANY tropes - it is easily readable in 1 day!

Read if you love:
-Military Homecomings
-Touch her and die vibes
-Small Towns
-Second Chance Romance
-Found Family
-Mental Health Journey
-Happy Endings
-Forced Proximity
-Fake Dating
-Boss/Employee
-Opposites Attract

Favorite Quotes:

“That’s what I want. I want you to take all the dark, all the pain, and turn it into something beautiful. I want to fill you, hurt you, please you. Give you everything. I want it so bad I can’t think of anything else. The thought of never touching you again—”

"Life is too short not to grab on to the good times while they last.”

Thank you to Sourcebooks Bloom Books for sending me an e-arc of the re-release of this book through Netgalley.

I really enjoyed this book, as I do of all of Lucy Score's book. I did find the conflict got resolved too quickly at the end but it didn't ruin the story for me.

2 Stars I really like Lucy Score and have LOVED her other books, but I couldn’t love this one. The main characters felt unbelievable and unlikeable. The FMC, Harper, has lived through multiple traumas but always has a smile on her face, is bubbly, and a bit overly optimistic. Like, unbelievably so, given her past. She explains it as not wasting the time wallowing, but it’s still hard to believe. Then there’s the MMC, Luke, who for 95% of the book, is still in love with his dead wife and swears that he can never love Harper. He says some awful things to her regarding how he could never love her and how being with her feels like cheating on his late wife. It’s extremely unlikeable and I can’t believe that Harper would stick around and let Luke treat her this way. I just couldn’t get past this to enjoy the book. Unfortunately, 2 stars is generous.

Everything about this story made for a good read. There was mystery, chemistry, and lovable qualities. But I did find the storyline predictable. I didn’t love the character arcs, or the conflict. But sometimes that happens with the genre. This is a good book, not a great book.

Thank you to the publisher for the ARC.

The pacing for this one was a bit too quick for me to feel fully invested, but there were a handful of times I actually gasped out loud at the twist and turns! Not my favorite of Lucy Score's books, but I did love the cast of characters she created!

Where do I even start with Pretend You're Mine by Lucy Score... Where has this book been all my life?
I know this is a re-cover and the book has been out for a while already, but I can't even begin to say how happy I am that this book got a new cover, and in turn- wound up on my TBR. The old cover is not something that would have drawn my attention enough to pick it up, and I would have gone along blissfully unaware of the GOLDMINE that is Pretend You're Mine.

This book had everything. The steam, the angst, the banter... I finished it in one sitting because I just couldn't stop. Luke and Harper may have become one of my top couples. They're real, and gritty. Luke is top notch book boyfriend material and Harper is so real and unapologetically herself.

If you haven't read Pretend You're Mine by Lucy Score yet, I would highly recommend you pick it up. You will not be disappointed.

This book is amazing. It will have you laughing, crying, gasping and all around loving it. Luke is a gruff military man who is used to taking care of everyone. Harper is a tornado of a mess just trying to keep her head above water. They meet and suddenly a fake romance is in the works. These two are made for each other, if only they can see it themselves. Thank God for the side characters always stepping in and pushing these two to where they need to be. If you already know Lucy's writing then you will know this book won't disappoint!

My first time reading anything by Lucy Score and I loved this so much. There was so much depth to her writing and I liked how she touched on tough subjects like child abuse. I also liked the spice and the plot was intriguing. I read this faster than I thought I would.

I was so excited to receive this ARC, I read it in one sitting. This book really had it all. Complex main characters with depth and a backstory, side characters that you fall in love with, and all the spice. This story actually tackled some really tough topics like death, PTSD, and child abuse. I felt a broad range of emotions when reading this, and I laughed and cried more than a few times. The ending to this book was absolute perfection, also. I highly recommend this book and I’m thankful to NetGalley and Bloombooks for this ARC.

Luke is a member of the national guard and wants a fake girlfriend to keep his family off his back about marriage. Harper is the perfect distraction... Of course they fall in love in spite of everything....

Love Harper and Luke. They are so sweet together. This is so great. Some tears, lots of laughs and many, many swoony moments. Really enjoy the small town too.

Thanks to the publisher for the arc.

I’m a big Lucy Score fan, so I was excited to read this ARC!

While I didn’t love it quite as much as some of her other books, I thought this was a really captivating story.

Fake dating, grumpy x sunshine…should be a recipe for success. However, it fell a little flat for me and even though I was rooting for Harper and Luke, I wasn’t a huge fan of the way he treated her at some points.

I did love the female friendships that were portrayed and overall, it was an enjoyable read! Thank you for this ARC!

I have a confession to make...

I received my approval for Pretend You're Mine, last night.

I had a sink full of dishes, laundry overflowing the hamper and a very anxious dog looking for a walk...

None of these tasks were accomplished.

I was completely consumed by every word that glittered across the page. I was transfixed and mesmerized by the story of Luke and Harper. I could not get enough. I laughed, I cried, I hugged my pillow and I longed for the touch of Luke........... I MEAN MY HUSBAND!!! (hehe)

There is something about romance books that engulf me in all the feels. My husband doesn't seem to mind my romance books over thrillers either as he states I am a lot more affectionate after reading a romance compared to the fear I instill in him after he sees me close a book with the title "How to Murder Your Husband and Get Away With It" .

Don't worry Craig, I have bit the Lucy Score bug and I will be reading ALL of her previous publications this summer.

Here is a little teaser :

I only wanted to protect you...

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.

So what if kissing her sends his mind to wicked places? He can control himself. Can't he?

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. When she's in his arms, she finally knows what it's like to feel safe. Protected.

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...

I have read a lot of Lucy Score, and somehow had not gotten to this series yet. Netgalley offered ARC's for new covers, and I am offering an honest review:

Mixed feelings on this one. Definitely a stay up way past your bedtime to finish it book, as usual for Lucy Score. This was a long book (as I said, waaay past bedtime), but I think it's because so many characters were introduced and developed. Three couples, not just one---even though one of them is the featured couple in the next book (reading that next). Makes for a lot of pages. Minor spoiler alerts for below:

Steamy, funny, even a few tears. While I was reading, I was engaged with the characters, but after I finished, I was feeling a little let down by Luke. While he was your typical broody alpha hero: successful contractor, super protective, National Guard Captain, he was also kind of a dick to Harper. I know it's a trope--the "can't get over the dead wife and love again guy" (that's the spoiler--and only a spoiler because it took so long to explicitly reveal it. Hints came early, and it wasn't tough to guess), but he really jerked her around. Now, to be fair, she totally let him, but the HEA came pretty suddenly for all the bad feelings that brewed up between these two. As long as the book was, maybe more focus on the main characters and less extra stuff would have left some room for Harper to get to think for a minute before taking Luke back (or even make Luke grovel a bit more after being such an ass to Harper).

Those reservations aside, this is still a 4-star book. Lucy's writing is engaging and you really get caught up in her stories. There's steam, so if you like clean, this may not be for you. I am looking forward to the next book--reading it next!

First off, how gorg is this new cover?! Pretend You’re Mine (Book 1 in her Benevolence series) is the book Lucy says made her into a full time author and it’s being rereleased on 5/9/23!

If you’re new here, lemme just say I love Lucy. I adore her books, her banter, and pretty much everything about her writing. She is the small town romance queen!

This book definitely has the essence of why I love Lucy so much, but it unfortunately fell short for me. It was really interesting to read one of her first books and see how much her writing has developed over the years, but the chemistry between our two main characters felt a little forced and I had a hard time really caring about either of them. Luke was pretty insufferable to me probably 80% of the novel.

I do love the conflict in this book and what they both have to overcome to be their best open & vulnerable selves with one another! The small town vibes are *chef’s kiss* too. Her books always have a really endearing cast of side characters and Pretend You’re Mine is no different.

Definitely worth the read, I just wouldn’t make it your first Lucy Score book!

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to @sourcebooks @read_bloom & @netgalley for the arc! Excited to read Aldo’s story next

Romantic and will make you heart ache! Loved the chemistry between our main characters! Newer author for me, but again loving her writing style!

Pretend You’re Mine
Luke and Harper will always hold the most special place in my heart. Pretend You’re Mine was my introduction to the phenomenal story telling of Lucy Score, and it reignited my love for reading.
Harper finds herself in Benevolence, as her car runs out if gas, after she’s found her boyfriend cheating on her, and leaving her apartment and hometown in a haste without any of her things.
She happens upon a fight that outside of a local bar, proceeds to break it up and meets Luke while doing so.
And as they say - the rest is history….
Harper falls in love with Benevolence, it’s residents and small town shenanigans, and soon finds herself in fake relationship wit Luke.
The author paints a vivid picture of a small town life, and the tight-knit, meddling and caring community of Benevolence in this captivating romcom that has all the hallmarks of a primo romance! We get love, swoon, humor, spice, as well as amazing cast of well developed characters with a side of suspense in this unforgettable love story with a guaranteed HEA.
I highly recommend Pretend You’re Mine to everyone who enjoys a great book!!

This was my first Lucy Score book and I absolutely loved it!! She is great at writing small town love stories. This one definitely made me cry a bit, but the steam was great!