This was my first Lucy Score book and i really liked it! I love that her characters all have an added history to them that make them more realistic. I can't spoil it but it was very satisfying to read about Harper and Luke overcoming their past and finding happiness together.

Lucy Score is one of my ALL time favorites, she draws you in to these amazing stories and pull on your heart strings in EVERY single way.

I loved this one for sure!

Loved this! Lucy Score does it again with another great series! Romance, love what more can you ask for in one of her books!

This was a great book- which is to be expected from Lucy Score. This story had banter, tension, and steam. The plot of Luke learning that he can love and be loved while Harper picks up the pieces of her own life and finds herself in the process makes for such a wonderful story. I love the characters that Score creates. Highly recommend that you add this book to your TBR!

Lucy Score had me at the first word in the title: Pretend.

It can’t be a coincidence that this book that starts with ‘Pretend’ just so happens to us the fake dating trope. Nope. No way.

In case you didn’t know from any of my other reviews, let me make one thing clear: I AM HERE FOR FAKE DATING. There’s nothing I enjoy in my books more than watching two people pretending to be in a relationship while ALSO pretending to not have feelings for each other. The drama and tension and ‘will they or won’t they’ gives me such joy. The combination becomes the perfect recipe for a Happily Ever After in my humble opinion. Harper and Luke were especially easy to fall in love with, and I’m sad that the book wasn’t double the size.


Photo by Jamie Street on Unsplash
Luke
Luke is caring and protective, but his heart is closed off. He’s been through the wringer, that one. A military man who lost his wife in an accident, he’s intent to focus on himself and his career and nothing more. But, life doesn’t work that way. He meets Harper, coming to the rescue of someone else in need, and can’t stand by while she’s in jeopardy.

Harper needs a place to crash. Luke needs a fake girlfriend so that his family will ease up on him and give him space to life his life. Family pressure – I’m sure we’ve all been there a time or two, right? These two end up crashing together for a mutually beneficial outcome that’s strictly business and has an expiration date.

Should be easy.

“You deserve someone who’s going to fall head over heels in love with you. Marry you and spend the rest of his life giving you everything you’ve ever wanted. I can’t love you. I can’t love anyone again. But I want you. I want you so bad that it feels like any moment without you is empty.”

Harper
“What am I supposed to do, be all ‘woe is me’ for the rest of my life? I still get access to the same sunrises everyone else does, the same twenty-four hours in a day. And if I don’t take advantage of those things, it’s my own fault.”

Harper is spunky, driven, and stubborn and not one to sit around and wait for things to happen for her. She is resilient and willing to make her own destiny. I absolutely LOVE her character. It’s not easy to focus on the good and to choose optimism. There are so many bad things happening in the world, whether it be big picture or small scale petty problems that either way you spin it, it’s enough to drag someone down. Harper’s attitude throughout this novel drives home that idea that we can reset ourselves, restart every day with a blank slate, and choose to look on the brighter side of life. Her character inspires me to choose positivity.

I love love
“He was her dream come true.”

Sometimes I just want to shout at my book and tell them, ‘you’re being STUPID! Can’t you see you love each other already?! Stop fighting it!’ Thank goodness Luke finally comes to his senses, of course right at the very end when it’s almost too late, and tells Harper that he loves her.

At karaoke.

In front of everyone.

A glorious grand gesture.

Photo by Nikola Đuza on Unsplash
I love love. I love romance, and grand gestures, and happy ever after’s. This book is quite large with 50+ chapters, but I really do wish it could have kept going for twice as long. I’ve already purchased another from Score’s backlist, and a side character in this novel will be getting their own story released in June, so I’m calling it now I’ll be a Lucy Score super-fan before you know it.

If you’d another Bee’s thoughts on Lucy Score, please check out this review from Jes for Maggie Moves On. It was a 5 star read for her!

Mannnnn do I love Lucy Score lol I can’t even remember the first book of hers that Ashley recommended to me but I was hooked! Luke Garrison became my first serious book boyfriend and all others have been compared to him. What I think I love so much about Pretend You’re Mine is that I relate so much to Luke. Without giving anything away, I’ve also suffered the same kind of loss as him and have felt what he feels. That was the first time I’ve read anything like that in a book and it really just settled in my heart.

So all that being said, I adore Harper! She’s feisty, brave, independent, and goofy. She comes from a hard background and has never really found her home. Luke is the alpha protector, hot headed, sad, lost grump that likes order and repetition. He has an amazing family and a great group of friends, all of which make up the supporting characters (and future main characters) of Benevolence. I love them all. If you haven’t read Lucy Score I really recommend this as an intro but honestly you can’t go wrong with any of her books

Honestly, the book wasn't the worst thing I've ever read, but I wouldn't exactly be running around telling everyone to go read it. And to be honest, there's not a single part of it that I would want to read again. Yeah, I don't think I'll be checking out the next book either.

Love love love this author snd this book. One of the best thus year .
Great plot, characters and the writing is superb

I loved TTWNGO but this is just sooo longgg, honestly I'm not even finished but between ebook and audiobook I cannot get through this it's so long and they've basically been a coupoe the whole time already. I don't get why its so unnecessarily wordyyy

DNF. I tried reading this like 5 different times. I couldn't do it. I love most of Lucy Score's work, but apparently tly not this one.

This book started really well and then tapered off a bit. But 45%, I was feeling done with the book and I was happy to end. I kept
Reading and I am so glad that I did. I wasn’t sure where the story could build on, but build it did!!! I absolutely loved Luke and Harper — there was so much attraction and character growth from these characters. I am also a sucker for a small town romance. I can’t wait to continue with the rest of this series.

PRETEND YOU'RE MINE was one of those books that took me completely by surprise. I picked it up as part of the Kindle Unlimited trial, intrigued by the blurb. What I got was a engaging, funny and emotional read with characters I just couldn't step away from. Harper was one of those heroine's you wish was your best friend. She was so down to earth and lovable, even when you were completely jealous of who she got to go to bed with every night. Then there was Luke. A military man drenched in guilt, sorrow and hotness. Like Harper, it was easy to fall for the man and to want to be the one that fixes him. This one is so hard for me to review because I think I fell in love with this book, characters and author. I don't want to write the review because it's like me closing the door, turning my back on these people and I don't want to. I cant wait to read book two and three! I loved the length of this book also!

Lucy Score is a master of romance, and this one doesn't disappoint. I became a fan after Things We Never Got Over and Pretend You're Mine has cemented her as one of my auto-read authors. The characters, the setting, the chemistry gives you all the feels.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc of the re-release.

Loved. Loved loved loved. Such a cute take on fated mates. I normally don’t love military romance as a former military spouse but this one was so good. Only critique, and I think it has more to do with the books original publication and think Lucy’s writing has grown so much, is there’s no way in hell Benevolance would’ve accepted domestic violence like they did? Other than that, I tore through this almost 500 page book in 24 hours. Did I mention I loved it?

This was a great book. I really liked the characters and the book was nice and spicy. It's exactly what I would expect from a Lucy Score book. The storyline was interesting, even though I am not a super big fan of military romances. I was ensnared from the start and I couldn't stop reading. I'm so excited to read the rest of the books in this series.

My first Lucy Score book and holy moly did it wreck me. I cried in bed while reading this at night then couldn't sleep so I ended up staying up the entire night to finish it. I'm a sucker for military romance as I've gone through deployments myself but I also loved that it wasn't the main focus of this book. I loved Harper's rough upbringing and how that shaped her into the woman she was, she was definitely my favorite character. The romance was hot and swoon worthy and I loved the tense suspense this book also had. Overall, a fantastic read and I can't wait to pick up the second book as Also was my second favorite character.

Thanks to Sourcebooks Bloom Books for the gifted copy for my review!

All the feels!! Sweet and heartbreakingly beautiful. Luke was so annoying at times with how stupid he was, but it was so adorable I’d loved him for it low key. He was a flawed hero and I’m here for that. I could see how some people wouldn’t vibe with that tho. I however ate it right the hell up! Harper was so funny absolutely loved her

I love everything about this book from the cover to the characters to the setting. Everything this author writes is an instant read for me. I can't wait to read what's next.

Such a great read! Perfect for all romance lovers. Thank you to net galley for an ARC of this re release. This book had me feeling all the emotions in the best way possible.

I love this authors work with every fiber of my being, but this series was personally not my favorite. I think Luke is just not my kind of book boyfriend. Also fair warning the cover looks like a cute story, but it is heavier than I initially thought.