I love anything Lucy score writes. I loved seeing the growth, I loved the emotion. It was gripping and sad and perfectly wonderful. I also love how it develops. Lucy score is great in that regard!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️

Such a beautiful story of second chances.
I did not read the first book but believe this was fine as a stand alone.

Gloria has spent 10 years in a bad relationship, and the time has come for her to walk away and fight for her own life.
Also has waited all that time for her.
But life likes to though curve balls, and when Aldo gets deployed, he does not come back as the same man.

Beautifully written around friendships, family, and perseverance, this book made my heart swell and brought a smile to my face by the end. I loved all the characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Pub date: 13 June 2023

I received access to this title and the first book “Pretend You’re Mine” on the day they published, but unfortunately was not able to download the other book in time. This was a cute story and from my understanding both books are intertwined as they follow 2 couples in a small town. I really enjoy Lucy Scores writing and the drama of her books reminds me of lifetime movies. Overall enjoyed this book 3.5/5 stars.

I was really excited to read Gloria and Aldo’s story.

Overall, I thought the book was good. It was less spice than other Lucy Score books that I’ve read. And there were times that it felt a bit cheesy to me.

But it was so nice to get to read their love story.

An ARC was provided by NetGalley and Sourcebooks Bloom Books in exchange for an honest review.

A reread for me.
Fits a second chance story even though their first chance was actually missed.
Steamy and full of emotion.

Lucky Score knocks it out of the park again! I never get tired of reading Lucy’s steamy love romances ❤️ Finally Mine is *chefs kiss* 😘

Really enjoyed it! I liked the first one more but it was good to hear their perspective. It was a great continuation of book one.

“You can’t put your worth in someone else’s hands like that. Whether those hands are stroking you or hurting you. It doesn’t matter. Your value comes from inside. Whether you mean something to him or not has nothing to do with how inherently valuable you are.”

“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 24 hours in a day. And if I don’t take advantage of those things, it’s my own fault.”

So not going to lie, I read this book when I was a real funk. I just was in a really pivotal place in my life where my mental health was not the best and so I was really leaning on literary worlds for escapism... and this was the perfect book for that. There were so many moments where I had sort of self reflective epiphanies and this was definitely the case of the right book at the right time. Lucy Score is someone who could write anything and I would read, so I was very excited to be able to read this book.

This book was definitely filled with angst and takes you on an emotional rollercoaster, but I think that makes the story feel even more real. Overall I loved Harper as a protagonist and even though I didnt always love Lukes words or actions, I did find myself rooting for them from start to finish.

This was another re-read for me. Finally Mine wasn't my favorite book from the Benevolence series, but I've read it a couple of times.

Gloria and Aldo were friends for years and could have been more than friends, but Gloria ended up in a toxic relationship for a decade. Now out of that marriage, Aldo wants to go on a date with Gloria.

Aldo is deployed and when he comes home with an injury, Gloria is there to help him.

They have a lot to work through (not just with each other) and the book felt a little rushed, but we also don't see the years and years of Aldo pining for Gloria.

This might be an unpopular opinion/review but it is my opinion/review. This was not one of my favorite books and I love Lucy Score. Finally Mine is a story line very similar to Pretend Your Mine it’s almost like the same book. Gloria’s abuse was hard to listen to and I felt for what she went thru. It bothered me that Gloria was being abused for 10 years and no one in the town helped her, not even Aldo who was the town hero and had been in love with her since high school. I understand that you can’t help someone who doesn’t want to be helped but still everyone knew. I give this book 3.5
It took me a bit longer to read and it just didn’t keep my attention and struggled to get into it. Thank you NetGalley for letting me read this ARC for my honest review.

This was excellent! I read Things We Never Got Over and enjoyed it… But I wasn’t really sure where the hype was coming from! This, however, is an easy 5 star read. I couldn’t put it down. It had just the right amount of drama, tension, angst, romance. I hadn’t realised that it was (kind of) the second in a series when I started it, so it reads just as well as a stand-alone but now I can’t wait to read the first and third books! It was a heartwarming, but also steamy, romance.

What to expect:

- small town vibes
- kind of second chance romance
- he falls first
- pretty spicy
- both MCs healing from severe trauma

Thank you NetGalley, publisher and the author for the advanced copy of this publication.

Lucy Score does it again. This is a weekend, beach-read, chick lit kind of book. Enjoy!

2023 Reread

This is the first time I have reread this book and I still loved it. Aldo and Gloria were so wonderful together and her strength is inspiring. They had a genuine and deep connection from the very beginning and they were so supportive of one another. I love all of Lucy's books, but this, and the others in the Benevolence series, are something truly special. I already cannot wait to read the series again.


***


Three years after Pretend You're Mine, Lucy Score takes us back to the town of Benevolence and the characters we know and love.

If you read Pretend You're Mine, you know the basics of Gloria and Aldo's story. Even knowing the basics, though, I was blown away chapter after chapter as events unfolded.

I have loved all the heroines Lucy Score writes, but Gloria has quickly become my favorite. Watching her loved ones rallying around her to lift her up was amazing, but seeing her learn to be strong and love herself was truly beautiful.

Smart, strong, and confident, Aldo has a romantic and vulnerable side that I loved getting to see. He really puts Gloria and her needs first, and is the perfect person to show her what true love really is.

Both Gloria and Aldo's struggles were difficult and led them to some dark places. Seeing them rise up and believe in each other and themselves made this book one of my top reads of 2018.

It was a treat getting to see some pivotal moments from Pretend You're Mine from a different perspective, too. #HarperandLukeForever

Finally Mine can be read as a standalone, but I highly recommend reading Pretend You're Mine first so you can get the most out of the book. Then go and read the Blue Moon series next for more strong heroines and swoon-worthy heroes.

Thank you to the author for providing an ARC for an honest review.

This is one of those feel good reads that I normally need in between my thrillers! I love the writing and characters in this book! I fell in love and was broken hearted and was laughing out loud. A must read!

I’m a Lucy Score fan but found this one a little lacking. It may not be fair to compare to her other novels but I just didn’t get the feels like I usually do. Lucy is a smalltown romance queen and this was done well but I already forgot the name of the town. The story just won’t stick with me.

2.5 stars

Gloria has had enough. After a decade of being a victim to Glenn’s never ending abuse, she is leaving. Starting over when she has never been on her own, never had a job, or real friends is terrifying, but she is ready. What she finds is that in all the brokenness, she is brave. Aldo has been in love with Gloria since high school and ready to shoot his shot with her. When his time comes, he is shipping off to Afghanistan and doesn’t want to put pressure on her. Can love really conquer all? Can Gloria have what she has convinced herself she doesn’t deserve? Is Aldo able to get past his own brokenness to be the man he needs to be for the rest of her life?

Man, Lucy, I always swear I don’t like romance and then you write something like this that I just can’t get enough of! I was rooting so hard for Gloria and Aldo the whole book! I laughed and cried and experienced all the emotions! Fantastic book!

This is the first book of LS that I had a really hard time reading. The abuse and the lack of help and support that Gloria received was ABHORRENT---for ten years?!!? It was a bit much. Gloria is amazing and strong, and deserved Aldo and all the good coming to her.

Finally Mine by Lucy Score was a great follow up to Pretend Your Mind! This book could be a stand alone but works best when having read the first in the duo. Finally Mine was the love story of Aldo and Gloria. SPOILER ALERT: After years of Aldo pining after Gloria, fate has finally brought them together. Gloria is on the mend after getting away from her abusive ex while Aldo is recovering from a near death experience while he was deployed in Afghanistan. The two together find themselves and in return find each other. This was a great love story where the characters not only evolved and grew independently but also found love. Overall great read! You can always count of Lucy Score for a great book! As always thank you Netgalley for letting me do what I do!

After reading Pretend You're Mind and meeting Gloria and Aldo in that book, I was interested to see how their Happily Ever After was going to play out in finally mine. From the teaser about Aldo naked in a bed, I expected things to go forward, not back. Instead there was a lot of regurgitation from the first book. I felt that was just lazy. If Aldo is worth having, why didn't he step up and be a man when he knew Gloria was being abused? Real men don't sit back and watch that. I may like the town of Benevolence but the men there need a serious dose of learning how to act right.

I loved this book!! Lucy Score's stories are always fantastic, but this one really blew the others out of the water. Such fantastic character development and the romance was just *chef's kiss* -- I blew through this book in one sitting and immediately downloaded the next one in the series.