Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read Finally Mine by Lucy Score. I really enjoyed the first book in this series, Pretend You're Mine, and was excited to read the story of Gloria and Aldo. This story deals with some tough topics such as domestic abuse and war injuries however this book had a satisfying ending. I'm looking forward to reading the third book in this series.

Finally Mine is book 2 in the Benevolence series and brings Aldo and Gloria, who were childhood crushes.

Gloria ended up in an abusive relationship for 10 years and it ends with a bang when he ends up in jail. His damage doesn’t just go away easily though and Gloria is having to figure out how to rebuild her life and self talk. Staying with her margarita making mom isn’t how she expected her life to be.

Aldo has carried a torch for Gloria since high school but their age difference held him back until it was too late. He doesn’t want to lose his chance but he knows he has to take it slow. His latest deployment with the national guard didn’t go as expected and he ends up injured, leaving him trying to come to grips with his new normal.

While they both struggle to find their balance in this new beginning they can’t help but find themselves drawn to each other.

This was a harder book to read with the subject matter but I so loved them finding their second chance among starting over. I loved them together and their journey. Looking forward to the next in the series.

Loved this second novel in the Benevolence series!

Aldo is such a swoon worthy main character, and I adored he and Gloria's relationship.

They both had to power through some really tough mental & physical setbacks, and they came out on top together and grew as people and lovers side by side.

Adored it! Such a great small town romance, easy read!

After reading Pretend You’re Mine I was so excited to get more of Aldo and Gloria’s story! Aldo has had a crush on Gloria since high school, but Gloria was taken by Glenn who is abusive. When Gloria finally gets out of her toxic marriage, Aldo thinks this could finally be his chance. But then he returns from deployment both mentally and physically scarred. The two have to overcome their past traumas to realize their strengths and be open to love.

I loved that Pretend You’re Mine and Finally Mine had overlapping timelines so you got the story from multiple points of view. Aldo and Gloria’s love story was so sweet and emotional! Thank you Netgalley and Bloom Books for the egalley in exchange for my honest review.

I didn’t realize this was part of a series until I finished it! I’m excited to read the others in the series now because I fell in love with the characters of Benevolence! Gloria’s story of abuse is hard to read, but the way she comes out and through it makes it worth it. Aldo and Gloria for the win!

Again, like another of the authors book, this wasn’t a favorite but it was decent. I think maybe it’s just me at this point lol. I enjoyed the books I’ve read of hers, but I haven’t loved any.

Small town romance 💘

Many thanks as always to Bloom books and Net Galley for the ARC. This one has a special place in my heart. This is the second installment in Lucy Score’s series called Benevolence. The can be read on it’s own without reading the first one, this is more focused on characters you meet in the first book, but like i said, you don’t need to read it, because you do know what will happen if you have read the first one. This is told from the POV of two characters you meet in book 1, pretend you’re mine. This is heavy on a relationship that occurs after a domestic violence relationship. This shows how strong women can be! I also loved Gloria’s POV, because some of those thoughts are on point, on why some stay in a situation like that. I would say this has a stronger message than a similar book, It Ends with Us because you can see that growth isn’t linear.
5/5. Loved the message and I found myself relating to Gloria and even telling my therapist some lines from it on how my relationship made me feel. Also love the fact that this is a second chance 💘 romance.

Finally Mine is the second novel in the Benevolence series. Like the first novel, Pretend You’re Mine, this novel is a rereleased version. Although it is part of a series, this novel could be read as a standalone. After having mixed feelings for the first novel, I was not sure what to expect in this one. This one was a surprise as it included a lot of information from the first novel as the stories take place at the same time so there is a lot of overlap. The story follows Gloria and Aldo where he’s had a crush on her since school. It is important to note the main trigger in this story, which is abuse. Gloria was in an abusive relationship for ten years, so this story may not be for every reader.

While the story goes into Gloria and Aldo potentially becoming romantic with each other, it was difficult to get past why Aldo never did anything to help Gloria in her situation. There could be a million reasons why he may be hesitant or something the reader may not think of, but, unfortunately, the novel does not explore this. I think this would be the main obstacle for a reader to enjoy the story as there needed to be something to explain Aldo’s decisions. As for the rest of Aldo’s story, he is part of the National Guard who is dealing with deployment and the mental health aspects. There is a lot going on with these characters, but with the repetition from the first story, I wish there was more uniqueness. Since these novels were early works of Lucy Score, I am not sure if it is just this series or if it is the author that is not working for me. Overall, I do think this novel was more well-written than the previous, but it needed a little more care for some of the topics.

**I give a special thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Bloom Books, for the opportunity to read this entertaining novel. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.**

Genre: Romance
Rating: 5/5 ⭐️
Recommend: Yes!

I swear every book by Lucy Score is better than the last. I put this book off for a very long time because I really enjoyed Pretend Your Mine and didn't think this would top that... low and behold it did top it! I loved this book, and while it covers a lot of darker themes (tw: abuse), it still manages to feel fun and light!

Read if you like...
–Military Romance
–Friends to Lovers
–Small Town
–He Falls First

I picked up this book and hoped it would be better than the first, but I was disappointed. We continue in the small town of Benevolence with all its shenanigans, which I did still enjoy. Gloria, the FMC, was in an obscenely abusive marriage for ten years and no one did anything about it - not her mom and not the love interest, Aldo. Even though he was convinced hew as in love with her, but couldn't have her. Gloria was a great character and I'm glad she got out of that relationship. I was rooting for her to find her real true love, but Aldo just fell a little flat.

I struggled with how much overlap there was with book 1 since there was quite a bit of repeat dialogue, just from their perspectives. Just like in book 1, I wanted more depth to all of it and this time with less repeat scenes. Overall I did finish it and enjoyed it, but so much could be improved!

I really enjoy Lucy Score's writing style and this bookseries is defintely a MUST read!

Thank you to Netgalley, Lucy Score and Sourcebooks Bloom books for providing me with this copy. All opinions are my own.

I finished Finally Mine by Lucy Score a couple days ago and it was as just as amazing as the first book.

An Italian man and a Hispanic woman? That has to be a match made in heaven right?? This book made me love Aldo all the more and it made me see just how strong Gloria was. It was also nice seeing their views on everything that was happening in the first book since this one coincided with the timeline of the first AND what at first seemed like a rushed ending for these two, made so much sense in this one.

This is book 2 in the Benevolence series but the first one I have read. From other reviews, I can see that worked better for me as I’ve seen that there is a lot of repetition between the two. I might go back and read book 1 at some later date when I’ve had time to forget what happened. I really enjoyed this book. I love a small town romance and this one was cute with Score’s sprinkling of spice. Gloria was badass and I loved seeing her realise that and allowing herself to grow. I also loved the disability representation and showing that life doesn’t end and you can still do so much. There are some great side characters to fall in love with as well.

I received a copy of the ebook via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I want to move to Benevolence right now. I loved Aldo and Gloria story. Both overcame so much and to find a love like theres was beautiful. Lucy Score has become one of my favorite authors.

Review Posted on June 29, 2023 to Goodreads and Storygraph

⭐️2

The initial part of the story was incredibly captivating and filled me with anticipation as I witnessed the characters engaging in their make-believe romance. However, my excitement dwindled as a considerable portion of the story was dedicated to recounting events that had already been covered in their previous book, "Pretend Your Mine." It was disappointing to encounter repetitive content, especially since I had already familiarized myself with their story. Additionally, the story felt excessively prolonged, lacking a sense of pace and direction. The conclusion, unfortunately, fell short of my expectations, leaving room for improvement. In summary, while the beginning of the story was thoroughly enjoyable, the rest of it failed to live up to that initial promise.

Special thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I liked this book! I loved seeing Aldo and Gloria fall in love and grow together. They are a great couple and are so good for each other. I didn't like how this book was kind of copy and paste from the first book. There was so many scenes and dialogue that was word for word from the first book. I wish there were more unique scenes between Aldo and Gloria. It would've made the story more exciting and I would've been able to connect with the characters more. My favorite part of this book was seeing Gloria grow and come into herself. She lost herself and in this book she was able to find a new version of herself that made her insanely happy. It was amazing to read about.

I really love Lucy Scores writing but I keep feeling like a few hundred pages from the end of the book could be shortened. Unfortunately this one was not any different

This book was hard to read at times and so emotional but I'm glad I did. This second chance romance was so much deeper than the popular rom-coms out there and I applaud Lucy for how well she wrote this. Gloria is coming out of a 10 year, abusive relationship and learning how to be herself again. Gloria and Aldo's relationship was so raw and real, and refreshing to read. The healing journey that they both go on was emotional and so good.

Let me say this first, I love Ina Moretta. She is the person we all know in life at one time or another. I know this women. I grew up knowing this women. She’s loud, opinionated, has her own style and loves her son. She just has a unique way of showing it! She stole my heart in this story and made me laugh and love.
Ok now I can move to how this story moved me. Normally, I look beyond the story to see what’s underneath or if it’s relatable. Well in this book there is nothing you have to look for, it’s all there right up in your face. The hurts, the flaws, the good times, the bad times and the beautiful. If you read Pretend Your Mine you were introduced to a lot of Aldo and Gloria’s story. This goes much deeper. This book shows you The Who, What, Where, When, Why and How it developed and happened. It’s not pretty at times and then again it’s beautiful, just like life is.
This author has a way of drawing you in from the first page to the bonus material. Even her notes give you meaning. I don’t know where she gets her inspiration from because each of her stories are so different but she just has a way of connecting with the reader every time. The characters are people with whom you can identify.
You will laugh, cry, be romanced, cheer, swoon and feel those palpitations in your heart and you may get some insight on things that may have never previously crossed your mind or you try to shut them out of your mind. She brings issues to light that are very current and gives you plenty to think about without preaching. You know we all have our battle scars some are just more visible than others and whether you know it or not we fight them everyday either consciously or unconsciously. While reading this book I realized it’s nice to know none of us are alone. Sometimes all you have to do is reach out or be that person that steps up!
This story takes place in Benevolence and it is the perfect description of what this story is all about!

This story featuring Gloria & Aldo tugged at my heartstrings. I am a huge fan of Lucy’s work and this one just hit differently but in a good way. Glad to be able to read and recommend this book. 4/5 stars.