So cute. I loved this! I need to read the others because I loved this!! Thanks NetGalley & Lucy Score for allowing me to read Finally Mine before its release!

Finally Mine by Lucy Score is book 2 of the Benevolence duet. First, I love this author and will read anything she writes. However, this book felt like a retelling of the first but from another perspective. I enjoyed the other point of view but it felt very repetitive. Gloria and Aldo are the perfect couple and I do enjoy them. I do recommend but just know it has similar qualities. Looking forward to so much more from this author!

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Thank you to Bloom books and NetGalley for the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
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Finally Mine is the second book in Lucy’s series set in Benevolence and is a republication of a book written a few years ago. The series is dual books taking place at the same time - this one tells the stories of Gloria and Aldo. Gloria, who recently left an extremely abusive relationship, and Aldo, a Lieutenant in the National Guard who has harbored a crush on her for a decade, finally have their paths cross again shortly before Aldo deploys. He asks Gloria to let him take her out when he gets back from Afghanistan, hoping that the 6 month deployment will give her time to recover and build a life of her own so that she can be ready to date again.
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Reading this book made me realize that I wish I gave the first book in the series 1 star because while this was better, it was nowhere close to 3 star material. I don’t understand how the same person that wrote these wrote TWNGO… there’s such a disconnect in her skill, ability, and care with developing her characters in these books versus her more recent ones. I think it’s a shame that these are being republished and think they have the capacity to tarnish her reputation and skills today. Would not recommend this series whatsoever.

I adored this book a whole lot. Gloria is a survivor of domestic abuse, and Aldo is a war hero who comes home an amputee. The way these two grow to love themselves, and are finally able to express their love to each other because of it was beautiful. Being a survivor myself, I deeply related to Gloria. Aldo reminds me personality wise of my now partner, so I really enjoyed him as well. Love this small town. I would read these in order, because this one takes place along side book 1.
Can't wait for the next one!

I was provided a free copy of this book from @netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
This is the second book in the Benevolence series and follows the same story as the first, Pretend You're Mine, from different main characters' points of view! In this story we follow Gloria, who after ten years, decides to leave her abusive boyfriend, only to have a stranger, Harper, jump in to help her fight in the bar parking lot. This gives her the courage to finally press charges and get him behind bars. Now she has to start rebuilding her life, and maybe see if there is room in it for Aldo, Luke's best friend and National Guard buddy. If you've read the first you know the gist of how things go and some major events, but it's still a different story overall. We get a view into their thoughts and still a lot more of the story we didn't see in the first. The two stories together provide a bigger picture of the whole storyline. I read these back to back and was not bored in this one! I'm not sure it would matter too much which you read first. But since these were republications, they are both available now.
This one does have less bedroom scenes, but there is still quite a few. And again, we have trigger warnings for domestic violence, depression, and PTSD.
I enjoyed both stories, not sure which is my favorite. But I see that there is a third, so I'm interested to read that one as well!
#NetGalley #FinallyMine

Finally Mine follows the same timeline as Pretend You're Mine so there's a lot of overlap and even some shared scenes and dialogue. I really loved Gloria's character but wasn't a huge fan of Aldo at all times. A bit less steamy that the first but followed a pretty similar recipe otherwise. Always prefer to skip unnecessary fights/drama when possible but who am I kidding as I'll still read the next one.

Thank you to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books for the ARC of the recent rerelease of Finally Mine. I read Pretend Your Mine right before jumping into this book so I knew about Aldo and Gloria. I felt that the two stories were written in a parallel fashion so if you were interested in Aldo and Gloria's background after the first book then it makes sense to read this one. You get the background on Gloria's history which is hard to read at times. You also get to see Aldo's POV and I feel like you're either a fan of his or not for not stepping in with Gloria prior to the current timeframe. Their story isn't an easy one with what happened in the past and then currently.

If you happened to pick this book up without reading the first one then you'll jump into Gloria and Aldo's story without any background. While I don't think it's necessary to read Pretend Your Mine first, if you're planning on reading all the books in this series then I'd recommend reading them in order. I did enjoy seeing how Aldo and Gloria's relationship evolved from their POV's along with some of the other characters.

I know this is a popular author, but this is not my cup of tea. I did not like the way the characters were portrayed.

I feel like this book and Pretend You’re Mine have solidified that I am just not the target audience for a military romance. I feel like the book was just too long for what it was.

Finally Mine, by Lucy Score was rereleased Tuesday last week with a beautiful new cover. Even though I did not read the first book in the series, I didn’t feel lost; I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the two character’s perspectives, and following them along their development. Gloria and Aldo both needed healing, and have to figure out who they are now after their traumas. It did a pretty good job at blending all the different aspects into a cohesive story, and after reading Finally Mine I feel compelled to read the rest, since The Benevolence Series books are all interconnected.

This book has:
Military romance
Second chance romance
Overcoming trauma
Found family
He falls first
Slow burn
Dual pov
Small town setting

Thank you netgalley and bloombooks for a chance to read this.

Oh no...no no - the abuse in here??? No no no.
- the scenes are the same as book 1, like literally the same
- Gloria was abused for YEARS and no one helped/tried to help
- Aldo was a soldier but also a piece of stale toast bread

This book was originally written in 2018. It's undergone some updates, including the cover. I really enjoyed the story. As the wife of a wounded warrior, I really got into the storyline of the physical and mental struggles of the two characters who returned home from war. If you think that someone goes off to a war zone and returns even close to the person they were when they left, you are mistaken. Just flat out mistaken. The person that you loved when he was deployed will not be the person that you loved when they get home. You can either cut and run or learn to love that new person and try to help him through it. I really appreciated the honesty in the book about that.

This is a romance of two damaged souls. It was a beautiful romance that also included lots of friendship and family running throughout. I haven't read the first book yet, but I certainly will. Lovely! The Bonus Epilogue was perfect.

I was gifted a copy of this book by Sourcebooks/Bloom Books and NetGalley. All thoughts are my own.

Lucy Score has fast become one of my favourite rom-com writers. Her novels are always full of emotions and highly entertaining.

I didn't realise this was the second book in the Benevolence series. Not having read the first one, all I can say is that it can totally be read as stand alone.

We follow Gloria and Aldo. Both are rich adorable characters with baggage and a few hurdles to overcome in their personal lives. It was lovely to see both their journeys and overcoming some life adversities.

I cannot wait for Things We Hide From the Light, due out later this year. I loved the first two from the Knockemout series.

TW’s Domestic violence, abuse.

Many thanks to @netgalley @sourcebooks @bloombooks @lucyscore for an advanced reading copy

Lucy Score does it again! I love her books so much and this one was no exception. The one thing I didn’t like is that everyone knew about her abuse and did nothing about it, although I suppose that’s often the case.

I read this a few years ago and was so ecto see it on NetGalley! I love this Benevolence series by Lucy Score so much. It may be a tinge cheesy but that’s romance, and these books so much deeper. I loved the development of Gloria and Aldo, both together and of themselves. I enjoyed the reread of this and totally want to read the third one now.

The h was in an abusive relationship for 10 years. The H has cared for the h since high school. The h finally breaks away from her abusive boyfriend and begins to start a new life. The H and the h start to date, before he is deployed. Unfortunately he is injured by an ied and loses part of his leg. When he comes back he pushes everyone away. Eventually they are able to sort things out.
I received an ARC from NetGalley.

I received an ARC of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own. I applaud the author, who always addresses dark themes with heart. She did it again here and I look forward to reading more Lucy Score.

I’ve ready previous Lucy Score books and enjoyed them. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t get into the book. The characters weren’t well developed. The F bombs were frequently used throughout. This was a DNF for me. Thank you to net galley and the publisher for an ARC

Omg, love this second installment! Just as hot and spicy as the first. I love this so much. It felt like true love in the purest form.

I was excited to read this book for Aldo and Gloria’s story; but it unfortunately fell flat for me. I felt like I got most of their stories in book 1 and this one just restated. I really wanted to like it because I really loved this couple.