I was so captivated by this heartbreaking, raw, honest, and inspiring story. This is a powerful and beautiful story about how fragile love is and how it is built with courage, hope, and tears. Gloria fell into an abusive relationship that lasted for a decade until she found the courage to leave. She faces all her fears about being seen as 'poor little Gloria' from everyone around her and finds a job, a place to live, and family and friends who support and love her. Aldo is the town hero who has loved Gloria since high school. He finally has his shot at winning her heart. Unfortunately, he is being deployed the next week, and promises he will be back to ask her on a date. But life doesn't always work out as planned, and Aldo has to face his own tragedy, and figure out who he really is. This is an emotional, slow burn story that tackles difficult subjects with honesty, and empathy. I fell hard for Gloria, Aldo, Harper and Luke, and all their family and friends who made this story completely riveting. I loved how Score took her time revealing each scarred character, breaking them down, and then building them back to a stronger, courageous, resilient person who knows they are worthy of love. This is a breathtaking, moving, sweet and tender romance that had me in tears of heartache and joy. It is a beautiful and unforgettable story that will stay with me for a long time.

Great story! I loved reading more details about Aldo and Gloria's story. My only issue is that it felt very Deja Vu re-reading the same events just from a different POV. More of a 4.5/5 for me but knowing that this was not a planned story I understand why.

Thank you NetGalley and Bloom Books for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Gloria and Aldos story 😍 I absolutely adored it! They are adorable and I loved how you got to see their perspectives on some scenes from Pretend Your Mone

I'll be honest, I saw some reviews before I read Finally Mine and I was prepared for some really graphic on the page violence and domestic abuse based on the adamantly opposed to this book reviewers, so I steeled myself and hesitantly started reading. While there was definitely violence and allusion to domestic assaults, this was not the horror show I steeled myself for. The main character, Gloria, is a survivor and she's building herself back to full strength after a decade of horror that she lived through. Her story is not one I'd wish on anyone but Lucy Score gives Gloria a new life filled with love and laughter and hope and family. She also gives her one hell of a counterpart in Aldo-a man dealing with his own demons but also a man completely smitten with Gloria, who is kind and gentle and funny and wonderful. If you read Pretend You're Mine you already know a lot of their story, but this time around you get it through their eyes and with more of the ins and outs of how it all actually happens.

In my opinion, Finally Mine isn't meant to be a full exploration of the recovery of your life after domestic abuse or losing a limb in war, and if you were reading it for that then I can see why some of the reviewers weren't happy with some of the depictions or the way certain things went down. I see this novel as one that shows what might be possible for someone who has lived through either of those things; it gives lighthearted fun and sweet romance to two people/characters who wanted desperately to know a life that wasn't defined by those things anymore. And in that, I see success and happiness and hope for an HEA for us all.

Book Name: Finally Mine
Author: Lucy Score

ARC
Thank you to Sourcebook Bloom Books and NetGalley for the ARC of Lucy Score’s Finally Mine

Stars: 4.25
Spice: 4

Character Anthology Series
Fast Paced
Dual POV
Contemporary Romance

- Topics
- Overcoming Abuse
- Overcoming Physical Trauma
- Military
- Tropes
- Small Town
- Overcoming Trauma
- Slow Burn (ish)
- It’s Always Been You
- He Falls First
- Military Romance
- Thoughts
- Wish it had picked up halfway through “Pretend Your mine” or after
-Felt like a rewrite in first 25%
- I need a Linc Book
- Epilogue was Perfection
- Picks Up at 50%
- Gloria was a beautifully written realization of a woman recovering 10/10

I love this book just as much as the other one! Maybe even a little more! It was more than I could have asked for from a book!

Oh my gosh! I absolutely LOVED this book!

Aldo was such a sweet, warm-hearted hero. His longing for Gloria was never in question. Even when things went south for him, his thoughts were of her. I fell in love with his wit and charm in the first book of this series, and he grew all the sweeter, all the more charming in this one. He’s definitely a top favorite hero for me.

Gloria had a rough, rocky, nightmarish past and I loved that she found the fortitude to break free from that on her own. After all that bad, to find something so perfectly imperfect with Aldo had me feeling all the things. I found myself laughing, crying, and cheering them on.

This is exactly what I look for when settling down with a romance. This is a bit long but it never lost my attention or made me want to skim. I was glued to every word, every action, and every emotion throughout this story. And then the author made sure I would always remember these characters by giving me not one, but two epilogues filled with love, laughter and family.

Lucy Score's books are like coming home to me. Instantly, I fall in love with all the ones that I have read, and this one was no exception!

I am an Aldo girl through and through. His mom gives me absolute life. Seeing the healing from both Aldo and Gloria was beautiful, and I loved their relationship. Aldo also brought a lot of humor, which had me cackling in public. Rereading of a lot of the events and conversations from the first book I didn't care for, but I understand why it was there as they were important events in their story.

Overall, LOVE, and I can't wait for the next one!

This was a good second chance romance but I didn’t love it as much as the first book in the series because we got to see so much of this relationship in the first book… that spoiled this book for me a bit. While it was good to see more details of their relationship this book wasn’t as great as the first for me.

Gloria has finally decided to leave her abusive boyfriend. What she doesn't expect is for high school crush Aldo to actually return her feelings.

This is a beautiful small town romance. Here's what I loved:

Aldo and Gloria. These two are literally the cutest couple. They both have had feelings for each other for so long. They are also both going through so much pain and trauma. Check trigger warnings for this one (abuse, trauma). They work with each other to find their way through both of their traumas. But at the end of the day, it's about coming to terms with everything themselves. They both have really nice journeys.

The town. Just like in the first Benevolence novel, I adored everyone in this town. They all have their own quirks and accept each other, building families out of friendships.

The friendships. All of the scenes with Harper, Sophie, and Gloria were my favorite. Their banter was perfect!

This was a unique novel in that it is a true companion for the first book in the series (they run concurrently). While I adored Harper and Luke, Aldo and Gloria stole my heart in this one!

-series
-small town
-overcoming trauma
-slow burn
-it's always been you

This book takes place the same time frame as the first book in the series. But this one is Gloria and Aldo’s story. Having read the first one I pretty much already knew what was going to happen. It was still a decent read.

Gloria & Aldo were both super sweet - I loved them for each other!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
🌶️🌶️

Synopsis:
Gloria is stronger than she thinks, something Aldo has always known. After 10 years in an abusive relationship, Gloria has finally freed herself. Aldo is NOT going to miss his opportunity with her this time, no matter the consequences.

They share an unforgettable kiss, and a promise to date in 6 months when Aldo is back from deployment. Gloria needs time for herself, to heal and figure out how to be an independent adult.

Aldo comes back following a life-changing injury, and isn’t the same man who left. With time, and support from friends and each other, they figure out a way back to where they should be.

Review:
I noticed in several reviews how others were upset that no one did anything to stop the abuse… unfortunately the reality is, unless Gloria was willing to report it and leave him, nothing really could be done. She would have kept going back to him regardless, and without her willing to press charges, he couldn’t be arrested either.

“I wasn’t there. But she didn’t need me. If she doesn’t need a hero, what can I be to her? If I’m not a hero, what am I?”

I really felt so sad for Gloria, and also for Aldo when he returned with his injury. They both needed healing in their own ways, and to figure out who they are in the now, post their respected traumas.

“You and me? We’re not wounded. We’re scarred.”
“The thing about a scar?” Gloria continued. “It means we’re healing. It means we’re survivors.

This book is second in a series, and I definitely recommend reading the first, first. Though it does give away a lot of Gloria & Aldo’s story, I enjoyed reading it again from their perspective and seeing the development of their relationship.

Read if you enjoy:
⭐️ Small town
⭐️ Longtime crush
⭐️ He falls first
⭐️ Post-trauma healing
⭐️ Military hero
⭐️ Slow burn
⭐️ 2nd in series
⭐️ Dual POV/3rd person

*TW: domestic violence, physical and mental abuse, post-trauma from war

Thank you to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books for an advanced review copy. All opinions are my own.

i unfortunately had to dnf this book. first of all this was way too long for my taste. im sick of contemporary romances being this long for absolutely no reason when the exact same story can be conveyed in lesser pages. i can't get myself to like the hero. gloria is in an abusive situation for the longest time & absolutely no one helps her. that was way too hard to read about.

“You can’t control everything and everyone. You can’t make everything perfect and everyone happy. You can be happy and make good choices for yourself.”

Lucy Score can do no wrong. And while Aldo can make some awful mistakes, he too can do no long-term damage to Gloria’s nor my love. Some characters are just like that.

A war veteran with ghosts. A victim of domestic abuse with just as many. Two souls that almost found each other 10 years ago and that now have the chance of carving their own HEA together.

Aldo & Gloria’s story runs concurrent with Luke & Harper’s so we get to see some of those events from an outsider perspective. It’s like a backstage pass to all the major shows 😁

{Let me just say this… I’ve been waiting for Linc’s story since he showed up in book 1. It’s going to be my favorite. I just know it}

What’s inside:
🖤small town romance
🖤he falls first
🖤dual POV
🖤love after trauma
🖤military romance

Adult. 4.5 stars ⭐️

I loved Pretend You’re Mine, so when I heard about Finally Mine and how it was Aldo and Gloria’s story I was over the moon excited. These two characters are just so sweet and so easy to root for on their own, but together they’re the best. If you’ve read Pretend You’re Mine you know the outcome of their story, but in this book you get to relive the story from their perspective. All the moments that I had wished we got to experience in the last book we got in here and they were just as perfect as I’d hoped they’d be. I’m so glad Lucy decided to write this follow up to Pretend You’re Mine because it really would have been so sad to never have their story out in the world.

Thank you to the author, Lucy Score, SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books, and NetGalley for giving me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. This book will be published on June 13, 2023.

Unfortunately, I DNF’d @ 40%. The premise of the book seemed promising with it being Aldo getting another chance to actually be with Gloria, but it fell flat for me. There was a lot of talk about her abusive ex and the time the MCs are apart dragged on. If this were 100 pages shorter I would try to finish, but I just don’t care enough about the characters or the storyline to finish.

I've only read one other Lucy Score book, the standalone "Maggie Moves On" which I really enjoyed. So I had high hopes for this one. Of course, I started it and then quickly realized it was a book 2 in a series. But based on some other reviews, it seem like enough of book one was rehashed in this one that I didn't miss a whole lot. This one had potential but fell flat. Some heavy topics here, with a domestic violence survivor and an amputee veteran as our MCs. The plot was thin, the chemistry heavy on the high school crush / savior complex, and the challenges along the way to our MCs ending up together being extremely obvious. I agree with someone else who mentioned the 3rd act breakup, which is expected because it's standard romance fare, but this one felt truly ridiculous, and to me it seemed more in service of the book 1 pairing finding their HEA vs. this book's pairing. This was just kind of meh and I found myself skimming a lot of it. I also found myself being pulled out of the story to question the timeline of Aldo's recovery, the number of hands he has during a love scene, etc.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC, in exchange for this honest review.

I really enjoyed reading Gloria's side of things interwoven with familiar moments from Pretend You're Mine (loved some Luke and Harper moments). I enjoyed watching Gloria find her strength and conquer her fears and watching her love story with Aldo blossom. Aldo was another spicy book boyfriend.

I didn't want to put this book down either. Lots of emotion came with this book, Can be read as a stand alone but was so much more because I had read book 1 in this series. Lucy Score is becoming an auto buy author for me.

Very much one of my favorite books of the year . I think it was really well written and kept you reading and I think it’s definitely a book that everyone should read and give a try !

I was so excited for this next installment in the series and even more excited to hear Gloria and Aldo’s story. Before reading please check any and all triggers as some parts may be hard for some readers! Overall I enjoyed this book. Not my favorite from this author- (who I love) but I definitely enjoyed it! I love being able to find out more about characters and their stories.