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.

A great addition to the Benevolence series by Lucy Score, Finally Mine. I really enjoyed going back and reading more about these characters. This is Aldo and Gloria's story. I can't wait to see what the author has for us in Book 3 in the series.

*I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

3.5 stars rounded up

This wasn’t my favourite Lucy Score book, but I did still find it enjoyable and would recommend it to people who are a fan of her books. HOWEVER. This book is often very dark. There is a lot of potentially triggering content, so I want potential readers to be warned that they may want to look up Trigger Warnings before they pick up this book.

i think this book was def pretty good! i really liked the characters and i loved seeing gloria develop throughout the story. i also enjoyed getting to see both gloria and aldo work through their issues and insecurities throughout the book! this book was also filled with plenty of hilarious moments!

however, while seeing different perspectives was definitely interesting, the repetition from the first book made this book less engaging and i wish we could’ve seen newer scenes rather than revisiting scenes we’ve already read especially because we already knew everything that would happen. i also didn’t like the part regarding the abuse since aldo (and the entire town) knew what was happening to gloria and nobody did anything to help.

thank you to sourcebooks for sending me this ARC. all opinions are my own.

I loved Pretend You're Mine, so I was thrilled that this was Aldo and Gloria's story! I loved how it took place in the exact time frame of Pretend You're Mine, It was really interesting to read some of the same scenes in different points of view. I loved how Aldo had more going on than we realized from the previous book. I really enjoyed this a lot, as I have all the books I've read by Lucy Score

When I started this one I didn't realize it was on the same timeline as book but just with different characters. But that ended up being wonderful!! It really filled out the world and just made me love this story along with book one so much more. Fantastic characters and swoon worthy moments!

Gloria was in a toxic relationship for ten years. Aldo has always wanted a chance with Gloria. Gloria finally gets away from her former boyfriend and moves back home with her mother. She is making new friends and gets her first job. Her new friend Harper is living with Luke and Aldo is his best friend. Aldo finally tells Gloria he is interested in her and wants to pursue a relationship after his deployment to Afghanistan.
Aldo is injured and comes home early and doesn't want to see anyone especially Gloria. Gloria is still fighting her demons from her abusive boyfriend; can the two get together.

‘Finally Mine’ is an emotional story of two people who have been attracted to each other for years and finally are able to have their chance at a HEA. Aldo Moretti and Gloria Parker have had their share of hardship in their lives and are working to overcome the bad to get to the good. Gloria has just employed all her courage to end a bad relationship and Aldo is ready and willing to help her heal. She needs time to heal and once he gets back from his six-month deployment in the National Guard, he wants to start dating the girl he’s been attracted to for over 10 years. When he returns injured, he has more than physical healing to do.

I love the way Lucy Score incorporates humor into every book she writes even when the subject matter can cover emotional and intense themes such as abuse and limb replacement, and coming back from the despair they can lead to. I was captivated by this couple from their introduction in ‘Pretend Your Mine’ and was tickled pink to be able to read their story. The way their timeline wove in and out with the previous book and scenes were shown from the points of view of the main characters in this book and the first was very enjoyable. What I love most about Lucy’s characters is the way they find strength and self-worth to overcome their past baggage and look forward to a healthy and loving future. The people who surround them are quirky in all the best ways and make the town of Benevolence a fun place to live.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Lucy Score does another great small town romance!

Gloria and Aldo are characters from Pretend You’re Mine. I loved them in the first book and this is their backstory!

Gloria and Aldo have both been through a lot. Their journey to happily ever after is filled with a lot of emotion and heartbreak. The character growth was wonderful to watch.

This was another beautifully written story by Lucy Score. It was very relatable and I feel like this entire series would make a great movie! I loved this book and definitely recommend reading it!


📘: Finally Mine by Lucy Score
🗓️: June 13, 2023

Thank you to NetGalley, Lucy Score, and SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Booksfor this ARC!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

*Reviewed on NetGalley and Goodreads.

Wow Finally Mine was a emotional heartbreaking story of how two people overcome and take back control of their lives working through their own insecurities and reservations to find happiness together

Finally Mine
⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️
📚 Romance
🎶 Because of You - Kelly Clarkson

One sentence synopsis:
Can a domestic violence survivor and a wounded war veteran to learn to heal their wounds together?

My review:
This could have been so good. I was excited for this story since I really liked the first one in the series. We have a domestic abuse survivor and a wounded war veteran for main characters for Pete’s sake! The execution just fell flat for me.

This is going to sound insensitive of me to say but I found this book to be a little too heavy on the “woe is me” vibe. There is a balance I think when writing characters that have gone through some tough times. I don’t want to discredit their struggles but it all just felt a little text book if you know what I mean.

There is a lot of overlap from the first book in the series and it’s pretty repetitive. For example, a long scene or conversation that happens in the first book takes up the same amount of space in this one and to me that’s completely unnecessary. This happens multiple times. To be fair, I’m not sure how the author was supposed to reflect this since both stories overlap so much, but the way it was done was just so repetitive.

The two main characters barely spent any time together until after the half way mark. It was hard to spot any sort of chemistry. And I thought the 3rd act breakup was utterly ridiculous. So much so I almost stopped reading at that point. I have so much more to say about this part but if one of you happens to read this I don’t want to spoil it for you. Ugh, so frustrating.

I’ve learned this year that there is a couple of series I’ve missed random books and I love that I’m finally able to get to read them. It allows me to go back into a world that I thought was over for years. Finally Mine is book where I’ve read all the other books in the series but this one, and man this one was worth the wait.

Gloria and Aldo have a beautiful story where they are both struggling with some major trauma and with them both having to figure that out while also slowing starting a new relationship. Gloria’s growth so amazing to watch, to watch her go from an abused wife to a strong woman who knows her worth. When her fears come back, it’s hard to read because you know she is strong but also that her fears are valid.

Highly recommend this series to anyone, but especially to anyone who has read Lucy’s newer books and wants to continue read her older books!

Probably the best series I've read this year!

I love how Aldo and Gloria's story unfolds in the second Benevolence novel! I can't say that there were too many surprises because it's set in the same timeline as the first book. That being said, I still enjoyed watching there story unfold.

I can't wait to read the third novel!

I really loved getting Aldo and Gloria’s story. They had so much too work through and it was handled so well.

Minus one star for the copy and pasting of so many scenes from the first book. Overlapping timelines can be tricky but just repeating everything exactly every time wasn’t for me.

I’m a bit disappointed in this book. I love Lucy Score and her books, but this one fell very short for me. It’s literally just a continuation of Pretend You’re Mine, just from Gloria and Aldo’s perspectives. I was wanting a completely new book about Gloria and Aldo because I loved them so much in Pretend You’re Mine, but this one followed the exact same events and I didn’t really feel any attachment since I already knew what all happened just from reading Pretend You’re Mine.
I still loved Aldo and Gloria and getting their thoughts and feelings was nice, but there was nothing else added to their relationship. This was just a repeat of the first book and I don’t see a point in reading it again. The only new developments to Aldo and Gloria’s story was the epilogues which gave me a tiny taste of what I wanted.
I’m hoping Linc’s story, Protecting What’s Mine, is something different and not just a different view point on the same story.

Finally Mine is the second book in the Benevolence series by Lucy Score. The first book in the series is “Pretend You’re Mine”. If you have previously read this you will remember some of Aldo and Gloria's story. Since I have read book one I don't feel like there were a lot of surprises in this book since it also follows the same timeline just from different character perspectives. I did enjoy reading about their journey - it was emotional and raw and much more than a romance novel.

There are some difficult topics in this book and I would not recommend if you have triggers with abuse, PTSD, trauma, etc.

Finally Mine was a fairly quick read since I knew alot of what was already happening so I did not enjoy this one as much as the first and am undecided if I will finish the series at this time.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the Advanced Reading Copy.

Omg omg omg omg. This book had me swooning, laughing, crying, all the things!!!


Gloria finally gets the courage to leave her abusive husband, Glenn, after 10 years. Aldo Moretta has been biding his time, hoping for a chance with Gloria, and sees his opportunity. The two start a budding friendship, while allowing for each to heal their own personal wounds.

I LOVED reading Aldo and Gloria’s story! Military stories will always have a special place in my heart. The communication was perfection (90% of the time). The character arcs were so good and I loved how this story ran juxtaposed with Harper and Luke’s from “Pretend You’re Mine”. I could gush about this book forever.
Aldo is the perfect combination of “I need to protect you” and “you’ve got this” and I absolutely loved that! He is the best book boyfriend and deserves all the love!

Thank you to #netgalley, Bloom Books, and Sourcebook Bloom Books for an eARC of this rerelease! All opinions are my own!