I love that this story was happening parallel to Pretend You’re Mine. Seeing Gloria heal herself after being in an abusive relationship for so long was beautiful. Seeing Aldo heal himself after a war tragedy was inspiring. Seeing them find love together through it all was the best thing of all.

Unfortunately this book was a DNF for me. Very repetitive to the first book and I did not enjoy reading a book that seemed to be a re read.

Finally Mine is the second book in Lucy Score’s Benevolence series. It overlaps the timeline of the first, providing an alternative look at small town life. I’m not always a huge fan of series that do this, because sometimes not enough is “new.” However, Lucy Score manages to pull it off. This book had enough familiar characters, while introducing a few ones. Since the overlapping is not as noticeable as it is with other series, and has new main characters, it feels like a whole new story (as it should). The middle was a little slow for me, but I definitely just started book 3!

Special thanks to Net Galley and Sourcebooks/ Bloom Book for providing an advanced reviewer copy to me in exchange for my honest review and opinion!

So fun to read the second book. I enjoyed reading Gloria and Aldo's story from their perspective. And to see more from the little town they are in. . Looking forward to the next book. Excited to share with library patrons when the print copies come.

Finally Mine is book two of the Benevolence series. This is a beautiful story of healing as only Lucy Score can write. It’s an emotional journey of healing wounds on both the inside and out. Aldo is healing from the trauma & injuries of war. Gloria is healing from years of physical and emotional abuse. Although their scars aren’t the same their journeys toward healing parallel one another. And they also find exactly what they need in one another even if it takes them some bumps along the way to get there.

The town of Benevolence is absolutely charming and the friends and family you meet are essential to each other’s stories. The way they all support each other is heartwarming. And we can’t forget the ever entertaining Mama Moretta. Lucy spins the story in such a way that you want to live in Benevolence and be friends with them too.

This book gave me all the feels. I was laughing one minute then crying then gushing with love. Thank you Lucy and Bloom Books for the opportunity to review this.

Unfortunately I ended up DNF’ing this book. I had a hard time getting into the second book and this one felt like a retelling of the first one from different POVs and I just couldn’t get into it. I liked having Gloria’s background story but that was the only positive point for me. I wish this story was a bit more detached from the story of the first book and it made it hard to feel excited about this book for that reason.

I'm usually not interested in reading books that tell the same story from another POV so I was worried I wasnt going to enjoy this one. But of course I shouldnt have worried with anything this author writes. Yes there are alot of scenes we see from the first book, but it was just quick glimpses that added to this book. I loved Gloria and Aldo from the first book and fell more in love with them in this one. Cant wait to read the next one!

This series is EXCELLENT!! Finally Mine could be read stand-alone, but you'd be missing out on something special in Pretend You're Mine if you don't start there!

Overall, it is a cute story that had its own charm which I genuinely enjoyed, but its not one that I will be revisiting.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lucy Score for an ebook in exchange for an honest review!

Rating: 2/5 Stars

While I always enjoy Lucy Score’s writing, I did not enjoy this one. It was just a retelling of the first story from different characters perspectives so I already knew how it ended.

When I read Pretend You’re Mine, I remember thinking about how much I would like to read Gloria and Aldo’s stories, but didn’t expect to because the author had already given us so much of them. I thought I knew who they were. As I dove into Finally Mine, I quickly realized there was so much more that I didn’t know, and I was here for it.

Gloria is the woman in Pretend You’re Mine that Harper witnesses getting choked by her boyfriend at the gas station. Aldo is Luke’s best friend. They nearly dated, but then Gloria met her abusive boyfriend, and Aldo went off to join the military. Again, Lucy Score delivers amazing characters that drive this story and keep you reading as you learn more and more about these two. I really loved following Gloria’s healing journey, and both Gloria’s and Aldo’s moms deserve an honorable mention in this review.

This second chance romance is full of spice, full of heart and full of humour.

TRIGGER WARNING: Domestic abuse/ Victim of domestic abuse, mention of SA

This book was hard for me to read. I did like the relationship between Gloria & Aldo. I did not like how everyone just stood by & did nothing while Gloria was in an abusive relationship.

Finally Mine is the second book in the Benevolence series by Lucy Score, and it was just as amazing as the first book! If you have read “Pretend You’re Mine”, the first book in the series, you already have met Aldo and Grace, and probably know part of their story. Their love journey is so beautiful, emotional and deep. As with Lucy Score’s other books, this one is not just a romance, but has so much more: PTSD, trauma, emotion, etc.

If you love romances that have some big feels and will break your heart a bit, then this is a book you should read. It was one of the better books, not just romances, that I have read this year. I loved watching Grace’s healing journey and seeing her find herself again. It is really hard not to root for Aldo and Grace, they are just such amazing characters. They have very human flaws and it makes them very relatable.

The only reason you may not like this book is if you are triggered by abuse, rape, severe injury or deployment and war. There are some hard topics. It is not overly descriptive, but these topics do come up so I would check any trigger warnings before diving in.

Overall, I loved Finally Mine. I was worried that I wouldn’t love it as much as the first in the series, but I shouldn’t have fretted. Now I just need to get my hands on all the other Lucy Score books. She has definitely become an auto-buy/read for me.

Finally Mine is a standalone by Lucy Score, but if you've read Pretend Your Mine, I think you'll get more enjoyment out of this 2nd book in this series. I hadn't realized when I obtained a copy of this edition that this was originally published in 2018 when I first read it. Let me tell you-- it was just as enjoyable this time. This was an emotional read for me. I really admired and had strong feelings for Gloria and Aldo throughout this book. If you're looking for an emotional read that will give you all of the "feels" please give this one a try. I'm grateful to have been given the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book through NetGalley.

Rating 3.5 rounded up to 4 for the fact this book did pull on the emotional heart strings and I mean a lot of different emotions.
Was rooting for Gloria and Aldo as a couple in Pretend You're Mine so was looking forward to getting more of their story with their book. Since their story crosses timelines with Luke and Harper's story there was a lot of repeat of events just told through a different point of view, which did make the story longer than it necessarily needed to be if you read both books. It does help Finally Mine work as a standalone. Enjoyed the addition of therapy check in dialogue with Gloria and Aldo since they both did need the help processing their individual traumas. Loved Gloria finding her inner strength, growing and healing after the abuse she suffered in her previous relationship. Think Lucy did a good job with thoughtfully writing about real and ugly parts of life with abuse and trauma for both our lead characters. Definitely check trigger warnings.

Compared to the first book this was a bit more of a letdown for me. For me it’s a fine line when timelines overlap and for me it was a bit too repetitive for me to think it was interesting. I had serious issues with the portrayal of the relationships in this book and while I know it’s absolutely vital to portray the realities of abusive relationships this didn’t feel realistic. Overall I preferred the first book a bit more.

Definitely a companion to "Pretend You're Mine", I love the way these books work together. The same story told from a different couple's perspectives in the same real time unravels some other background from the other book. Aldo and Gloria are great characters with resonant stories. The way their very different backgrounds overlap is beautiful.

#arc
#netgalley
#finallymine

This is the third book I've read by this author and I'm still in awe of her writing. - I can't wait to read another. It's impressive how she took two characters from Pretend Your Mine and flipped the story to be from their point of view in Finally Mine, without duplicating too many of the same scenes. Some of my favorite parts of Pretend Your Mine were revisited and it rekindled my fondness for all the characters. Gloria and Aldo's love story is just as passionate as Harper and Luke's, a love story that everyone should experience. Gloria's past involves domestic violence and the author captured a victim/survivor's point of view and thoughts so well, it's easy to connect with. I was most excited to hear Aldo's story from his point of view, especially when he was injured. I couldn't put the book down, it was almost as if I didn't know how his story ended even though I had a glimpse of it already. I'm grateful for the bonus epilogue... Without that, I would be craving to know more. The bonus epilogue was a perfect way to end the book - a truly beautifully well-written book.

If you’ve read Pretend Your Mine, you are ready for Aldo and Gloria’s story. We got a glimpse of them in that book and it just made you want more!

I also enjoyed seeing some of the elements in Pretend Your Mine from a different perspective as the storylines overlap.

Gloria’s abusive relationship story is a little hard to read, especially when it seems that everyone knew, but no one could really break through to her. But you cannot help but root for her now that she’s free.

Aldo has been loving Gloria from afar for a long time and he is the perfect guy to show her how she should be treated! But Aldo comes back from deployment a different guy. I loved how different situations emerged where Gloria got to show her strength and not only save herself, but also be the one to pull him out of his despair.

There is so much love and humor in this story that you cannot help but fall in love with the characters. But there are some serious triggers around domestic abuse, so don’t go in blind.

Sadly. I couldn't get into this book. I loved Pretend Your Mine and I was somewhat excited to see Gloria and Aldo's story. But as it somewhat takes place during the 1st book. I couldn't stop seeing them as side characters. However, the biggest issue I had with this book is how NO ONE did a single thing for Gloria while she was in an abusive relationship. Her mother, Aldo, the entire town! For years, just allowed this to happen? I just couldn't get over how Aldo held this torch for her. Yet did absolutely nothing to at the very least get her out of the situation. I just can't move past that.