3 Stars

I previously read the first book in this series, Pretend You’re Mine, and I really didn’t like it. So I had mixed feelings about reading Finally Mine. But, I ended up liking it a lot better than the first book in the series! Gloria and Aldo were more likable characters and I did enjoy their story. I would say if you liked the first book at all and are curious about reading more about how everything unfolded then check this out. If you feel satisfied with the amount of Gloria and Aldo you got from the first book then I would leave it at that.

My problem with Finally Mine is that we got the entire outline of their relationship in the first book. Absolutely nothing was a surprise— we were just given more details and at times different perspectives in identical scenes (most of the big climatic scenes as well) from Pretend You’re Mine.

Thank you to Net Galley & Bloom Books for the ARC of Pretend You’re Mine in exchange for an honest review.

Overall, this was a great book. I gave it 4 stars. I really didn't like how the first 39 chapters were basically cut and paste from Pretend You're Mine. I was hoping for more back story on the main characters. Also, where is the spice?? Pretend You're Mine was loaded with spice and this flat-lined in that area.

& just like that another novel devoured. I really love the small town vibes of Benevolence and the close knit community it has. Seeing Gloria grow from timid, shy and weak after spending years of enduring trauma and abuse was just ugh. Chef's kiss. She was such a butterfly from beginning to end. Even through her fears of being on her own and possibly disappointing herself or her mother, she persevered.

Experiencing Aldo's traumatic accident from his point of view just made him that much more of a beloved character in my heart. He was the funny, sweet best friend in Pretend You're Mine and this story just solidified him as a character for me.

If your a fan of Lucy Score. Don't overlook this one.

Gloria Parker is set on rebuilding her life after a long ten years in an abusive relationship. She is strengthening her relationship with her mother, making new friends, has found a job and her own apartment and is starting to see life for what it could be now that she’s no longer always afraid. Aldo Moretta has loved Gloria since high school, but before he could take his chance with her she ended up with a man that left her battered and bruised, and after all these years he is finally going to let Gloria know how he feels. After so many years with the wrong guy, Gloria can tell Aldo is the right guy. Strong, brave, successful, and loved by the town of Benevolence, Aldo quickly charms his way into a friendship with Gloria that she hopes will be more. Before things can progress with them, Aldo leaves on a six month deployment with the National Guard. Gloria can’t wait to use the time Aldo is away to build her life bigger and stronger than it was before so she can be the best version of herself when he returns. When Aldo is gravely injured on his deployment, he returns to Benevolence not the same man he was. How can he be the man for Gloria when he barely recognizes himself. With both of them healing in different ways, is love a possibility anymore for Gloria and Aldo? Or can they work through their pain in order to finally have their happily ever after together?
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Finally Mine combined the perfect amount of angst, humor and spice to create the sweetest book. Aldo had to be one of the most charming and funny male characters I have read in a Lucy Score book. His mother was the icing on the cake- laugh out loud! You will never get a weak or wishy-washy female main character with a Lucy Score book and this was no exception. Gloria was brave and strong and a fighter and was exactly what Aldo needed. The way she worked to help herself recover from and process the last ten years was admirable. I loved Aldo’s friendship with Harper (the main character from the previous book Pretending You’re Mine), and the interwoven timeline that matched up to that book.

Lucy Score writes real people who are flawed, scarred, and not always perfect. Her characters always seem very well developed and dialogue is always sharp and witty. Friendships always play a big role in her novels and they never seem forced. I don’t think there is a Lucy Score book I haven’t enjoyed and Finally Mine was no exception!

Four stars and 2.5 spicy peppers

Thank you to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books for the advanced copy of Finally Mine in exchange for an honest review.

So here’s the problem. While I liked this book; I felt like I had already read it. So much of the book was repetitive from Pretend You’re Mine (PYM) that it was painful to read. It felt like almost the entire book was copy and pasted from PYM. There’s a way to have the secondary characters get their own book and unfortunately this wasn’t it.

This book is book 2 in the series but could be read as a standalone. If you already read PYM - this book will drag on. There is minimal new content and what is new doesn’t make up for all the copy and paste.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy from NetGalley for an honest review.

I loved seeing Gloria and Aldo getting their happily ever after. I did fall for these two when introduced as side characters in the first book, but man was there a lot of baggage that had to be unloaded and healed in this book. I think the author did a great job of showing both Gloria and Aldo working through their issues to get to that happy ending. The only reason I didn't enjoy this more is purely a me thing. I just prefer happier reads. But, this was done well for those who like to read about trauma, and the healing process.

I read Finally Mine as a stand alone, but it is the companion book to Pretend You're Mine, which I will now be going back to pick up. But not because it's necessary in order to enjoy Finally Mine, which was perfectly fine on its own.

I enjoyed this book, and read from start to finish with few stops. This is the story of a courageous and strong woman, Gloria, who finds herself after gaining the strength to leave an abusive relationship. I like that the book tells her journey without the dependence of a subsequent relationship, but that she finds friendships that she is able to build her independence upon while having support.

And of course there is a love interest, how could there not be?! But I love how Lucy Score introduced and handled both the trauma Aldo had experienced, balanced with the healing that Gloria is going through.

I would recommend this book to those who enjoy contemporary fiction and romance.

Finally Mine by Lucy Score was just ehhhh...ok. To me, it was literally the same storyline as the first book in the series, Pretend You're Mine, but told from another perspective. This book even follows the exact same timeline as Pretend You're Mine, but instead of focusing on Luke and Harper, it focuses on Luke's best friend Aldo and Gloria. I would have enjoyed a different story with very little overlap in plot. I felt like I was reading the same story over again and honestly, it was a bit boring. This book was a miss for me.

The writing style flows nicely and it was a really easy read.
My biggest complaint would be that there were multiple off-putting word choices made throughout which took me out of the story.
However, I did feel emotionally invested in the two main characters very early on in the story and I felt that it ended nicely. Very reminiscent of a Hallmark movie.

After I read at bit about Aldo and Gloria in Pretend Your Mine, I was excited to finally read their love story. Aldo has been carrying a flame for Gloria for over ten years. She just ended an abusive relationship and now is his chance to be there for her. Both Aldo and Gloria need to find some time figuring themselves out and grow into the people they want to be. This was an "it was always you", friends to lovers, small-town romance, and an all around great story.

I thought Aldo and Gloria's story was great, it felt softer than Harper and Luke's. They both worked so hard to overcome the things they had experienced in their lives and really truly were better with each other. There is a lot of personal growth for both these characters and found myself rooting for them both.

I think this book would have been better if it wasn't happening at the same time as Harper and Luke's story. We see the same situations from Gloria and Aldo's perspective and I found that a lot of the time it was just a rehashing of that.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloom Books for a copy of this book. All opinions are 100% mine.

This was a great follow up to the first book in the series! After reading the first one it was fun to get to see the story unfold from the perspective of Gloria and Aldo. I’m glad I got a chance to read their story!

After reading Harper and Luke’s story in Pretend You’re Mine, I expected Aldo and Gloria’s love story to be just as intense and passionate. Now don’t get me wrong - there IS a ton of passion in this story, but the chemistry between Aldo and Gloria felt…hmmm, what’s the word…softer, maybe? Perhaps gentler is a better word. I admired how they both overcame their personal demons to find love again, and being a survivor of domestic violence myself, I do believe that was accurately portrayed. The only thing that bothered me about this book was the overlapping timeline with the first book, which could be somewhat confusing at times. There were also scenes that read like they were copied straight from the first book, and I caught myself skimming through them. Overall, though, Finally Mine is a very sweet and heartfelt story, and I would certainly recommend it to everyone.

Aldo and Gloria's story is adorable but I almost would have preferred for it to not have taken place at the same time as the first book in the series. It was nice to get other perspectives during certain big events from the first book but some of the dialogue was just word for word and I found myself just skimming to get past it. I love the characters' growth and recovery from their personal demons and their chemistry. Well written regardless and I'll definitely read Linc's story. He might be my favorite character, after Aldo.

Finally Mine was a nicely written book. Aldo and Gloria’s story was a gentle ride in many ways. They both are dealing with scars, although different types, but manage to find love with each other. The side characters made the book interesting and the overlap with Luke and Harper’s story was woven together well.

I was pulled in by the first chapter but honestly after that this book just didn't do it for me. I finished it but it was a huge struggle. I loved the author, and I loved the length of the book but that's basically about it. I read the first book in this series, and I liked that one a lot better.

First and foremost: if you came to this from the first book in the series, like I did, it is decidedly less spicy/smutty. The story focuses much more on the personal growth and love story between Gloria and Aldo, which to me was really enjoyable. It also has a TON of cross over dialogue: this is great, BUT I would have enjoyed some scenes that weren't just straight copies from the first book. That made those scenes almost skim worthy.
I've seen some people complain about the view on domestic violence promoted in this story: while I'm sure triggering, I think its actually pretty authentic. theres a lot of criticism that Aldo never 'saves' Gloria despite always crushing on her: I think its more realistic that a domestic violence victim goes through trauma alone than anyone really coming in and rescuing them. That didn't bother me at all, and I actually thought gave some real depth to the story as both leads had to deal with conquering internal, and external, scars.
Overall a good read!

Thank you to Netgalley and Bloom Books for an ARC of this book.

Oh... My... If I loved Pretend your Mine than I ABSOLUTELY LOVED Finally Mine. Wow. I'm struggling to get the words out.

Welcome back to Benevolence! Finally Mine overlaps with Pretend you Mine - It's the exact same timeline and the stories happen in tandem. We get to see things that happened in Pretend you Mine from a different view point.

I connected immediately with Gloria and Aldo - pretty sure I connected with them in them in the first book - their story is both heartwarming and heartbreaking. I laughed, I cried... my heart shattered.

Gloria's backstory is heartbreaking but her personal growth and becoming the woman we see at the end of the book is amazing to read. It's hard to imagine someone going through the abuse she did, and coming out to turn into a strong, independent woman - but it does happen in the real world and Lucy Score did a fantastic job writing this.

Aldo is.... Aldo is... Well he's just everything. To see him go from put-together, to broken, to better than he was was so heartwarming. My heart honestly went out to him when his life came crashing down around him.

Lucy Score has a way of taking things that happen in real every day life and putting them on paper in a way that captures your mind and your heart. This book made me laugh, cry and swoon constantly. I don't think I've fully recovered from this book yet!

Hauntingly beautiful! FINALLY MINE touches on all the heartstrings in the best way. Swoony romance and deep feels - what more could you want?

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ /5
🌶 🌶 🌶 /5

Lucy Score can do no wrong as far as I'm concerned.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started this book as I read nothing about it before I picked it up. The story of Aldo and Gloria was so painful and yet so beautiful. Their stories were so painful and would definitely be triggering for some. Lucy didn't hold back in explaining and exploring their pain.

I loved Gloria and how she was fighting so hard to regain herself after a horrifically abusive relationship took so much from her. Aldo's gentle care and pure support of her was just beautifully written. When the roles switched as he returned from his deployment in pieces Gloria's newfound strength was everything.

They were a couple that grew and healed together. Finding strength and allowing their darkest moments to slowly fade. I cannot wait to read the rest of the series. I need to revisit every one of the characters.

Also Ivan the Terrible is a fantastic kitten name.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy of this wonderful book.

There's a reason I spent about a month reading only Lucy Score books. :) Not only are the romance main characters and their chemistry something I'll keep coming back for, but the small town secondary characters really add to each story.