Let me start by mentioning that this book has partner abuse and maybe a trigger warning for some. There are some gut-wrenching moments of abuse here, that were difficult to read. Finally, Mine is the sister book to Pretend You're Mine, but it can easily be read as a stand-alone.
We met Gloria and Aldo in Pretend You're Mine. Gloria has managed to heal physically and emotionally after many years of abuse. Also, an ex-military gentleman has been in love with Gloria since high school. Will they finally end up together after so many years and circumstances have passed?
Lucy Score writes beautifully and this book does not disappoint! Thank you NetGalley for the eARC.

I love the Benevolence series so much but I wish this wasn't the same timeline as Pretend You're Mine. I love Also and Gloria but the timeline made the story boring because I knew what was going to happen from reading the first book. Love these characters and Lucy Score but this kinda missed for me. I enjoyed the parts that we didn't see in PYM the most, naturally. The writing style and slow burn were fantastic as per usual with Lucy Score. I'm looking forward to Protecting What's Mine

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

Before reading this one, definitely check trigger warnings! If you have material you’re sensitive to, I’d check to make sure the TWs won’t be harmful for you to read. Lots of trauma here!

This was an emotional spin-off from Pretend You’re Mine. I’d definitely recommend reading in order so you get the intro to these characters otherwise the beginning of the book can feel a bit disjointed.

If you like emotional, second chance, small town romances then you’ll enjoy this one. It had healing from trauma, finding someone to trust, and a deep love between the MCs.

I really liked this story Gloria was beaten on for 10 years by her boyfriend and she finally had enough. Aldo had been patiently waiting for her to be free a he had had a crush on her forever.. It took awhile, but slowly she opened up to him. He went away with Luke for his 6 months deployment, but their truck hit an IED and he was hurt quite badly. He was very ill tempered when he got back and she finally called him on it. I loved their demon kitten. It made me laugh at scenes that were not very funny. It was a good story

I got this book from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review

Finally Mine was a story of emotional healing. Gloria and Aldo both experience their own traumas and must find a way to heal. On this journey, they each find out they heal best together.
Gloria’s character had the most emotional growth through the story as she learns to rebuild her life after 10 years in an abusive relationship. I loved her character arc so much through this story. I loved and admired her bravery for leaving and her sass when dealing with all things Aldo. Aldo, best described as macho Italian man, loses his leg and eventually learns that losing his leg doesn’t make him any less of a man. Honestly I originally wasn’t as big of a fan of Aldo because of how full of himself he was, but for all his ego in the beginning of the story, seeing him display his insecurities with Gloria made his character a bit more likable.
While I did like the overall plot, I do think the story could’ve been a bit shorter for the point the author was trying to put across. I also should add that I had not read the first book in the series before reading this book, so maybe I could’ve felt differently if I read that book first.
I’d like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I received this ebook from Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion and review. I fell in love with Harper and Luke’s story. It was beautiful. But I always wondered what ended up happening between Gloria and Aldo. I’m so glad we get to find out! These novels can be read as stand alone a or as part of a series. Loved getting to see these two grow together!

The story was sweet, and I like seeing how their love developed. But the individual character development wasn’t quite there for me. HOWEVER, I didn’t read the first book, I didn’t realize how connect they actually were. So the beginning of the story felt a bit choppy to me. But still enjoyed the Gloria and Aldo. I definitely recommend making sure you read the first book before jumping into this one!

Thank you Netgalley and Bloom Books for an arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Re-publication: June 13, 2023

Lucy Score is an auto-buy author for me so when I saw that some of her older work was being republished, I jumped on the opportunity for an arc! I was so excited when I was approved!

I love Score's writing style because it feels cinematic. I find myself reading around 100 pages in one sitting without realizing it. I'm usually thrown right into the story and sucked right in. My plan had been to eventually read some of her older books while waiting for the last Knockemount book to come out.

I am still a die hard fan of Lucy Score however, this book made me cringe so much that I had to put it down. It's always tricky when you add in abuse to a romance. The piece that ruined the book for me is that everyone knew the abuse was going on (including our MMC/hero of the story) yet nothing was done?? Ouch.... I think this should have been handled differently in my opinion.

Overall, Score is still one of my auto-buy authors but this book was sweet until I learned that one piece of information, then it tasted bitter.

I'm a sucker for a good romance read so after reading the blurb I was more than excited to give this book a try. I enjoyed this story but there were things I liked and disliked about it. Let me start off by saying that I enjoyed Gloria and the courage she had to deal with everything that was thrown her way. However, I was a little disappointed that no one really helped her. I thought there were times when someone should have done something. I liked Aldo's character but there were definitely times when I questioned his actions. I enjoyed the friendship between him and Gloria and liked that their relationship wasn't rushed. Both characters in this story had to deal with their own real issues and I liked that the author gave the characters time to deal with their own issue and their healing in the process. This was a good second-chance, small town romance story with a little drama, characters you will love and hate, regret, surprises, healing, and a ending that will leave you with a smile on your face. I'm looking forward to reading more books from this author in the future.

I received a re-release of this book from NetGalley.

I’m a huge fan of Lucy Score and I have one on my shelf waiting to be read. But, this second book in the series was just not anywhere near as fantastic as the first one. It takes place during the entire time period of the first book, but told thru two different characters eyes. Therefore sometimes there were pages of the exact conversations as what happened in the first book. Now perhaps had I not read these back to back I wouldn’t have remembered … but I already knew exactly how this book would end bc of the first book Pretend You’re Mine.

Therefore I felt like I was just waiting for every event bc I already knew what was going to happen. There was no suspense at all.

Rating: 4.75/5

Thank you Lucy Score and Bloom Books for an ARC of this book via NetGalley!

Sweet, *sweet* Aldo. He was so considerate of Gloria, who was coming out of an abusive relationship. Instead of rushing her, he chose to wait and be her friend instead. Then tragedy hit and new doubts rose that drove him away from her. I hated seeing him down but liked that it forced him to reassess what he had to offer. Spoiler alert: it's not just his body.

GLORIA. I respect the *hell* out of her. I loved that she took the steps to reshape her life into one she could be proud of and seeing the town help her find her footing was so heartwarming. Watching Gloria regain her confidence was such a joy! I loved her healing process and that she went to therapy to help her get there. 👏🏻 And to be witness to that moment when she knew she was worthy *and* could achieve great things? Absolutely priceless.

And did I mention these two were CUTE BC THEY WERE! ❤

CN: open-door romance, military injury resulting in amputation, domestic violence, mental health (therapy)

Finally Mine
Thanks to author Lucy Score &
Sourcebooks Bloom Books
Re-release June 13
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
🌶️🌶️🌶️

Aldo and Gloria
“You can’t put your worth in someone else’s hands like that. Whether those hands are stroking you or hurting you. It doesn’t matter. Your value comes from inside. Whether you mean something to him or not has nothing to do with how inherently valuable you are.”

Gloria and Aldo - friends since childhood - are having to overcome serious trauma. (Trigger Warning: PTDS, Domestic Abuse). With the support of each other and their small town community the work to find their inherent value.

Finally Mine is a re-release of Lucy Score’s Benevolence series with a beautiful new cover. It is filled with all kinds of romance goodies: second chance, small town and starting from scratch. If you have read and loved Lucy Score’s TWNGO and TWHFTL, you will definitely want to dive into this series.

honestly just a continuation of what i didn't like in the last book. these books definitely were not bad by any stretch, but just had tropes i don't particularly care for. if you don't mind OWD though, worth a shot!

Can Lucy Score do any wrong?

This book was absolutely amazing from start to finish. I am so thankful that I was able to get my hands on this early. This is a one click purchase. I mean Lucy always is a never disappoints.


I don’t want to give too much away but you will not regret this purchase.

This follow up to Lucy Scores Pretend You’re Mine follows the story of Gloria and Aldo. I enjoyed the alternate viewpoint as well as revisiting some favorite scenes from the original story. This is a sweet romance that deals with the pain of and recovery from domestic violence as well as death of a spouse. The spicy scenes are definitely 18+ though not as plentiful as the first book, are equally as explicit. I enjoyed this quick read! Thank you to Netgalley and Bloom Books for early access to this book.

- Second chance romance
- Domestic abuse
- Veteran (PTSD/amputation)
- Healing

Plot: Aldo had such a thing for Gloria in high school. But he was too slow then and missed his chance. The guy Gloria did end up with, was the opposite of a man. After a decade of abuse and neglect Gloria is finally out of her nightmare relationship.

Really loved seeing Gloria grow. The plot was a little off for me compared to the first book in the series. But I appreciated the representation in the book.

This was a really great read! I was given an ARC of the first book of this series. After meeting Aldo and Gloria I instantly requested the ARC of their story. Aldo and Gloria I felt were well written characters. Both have some very real trauma and difficulties to overcome. I liked that this book wasn’t all romance. The characters went through significant emotional growth and really found themselves. I enjoyed reading the growth of the relationship between Aldo and Gloria.

I really wanted to enjoy reading this book cause I loved these characters a lot in the other book, but I hated that I was basically just rereading the other book. So much of the dialogue and scenes were the same, just from a different perspective. And it was soooo monotonous to read.

I also had a really hard time with Aldo. You're telling me that you've been in love with the same girl since high school, and you never once tried to stop her abuser from hurting her? Not once? You actually ram away, so you wouldn't have to deal with it. Such a bad move.

Gloria was lovely. Her journey through the book was interesting to read, but I just had such a hard time with how supposedly the whole town knew she was being abused, but just let it happen. If they're such a tight-knit community, as they claim they are, they would've done something to help her. So, for that, it gets three stars.

I stand by my statement in my review for Pretend You're Mine, that Lucy Score's other books do the interconnected stand-alone genre better. They were happening in tandem. They were technically independent stories. It flowed better and wasn't as difficult to read. I just hated that I was basically rereading the other book.

This was a quick read as all Lucy’s books are. But unfortunately I couldn’t really get past Gloria’s terrible past and how no one did anything. I understand that a lot of it was behind closed doors but for Aldo to love and admire her for so long and to let her endure that without even trying to step in was super hard to witness him explain away. Idk just wasn’t for me I think

I mean WOW! I went back and started at the first book and loved the first one so much I didn’t know how the second was going to top Harper and Luke’s story, but Gloria and Aldo story one upped it for sure. Loved reading more on Gloria picking up the pieces of her life, growing and relearning how strong she always was. I highly recommend this book to anyone that asks, along with every book of Scores I’ve read. Great book, great author and can’t wait to continue reading more from Scores.