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.

Unfortunately after DNF the first in this series I am not motivated to dive in to this story. I do appreciate receiving the early copy and will try her books again in the future. Thank you Netgalley!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing an ARC of "Finally Mine" In exchange for my honest review! Lucy Score is the queen of Romance! This is my fourth book that I have read this year from Lucy and as always it is a good time with a lot of laughs! Romance lovers will love the second installment in this series.

Wow wow and wow! I absolutely loved this book! I could not put it down, brought my kindle with me everywhere to finish it!

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

This book was previously released but has been since updated and has a new cover. I didn’t know that I needed Gloria and Aldo’s story but I desperately did! It put together so many of the missing pieces from the first book and showed a lot of that story from other characters points of view. I loved getting an insight into their love story and the epilogue was perfection! If you’re into romance with happily ever after, small towns, and friends like family, check out this series!

More than half of this book is just a repeat of Pretend You’re Mine. And I don’t mean similar tropes or events—literally the same book. I liked Aldo and Gloria fine but this isn’t the captivating writing that I’m used to from Score. Thank you to NetGalley for a digital copy

It was just as sweet as the first one, I could not put it down once again the author made it feel like you were right there beside the characters going through the same struggles and emotions as them. Once again she wrote a book that I didn't want to put down or wanted to end. I can not wait to read any of her future books. A has been in love with G since high school but was too scared to make a move. Now that they are older he is determined to make her his wife. He asks her to wait for him to come home from the war and when he does it is because he got injured and lost a leg. He thought G would not want him because of that and started to ignore her so that G could move on. But after a friend talked sense into him he started to pursue her and make her want to marry him and have a family with him. They had a happy ever after which was sweet and romantic all at once. She is an amazing writer who will continue to write amazing books.

I love Lucy Score so much, but initially Finally Mine was not very enjoyable as it is the second in a series and relies heavily on the plot of the first. I did end up stopping and reading the first in the series before finishing Finally Mine and appreciated it so much more! Lucy excels in a good happily ever after without needless drama. Don't get me wrong, there is drama but it is all the right kind.