Thanks to Sourcebooks Bloom Books and Netgalley for giving me an e-arc for an honest review.

I wish that this didn't take place at the same time as Pretend You're Mine. A good probably 50-60% of this book already happened in the first book and we just were getting the thoughts from the other characters for the exact same conversations most of the time. Other than that, I did like the story.

the abuse was not handled to the best of her abilities in this novel unfortunately :(

i will definitely still be reading more from her, but the topics in this novel were not for me

Finally Mine (Benevolence Book 2)
by Lucy Score
Pub Date 13 June 2023
SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books, Bloom Books
General Fiction (Adult) / Romance
Rating 4.25/5

After meeting Gloria and Aldo in Pretend You're Mine, we follow their journey in Finally Mine. It has been a pleasure reading two of the three books in the Benevolence series with their beautiful revised covers. Each book can be read standalone. They are heartfelt and delightful.

A long term abusive relationship has led Gloria on a quest to discover her true self. Gloria left her ex and Aldo wants to show his feelings for her, but Aldo is deploying to Afghanistan for six months. When he returns, he hopes to develop a relationship with Gloria. Does time apart change his feelings?

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Bloom Books for sharing this stunning novel with me. Your kindness is appreciated.

This was epic. I knew Gloria and Aldo were going to be the new OTC for me. I definitely feel like the writing and covers have definitely received a upgrade for the better! I know everyone is obsessed with her Knockemout series which I plan on reading next but I just want read her other works as well. The plot is way better and realistic in this one. The characters are so relatable. I wish the "Ma" and some I feel like southern slang is in this series which if you're in the the North East I don't see why that it is but if your from a small town I can also get it somewhat. The author's warnings are so cute and the first liner when you look up the blurb for this book is classic. IF you love the Book tok famous Knockemout series I think you would love this series next!

I think that I enjoyed the first book in the series a little better. This one Carrie’s along similar characters to the first one, but there are heavy topics in this one (domestic abuse, SA, etc). Also if you love a woman would you not want to protect her???? This book was extremely similar in dialogue and events to the first book. It would have been nice for “newer” voices to be heard and not the nearly same type of characters from the previous story.

Reviewed for NetGalley:

The main protagonist, dealing with domestic violence issues, where no one seems to help....and then transitions to a new love story?

Didn't work for me.

I love Lucy Scores books. This one had me completely emotionally vested and I could not stop reading even if I wanted to, but I didn't. I has to stay up late to finish it. Yes it was absolutely delicious.
I just reviewed Finally Mine by Lucy Score. #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

Lucy Score is a new to me author, and one I will definitely be reading again. I loved this story,
I read it as the love story it was and didn’t dig too deep into the whys and how comes when it came to Gloria’s abusive relationship. Gloria has moved on from her abusive ex, she’s thrown caution to the wind and finally decided to take control of her life. While doing so, she met the truly wonderful Harper, and a firm friendship is born. In fact when Gloria’s abusive relationship ends her life really begins and many friendships are formed, including her one time crush and forever admirer, Aldo. Although Gloria can’t see a future with anyone so soon after ending her previous relationship, Aldo is a patient man, and he’s playing the long game. Their future though, doesn’t pan out quite the way either of them envisioned. Highly emotional, 100% sweet, and seeing the two broken pieces that were Gloria and Aldo moving forward to try and build a relationship together was well worth the angst. It was wonderful watching them deal with their vulnerabilities and learning to trust again, taking charge of their life and feelings. Plenty of ups and downs, tears and laughter, so much to keep you entertained in this small town romance. A truly enjoyable read. I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is my honest review.

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars. This is the second book in the Benevolence series.
I definitely liked the first book better. The storyline is very similar and follows the plot from the first book "Pretend You're Mine" except this one is from the perspective of Aldo and Gloria.
I've never read a series that had different POVs separated into a different book. I commend the author for being able to do this as I'm sure it was not an easy feat. However, I do not care for this style as much. It was somewhat like reading the first story all over again. I feel like the first book was more intriguing and captured my attention more. The emotions I felt reading this book cannot compare to that of the first book.

This one is a bit slower of a burn and it doesn't pick up and get spicy until the last 20% or so. I still enjoyed reading from Aldo and Gloria's perspective and it was fascinating to see how the author could create a separate book with the same storyline but different POVs.

Thanks to Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books, Bloom Books for a free copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is the second story in this series, but it can easily be read as a standalone. In the first book we get to meet Gloria and Aldo, but we learn about their relationship from the main character’s perspectives. In this story we get to learn about their relationship from them. It was really interesting to read a story where you knew about certain events, but get to experience them through other people’s perspectives. Aldo is a former football star turned soldier, a cocky Italian guy with a big heart. Gloria is a shy woman, just coming out of a decades long abusive relationship. Aldo has been in love with Gloria for years, but feels like he should give her space after all she has been through, and he is set to deploy for 6 months. Gloria finds if hard to believe a guy like him could be interested in a girl as damaged as she is. When Aldo comes home he comes back with a lot of problems. Will Gloria and Also be able to set their problems aside and figure out how to be together, or are they both going to miss their shot at happiness? A fun quick read, with some very empowering and important themes. I received an ARC and this is my honest review.

I distinctly remember the first three days after my marriage ended. Everything in the house broke at once and I was a 25 year old single mother to two children. I'd spent the last five years giving every part of my soul to a man who shredded it to pieces.

Why had I stayed through abuse? Why did I allow him to abuse my children? Why wasn't I strong enough to walk away? Why had I given 5 years of my life to a man who manipulated and abused me.

Grief.
Guilt.
Anger.
Relief.

9 months later, I met my "Aldo", and the subsequent whirlwind of emotions had me contemplating ending the relationship far too often. Maybe I was making a mistake. Maybe I was rushing things. Maybe I was falling in love with another man who would end up abusing me too. I spent so much time doubting every interaction and overanalyzing every situation.

Suffice it to say, I found Gloria extremely relatable and the book was a beautiful insight into a relationship after abuse.

Aldo, who has loved Gloria for 10 years, acknowledges that she doesn't need someone to "fix" her, she needs to learn she can stand in her own two feet—that she is strong and worthy. He decides to patiently wait for her as she heals from a decade-long abusive relationship.

His plans change when he comes home from Afghanistan with a debilitating injury—he feels like he is no longer good enough for the woman he has loved since high school.

Finally Mine is a book about vulnerability, love, heartbreak, and healing. Aldo and Gloria are both lovable and relatable.

What's stops this from being a 5 star book is how much of it is copied from Pretend You're Mine. Instead of simply expanding on the time-line with different perspectives, many of the scenes are repeated dialogue from the first Benevolence book.

Overall, I really enjoyed getting to know Aldo and Gloria better.

I was really excited to read this, but I just couldn’t get over how the male love interest was never protective of the woman he was supposedly in love with. Romance books that include sensitive matter like domestic abuse are usually made to provoke hope in the readers, but I really couldn’t find much of that in this one.

This checked off everything I look for in a book. Was not disappointed. Really enjoyed this book. I will read more from this author. Must read. go and get it.

Sadly this book just didn’t grab as much as I hoped it would. I put it down and picked it up multiple times but I just couldn’t connect with it. Super bummed.

After meeting Gloria and Aldo in "Pretend You're Mine", we get to follow along as Gloria and Aldo work towards their happily ever after.

Gloria has spent the last ten years in an abusive relationship and is about to begin her new journey of figuring out who she is. Aldo has had a crush on Gloria since high school and now that she's left her ex, he is ready to make his feelings known. Aldo is also about to leave for a six-month deployment to Afghanistan and figures that when he gets back, he and Gloria can potentially build a relationship together.

I loved this story! Both Gloria and Aldo have quite a lot of personal growth they need to face to reach a healthy place for the start of a relationship. I think Score handles the portrayal of abusive relationships and PTSD well. The reader sees the longer-term effects of the abuse Gloria faced as well as how her relationships with others fared. With Aldo, we see his feelings of inadequacy and the beating that his mental health and confidence have taken. There are plenty of chapters in both characters' POVs so the reader gets to understand each MC's hangups and personal growth throughout the story. One of my favorite things about this story writing was the way Score incorporates therapy session-like discussions as their own chapters and the way those are stylized and written.

Overall this is my favorite Benevolence story because of how strong and amazing both Gloria and Aldo are.

I was so happy to see that Gloria and Aldo would get their own book!

*Trigger warning* domestic violence, PTSD, war, war injuries, domestic abuse, rape, death, trauma.

I loved reading about Gloria's story. The fact that she finally left a relationship where she was verbally and psychically abused is truly an inspirational story. Lucy Score really did a good job detailing how the abuse not only affected her physically and emotionally, but also psychologically in so many ways. Showing just how hard it is for someone in a situation like that to finally leave and how hard it is to adjust to life after.

I adored Aldo. I mean, the way Score described him made me drool, but his character's personality also made me swoon. He had such a big heart. What happened to him broke my heart and the fact that he was so self conscious about it, not thinking he was worthy of Gloria, made me so sad for him.

"I don't care if you're damaged... You and me? We're not wounded. We're scarred." - tears!! I mean, I was in tears throughout half the book already, but this quote hit me hard. It was so beautiful seeing how both characters overcame their struggles, both separately and together.

Thank you for taking such painful real life issues; domestic violence, war injuries and PTSD, and making them into a story that a reader can learn to understand, sympathize with and possibly even relate to. As the wife of an Army veteran, I truly enjoyed reading this series about these Army soldiers.

I read this right after Pretend You’re Mine and it repeats A LOT of the same exact things, so that was a bit annoying. Another war hero vet MC and a physically/emotionally abused FC. So many plot twists. I definitely liked the first book more, but this was still an okay read!

This is an emotional roller coaster "second chance" read. It is closely linked to Pretend you're Mine [Harper and Luke's story] that I recommend you read before this one. Otherwise, there are spoilers. I enjoy the characters in this small town, but I am incensed that the entire town stood by and did nothing to help Gloria. It made me angry. As the HEA approached, I was happy for this couple, but felt like she deserved more.

Gloria is barely surviving an abusive relationship, but finds the courage to finally escape. Unfortunately, not quite far enough. I don't recommend this for anyone with abuse triggers, as this is well written, and I was easily able to connect with her situation.

Aldo is a good friend to Luke, but I am a little angry with his character also. [I will not leave spoilers, but - ooh! So angry at his lack of protective action! If you loved her back then, why let her deal with it alone? Just frustrating for me.] IYKYK.
He suffers a deployment ending injury, and returns to Benevolence with some major hurdles to overcome. I enjoyed the way he fought through them, but again - where was that strength for Gloria 10 years ago?

I sincerely appreciate how this author wrote the military aspects of this story, and the struggles in deployment and military service. The family and friends components are wonderful and very endearing.

While this book was first released years ago, I didn't read it then. I had no idea what I was missing!
When I saw the opportunity to grab this ARC, I did, and I could not stop reading! The characters are easy to connect with, and the chapters flow easily.

I recommend this read and this author. She consistently delivers engaging and addictive reads that entertain and take me on emotional journey to the character's HEA. It is my recommendation to read this series in order to have the best reading experience. I thank Netgalley and Sourcebooks for my free ARC and I voluntarily leave my review.

Every time something else happened in this book, all I could think was, is that finally it? Is it finally over? This book had way too many “plot twists” that weren’t really “twists” for me. I just wanted it too be about half as long, with half as many story elements.

Welcome back to Benevolence!
While this is book number 2 in this series, it runs parallel to book one. Same great characters, same great town, and same amazing story!
I loved Aldo and who couldn’t love Gloria.

I did not read these books from the first came out. I read them back to back on the re releases, and I am so glad I did.!