I liked it well enough. I like to see a sweet male protagonist who doesn’t really question his feelings for the FMC. I liked seeing Gloria take control of her life, even when Aldo was being a jerk, and Aldo be patient with her when she starts to freak out.

I always appreciate books that have a good girl friend group and this one does. Women friends are such an essential part of a woman’s life and it’s such a glaringly obvious omission when a book doesn’t have them.

But the idea that this (apparently small) town did nothing while this woman had the crap beat out of her for ten years is ridiculous. The MMC was in love with her for years but never once put a stop to it? Never once tried to step between them except the first time?

Battered women hardly ever leave on their own. They almost always need help and the idea that no one in this town seemed to want to lift a finger to help until Harper seems a bit of a reach.

Overall, I liked the book, but I didn’t LOVE the book like I have some of her others.

I loved Gloria and Aldo's story! They were both likeable, well-developed characters. The author does a beautiful job of tackling the difficult issues of domestic abuse and physical disability with sensitivity and respect. Gloria and Aldo's journey isn't easy, as they both deal with physical and emotional trauma, and it was wonderful to see them grow and overcome their challenges. The story was emotional and gut-wrenching, romantic and steamy, hopeful and inspiring. I highly recommend it.

Finally Mine by Lucy Score was a quick, heart-warming read that follows the girl next door who is abused by her ex Gloria and hometown military hero Aldo on their requited love journey. Filled with emotional ups and downs, you can't help but cheer them on through their personal growth overcoming their traumas and growth together. This was definitely more of a story about learning to heal from past traumas and trust feelings with splashes of humor and a dash of spice. This book did an excellent job promoting mental health awareness. Some may disagree, but thanks to the overall theme of fixing yourself not others, it promotes seeking help for yourself.

TW: domestic abuse and PTSD

A beautiful story about a military man who loses a leg and a woman who stayed too long in an abusive relationship. Can they put aside their baggage and finally let love lead them? This book runs in the same timeline as Pretend Your Mine so you'll get some repeat scenes if you've read it, otherwise this can be a stand alone and you won't miss anything. But either way you are going to love this book. It's got some angst, it's got some humor, it's got the feels, everything you want in a book for strong women (and men) to overcome what they thing damages them.

2.5 stars.
A romance between people who longed for each other in their youth but never acted on it and then life and dramatic things happened, “Finally Mine”, by Lucy Score (SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books), features a wounded hero who seems to have lost his stamina and a heroine rebuilding her life.
Arlo and Gloria’s romance was bittersweet when they reconnect and their HEA is delayed mostly because of his injury and the feelings of lack of worth he experiences.
I felt the wounded hero dimension was interesting, although predictable, with the isolation, feelings of hopelessness and general depression. The author explored it in an extensive way.
Aldo has a boyish charm when he’s not being the surly wounded warrior or the “sex god” (mental eye roll…).
As for Gloria, the depiction of domestic violence gave the story substance. I liked how the author showed her fears and insecurities. She’s a brave woman, too.
I’m afraid that not all victims of this crime benefit from the support she had.
I thought the book could be well shorter, a lot in the overly descriptive sex scenes, the small town atmosphere and the friends/family interaction didn’t really interest me – a personal preference - and only dragged the story unnecessarily.
There was a lot of talking about emotions and feelings, either within the romantic couple or involving their friends/relatives.

Loved this! Lucy has built a warm and accessible story that begins with Gloria leaving after ten years in an abusive relationship. The narrative shows how leaving is a process, not an event.
Aldo has his own demons and a catastrophic event while on deployment changes everything for him. But yes, luckily for the reader, there’s love and longing and steam and a HEA for these two. It’s not too long, and the dual POV keeps the reader in the loop. Absolutely recommend!

Thanks so very much to NetGalley for the ARC.

After reading, Pretend You’re Mine, I was excited to read more about Gloria. And while it was extremely dark at some points, her resilience and power shined through.

With the first book of the series being so fresh in my mind, it was a bit redundant to relive the same scenes through different eyes and I did find the book to be a bit longer than it needed to be.

However, I really enjoyed reading Gloria’s & Aldo’s story and this felt a bit closer to the Lucy Score books that I’ve really enjoyed!

Thank you for this ARC!

Sexy, heartbreaking, and just amazing! New author for me and was happily surprised with how much I liked this genre! Would recommend

This book is another great small town romance by the phenomenal Lucy Score. In Finally Mine, we return to Benevolence and immerse ourselves in Aldo’s and Gloria’s story. This book is incredibly written with well developed characters and the depth of emotion is just extraordinary. We revisit with our favorite Benevolence residents, all as we watch Gloria’s and Aldo’s second chance at love and life unfold. They both have a lot of personal fears, self doubt and difficult past experiences to overcome, will they be able to let go of the past and become each others future? This book has it all - captivating story line, romance, humor, love, the feels and enough steam to melt your Kindles! I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did:-)

This was a wild ride of a book. From the very beginning, we are introduced to Gloria who is strong and brave and fighting for her life and survival by leaving her abusive partner after ten years. Then we meet the lovely and heroic Aldo who finally feels he can pursue his life-long crush on Gloria without risking harm to anyone, only to suffer his own traumatic injury during his last deployment with the National Guard.
Both these characters go through so much healing, self reflection, friendship-making, love-blooming experiences in this book. I loved both Gloria and Aldo so, so much. Gloria, for one, was a damn hero from start to finish. For herself, her friends, her family, her love-- Gloria is a hero who never stops trying to heal and be happy and find the best ways to move forward in a happy and healthy life. Aldo, dear Aldo, has some pride and strength that can border toxic if he wasn't so concerned with checking himself, or allowing others to check him when needed. He tries so hard to be a good partner, friend, lover, and man, dedicating himself to healing and also learning to live a happy and healthy life.
I cannot relate in anyway to the lengths of trauma these characters experience, so I won't comment on the healing processes they go through nor the descriptions of their traumas. I will so though that I greatly appreciated the de-stigmatizing way mental health and the importance of therapy are discussed in this book. I will caution anyone with experiences in trauma to check trigger warnings if they feel they need a heads up before reading (or choose not to read, that's cool too).
Thank you for the ARC!!!

This is the first book I’ve read by Lucy Score and really liked it.
It’s a cheesy, easy romance that drew me in quickly that dealt with some tough topics.
I’ll certainly look out for more books from this author in future.

i think the reason i'm giving this a 'bad' review is this the worst formatting of a book I've ever received - not sure if that fault lies with netgalley or with the publisher. getting through this book was arduous.

in terms of the writing - it read like any another lucy score book. there were some jumps in the plot that made no sense. something would happen, and in the next sentence we were in another scene, not knowing how much time has passed? not sure if better formatting would have made this less of an issue.

Finally Mine is the second installment of the Benevolence series. It picks up with the story of Gloria, the abused girlfriend from the opening scene of the first novel. It follows her recovery, and it builds into her love story with her high school unrequited crush, Aldo. Gloria and Harper form an unbreakable friendship throughout the story. Like many Lucy Score books there is heat, action, and a bit of suspense to keep readers turning pages.

Thank you to NetGally for access to this copy.

Sometimes you go looking for a light fluffy book. Sometimes you get something a bit more. With “Finally Mine” we are introduced (or reintroduced) to a plethora of characters in a small town going through it.

Gloria Parker has finally found the strength to leave her abusive relationship. Making sure she is in public with witnesses, she tells Glenn she is leaving for good. In a flash, her life changes. Glenn is finally behind bars for attaching Gloria and Harper, a new face in town, who may be Gloria’s first real friend.
10 years can change a person, but in a small town, it doesn’t change all the people around.

Touching on topics of abuse, grief, and trauma, Finally Mine gives us so many second chances and moments you can’t help but smile and laugh along with. Especially meeting Mrs. Moretta. Truly, I can’t think of a better way to end an argument than to shout “Stop interfering with my cookies!”

***Finally Mine, first published in 2018, is the second book in a 3 book series by Lucy Score that deals with one character recovering from severe domestic abuse and another from war wounds. Prospective readers need to be aware of that! This reviewer has not read the first book that many reviewers have noted might give a better understanding about the characters. That said the book was okay, but not one that will read a second time. I voluntarily reviewed an advance copy of this book from NetGalley.

It was such a fun romantic read between a strong resilient woman who deserved a man like Aldo, after her past relationship. I feel like her character relates to a lot of women and it definitely tugged on my heart strings. I did not read the first companion book and now I will have to go and read it. Highly recommend this book if you are looking for a heartwarming romance !

Gloria lost 10 years to a toxic and dangerous relationship and now she is starting over by herself. She met hometown Aldo and he makes her feel loved again. He's deployed for six months and wants to see her again when he comes back... of course, things happen during his deployment....

Gloria is terrific. Aldo is wonderful too. Glad how they work things out together after a long journey. Love this story. So sweet and sad and happy.

Thanks to the publisher for the arc.

This was such a sweet book. I teared up so many times. I was rooting for Gloria and Aldo so hard, and it was great seeing them work through their trauma. Lucy Score did a great job helping the reader feel how Aldo felt so broken from his injuries. And watching Gloria become strong after her trauma was beautiful. I took away a star because some of the book was redundant because it's the companion to the first book, but it was still interesting seeing it from a different set of eyes. I highly recommend this book and this entire series.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Lucy Score is one of my favorite romance authors! This series was actually my first foray into her writing and it just hit the spot!